Set Of Hypotheses Research Articles

Which Types of Investments Benefit from Retaining the Flexibility to Terminate?

Firms can choose to make investments while retaining the option to terminate them prior to completion. This flexibility can mitigate uncertainty about the investment that is present at the time of its initial funding. However, this flexibility can also detrimentally alter actions within the firm that are necessary for the investment’s success, such as whether scarce firm resources are allocated to the investment. This paper develops a set of hypotheses which predicts flexibility may not improve investment performance when the investment generates limited early-stage learning and requires certain types of resources. These hypotheses are empirically tested in a data set of new U.S. television programs, comparing programs that receive commitment in the form of a straight-to-series order with programs that are flexibly developed through a piloting process. This paper contributes to the literatures on innovation, entrepreneurship and real options by identifying which investment types will benefit most from flexibility. Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.21.0095 .

Measuring Belief Dynamics on Twitter

There is growing concern about misinformation and the role online media plays in social polarization. Analyzing belief dynamics is one way to enhance our understanding of these problems. Existing analytical tools, such as sur-vey research or stance detection, lack the power to corre-late contextual factors with population-level changes in belief dynamics. In this exploratory study, I present the Belief Landscape Framework, which uses data about people’s professed beliefs in an online setting to measure belief dynamics with more temporal granularity than previous methods. I apply the approach to conversations about climate change on Twitter and provide initial validation by comparing the method’s output to a set of hypotheses drawn from the literature on dynamic systems. My analysis indicates that the method is relatively robust to different parameter settings, and results suggest that 1) there are many stable configurations of belief on the polarizing issue of climate change and 2) that people move in predictable ways around these points. The method paves the way for more powerful tools that can be used to understand how the modern digital media eco-system impacts collective belief dynamics and what role misinformation plays in that process.

Detection-only versus detection and identification of model misspecifications

It is common practice to use the well-known concept of the minimal detectable bias (MDB) to assess the performance of statistical testing procedures. However, such procedures are usually applied to a null and a set of multiple alternative hypotheses with the aim of selecting the most likely one. Therefore, in the DIA method for the detection, identification and adaptation of model misspecifications, rejection of the null hypothesis is followed by identification of the potential source of the model misspecification. With identification included, the MDBs do not truly reflect the capability of the testing procedure and should therefore be replaced by the minimal identifiable bias (MIB). In this contribution, we analyse the MDB and the MIB, highlight their differences, and describe their impact on the nonlinear DIA-estimator of the model parameters. As the DIA-estimator inherits all the probabilistic properties of the testing procedure, the differences in the MDB and MIB propagation will also reveal the different consequences a detection-only approach has versus a detection+identification approach. Numerical algorithms are presented for computing the MDB and the MIB and also their effect on the DIA-estimator. These algorithms are then applied to a number of examples so as to analyse and illustrate the different concepts.

Elderly participation in the decision-making process from community: application of the grounded theory method

The elderly are currently a pressing problem for moldovan society, exacerbated by the intensive demographic aging process, the migration of the young and adult population abroad, the decrease in the quality of life as a result of the budget deficit, the increase in dependence on social services. The created situation requires public and governmental authorities to pay more attention to this age group by including it in all public policies, programs and projects, etc. At the same time, measures are being created to increase social and economic activism among the elderly, so that they maintain their independence from social services and benefits. However, the results recorded are quite modest. Therefore, the purpose of the present study lies in explaining the participatory behavior of the elderly in the decisionmaking process in the local community by identifying the factors that obstruct an active involvement and establishing the mechanism by which these factors are conditioned. To achieve this goal, the grounded theory method was applied, the Straussian version. In the result, the central category was identified – discrediting the opinion of the elderly, as well as 15 other categories between which the causal relationships were established for generate the explanatory theoretical model. A set of operational hypotheses derived from the data were also formulated, which may constitute new avenues of research.

