Past Performance Research Articles

Currency Management by International Fixed‐Income Mutual Funds

ABSTRACTInvestments in international fixed‐income securities are exposed to significant currency risks. We collect novel data on currency derivatives used by U.S. international fixed‐income funds. We document that while 90% of funds use currency forwards, they hedge, on average, only 18% of their currency exposure. Funds' currency forward positions differ substantially based on risk management demands related to portfolio currency exposure, return‐enhancement motives such as currency momentum and carry trade, and strategic considerations related to past performance and fund clientele. Funds that hedge their currency risk exhibit lower return variability, but do not generate inferior abnormal returns.

Corporate earnings, dividend payments, and stock price behavior of manufacturing firms listed in Nigeria

The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of corporate earnings and dividend payments on the stock price behaviour of manufacturing firms in Nigeria between 2013 and 2022. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design, and deployed Generalised Method of Moments (sys-GMM) and Granger causality tests for the data analysis. The two-step system GMM is used to control for omitted variables such as bias, unobserved panel heterogeneity or heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation within panels or groups, endogeneity issues, and measurement errors in the data. Findings show that share price (SP) and its predictors yield valuable insights into the factors influencing stock valuation. Dividend per share (DPS) emerges as a significant positive predictor, suggesting a notable impact on share price. Firm size (FSZ) proves to be a statistically significant predictor, indicating that the size of a firm plays a role in influencing stock prices, with larger firms associated with a decrease in share price. Conversely, Earnings per Share (EPS) and Dividend Yield (DY3) do not exhibit statistical significance, suggesting limited predictive power in the model. By way of conclusion, the study provides an understanding of the factors influencing share price behavior within the Nigerian manufacturing sector and the positive impact of past performance, particularly lagged share prices, confirming the persistence of stock market trends. The practical implications of this study are that it underscores the understanding of financial dynamics in emerging economies, particularly in the context of manufacturing firms in Nigeria.

Aging time improves adhesive performance of handmade starch paste for restoration of ancient Chinese books and its mechanism of action

In the restoration of ancient Chinese books, handmade starch paste serves as a paper adhesive, distinguished from traditional starch paste preparation methods. It involves special processes such as starch washing and aging, relying entirely on the artisanal expertise throughout the entire process. The study recreates the process of making handmade starch paste for the restoration of traditional ancient books and investigates the effects of aging time on the apparent viscosity, rheological properties, and adhesive performance of the paste. The results indicate that during aging, the pH of the starch paste decreases significantly, but it has a minimal impact on its apparent viscosity, rheological properties, and paper softness. However, it notably enhances the adhesive performance, with the optimal results observed after 3 days of aging. This is attributed to the decrease in residual protein content in the starch, as well as the significant improvement in swelling power and solubility of the starch. The results of infrared spectroscopy and XRD testing reveal that there are no significant changes in the molecular and crystalline structures of starch during the aging process. The acidic environment produced by starch fermentation promotes protein hydrolysis, emerging as the primary reason for the improved adhesive performance of the paste.

Biochar Amendment in Green Roof Substrate: A Comprehensive Review of the Benefits, Performance, and Challenges

Green roofs (GRs) are a well-established green infrastructure (GI) strategy that have been extensively studied for decades to address a growing array of social and environmental challenges. Research efforts have been continuously made to contribute to the awareness of benefits of GRs and towards their widespread application. The substrate, which is one of the crucial layers of a GR system, plays a major role in the serviceability of GRs. Thus, several studies have been undertaken to alter the substrate characteristics by applying innovative substrate additives. Biochar, a carbon-rich material with a highly porous structure and large specific surface area, has been found advantageous in several areas such as agriculture, water filtration, environmental remediation, construction, and so on. However, the application of biochar in GRs has been insufficiently studied, partially because biochar amendment in GRs is a relatively recent innovation. Furthermore, a comprehensive review of the performance of biochar-amended GR substrates is lacking. This review paper aims to summarize the past performance of GRs enhanced with biochar by considering the various benefits that biochar offers. The results indicate that most of the reviewed studies observed increased retention of runoff and nutrients when utilizing biochar. Additionally, the capabilities of biochar in improving thermal insulation, plant performance, and microbial diversity, as well as its effectiveness in sequestrating carbon and controlling soil erosion, were mostly agreed upon. Notwithstanding, a definitive conclusion cannot yet be confidently made due to the limited research information from biochar–GR systems and the uneven research focus observed in the studies reviewed. The influence of biochar-related variables (including amendment rates, application methods, processed forms, and particle size) on the effectiveness of biochar was also discussed. Opportunities for future research were suggested to fill the research gaps and address challenges restricting the application of biochar in GRs. Detailed information from past research findings could serve as a foundation for further investigations into the large-scale implementation of biochar in GRs.

