Institutional Variables Research Articles

Youth voting and institutional change in the post-Arab Spring MENA region

Using a unique and novel dataset on the youth, the SAHWA Youth Survey (2016), we apply probit and ordered probit models to study the determinants of voting behaviour change among the youth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the post-Arab Spring era. We find that drivers of voting vary depending on whether we consider the voting behaviour in the last elections or the likelihood of voting in the next elections. Specifically, socioeconomic variables and some Arab Spring factors are significant for both types of elections. However, institutional variables and personal beliefs only affect the likelihood of voting in the next elections. We also document heterogeneous effects for the last and next votes by gender.

The Determinants of Central Bank Efficiency Scores: The Case of Tunisia

The global financial crisis of 2007 and the recent health crisis of 2019 revealed the inefficiency of the pure status of central banks. They have also prompted reflection on the question of a new "central banking". If the challenge for academic work is to redraw the theoretical contours, it is rather a question for central bankers to redefine the new framework of their action. In this sense, abundant literature has emerged examining the institutional arrangements most likely to make central banks effective. On the other hand, and to our knowledge, few analyses have focused on delineating a new intermediate status that would allow central banks to be more efficient.It is in this perspective of research on the efficiency of central banks that our article is written. The latter is an evaluation of the evolution of the efficiency scores of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) with the change of its status, over the period from 2000 to 2020. The first part of the paper is a review of the theoretical and empirical literature on the issue of measuring central bank efficiency. In the second part, we propose to calculate and interpret the evolution of the BCT's efficiency, with its change of status.The calculation of the efficiency scores leads to an average score of 0.765 and also reveals frequent changes in scores and alternating periods of increase and decrease. Our economic analysis, split into two periods before and after the BCT's independence, allows us to show that the efficiency scores recorded are not linked to its status, but rather are explained by macroeconomic, financial, monetary, and institutional variables.

Institutional Integration Factors That Impact Students’ Academic and Intellectual Developments: A Case Study of Three Cambodian Rural Universities

Following the end of the 28-year civil war in 1998, the number of Cambodian higher education institutions rose substantially to 125 over the next two decades (MoEYS, 2022). Furthermore, as a result of the ASEAN economic community's integration in 2015, Cambodia has been focusing more on enhancing its educational system in response to the rapid development of these educational institutions. As a result, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of institutional integration elements on students' academic and intellectual development in three rural universities in Cambodia. Despite numerous research undertaken in developed countries, only few cases have been conducted in least developed countries. This type of research has not been conducted, particularly in Cambodian context. That is why the research will be created and carried out to fill gaps in prior studies of industrialized and developing nations, particularly Cambodia, which has had difficult higher education institutions. This research would be helpful to improve educational experiences in Cambodian rural public universities. This research also helps to a better understanding of how institutional integration elements affect students' academic and intellectual development. The quantitative cross-sectional survey method was utilized in this investigation. A self-reported questionnaire was given out. The participants were 381 third-year students from three Cambodian rural institutions who were chosen at random using stratified random sampling. The data was analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modeling (SEM) tools. According to the statistical findings, three hypotheses had a substantial influence on student's academic and intellectual growth, while one hypothesis was rejected. The findings suggest potential institutional variables for integrating students into social and academic activities to support their academic and intellectual efforts. Furthermore, Cambodian public higher education institutions are encouraged to enhance their academics and academic-related concerns in order to prepare students to compete in regional and international markets. There are also limitations and suggestions for future research.

Pengaruh Tax Avoidance Terhadap Nilai Perusahaan Dengan Kepemilikan Institusional Sebagai Variabel Moderasi

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of tax avoidance on firm value with institutional ownership as a moderating variable in Conventional Banking for 2021-2022. This type of research uses quantitative research because it leads to measurement methods and samples to test variables and hypotheses. Source of data in this study using secondary data. The sample in this research is 38 Conventional Banking observations in the 2021-2022 period using a purposive sampling technique. The analysis technique used is the normality test, heteroscedasticity test, autocorrelation test, t test, simple and multiple linear regression analysis, and test the coefficient of determination (R2) using the SPSS version 25 program. The results of this study state that the tax avoidance variable has a positive and significant effect on company value in the banking sector for the 2021-2022 period and company value can be explained by the Tax Avoidance variable through a regression model of 44.2%. The institutional ownership variable is able to moderate and strengthen the relationship between tax avoidance on firm value in the banking sector for the 2021-2022 period and corporate value can be explained by the Tax Avoidance variable which is moderated by the Institutional Ownership variable, namely 76.4%.

