Relative Investment Research Articles

Male-male social bonding, coalitionary support and reproductive success in wild Guinea baboons.

Male–male bonds may confer substantial fitness benefits. The adaptive value of these relationships is often attributed to coalitionary support, which aids in rank ascension and female defence, ultimately resulting in greater reproductive success. We investigated the link between male–male sociality and both coalitionary support and reproductive success in wild Guinea baboons. This species lives in a tolerant multi-level society with reproductive units comprising a male and 1–6 females at the core. Males are philopatric, form differentiated, stable and equitable affiliative relationships (strong bonds) with other males, and lack a clear rank hierarchy. Here, we analysed behavioural and paternity data for 30 males and 50 infants collected over 4 years in the Niokolo-Koba National Park, Senegal. Strongly bonded males supported each other more frequently during conflicts, but strong bonds did not promote reproductive success. Instead, males that spent less time socializing with other males were associated with a higher number of females and sired more offspring. Notably, reproductively active males still maintained bonds with other males, but adjusted their social investment in relation to life-history stage. Long-term data will be needed to test if the adaptive value of male bonding lies in longer male tenure and/or in promoting group cohesion.

Designing for loyalty programme effectiveness in the financial services industry

This study extends and tests a model determining how customer perceived benefits affect perceived relationship investment and brand relationship quality as mediators to behavioural and attitudinal loyalty with type and timing of rewards as moderators. A quantitative methodology and survey approach was applied using randomly selected stratified sampling resulting in 277 financial services loyalty programme member respondents. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. The results highlight social and exploration benefits to be much stronger determinants of customer loyalty than monetary and entertainment benefits, with recognition having no effect and timing of rewards moderating the influence of monetary and exploratory benefits. The type of reward moderated the influence of entertainment and exploratory rewards. The study’s theoretical contribution provides for an empirically validated comprehensive conceptual model of loyalty programme effectiveness for the financial services industry and very important loyalty programme design findings for practitioners.

Transcranial direct current stimulation of the LTPJ shifts the agent’s behaviors in repeated hold-up game

The Hold-up problem is very common in transactions with specific investment in incomplete contractual relationships, which is affected by human trusting, cooperative, altruistic behavior. Recent neuroscience studies have shown that TPJ plays an important role in social cognition and prosocial decision-making. However, most of the studies have focused on RTPJ in the right hemisphere, while few studies have focused on LTPJ in the left hemisphere. The purpose of this study is to modulate the excitability of LTPJ through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and to explore the effects of LTPJ on the investment and offer behavior of participants in the repeated hold-up game. Our results showed that cathodal stimulation significantly improved the investment rate of participants in the repeated hold-up game compared with sham stimulation. One possible explanation is that the change of LTPJ activity caused by cathodal stimulation may reduce the participants' inference ability of the others' intention, thus reducing the participants' betrayal aversion behavior, so that the participants will not reduce their investment behavior in the repeated game.

Geographical aspect of the dynamics of investments in agro-industrial complex of large territories

The importance of agriculture to the modern economy actualizes investigation of the related investment processes. The example of the regions of the Southern Federal District is used to study the spatio-temporal dynamics of industry-based unit investments (taking into account agricultural area, number of employees and production cost equivalent). Series of special cartographical models are used for interpretation. The results revealed significant dynamism of investments during five years. It has become possible to trace geographical regularities of their changes and describe them by image models («wave», «spreading drop» and «waves from scattered drops»). Generally, the studied spatio-temporal dynamics of investments demonstrates oscillatory character.

Product innovation, diffusion and endogenous growth

We develop a model of Schumpeterian growth featuring a stochastic diffusion process where the rate of commercial success of product innovations is endogenously determined by advertising intensity. We consider both informative advertising, which young technological leaders use to increase the probability of diffusion, and defensive advertising, which incumbents use to prevent the diffusion of competing products. Economic growth depends positively on the arrival rate of product innovations and the diffusion rate of innovations into the mainstream market. We show that R&D subsidies shift relative investment incentives towards innovation and away from diffusion. This creates an inverted U-shaped relationship between R&D subsidies and both economic growth and welfare as innovations arrive more frequently, but fewer commercialize successfully. We find that advertising subsidies increase diffusion, growth, and welfare when advertising is purely informative. In the presence of defensive advertising, advertising subsidies lead to socially wasteful increases in resources devoted to advertising without large increases in diffusion, reducing growth and welfare.