Automatic versus manual investing: Role of past performance

Using unique data from a leading peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, we investigate the link between past investment performance and choice of auto-investing tool. Our results suggest that investors who experience fewer defaults in the manual mode are more inclined to switch to automatic investment. Several factors account for this relationship, including investor inattention, decision speed, investment delegation, and experience. Regarding the latter, our results suggest that experienced investors are more likely to continue self-directed bidding, even if they have faced defaults in manual investments in the past. These investors may attribute their previous mistakes to their own actions rather than the limitations of the self-directed bids. Our results are robust to alternative specifications.

Predicting Football Match Results Using a Poisson Regression Model

Currently, several techniques based on probabilities and statistics, along with the rapid advancements in computational power, have deepened our understanding of a football match result, giving us the capability to estimate future matches’ results based on past performances. The ability to estimate the number of goals scored by each team in a football match has revolutionized the perspective of a match result for both betting market professionals and fans alike. The Poisson distribution has been widely used in a number of studies to model the number of goals a team is likely to score in a football match. Therefore, the match result can be estimated using a double Poisson regression model—one for each participating team. In this study, we propose an algorithm, which, by using Poisson distributions along with football teams’ historical performance, is able to predict future football matches’ results. This algorithm has been developed based on the Premier League’s—England’s top-flight football championship—results from the 2022–2023 season.

Artificial intelligence-based virtual assistant and employee engagement: an empirical investigation

PurposeScholars have highlighted personal interactions between employees and their leaders in an increasingly distributed and hybrid work environment as an essential mechanism that engages employees toward organizational goals. Enhanced employee engagement significantly contributes to sustained organizational performance and growth. While Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in the HR domain are increasing, research to understand the implication of AI-based virtual assistants on enabling trust and managing human resources is, at best, limited.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the social response theory and the social exchange theory, and based on a multi-source, time-lagged field study spanning over ten months, we investigated the impact of AI-based virtual assistants on employee attitudes, namely perception of fairness and employee engagement.FindingsThe usage of AI-based virtual assistants is associated directly with employee engagement and indirectly through employees’ perceptions of fairness. While employees’ past performance moderates the relationship between perceived fairness and employee engagement, the interaction effect becomes non-significant with AI-based virtual assistants.Research limitations/implicationsOur study contributes to the emerging literature on AI-based virtual assistants in HRM and employee engagement. The virtual assistants’ use to enhance employee engagement emerges as an opportunity for task substitution and augmentation. Our study demonstrates that AI-based virtual assistants can enhance employee engagement and help build perceptions of fairness among employees.Originality/valueWith the emerging importance of AI, there is an increasing interest in explaining human-computer interactions and their effect on employee engagement. Our study is among the early empirical studies examining the implications of AI-based virtual assistants on employee outcomes.

Hydration performance of OWC pastes incorporating GO with various oxygen contents and sizes

This paper explores the reinforcement and toughening of oil well cement (OWC) by incorporating various oxygen content and size of graphene oxides (GO) at 50 °C, and then explores the mechanism of GO in OWC. Hydration heat evolution of OWC paste was tested using isothermal calorimetry. The hydration products and microstructure of OWC paste were examined using X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, mercury intrusion porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy. Results suggest that the dispersion performance of GO in Ca(OH)2 solution (CH) enhanced by increasing of oxygen content and enlarging of size in GO. Higher oxygen content and larger size of GO result in lower fluidity and shorter thickening time of OWC paste. The hydration reaction of OWC paste accelerated by incorporating GO with larger size. A more densely packed microstructure and enhanced mechanical properties in GO-bearing OWC pastes are achieved, particularly in early hydration, which can be attributed to the formation of C–S–H with a comb-like structure and denser aggregated calcium hydroxide by incorporating of GO. The increased in oxygen content and enlargement in size of GO further enhanced this effect. Incorporating GO with higher oxygen content and larger size led to further improvements in the strength performance of OWC hardened paste.

Impact of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag on Calcium Leaching of Low-Heat Portland Cement Paste.