The role of fiscal decentralization and natural resources markets in environmental sustainability in OECD

Environmental sustainability is a global priority. Fiscal decentralization and natural resources markets have become essential for combating climate change and ecological degradation. This study looks at how markets for natural resources and fiscal decentralization affected environmental sustainability in OECD nations between 1995 and 2021. It examines how fiscal decentralization (revenue and expenditure) relates to environmental indicators like carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and ecological footprint. The study also examines how exports and resource abundance mediate in the natural resource markets. Regression analysis(STIRPAT) is carried out while accounting for institutional and economic variables. According to the findings, more significant revenue and expenditure decentralization results in lower CO2 emissions and an ecological footprint, improving environmental sustainability. Furthermore, a healthy market for natural resources strengthens this connection. These results demonstrate how fiscal decentralization and efficient resource management are crucial for fostering environmental sustainability in OECD nations.

An explained extreme gradient boosting approach for identifying the time-varying determinants of sovereign risk

We use a combination of Extreme Gradient Boosting and SHAP Additive Explanations to uncover the determinants of sovereign risk across a wide range of countries from 2002 to 2021. By considering numerous variables established in existing literature within a single framework, we identify year-by-year determinants of sovereign credit risk. To gage the liquidity and solvency aspects of sovereign risk, we utilize 5- and 10-year yield spreads as proxies. Our findings show that the key variables driving sovereign risk have remained relatively stable over time and exhibit similarities in both liquidity and solvency components. Among the prominent variables, various macroeconomic fundamentals play a crucial role, including the current account, GDP growth, per capita GDP growth, and the real exchange rate. Prior to the Global Financial Crisis, macroeconomic variables, particularly the current account, held the highest importance in explaining sovereign risk. However, following the GFC, the relative importance of these variables diminished, giving way to institutional variables, especially the rule of law.

Pengaruh Sales Growth dan Intensitas Modal Terhadap Tax Avoidance dengan Kepemilikan Institusional sebagai Variabel Moderasi pada Perusahaan Sektor Barang Baku yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode 2018-2021

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of sales growth and capital intensity on tax avoidance, either directly or through institutional ownership variables as moderation. This study uses quantitative research methods with the type of data, namely secondary data, obtained from annual financial reports. The population and samples used in this study are annual financial reports on raw goods sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the 2018-2021 period with a sampling technique, namely purposive sampling technique. The results of the study revealed that sales growth has no effect on tax avoidance, capital intensity affects tax avoidance, institutional ownership does not moderate the effect of sales growth on tax avoidance, and institutional ownership moderates the effect of capital intensity on tax avoidance.

Impacts of hydro-meteorological phenomena and disaster policies on the Mexican agricultural sector

During the last decades disasters have severely stricken Mexico in terms of economic and human losses. This article aims to measure the impact of hydro-meteorological phenomena and the response policies on the agricultural sector in Mexico following a production function approach that uses panel data models and spatial analysis. As a salient feature, we use an unbalanced panel dataset for 107 crops across 2,430 municipalities from 2003 to 2018. As expected, we find that a disaster declaration is related to a decrease in agricultural productivity, but when a municipality is stricken by one or two disasters over the same period, productivity can be recovered and even increased within the following agricultural year. This result is explained by the policies implemented by the federal government. Likewise, institutional variables like risk atlases are proven to be effective for farmers to plan the cropping season. In addition, we also provide evidence that disaster declarations in neighboring municipalities also diminish local yields.

Opportunity to Use New Ways of Working: Do Sectors and Organizational Characteristics Shape Employee Perceptions?