Venture capital investment in university spin-offs: Evidence from an emerging economy

From a policy perspective, university spin-offs (USOs) with venture capital (VC) investment are most promising because they are growth-oriented and contribute most prominently to economic growth. Hence, effective policies should consider the motivation of VC investment in USOs. By employing a manually collected novel database that includes all listed high-tech USOs and related VC investment activities prior to initial public offering (IPO) in China over the past three decades, we observe a close relationship between a multi-layered second-tier stock market and a vibrant VC market for USO financing. We find that USOs receive less investment from government VCs and mixed-VC syndicates and receive their investment in an earlier stage than non-USOs but that private VCs have no funding bias against USOs. The result implies the presence of crowding-in effect of government VCs in the context of USO financing. Moreover, VC investment in USOs is more pronounced in deals that have a higher initial equity commitment of academic founders and a noncontrolling strategy, highlighting the importance of delivering “value”, “commitment”, and “trust” signals in winning VC funding. Finally, as private VCs in the form of limited partnerships behave like typical pre-IPO-stage investors, they barely demonstrate any significant preference over these factors.

TOOLS FOR MARKETING MANAGEMENT OF THE INNOVATION AND INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

The paper examines the processes of managing innovation and investment activity of enterprises with the complex use of marketing management tools. It is clarified that modern competitive challenges force enterprises to strengthen innovation and investment activity, which is no longer considered as one of the possible goals, but as a critical and vital condition for the enterprise operation. Theoretical provisions and conceptual-and-categorical apparatus of the research of marketing management tools for the marketing management of innovation and investment activity of enterprises are generalized. It is established that innovation and investment activity of the enterprise can be defined as the processes of directing and regulating relations aimed to create and implement innovations and investments into the objects of business and other types of activities in order to make a profit or get some other effects. The necessity of reorientation of traditional management of innovation and investment activity as management built on the principles of marketing and comprehensive application of its tools is substantiated. It is proposed to divide the tools of marketing management of innovation and investment activity into two groups, in particular tools of marketing management and tools used for its implementation. Marketing tools for managing the innovation and investment activity of enterprises include marketing research and marketing information system, while marketing tools for the implementation of management include marketing product, price, distribution and communication policies of the enterprise. Possible levels of marketing management of innovation and investment activity of enterprises based on marketing approaches and the use of marketing management tools are identified due to the application of Harrington’s desirability function. It is substantiated that the priorities in the management of innovation and investment activity of the enterprise should involve interpretation of consumer demands, direct response and feedback of innovations and related investments with the opportunities, needs and values of consumers, demand development, diffusion of innovations and long-term orientation through the use of appropriate marketing management tools.

Contractual controls and pragmatic professionalism: A qualitative study on contracting social services in China

This study used the contracting projects of a district branch of the Women's Federation in Guangzhou as case examples to demonstrate both the Chinese state's contractual controls over social work organisations (SWOs) and the pragmatic response strategies of SWOs and professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen participants, including local officials of the Women's Federation and social workers from contracted SWOs. It was found that with the ultimate goal of consolidating the legitimacy of the Communist Party of China, the Women's Federation's dual role in politics and service provision had led to normative, managerial, technical and relational controls over SWOs. SWOs and professionals were generally submissive to these controls, but they employed diverse coping strategies, including compliance, bargaining, transformation and investment in personal relationships. The interactions within the contractual relationship created a pragmatic professionalism that embraced dominant political ideologies, employed de-politicising techniques, and personally depended on individual officials.

Variation in nest building, aggression, learning, and steroid hormone levels in Betta splendens

Individuals within a population present behavioral responses that vary according to intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as ontogenetic phase, nutritional status, reproductive stage, and previous experiences. These differences can be explained by endogenous changes, such as hormone release, that can modulate reproductive behaviors, stress response, and cognitive processes. In order to investigate the relationship between behavior and hormonal levels in the fighting fish Betta splendens, the present study characterized nest building, aggressive behavior, learning of a task, and levels of cortisol and 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) in 86 male Fighting fish. At the beginning of the experiment (days 1–4), fish were characterized as nest builders, intermediate builders, or non-builders. They were then sequentially tested for aggression (days 7–8), learning performance (days 11–21), and circulating hormone levels (day 23). Nest builders showed the lowest hormonal levels at the end of the experiment and low aggressiveness; Intermediate builders presented low cortisol, but high KT levels and best learned the task; Non-builders were the most aggressive animals with higher cortisol levels (at day 23). Our data suggest that in B. splendens, aggressive behavior and learning performance are related to the relative investment in reproduction and variation in circulating levels of corticosteroids and androgens.

