Employee lawsuits and capital structure

Review of Managerial Science - We examine the effect of litigation on corporate capital structure by using a unique, hand-collected dataset of 30,841 employee disputes (after initial court...     

A non‐stationary bivariate INAR(1) process with a simple cross‐dependence: Estimation with some properties

This paper considers modelling of a non‐stationary bivariate integer‐valued autoregressive process of order 1 (BINAR(1)) where the cross‐dependence between the counting series is formed through the relationship of the current series with the previous‐lagged count series observations while the pair of innovations is independent and marginally Poisson. In addition, this paper proposes a generalised quasi‐likelihood (GQL) estimating equation based on the exact specification of the mean score and the auto‐covariance structure. The proposed approach is also compared with other popular techniques such as conditional maximum likelihood (CML), generalised least squares (GLS) and generalised method of moment (GMM) based on simulated data from the proposed BINAR(1). Moreover, the model is applied to weekly series of day and night road accidents arising in some regions of Mauritius and is compared with other existing BINAR(1) models.     

Disruptions,adjustments and hopes: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child well-being in five Majority World Countries

Drawing on integrated data from focus groups and diary entries, we explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child well-being for children from five Majority World Countries. We focus on the disruptions the pandemic caused, the adjustments made in response to these, and children's vision of a post-pandemic world. Underlying children's experiences of loss, boredom and concerns about educational progress, was an awareness of systemic inequalities that disadvantaged them or others in their community. Findings have implications on capturing children's voices through introspective and dialogical approaches that transcend cultures and for the development of preventive and responsive interventions during crises.     

Implementation of Child Rights in the Children's Homes in Malaysia

The objective of this study was to examine the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in the Children Homes under the Social Welfare Department (SWD) in Malaysia. Data was collected from 402 registered children who were staying in six Children Homes across the country. This study employed self‐report surveys where multiple data collection methods, such as face‐to‐face structured interviews, key informant interviews (KIIs), and documentation survey, were used. The study found that the SWD failed to comply with most of the commitments of CRC in Children Homes at its implementation level, and it is still needs based. The findings of this study present important guidelines for government and policy makers in improving child welfare services in the Children Homes in Malaysia.     

Coping Strategies Among Mothers of Chronically Ill Children: A Case Study in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

 The purpose of this study is to identify the stresses and coping strategies of five mothers in caring for their chronically ill and disabled children. These mothers were receiving services from a nonprofit hospital in Malaysia. Through an in-depth case study design, the findings indicated that emotional stress caused high levels of depression, which decreased life satisfaction that led to poorer physical health. Issues explored included employment, noncooperation of family members, as well as factors related to the mother's individual abilities and how these factors might affect maternal caregiving. Recommendations for future research include identifying probable psychosocial stresses and other associated factors while emphasizing the importance of community-based programs that minimize these stresses.     

Debt–Growth Nexus: A Spatial Econometrics Approach for Developing Countries

The objective of this paper is to examine the role of external debt in a country’s economic growth. With 31 developing countries divided into four regions, this paper employs the recent technique of spatial econometrics to incorporate the neighbouring effect in the debt–growth model. The empirical results reveal that the East Asia and Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean and the Sub-Saharan Africa regions provide convincing evidence to support a negative relationship between the external debt and economic growth. In addition, there is evidence to support the existence of spillover growth among neighbouring countries. This suggests that the role of spatial correlation is important and should be considered for any analysis of the growth model.     

Health Disorder of Climate Migrants in Khulna City: An Urban Slum Perspective

As the most vulnerable climatic region in the country, Khulna City is increasingly experiencing climate‐change‐induced urban problems. For instance, occupancy by climate migrants (delete the term “illegal migrant”), drainage congestion, water logging and reduced fresh water availability are all increasing problems. In the last decade, the population in the city increased by more than 20 per cent due to migration from nearby climate vulnerable districts. This study explores the health disorders of climate migrants occupying the urban slums and squats of the Khulna City area. This study found that these climate migrants settled in the urban slums and squats and, as such, they do not have access to urban amenities such as clean drinking water, hygiene services, and health facilities. This study noted that these displaced people are at increased risk of health issues from unhygienic and overcrowded living conditions and from water and sanitation problems. They often suffer from different waterborne diseases, under‐nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. This study suggests that there is a need for better planning, preparation and training in Bangladesh to which migrants move, including better training in health and related services on how to recognize and respond to health problems that may be slow to manifest. Education and training also need to be provided for the migrants themselves, to help them adapt culturally and to enhance their skills and potential for employment.     

An effective approach to linear calibration estimation with its applications

Abstract

The availability of some extra information, along with the actual variable of interest, may be easily accessible in different practical situations. A sensible use of the additional source may help to improve the properties of statistical techniques. In this study, we focus on the estimators for calibration and intend to propose a setup where we reply only on first two moments instead of modeling the whole distributional shape. We have proposed an estimator for linear calibration problems and investigated it under normal and skewed environments. We have partitioned its mean squared error into intrinsic and estimation components. We have observed that the bias and mean squared error of the proposed estimator are function of four dimensionless quantities. It is to be noticed that both the classical and the inverse estimators become the special cases of the proposed estimator. Moreover, the mean squared error of the proposed estimator and the exact mean squared error of the inverse estimator coincide. We have also observed that the proposed estimator performs quite well for skewed errors as well. The real data applications are also included in the study for practical considerations.     

Some new classes of multivariate survival distribution functions

The concept of the univariate mean remaining life (m.r.l.) function is generalized to the multivariate case. The multivariate mean remaining life (m.m.r.l.) function is utilized to introduce four new classes of multivariate survival distribution functions (s.d.f.'s). Each of these classes is a new generalization of the univariate decreasing mean remaining life (DMRL) class of s.d.f.'s. The duals of these classes are introduced. Some properties, physical interpretation, and relationships among these classes are investigated. Also for each case, the class of s.d.f.'s common in a class and its dual is characterized.     

Euthanasia and the medical profession: an Australian study

Advances in medical knowledge and technology are enabling more people to live longer in modern societies. This situation has also created dilemmas for medical practitioners in treating severely or chronically ill patients where the harm caused to them by treatment appears to outweigh the benefits. After reviewing some of the major legal and ethical issues confronting medical practitioners in Australia, this paper reports findings of a survey of Australian doctors' attitudes towards euthanasia. The findings show that a significant number of doctors receive requests from either the patients or their families to hasten death through active or passive euthanasia. A large majority of them also regard some form of passive euthanasia as an acceptable medical decision concerning the end of life. Twenty per cent of general practitioners and 17 per cent of specialists surveyed have taken active steps in the past to hasten the death of a patient. This paper explores the circumstances in which doctors are prepared to perform euthanasia and concludes with a discussion of the legal, ethical and professional issues raised by the survey's findings.