The diffusion of New Ways of Working (NWW) is an important trend in contemporary organizations. Many related empirical studies have been produced, but none have focused on differences in employees’ perceptions of the opportunity to use NWW according to organization sector (private, semi-public, public). This study, based on neo institutionalism and HR attributions theory, investigated these differences via a survey (n = 2693) of employees at private (n = 358), semi-public (n = 204), and public (n = 2131) organizations. Based on the use of the PLS-SEM method, as well as ANOVA tests and pairwise comparisons of marginal linear predictions, we uncover differences in perceptions between employees in different sectors regarding the possibility of using NWW. Indeed, the results show that public employees reported less opportunity to use NWW than their private and semi-public counterparts. Furthermore, private sector employees were more likely to attribute well-being and productivity benefits to NWW than their public sector and semi-public counterparts. We also show that institutional and organizational variables specific to the characteristics of organizations in the three sectors partially explain the degree of perceptions with respect to the opportunity to use NWW.

Partisan distribution of ministerial portfolios in Asian-Pacific democracies

How are ministerial portfolios distributed among coalition parties in Asian-Pacific democracies? Studies of power-sharing in Asia tend to focus on democratization processes rather than executive cabinets, although government coalitions occur regularly in the region. Using an original dataset of governments in 27 Asian-Pacific democracies from 1945 to 2018, I examine the bargaining advantage of the formateur party - the party managing the government formation process - over other parties entering government. We know from existing studies, mainly on Europe, that government parties holding larger shares of legislative seats receive larger shares of cabinet posts. I argue that portfolio allocation also depends on institutional context, and use the substantial institutional variation across countries in my dataset to test implications of this argument. I find that formateur parties have a greater advantage over coalition partners in presidential systems than in parliamentary ones, but that this advantage diminishes as political constraints facing the formateur increase.

Sustainable energy development in an era of geopolitical multi-crisis. Applying productivity indices within institutional framework

The term “multi-crisis” refers to the occurrence of multiple crises simultaneously, often stemming from geopolitical risks. These risks can cause societal disruption and political instability in times of uncertainty, as evidenced by the water crisis, stagflation, COVID-19, population growth, and wars. Hence, it is critical to mitigate geopolitical risks and promote peace. These risks can have significant impacts on government effectiveness, the rule of law, and political stability. Our study focuses on how the above institutional variables can influence the overall productivity of G20 economies. We measure total factor productivity (TFP) using Malmquist (MPI) and Malmquist-Luenberger (MLPI) productivity indices with a bootstrap approach. We compare the TFP of G20 economies, decomposed into G7, BRICS, and other G20 countries excluding the European Union, and find that on average, the BRICS have achieved higher TFP than the G7. The G7 performance is primarily driven by innovation, while the BRICS performance can be attributed to catching-up activities. Interestingly, weaker democratic institutions are paradoxically linked to higher productivity performance in the G20.

The Trade Development Among OIC Countries: Exploring Challenges, Opportunities, and the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic

This paper investigates the factor determining the impact of trade development, challenges, and opportunities among various OIC countries. It studies the impact of socioeconomics, geo-political and cultural, factors using data between 2014 to 2022. The selected OIC countries from diverse regions, namely South and Southeast Asia, South America, Europe, Africa, and Central Asia. The study’s sample includes 50 countries out of a total of 57 OIC member nations. The paper employs a two-step GMM model to address endogeneity issues related to institutional variables. To account for the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on trade, we have included a Covid-19 dummy variable in the model. Our results reveal that the Covid-19 dummy variable is significant in all models, indicating its significant impact on trade. Furthermore, most of the variables included in the study are found to be significant in all models. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the factors that influence trade in OIC countries and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on trade.