Carbon trading: A tool to control global warming

In current scenario Global Warming has given rise to a new form of commerce i.e. the carbon trade. Carbon trading is advance format where firms or countries buy and sell carbon permits as part of a program to trim out carbon emission. It is a widespread method countries utilize in order to meet their obligations specified by international Kyoto Protocol (1997) of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; namely the reduction of carbon emissions in order to mitigate future climate changes. It specifically targets carbon dioxide calculated in terms of CO2 equivalent or CO2. India signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol in August 2002. Since India is exempted from framework of the treaty, it is expected to gain from the protocol in terms of transfer of technology and related foreign investments. India was an early player in the market and was doing well, but after the entry of China in 2005, it gradually out performed Indian the carbon market. The objective of the paper is to discuss the regulatory mechanism of carbon trading in international market with special reference to opportunities for the emissions market in Indian context.

An assessment of the factors influencing loyalty among active sport event tourists: The case of Mallorca 312 in Spain

AbstractTourist retention and boosted tourist loyalty are fundamental factors for sport event marketing. Using multiple linear and ordered logistic regression methods, this study examined factors that affected loyalty among active sport event tourists. The results revealed: (a) satisfaction had the greatest impacts on loyalty, with its effect on word‐of‐mouth recommendations outweighing re‐participation; (b) service quality and relationship investment quality directly affected loyalty, especially word‐of‐mouth recommendations, while social network quality did not; (c) pull factors and some socio‐demographic and behavioral characteristics also influenced loyalty. Findings in this study are important references for the sustainable development of sport event tourism, offering useful guidelines.

PEMBERLAKUAN FTZ DI KAWASAN EKONOMI KHUSUS (KEK) BATAM DALAM PENINGKATAN PARIWISATA

Batam is a very strategic location because it is close to Singapore, so it is the center of the government's attention to devote its thoughts to its economic principles and of course to develop, revive tourism in this strategic sense, where we know tourism has declined drastically since the Corona Virus 2019. This study uses a descriptive type of research, which seeks to describe and analyze the development of Special Economic Zones in Batam after the implementation of the Free Trade Zone. The data analysis technique that has been used is qualitative data analysis techniques. The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Batam is an investment hope in Indonesia. Pioneering Special Economic Zones have been the reinstatement of free trade and free ports. Facilities and convenience are factors that will attract investors and investors are expected to come to Indonesia, especially Batam, with all applicable permits and related investment activities. Facilities or incentives provided by laws and regulations to investors, such as privileges such as tax holiday treatment for a certain period of time, suspension or exemption from import duties, including taxes, to regions and the public must also be given special attention. The implementation of the SEZ after the implementation of the Free Trade Area on Batam Island has not been carried out properly because the legal certainty of the SEZ has not been ratified into law by the DPR RI, this is what makes investors doubt that the level of legal certainty in Indonesia is very low because of the ease of regulation. issued can change automatically. We hope that in the future we must have strong principles for the sake of our country's economy.

Pozitivno i asertivno discipliniranje učenika s poteškoćama pažnje

The aim of the research is to examine the characteristics of students and teachers in predicting positive and assertive disciplinary procedures in inclusive elementary school classes in Croatia. The study was conducted with teachers from 125 elementary schools in Croatia (N = 539), who assessed themselves and their students, with at least 7 out of 9 symptoms of inattention. Teachers assessed their relationship with each student and gave assessments on the Vanderbilt ADHD Teacher Rating Scale (hyperactivity-impulsivity, antisocial and emotional problems), and the Scale of Misbehavior Management Strategy (positive and assertive disciplinary procedures). Rewards, praise, and positive reinforcement are more often applied by teachers to students with more pronounced symptoms of antisociality and poorer academic performance when they assess that they have a positive interpersonal relationship with these students. For sanctions and negative consequences to be applied to students, it was only important that the students showed more symptoms of antisociality. Quality inclusive work through the application of positive disciplinary measures requires knowledge of the developmental characteristics of students and investment in a positive interpersonal relationship with them.

