Dual Membership Research Articles

Why do some African firms export? The role of regional economic communities?

AbstractThis article examines whether African manufacturing firms are strategically located for regional market access. The study uses a large dataset from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys and is based on 6800 firms from 26 African countries. The study findings show that firms located in countries with dual membership to Regional Economic Communities (RECs) exhibit a significantly higher propensity to export than firms in countries affiliated with a single REC. Additionally, our findings suggest that RECs enhance export participation by mitigating customs delays. However, constraints in the business environment can hinder the propensity of firms to export. In particular, the study identifies informal competition and power outages as substantial barriers that increase the cost of doing business and diminish the potential benefits of REC membership. These results underscore the importance of advancing economic integration across Africa to bolster export participation. Additional improvements in the domestic business environments should address the constraints that hinder firms' international competitiveness.

Dual Membership: German Respiratory Society and European Respiratory Society (ERS)

Dual Membership: German Respiratory Society and European Respiratory Society (ERS)

The Relationship Between the Risk Disclosure and Risk Management Committee on Banks Value: Empirical Evidence From Jordan

Purpose: Government levels may better fulfill the expanding expectations for public service governance, performance management, and accountability with the use of risk management backed by an integrated management accounting and control system. To explain how the risk management committee and risk disclosure affect bank value, this paper draws on agency theory and signaling theory, by using the market to book ratio (MTBR) to measure bank value. Theoretical Framework: This article explains how the characteristics of risk management committees (RMCC) (size, independence, qualifications, meetings, executive membership, expertise, and dual membership) and voluntary risk disclosure influence each other on the value of Jordanian banks from 2014-2021. Design/methodology/approach: The descriptive statistics of risk disclosure practices were calculated by the study sample using data from 18 banks collected between 2014 and 2021. The study variables' observations have an unbalanced distribution as well. 120 observations across all study variables are included in this paper. To calculate the bank value in this study, we use the Market to Book Ratio (MTBR). The regression analysis employed the multiple regression model. Findings: The results indicate that risk management committee qualifications in accounting or finance significantly negatively affect bank value, while other variables have a significant impact on the value of Jordanian banks, such as risk management committee expertise, risk management committee dual membership with the compensation committee, risk management committee independence, and executive membership in the composition of the risk management committee. Originality/value: This paper provides new empirical evidence in financial and accounting literature regarding the effect of the RMCC characteristics on Jordanian banks' value. Also, The main contribution of the paper is the discovery that the influence of an RMCC tends to encourage more disclosure of risk management to minimize risks.

On the choice of central counterparties in the EU

We study competition between European Union’s Central CounterParties (CCPs) on the credit default swap (CDS) market. Using data on market shares, we show that CCPs have a monopoly for single-name CDSs and compete on indices along various dimensions. Using transactions data, we focus on the major dealers who alternatively clear their transactions on the two main CCPs. Estimating their choice of CCP reveals that fees, CCPs’ robustness and activity, dealers’ risk, and market volatility are significant. Dealers’ positions indicate that saving on collateral costs is secondary relative to the benefits of dual membership and quality.

Interstitial Institutions

Lately, cultural sociologists have been engaged in theorizing the complexity and ambiguities of border-crossing translations from a variety of research strings. This article contributes to this theorizing by developing the concept of interstitial institutions as ongoing sites of translations. Building on the history of gift-giving practices of Danish philanthropic organizations from the enactment of the Danish constitution in 1849 till today, the article broadens and expands on civil sphere theory (CST) in three ways. First, it shows how interstitial institutions are an important site of translation because they work as a lock on the border between the non-civil and civil spheres, and this dual membership inevitably leads to ongoing boundary tensions. Second, the study of interstitial institutions provides insights into how civil repair is molded by cultural-historical contexts and narratives and consequently fertilizes particular ways of mobilizing cultural codes. Third, studying interstitial institutions and their translation practices emphasizes and strengthens CST’s processual ground.