Low-heat Portland cement and ground granulated blast furnace slag are widely used for the preparation of hydraulic concrete. Nevertheless, the effect and mechanism of corrosion on low-heat Portland cement paste mixed with ground granulated blast furnace slag need to be further explored. This paper investigated the impact of ground granulated blast furnace slag on the calcium leaching of low-heat Portland cement paste by evaluating its mass loss, porosity, leaching depth, compressive strength, and Vickers hardness, and comparing it with the leaching performance of ordinary Portland cement paste. Furthermore, the phase composition and morphology of low-heat Portland cement paste containing ground granulated blast furnace slag were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that, after 180 days of soaking in ammonium chloride solution, the mass loss rate, growth rate of porosity, leaching depth, and compressive strength loss rate of low-heat Portland cement paste were 8.0%, 43.6%, 9.1 mm, and 27.7%, respectively, while those of ordinary Portland cement paste were 7.4%, 37.8%, 8.4 mm, and 30.1%, indicating that low-heat Portland cement paste is slightly more damaging than ordinary Portland cement. The addition of ground granulated blast furnace slag could significantly improve the leaching resistance of low-heat Portland cement. For instance, after adding 20% ground granulated blast furnace slag, the above test values were 2.4%, 28.5%, 5.6 mm, and 20.8%, respectively. The reason for this is that ground granulated blast furnace slag has the potential to reduce the porosity of low-heat Portland cement paste, and it can also undergo the secondary hydration reaction with its hydration product Ca(OH)2 to enhance the paste structure. Considering the cost performance, the suitable dosage of low-heat Portland cement paste for satisfactory leaching resistance is about 20%.

Emission trading in a high dimensional context: to what extent are carbon markets integrated with the broader system?

The EU ETS represents the cornerstone of the EU climate policy framework. While most of the studies focus on the determinants of carbon price, this work will provide further insights into the influence of European Emission Allowance (EUA) prices on carbon dioxide trends and variables of the economic-financial-climate-environmental system considering a large set of time series. Results highlighted how CO2 appears to be more influenced by commodity prices, climate variables, and past industrial performances. Furthermore, a shock in carbon prices could potentially exert significant turbulence on the carbon dioxide series, fading in intensity as time goes by. Overall, there appears to be a net positive effect on the influence of carbon prices on the system. However, robustness checks identified how the impact of carbon price on CO2 and other variables of the model is still weak. This work sheds light on the EU ETS's influence on a set of multidimensional variables. Still, overlapping national policies appear to interfere with the EU ETS effectiveness in the EU.

Comparing Apples to Oranges: Why Self-Referenced Performance Reviews are more Effective than Peer Comparisons

Abstract: This article argues that self-referenced performance reviews are more effective for employee motivation and development than traditional peer comparison reviews. It draws on self-determination theory to explain how comparing employees to their peers undermines the psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness, diminishing intrinsic motivation. In contrast, self-referenced reviews that focus on individuals' past performance, strengths, and areas for growth better support these needs. Evidence suggests this approach fosters engagement and productivity by promoting a growth mindset oriented toward continual self-improvement rather than competition. Additionally, qualitative case studies of organizations that shifted to a self-referenced review model found increased morale, collaboration, and business outcomes as employees concentrated on progress within their control rather than relative standings. The article concludes self-referenced reviews align with human motivation science and are more constructive for building high-performing, cohesive workforces.

Enhanced reactivity and CO2 mineralization of low-lime calcium silicate cement by incorporating nitric acid as an initial calcium leaching agent

This study proposed mixing HNO3 solution with low-lime calcium silicate cement (CSC) to enhance the CO2 capture and mechanical properties after CO2-curing by increasing Ca2+ leaching at the initial stage. To clarify the influences of HNO3 and the reaction mechanisms, various molar concentrations of HNO3 (0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 M) were homogenized with CSC using a liquid-to-solid ratio (L/S) of 0.4 and CO2-cured in a pressurized chamber for 24 h. The impact of HNO3 on the initial reaction kinetics, Ca2+ leaching, phase composition after curing, CO2 fixation capability, and mechanical performance were investigated. The findings revealed that the incorporation of HNO3 had a pronounced influence on the degree of reaction, CO2 fixation, and mechanical performance of CSC pastes. Nevertheless, the excessive incorporation of HNO3 had a notable adverse impact on the reaction.

A queer feast of memories: using archives in festival research

ABSTRACT Founded in 1997 by arts and community workers, the Feast Festival in Adelaide is one of the major LGBTQIA+ festivals held in Australia. 2022 marked the 25th year of the Feast Festival and, as such, was an opportunity to reflect upon the importance of community-driven festivals, especially those that explicitly services and advocates for social and cultural minorities. Researching this queer history required multimodal strategies. We interviewed past participants, organizers and performers, which resulted in a short documentary film that was exhibited as part of Feast’s 25th programme. This project has also been supported by extensive archival research. We investigated the role that archives play in research and in documenting the history of a community arts festival, and how archives can actively contribute to the research process at various stages of data collection and creative artefact creation. Further, we explored the festival organizers’ careful engagement with both open-access and curatorial approaches to festival management, including engaging with the South Australian LGBTQIA+ community to encourage participation and develop special events for the programme.