150 Engagement to Reduce COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy - The Value of Investments In Long Term Community Relationships

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The Colorado Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities (CO-CEAL) Team has worked with 5 racial/ethnic communities in Colorado to understand COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and develop messages, materials and dissemination strategies to impact vaccine hesitancy. Relationships have been key facilitators of this work. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: CO-CEAL was funded for one year as a part of the national CEAL Teams effort. CO-CEAL engaged urban Hispanic/LatinX, rural Hispanic/LatinX, urban African/American, rural African Immigrant and urban American Indian/Alaska Native communities through Community Connectors in each community. Our Community Connectors led recruitment of community members for our community survey data collection (goal of 200 surveys from each community) and participation in our 5 Community (Boot Camp) Translations. Where possible we worked with Community Connectors and leveraged community relationships with whom we had worked over multiple years and projects. In two communities we worked to quickly build and establish new relationships with Community Connectors and their communities. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The rapid nature of the CO-CEAL project, its timeline and the unusual nature of the funding mechanism required adaptations to usual ways of working on both the academic and community side.In our CO-CEAL partner communities where there was a history of working together, concerns, possible barriers and other issues tended to be rapidly addressed. The prior existing, long-standing relationships fostered trust that enabled open airing of concerns and an ability to address issues as they arose. In CO-CEAL partner communities where new relationships were being forged, trust needed to be build from the ground up. This made adaptations more challenging and the ability to address concerns and issues as they arose more problematic. Although the work has moved forward in all communities, extra care has been required in some. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: When crises necessitate rapid action in communities, the depth of prior investments in building and maintaining relationships makes a difference in how rapidly and successfully partners can work together to address a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. Funders and Academic researchers should invest broadly in communities to enable rapid responses.

ISDS Reform in the Context of China’s IIAs

Abstract The investor–state dispute settlement mechanism enables investors to seek remedies in the face of a violation of related international investment agreements, which are crucial to maintaining the standards of investor protection that have been consented to by the contracting parties. On the other hand, more and more problems in the system have been exposed as the number of investor–state dispute settlement cases has increased. These range from substantive issues, such as the treatment granted to investors, to procedural ones, such as cost management and related procedures. Debates on investor–state dispute settlement reform have led to various options for reshaping the relevant mechanisms. Amid the new trend of investment liberalization and facilitation, China is undergoing a new round of bilateral investment treaty revision and free trade agreement negotiation. How the investor–state dispute settlement process is to be framed boils down to how China assesses its own interest vis-à-vis its partners and how it prioritises its objectives in international investment agreement negotiation with its partners. It is submitted that China should take a calculated risk on the investor–state dispute settlement provisions in international investment agreements with adequate consideration of competing interests.

Towards profitable customized solutions in small firms: a matter of relationships, modularity and expertise

PurposeThe decision concerning the degree of product and service customization is crucial, yet has scarcely been studied for small businesses in business-to-business (B2B) contexts. Although such a decision allows relationships with potential customers to be strengthened, it might involve high opportunity costs given the investment required. This paper aims to analyse the profitability of customization undertaken by small businesses in terms of cost–benefit and examine the drivers of profitable customized projects vis-à-vis the ability to strengthen relationships with clients (relationship investment and customer involvement) and the firm’s resources related to processes and technology (expertise and modularity).Design/methodology/approachTo test the proposed hypotheses, data were collected from 140 small Spanish firms involved in two sectors characterized by the offer of customized solutions: information and professional, scientific and technical services.FindingsAnalysis reveals that customer involvement in the customized solution, even when it requires investing in equipment, time or human resources has a positive effect on customization and ultimately on profitability, as the cost of this customer interaction is lower than the revenue it provides. Likewise, supplier investment in the relationship allows for a solution that is adapted to the client, although it requires a cost associated with investing in specific assets. Such costs cancel out the positive indirect effect through the customized solution. Finally, expertise enables appropriate use of the flexibility derived from modularity to satisfy customer requirements, with both being key company resources for driving profitability through customized solutions.Originality/valueThis study makes a contribution to the domain of customization. The authors extend current knowledge on B2B customization by proving that small firms can use their available capabilities and knowledge to achieve a successful customization strategy.