An Efficient Zero-Knowledge Dual Membership Proof Supporting Pos-and-Neg Membership Decision

In this paper, we address the problem of secure decision of membership. We present a Zero-Knowledge Dual Membership Proof (ZKDMP) protocol, which can support positive and negative (Pos-and-Neg) membership decisions simultaneously. To do it, two secure aggregation functions are used to compact an arbitrarily-sized subset into an element in a cryptographic space. By using these aggregation functions, a subset can achieve a secure representation, and the representation size of the subsets is reduced to the theoretical lower limit. Moreover, the zeros-based and poles-based secure representation of the subset are used to decide Pos-and-Neg membership, respectively. We further verify the feasibility of combining these two secure representations of the subset, so this result is used to construct our dual membership decision cryptosystem. Specifically, our ZKDMP protocol is proposed for dual membership decisions, which can realize a cryptographic proof of strict Pos-and-Neg membership simultaneously. Furthermore, the zero-knowledge property of our construction ensures that the information of the tested element will not be leaked during the implementation of the protocol. In addition, we provide detailed security proof of our ZKDMP protocol, including positive completeness, negative completeness, soundness and zero-knowledge.

A Multi-Criteria Dual Membership Cloud Selection Model based on Fuzzy Logic for QoS

A Multi-Criteria Dual Membership Cloud Selection Model based on Fuzzy Logic for QoS

Policy-driven Data Sharing over Attribute-Based Encryption supporting Dual Membership

Attribute-Based Encryption (ABE) plays an important role in current secure data sharing through fine-grained customizable policies. However, the existing ABE schemes only support simple predicates, = and ≠, but cannot express a more general membership predicates, ∈ and ∉, in policies. The low expressivity of ABE will enlarge the ciphertext storage and reduce the communication efficiency. To overcome this problem, we propose an ABE supporting Dual Membership (DM-ABE). The core problem for implementing this scheme is how to use cryptographic methods to decide the membership between the verified element and the given set. In order to solve this problem, we design a cryptographic algorithm, called Secure Decision of Membership (SDM), based on aggregation functions. In this algorithm, any set can be aggregated into one cryptographic element, and the verified element and the given set can be converted into another cryptographic element in decision process. The membership between them can be decided by the above two cryptographic elements. Furthermore, we construct the DM-ABE by using SDM. Because of the good expressivity of our DM-ABE, we further propose a novel cryptographic data sharing framework by integrating DM-ABE and attribute-based access control to provide fine-grained access control and security protection for private data. In the security proof of DM-ABE, we prove that the DM-ABE satisfies the semantic security against chosen-plaintext attacks under the DBDHE assumption in the standard model through a unified way, considering both two encryption methods for ∈ and ∉ at the same time. Finally, we analyze our scheme in terms of time and space complexity, and compare it with some existing schemes. The results show that our DM-ABE has a better expressive ability on the boolean logic of general membership predicates, ∈ and ∉.

Comparison Uncertainty of Different Types of Membership Functions in T2FLS: Case of International Financial Market

This article deals with the determination and comparison of different types of functions of the type-2 interval of fuzzy logic, using a case study on the international financial market. The model is demonstrated on the time series of the leading stock index DJIA of the US market. Type-2 Fuzzy Logic membership features are able to include additional uncertainty resulting from unclear, uncertain or inaccurate financial data that are selected as inputs to the model. Data on the financial situation of companies are prone to inaccuracies or incomplete information, which is why the type-2 fuzzy logic application is most suitable for this type of financial analysis. This paper is primarily focused on comparing and evaluating the performance of different types of type-2 fuzzy membership functions with integrated additional uncertainty. For this purpose, several model situations differing in shape and level or degree of uncertainty of membership functions are constructed. The results of this research show that type-2 fuzzy sets with dual membership functions is a suitable expert system for highly chaotic and unstable international stock markets and achieves higher accuracy with the integration of a certain level of uncertainty compared to type-1 fuzzy logic.

Review – Tom Lodge, Red Road to Freedom, A History of the South African Communist Party 1921–2021, Jacana, Johannesburg

In the year of the South African Communist Party’s centenary, Tom Lodge’s in-depth, scholarly work is a landmark achievement. The account is particularly strong in tracing the ideological currents that shaped the party and the changing and diverse sociology of its membership. The influential role of the party in helping transform the African National Congress into a mass-based campaigning formation from 1945 is a central focus. Lodge also traces the critical role of the party in the re-building, at first largely in exile, of a weakened ANC following the major strategic setback of the liberation movement in the mid-1960s. There is less focus on the reciprocal impact of the ANC upon the party, especially in the context of the practice of “dual membership” in both formations. This neglect is one factor in weakening the analysis of the post-1994 period in which the ANC has been the ruling party.