Competing for research funding: Key elements impacting the evaluation of grant proposal

As funding is one of the key pillars of research activity, identifying the factors that impact the evaluation results in research funding competitions remains challenging, due to the heterogeneity of funding instruments. In this context, our study aims to identify the elements that ensure the application's success, comparing two perspectives: one of the applicant and the other based on the evaluation grid. The empirical investigation focuses on a survey of 243 Romanian researchers. As analysis methods, we use a binary logistic regression model to correlate the success in funding competitions for research projects with a set of factors considered determinants. The results show that the researcher's past performance influences the proposal's future performance/success, with the quality of the project director's previous publications, and its international visibility being the key drivers of successful research project applications.

Developing Countries’ Deadlock: What Does the Thirlwall's Law Offer Us?

This study aims to discuss potential alternatives for economic development in developing countries, with contributions from the theoretical background of Thirlwall's law. Developing countries' foreign trade constraints will be highlighted, followed by a comparison of Türkiye's past growth performance with results obtained from Thirlwall’s Law equations using balance of payments data. Türkiye's actual growth rates closely resemble the growth forecast of Thirlwall’s model, which indicates that post-Keynesian approaches are worth considering to alter the current situation. While providing a perfect solution that could reverse everything for developing countries may be a distant goal, this study aspires to foster a mindset capable of changing the course of events.

Inspection prioritization of gravity sanitary sewer systems using supervised machine learning algorithms

Underground wastewater collection systems degrade with time, necessitating utility owners to engage in ongoing evaluations and enhancements of their asset management frameworks to preserve the performance of their assets. The inspection and condition assessment of sewer pipes are crucial for the effective operation and maintenance of sewer systems. The closed-circuit television (CCTV) is frequently employed to examine sewer pipes in the United States. This procedure is both costly and laborious because of the extensive number of pipes in a metropolis. Prioritisation of inspection for sanitary sewage pipe segments requiring repair or maintenance can be done in advance depending on their past performance. Hence, the aim of this study is to construct a predictive model for the state of sanitary sewer pipes, utilising data collected from a city located in the southcentral region of the United States. The main contribution is that this study used multiclass classification and predicted PACP scores of the pipes. Condition prediction models were developed using extensively utilised supervised machine learning algorithms including logistic regression (LR), k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), and random forest (RF). However, the bulk of the constructed models were assessed using a limited number of assessment measures, such as the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC) value. This paper asserts that the assessment of the predictive capacity of these models cannot be determined only by relying on ROC and AUC values. Out of the three models evaluated in this study, the LR model had an AUC value of 0.76. However, this model had a higher number of misclassifications or inaccurate predictions compared to the other models. Consequently, these models were assessed using additional assessment measures, including precision, recall, and F-1 scores (which represent the harmonic mean of precision and recall). Curiously, the LR model achieved an F1-score of 0.28 on a scale ranging from 0 to 1. The RF model yielded an F1-score of 0.45 and an AUC value of 0.86. The existing model can be enhanced before it is employed by asset managers during the inspection phase to assess the state of their sanitary sewers and identify essential sewers that require immediate care.

When Prominence Overrules EminenceSubsidization of the Cultural Sectors in the Netherlands

What processes determine the allocation of state subsidies to a selection of cultural and artistic organizations? In the case of the Dutch cultural basic infrastructure (BIS) two main criteria are issued, namely quality and reputation. In this article, no attempt is made to define measures for artistic quality and reputation. Instead, it is observed by which criteria decision makers, public media, and artistic leaders refer to these concepts. The way in which the selection and granting are performed shows striking similarity with processes described in the literature. First, the theory of social comparison asserts that people in a shared activity compare opinions and abilities in a strife for growth. When technical constraints and limits impede the progress in ability, effort and attention shift to opinions on abilities of the members. In this social dimension, growth is more easily attained. This decoupling results into stagnation and inferior learning processes. Second, in an implicit elaboration of the social comparison theory, a model is proposed in which perceived quality and prominence determine which organization will receive price premiums. Perceived quality is indicated by the quality of the inputs and productivity assets. Prominence origins from media rankings and elicited preferences of intermediary organizations and affiliation with high-status actors. Prominence has more bearing in social processes in the institutional field than on quality indicators. This model provides a base for reputation bias among stakeholders of organizations. The theoretical approaches have been operationalized into an analytical framework. The framework appears to offer a powerful and accurate instrument to describe and explain courses of action and outcomes in Dutch cultural sectors. In discussion, it is questioned if it is wise to base a subsidization policy on social comparison. The strive for prominence in the institutional fields tends to overrule the search for quality and eminence. It is recommended to reconsider social comparison processes by reduction of the arbitrariness in the performance assessment and evaluation. In this respect, promising and high-quality performers are supported in their access to large audiences. It is proposed that the framework can be applied in all situations where resources and performance opportunities are allocated to a selection of executing actors. Choices will be based on a mix of past and future performances. The situations suited for application may vary from philanthropy to hard core and non-profit sectors to private business industries.