KEPASTIAN HUKUM BAGI PENANAM MODAL ASING SEHUBUNGAN DENGAN INKONSTITUSIONAL UNDANG-UNDANG CIPTA KERJA

Foreign Investment or commonly referred to as PMA is an investment activity carried out by foreign investors with the aim of being able to expand business or business in a country territory. In this case, the Indonesian government is trying to improve the investment climate in Indonesia by presenting the Job Creation Law. The existence of the Employment Creation Law has created a number of contradictions with the laws and regulations. This normative juridical research will discuss legal certainty for foreign investment in relation to the constitutional work creation law. This study aims to determine the basis and reasons for the formal examination of the Job Creation Act in the Constitutional Court, as well as to determine legal certainty for PMA. The results of the study indicate that legal certainty for PMA is currently a problem, so that the government plays an important role in making policies that do not harm the parties.

Rational inattention in mice.

Behavior exhibited by humans and other organisms is generally inconsistent and biased and, thus, is often labeled irrational. However, the origins of this seemingly suboptimal behavior remain elusive. We developed a behavioral task and normative framework to reveal how organisms should allocate their limited processing resources such that sensory precision and its related metabolic investment are balanced to guarantee maximal utility. We found that mice act as rational inattentive agents by adaptively allocating their sensory resources in a way that maximizes reward consumption in previously unexperienced stimulus-reward association environments. Unexpectedly, perception of commonly occurring stimuli was relatively imprecise; however, this apparent statistical fallacy implies “awareness” and efficient adaptation to their neurocognitive limitations. Arousal systems carry reward distribution information of sensory signals, and distributional reinforcement learning mechanisms regulate sensory precision via top-down normalization. These findings reveal how organisms efficiently perceive and adapt to previously unexperienced environmental contexts within the constraints imposed by neurobiology.

Global Climate Financing of Multilateral Development Banks - An Analysis

The human Community in earth understood theemergency need to integrate forces to avert dangerous climate change. This requires mobilising financial resources from a wide range of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources. This makes it increasingly important to track and report financial flows that support climate change mitigation and adaptation to create trust and accountability with regard to climate related investment. Climate Financing by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) comprising the African Development Bank (AFDB) the Asian Development Bank (ADB) the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) the European investment Bank (EIB) the inter-American Development Bank Group (IDBG) the world Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The vision of Paris agreement’s in financial flows consistent with low greenhouse gas emissions and climate- resilient development plays a significant role in the MDBs work to improve tracking and reporting. At COP 24 in December 2018 the MDBs reinforced their commitment to combating climate change presenting joint approach that will align their activities with the goals of the internationalagreement. Based on the increasing role of MDB Banks in Climate Financing to different regions and sectors this paper focuses on the objectives such as To study climate Financing of Multilateral Banks and its role in minimising global CO2 emissions, To find the share of Adaptation Financeto total climate finance and also to determine the share of different banks in total adaptation funding. Based on the share, the moving pattern of financing by each group of banks would be analysed, to study the share of adaptation finance to total investments of funds in different sectors. The moving pattern of financing in different regions and sectors would also be observed. In order to study the variations in total amount allotted, amount for adaptation and amount on mitigation, Bank wise, Region wise and sector wise would be analysed. Data are collected from secondary sources for the years 2011 to 2018 from the reports of Multilateral Development joint report on climate finance. Regression was used to study the variation in variables such as total climate finance given by MDBs, Finance to Adaptation and Mitigation, Region wise financial distribution and sector wise allocation. The result of the study found that MDB banks are more innovative enough to distribute climate finance to various regions and to various sectors by pooling finance from various sources. Finance is given to countries to implement Adaptation and Mitigation measures separately. Comparatively finance to Adaptation is less to Mitigation. To utilize the Climate Finance more effectively MDB banks have to follow the approach of synthesizing both Adaptation finance and Mitigation Finance.

Agreeableness and Its Consequences: A Quantitative Review of Meta-Analytic Findings

Agreeableness impacts people and real-world outcomes. In the most comprehensive quantitative review to date, we summarize results from 142 meta-analyses reporting effects for 275 variables, which represent N > 1.9 million participants from k > 3,900 studies. Arranging variables by their content and type, we use an organizational framework of 16 conceptual categories that presents a detailed account of Agreeableness’ external relations. Overall, the trait has effects in a desirable direction for 93% of variables (grand mean ). We also review lower order trait evidence for 42 variables from 20 meta-analyses. Using these empirical findings, in tandem with existing theory, we synthesize eight general themes that describe Agreeableness’ characteristic functioning across variables: self-transcendence, contentment, relational investment, teamworking, work investment, lower results emphasis, social norm orientation, and social integration. We conclude by discussing potential boundary conditions of findings, contributions and limitations of our review, and future research directions.