Coarse–fine surrogate model driven multiobjective evolutionary fuzzy clustering algorithm with dual memberships for noisy image segmentation

To improve the segmentation performance and boost evolutionary efficiency of multiobjective evolutionary clustering algorithms on noisy images, this paper proposes a coarse–fine surrogate model driven multiobjective evolutionary fuzzy clustering algorithm with dual membership functions (CFS-MOEFC). The existing fuzzy clustering validity-based fitness functions generally consider one single fuzzy membership function, which cannot fully process the uncertainty in an image. Moreover, most existing fitness functions used in image segmentation only utilize one type of spatial information derived from the image, which cannot behave robust on images with uncertain types of noise. To deal with the above problems, dual fuzzy membership functions are first designed by utilizing the local and non-local image spatial information. Then, the designed dual membership functions and the two kinds of spatial information are both used to construct spatial information-motivated fitness functions for image segmentation. To promote the time efficiency, the coarse–fine surrogate model is employed to assist the evolutionary optimization process, such as approximating the fitness functions instead of real function evaluations and evolving satisfactory cluster centers for CFS-MOEFC. Besides, a dual memberships-driven cluster validity index combining the local and non-local spatial information is designed for selecting an optimal solution from the final non-dominated solution set of CFS-MOEFC. Experiments on Berkeley and Magnetic Resonance (MR) images indicate that CFS-MOEFC greatly improves the segmentation accuracy on images with multiple types of noise, preserves more significant detailed image information, and behaves well on time cost comparing with state-of-the-art methods.

The most favoured nation clause in tax matters from the perspective of the EU and the GATT

The most favoured nation clause has been one of the most complex elements of tax law. This results from the fact that it concerns the sensitive matter of the sovereignty of states related to fiscal matters and originates from various legal acts that have been established at international, European Union (EU) and national law levels. Additionally, it is related to the EU’s dual membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The added value of the article is the endeavour to define the mutual relationship between the most favoured nation clause expressed in Art. 1 (1) of the GATT, resulting from EU law and Art. 24 of the OECD MC that is the template for bilateral agreements of double tax avoidance. The aim of the research is a comparison of the above-mentioned regulations in order to establish what kind of relationship exists between those regulations. In conclusion, it should be considered that in the current legal state, Art. 1 (1) of the GATT does not constitute the basis for the interpretation of bilateral double taxation avoidance agreements, unless their provisions are consistent with each other. The following research methods have been applied in the article: legal comparison, descriptive and analytical.

Consider the Benefits of a Dual Membership Program

Consider the Benefits of a Dual Membership Program

Dual Membership Fuzzy Support Vector Machine Algorithm Based on SVDD

In the case of excessive overlap between positive and negative samples in data set, the deviation in the category of reconstructed sample points will lead to unsatisfactory discrimination of SVM, no matter what methods are used to reconstruct the sample set. A dual membership fuzzy support vector machine algorithm based on support vector data domain description was thus proposed, followed by a simulation analysis of common data set. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can work well in classification when the sample set is overlapped.

Effect of Corporate Governance Attributes on Environmental Disclosure of Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

This research examined the effect of corporate governance attributes on environmental disclosure of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The data for the study were collected from annual reports and accounts of the sample twenty (20) companies listed on the Nigerian Stock exchange for the period of seven years from 2012 to 2018. Empirical analyses were carried out using correlation matrix, regression analysis. Regression analysis was used in testing hypothesis using Stata 11.0. The result of fixed effect rgression reveals independent directors has significant positive effect on the environmental disclosure of listed manufacturing companies. While foreign directors, directors with dual membership and educational background of the directors have positive insignificant effect on environmental disclosure of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study therefore, recommends that management of company should have environmental committee to help them monitor and identify environmental need in their host communities. Government should come with policy that will make every company participate in environmental activities and monitor such. Keywords: Environmental disclosure, independent director and foreign directors DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-27-07 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