Analysis Of Development And Evaluation Of Public Service Performance Of The Kelumpang West District Office, Kotabaru Distric

Every organization has goals to achieve, and human resources are essential to reaching these objectives. Employees provide energy, talent, creativity, and effort, making them key to an organization's success. In addition to knowledge and competence, employees must possess experience, motivation, commitment, self-discipline, and enthusiasm. In West Kelumpang sub-district, Kotabaru district, providing effective public services is critical. One of the government's tasks is to deliver public services while empowering communities and supporting development activities. These services aim to enhance community satisfaction, which is crucial for creating a competitive and adaptive government agency. This descriptive qualitative research explores the leadership and communication strategies in West Kelumpang District. Findings show that democratic leadership plays a significant role, allowing employees to provide input and discuss policies openly. Leaders set examples through discipline and proper conduct, which fosters a disciplined work environment. Communication within the organization is structured through briefings that define tasks and responsibilities. Meetings are also held to review past performance and plan future actions. The district utilizes upward, downward, and lateral communication, often through informal channels. Leaders maintain an exemplary attitude, serving as role models for their subordinates. Overall, the research emphasizes that effective leadership and communication are vital to improving public services and ensuring that government agencies meet community needs and remain competitive in a changing environment.

Analyzing how well an equity-based, inclusive school reform strategy with MTSS integration can improve the math and reading performance of students with IEPs

Equity-based investments provide a long-term potential for substantial returns. In the long run, stocks have performed better than a lot of other investing options, including bonds or cash. It's important to keep in mind that past performance does not guarantee future results, and there may be ups and downs in the stock market. The goal of the current research was to determine Would a broad, based on stocks educational transformation paradigm nestled inside an Multi-Tiered System Of Support (MTSS) framework might increase the arithmetic and reading test scores of children with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). According to descriptive data, pupils with IEPs had higher math state test results throughout the implementation period. The scores were strongly and positively predicted by model fidelity of implementation scores. Students with IEPs improved their math scores in implementing schools in faster rate’s compared with their counterparts in comparable educational institutions, according to a subsequent analysis comparing The approach's efficacy in three institutions that used it faithfully enough compared to non-implementing institutions. The findings on inclusivity as well as the steps taken to enable high-fidelity MTSS adoption are discussed. The consequences were included reform’s approach with the integration go beyond math and reading outcomes, even though this research concentrated exclusively on these areas.

The Impact of Investor Expectation on the Financial Decision-Making

Unlike traditional finance, behavioral finance challenges the traditional financial theory of investor rationality, emphasizing that investors are not absolutely rational in real life. This perspective provides new insights for understanding and predicting financial markets. This study examines core concepts in behavioral finance, such as loss aversion, market anomalies, momentum effects, reversal effects, endowment effects, and framing effects, and analyzes how they influence investors' financial decisions. These concepts highlight the significant role of human psychology and behavior in shaping financial decisions, thus aiding investors in making more rational choices in complex financial markets. Loss aversion, for instance, suggests that investors are more sensitive to losses than to gains, leading to suboptimal decision-making. Market anomalies, such as price bubbles and crashes, indicate that markets are not always efficient. Momentum effects suggest that past stock performance can predict future trends, while reversal effects point to the tendency of extreme stock performances to revert to the mean. The endowment effect reveals that individuals value their own possessions more highly than similar items they do not own. Lastly, framing effects demonstrate how the presentation of information can influence decision-making. Future research can delve deeper into how the framing effect can be harnessed to improve the design and marketing strategies of financial products, thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of investment decisions. This exploration could lead to more sophisticated financial products and better-informed investors, ultimately contributing to a more stable and efficient financial market.