Hospital Culture and Intensity of End-of-Life Care at 3 Academic Medical Centers

There is substantial institutional variability in the intensity of end-of-life care that is not explained by patient preferences. Hospital culture and institutional structures (eg, policies, practices, protocols, resources) might contribute to potentially nonbeneficial high-intensity life-sustaining treatments near the end of life. To understand the role of hospital culture in the everyday dynamics of high-intensity end-of-life care. This comparative ethnographic study was conducted at 3 academic hospitals in California and Washington that differed in end-of-life care intensity based on measures in the Dartmouth Atlas and included hospital-based clinicians, administrators, and leaders. Data were deductively and inductively analyzed using thematic analysis through an iterative coding process. Institution-specific policies, practices, protocols, and resources and their role in the everyday dynamics of potentially nonbeneficial, high-intensity life-sustaining treatments. A total of 113 semistructured, in-depth interviews (66 women [58.4%]; 23 [20.4%] Asian, 1 [0.9%] Black, 5 [4.4%] Hispanic, 7 [6.2%] multiracial, and 70 [61.9%] White individuals) were conducted with inpatient-based clinicians and administrators between December 2018 and June 2022. Respondents at all hospitals described default tendencies to provide high-intensity treatments that they believed were universal in US hospitals. They also reported that proactive, concerted efforts among multiple care teams were required to deescalate high-intensity treatments. Efforts to deescalate were vulnerable to being undermined at multiple points during a patient's care trajectory by any individual or entity. Respondents described institution-specific policies, practices, protocols, and resources that engendered broadly held understandings of the importance of deescalating nonbeneficial life-sustaining treatments. Respondents at different hospitals reported different policies and practices that encouraged or discouraged deescalation. They described how these institutional structures contributed to the culture and everyday dynamics of end-of-life care at their institution. In this qualitative study, clinicians, administrators, and leaders at the hospitals studied reported that they work in a hospital culture in which high-intensity end-of-life care constitutes a default trajectory. Institutional structures and hospital cultures shape the everyday dynamics by which clinicians may deescalate end-of-life patients from this trajectory. Individual behaviors or interactions may fail to mitigate potentially nonbeneficial high-intensity life-sustaining treatments if extant hospital culture or a lack of supportive policies and practices undermine individual efforts. Hospital cultures need to be considered when developing policies and interventions to decrease potentially nonbeneficial, high-intensity life-sustaining treatments.

Getting More Women on Boards: Cultural and Institutional Antecedents That Matter

The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the multiple cultural and institutional antecedents which can positively (or negatively) impact the incorporation of more women on corporate boards (WoCB). Many contemporary discourses about quotas versus voluntary actions by corporations as drivers of greater gender diversity on boards are largely based on cross-country mimicking. These discourses often fail to integrate country-level configurations and conditions, as drivers or barriers to change. We advance this research by seeking to understand the complexity of such multiple antecedents to getting WoCB. Results show multiple macro factors involved in getting WoCB in Europe. We test the complex inter-relations of factors such as legislation, cultural, societal, economic, political, and institutional variables, and their effects. Findings highlight important drivers of more women on boards such as gender equality in political empowerment and institutional settings; government-regulated maternity and paternity leave; specific legislative or soft quota policies; and societal cultural variables, such as (low) power distance and (high) assertiveness, as drivers of getting WoCB. These results prove the need to consider and complement legislative policies to specific cultural and institutional conditions in each country. To help policymakers, we provide insights into which multiple macro factors act as drivers or barriers in their organizations or societies for getting more WoCB. This will help decision makers in organizations or policymaking bodies to match gender diversity goals to the multiple country-level conditions they need to navigate, hence making a better world together.

Does politics matter? A comparative assessment of discretionary fiscal policies in the euro area

When using discretionary fiscal policies in the countries belonging to the European Union, any change affecting the current fiscal stance must run into the boundary designed by fiscal rules. This would imply that discretionary fiscal policies - being mainly driven by the need to comply with fiscal rules - might be scarcely affected by politics and the political characteristics of a country. We empirically test this hypothesis on a sample of 19 European countries observed over years 1995–2019. Using different econometric techniques and alternative specifications, we find a strong and robust fiscal pro-cyclicality. More importantly, the pro-cyclicality of the fiscal policy is not significantly affected neither by the behaviour of macroeconomic fundamentals nor by institutional and political variables. From a policy viewpoint, it seems that the mechanisms introduced to guarantee fiscal sustainability in the euro area can overcome all possible political influences on both the size and the sign of implementable fiscal policies. This would suggest that politics does not matter to shape the public budget, at least not so much as the fiscal rules.

Developing Students’ Capacity Against Examination Malpractice Behaviours Through Selected Psychosocial Strategies