Sectoral Effects of Public Policy Reforms in Benin: Case of the Health System

The closure of illegal health facilities and the elimination of dual membership of health professionals have been part of health reforms since 2016 in Benin. This research was intended to deeply analyze the immediate effects of new reforms in hospitals and assess governance implications. Methods: The research was a retrospective analysis conducted by a mixed method, using both qualitative and quantitative primary data from three public hospitals and one confessional, from the national public health office and of administration and finances office. Health human resources and their complaints, attendance at health care units, monthly hospital revenues and corrupt practices were used as variables. The research covered the first semesters of 2018 and 2019. The sample was made by reasoned choice. Results: Attendance increased at public hospitals from 12% to 80% and their monthly revenues up to 200% in 2019 and hospitals staffs were present with overload of work. The private hospital suffered a drop of-33% in attendance and-5% in monthly revenues, followed by a staff shortage. Discussion: The reforms have given confidence to public health facilities users and revealed the weak hospitals capacity and difficulties in managing patient flows and staff. Conclusion: There’s a start in improving practices for better hospital performance. Government involvement and technical platforms strengthening are crucial for sustainable results and private hospitals must recruit their own staff.

Lexical Processing of English Derived Words by Korean EFL Learners and NSE

Debate has continued about how L1 speakers process morphologically complex words. Consensus has been divided between single- and dual-route processing models. We conducted lexical decision experiments with a wide variety of English derived words to investigate how Korean EFL learners and L1 English speakers access complex words. First, we show that English prefixed or suffixed words are processed with greater cost than simplex words for both English L1 speakers and EFL learners. Second, suffixed words are processed with faster response times and higher accuracy than prefixed words. Third, complex words are accessed differently in terms of affixal salience according to the individual affixes that belong to the same morphological classes. Finally, the homophony of affixes with dual membership induces Korean EFL learners, not English L1 speakers to process complex words with more difficulty than those with single-membership affixes. These results suggest that derived words are processed via morphological decomposition into stems and affixes whereas simplex words are directly accessed as whole word units, supporting the dual-route processing models. Additionally, this study implies that prefixes are more likely to be parsed from the bases than suffixes. Furthermore, it is suggested that the processing efficiency of derivational words varies according to each affix type, which complements the formal structural theory of lexical morphology. Finally, it is indicated that the confusability of affixes with dual membership hinders the processing of the derivational words.

Letter from France

Letter from France

Reasons for disrupting detente on the Korean Peninsula

The article is devoted to the causes of the breakdown of detente on the Korean Peninsula. The author reveals the economic, social and political prerequisites for curtailing the dialogue between the DPRK and South Korea in the first half of the 1970s XX century. It also notes the role of the UN in resolving such key issues as the withdrawal of foreign troops from the territory of the Republic of Korea, as well as the dual membership of the North and the South in the UN. The author also considers the issue of unrealized opportunities for economic integration of the DPRK and South Korea. The material is supplemented with information about the ideological struggle between the countries, which was a significant reason for the growth of mutual distrust. The article reveals the features of the transformation of international relations, paying attention to the complexity of the forms and objectives of interstate cooperation. A special place is given to the study of the military aspect. The author characterizes the reasons why it was not possible to reduce the military tension on the Peninsula: the high level of the culture of militarism in the DPRK and the desire of South Korea to use joint us-Korean military exercises to strengthen its own political status. On the example of the situation described, the author gives a partial description of the particular detente, as a specific period of the Cold War. This material is useful not only for understanding the essence of detente, but also for assessing the prospects for the development of inter-Korean dialogue in our days.

Certification and Farmer Organisation: Indonesian Smallholder Perceptions of Benefits

Certification and participation in farmer organisations are associated with economic and social benefits for farmers. However, knowledge about the differences in the perceived benefits of participation in different organisations and certification schemes is limited. In this paper, we distinguish between three types of farmer organisations in the Indonesian coffee sector: farmer groups, cooperatives, and KUBEs. We compare the benefits farmers perceive from participating in these forms of organisations, including the benefits for unorganised farmers and farmers in different certification schemes (Fair Trade, UTZ, the Rainforest Alliance, and 4C). We find that certified farmers perceive higher benefits than uncertified farmers, and that organised farmers perceive higher benefits than unorganised smallholders. Farmers who hold dual membership (in a farmer group and a KUBE or cooperative) perceive greater benefits than farmers who participate in farmer groups. Although farmers in different certification schemes significantly differ in the benefits they perceive, we could not identify clear patterns based on the schemes. We conclude that integration of the different organisational forms, as well as a more concentrated collaboration between the ministries underlying each organisational form, may improve the benefits perceived by farmers in the Indonesian coffee sector.