Examination malpractice refers to all forms of cheating and illegal examination related offences that gives student unmerited grades, promotion or higher placement. Some causes of examination malpractice include those connected to institutional, societal and personal variables. As expected, several solutions have been suggested to curb it and those tested have shown some results. But yet, the strategies have not done much in addressing the personal variables, particularly those that should target changing the cognitive and affective antisocial orientation and build their capabilities on ethics and study. These are expected to help students desist from examination malpractice behaviors. One researcher noted that it is almost a routine for students to cheat. The present researcher perceive that the right intervention has not been used to curb examination malpractice among students across all level of the education, which may be the reason it still persists. In fact, examination malpractice is equally evolving in sophistication and assuming innovative dimensions, so this intervention is apt. Suffice to emphasize that examination malpractice in the education system if not curbed continues to undermine the achievement of quality education and production of quality graduates. The consequences of it among middle and high skilled work force has caused the society so much disappointment and loss. Losses incurred in retraining programs to enhance work adjustment of employees, inability to perform as a graduate when called up to, to mention some. Therefore, intervention in student’s classroom learning is needed such as lessons on how to process information and to make use of memory strategies in studying. This is with the view to besides achieving good academic performance, but to help more of them to be self-reliant, productive and employable in this 21st century economy and beyond. The paper concludes that unlearning examination malpractice behavior among students is achievable. Adoption of these intervention strategies can increase students’ confidence, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Overall quality education would be engendered. Suggestions such as instructors should be more creative in teaching and students should imbibe good study habits were made.

Effects of individual, institutional and nursing work environment variables on nurses’ quality of work life

ABSTRACT The nurses’ quality of work life (QWL) is critical for a sustainable nursing workforce and effective healthcare delivery. As nurses make up the majority of the healthcare workforce, their QWL is an important issue for both nurses and nurse managers. Therefore, nurse managers need to assess, monitor, and improve the QWL of their nurses. This study aimed to determine the impact of the nursing work environment on nurses’ QWL. This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted among 330 nurses working in a private university hospital. A healthy nursing work environment and individual and institutional factors positively influence nurses’ QWL. This study showed that nurses’ participation in hospital affairs, satisfaction with the institution, satisfaction with the social facilities, ability to meet the institution's career goals, work unit, and perceived salary were all factors that influenced nurses’ QWL. This study contributes to the understanding of the impact of nurses’ work environment and individual and institutional variables on their QWL. Healthcare administration and nurse managers can help improve the quality of nurses’ working lives by developing strategies to create healthy work environments.

The mystery of misreported trade: A novel method to identify distorted trade figures

AbstractThis research shows that misreporting of trade is rampant, which markedly reduces the quality of reported bilateral trade data. We devise a novel methodology to correct for misreported bilateral trade while accounting for the composition of product types and for trading partners. Based on bilateral data for 196 countries in the world at the product level over the period 1996–2017, we find that (i) our corrected trade data are significantly more reliable than reported data; (ii) our corrected data are significantly more reliable than data based on conventional misreporting correction methods; (iii) corrected trade balances are often quite distinct from their reported counterparts; (iv) capital flight is the most important source of misreporting and (v) the misreporting propensity tends to cluster geographically, with the main offenders often deviating from common perceptions in the literature. Based on estimates of the gravity model, we show that geographical characteristics are more influential than institutional variables in explaining misreporting.

Arab Spring, democratization of corruption, and income inequality

AbstractHow do political crises affect the interaction between economic and political outcomes? In this paper, we study one of the consequences of political turmoil by empirically examining whether the Arab Spring influenced the relationship between corruption and income inequality. Using panel data from 1996 to 2019 for the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries, we find that while corruption is positively associated with income inequality, the interaction term between corruption and the Arab Spring is negatively associated with income inequality. This result is consistent with the view that corruption has become more democratized after the Arab Spring. We use instrumental variable (IV) analysis to address potential endogeneity issues. Our findings suggest that not only studying the direct effects of political crises on economic and institutional variables is important, but studying their effects on shaping the association between economic and institutional variables can be insightful.

Does Capital Account Liberalization and Foreign Banks Ownership Lead to Income Disparity? An Analysis of BRICS Economies

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact of capital account liberalization and foreign bank ownership on income inequality. In this study, we have analyzed BRICS countries. In this study, we have used an unbalanced panel dataset. The timeline was 1991-2020, and the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) were analyzed. To measure the data on capital account liberalization, we have used the KAOPEN index. We used income inequality as the independent variable in the study, and we measured it through Gini Coefficient. At the same time, the capital account liberalization is taken as the dependent variable and measured it through the KAOPEN index. The author analyzed per capita income, unemployment rate, inflation, and population growth as controlled variables. In robustness analysis, institutional quality variables such as corruption and government stability ratings were included. The study found that sustainable capital account liberalization and foreign banks ownership could help to reduce income inequality.