The Role of Supporting Factors on Patenting Activities in Emerging Entrepreneurial Universities

Academic patenting has become an important part of the university-industry collaboration and technology transfer but few studies have investigated the institutional frameworks and organizational incentive and support structures in terms of patenting activity. This article, therefore, seeks to fill this gap by examining institutional and infrastructure supporting factors and the impact that they have on university patenting within an emerging economy higher education system, namely Turkey. The analyses use logit regression to test a set of hypotheses on a large-scale sample of Turkish universities. The findings highlight the positive role of supporting factors on a university's patenting performance, acting complementarily to the role of Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). This article will be a guide for managers and practitioners to use supporting factors complementing the activities of TTOs in emerging economies in increasing patent applications. Finally, this article highlights future research directions and limitations of the research.

Determining the sequence of charge transport events and their roles on the limit of quantum efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production

•A novel method utilizing semi-empirical electrical circuits •Faithfully determine the sequence of charge transport events •Direct correlation between quantum efficiency and charge transport events Quantum efficiency (QE) is a defining parameter to rank the efficiency of a photocatalyst. The QE is governed by the kinetics of recombination and transfer processes of photogenerated charge carriers along with the sequence in which these events occur. However, there are no experimental techniques able to determine the sequence (i.e., series, parallel, or combination of both) of these charge transport events and directly determine the QE from charge transport information and vice versa. To address these gaps, here we report a semi-empirical circuit model to determine the sequence of charge transport events and propose a set of hypotheses to discriminate the deciding role of recombination and charge transfer in predicting the QE in a photocatalytic process. By testing with literature data for photocatalytic water splitting, we demonstrate that this model is able to predict QE when the percentage of recombination is known and the sequence of charge transport events when QE is known. Quantum efficiency (QE) is a defining parameter to rank the efficiency of a photocatalyst. The QE is governed by the kinetics of recombination and transfer processes of photogenerated charge carriers along with the sequence in which these events occur. However, there are no experimental techniques able to determine the sequence (i.e., series, parallel, or combination of both) of these charge transport events and directly determine the QE from charge transport information and vice versa. To address these gaps, here we report a semi-empirical circuit model to determine the sequence of charge transport events and propose a set of hypotheses to discriminate the deciding role of recombination and charge transfer in predicting the QE in a photocatalytic process. By testing with literature data for photocatalytic water splitting, we demonstrate that this model is able to predict QE when the percentage of recombination is known and the sequence of charge transport events when QE is known.

EFFECTIVELY CONNECT ACQUIRED TECHNOLOGY TO INNOVATION OVER A LONG PERIOD

IT (Information and Communication Technology) companies are facing the dilemma of decreasing productivity despite increasing research and development efforts. M&A (Merger and Acquisition) is being considered as a breakthrough solution. From existing research, it has been pointed out that M&A leads to the emergence of new innovations. Purpose of this study was to discuss the efficient ways of acquisition and to resolve the dilemma of productivity decline by clarifying how the technology obtained through M&A leads to the creation of new innovations. Hypothesis 1 was that the technology acquired through M&A is utilized for innovation creation, Hypothesis 2 was that the acquired technology is utilized over a long period of time, and Hypothesis 3 was that a long-term utilization has a positive impact on corporate performance. The results, using sports prosthetics as a case study and using patents as a proxy variable, confirmed all the hypotheses set. We have revealed that long-term utilization of technology obtained through M&A is effective for creating new innovations.

English Dubs: Why are Anglophone Viewers Receptive to English Dubbing on Streaming Platforms and to Foreign-Accent Strategies?

Accents are often utilised in fictional audiovisual products to determine the creation of character identity. This is due to the set of cultural connotations typically associated with any given accent in any given language community. However, is there really one monolingual target audience anymore? In the age of streaming platforms, and at the rate the localisation industry is creating subtitles and revoiced versions, the target audience for many products has become multilingual. The English ‘dubbing revolution’, pioneered by streaming giant Netflix, perfectly depicts the broadening of target audiences in global distribution. The subject of this article is the popularly termed ‘foreignisation’ strategy, as it features in English dubs. The strategy is explored in relation to the novelty of (English) dubbing for most viewers as well as the ubiquity of foreign varieties of English in everyday life in the Anglosphere and, consequently, in English-language original fiction. Theoretical insights are also offered on the unique acceptance of English dubbing, in general, and of foreign accents as a dubbing strategy, in particular. The case of the Castilian-Spanish dubbing industry is also explored for contrastive purposes, elucidating the characteristics of (im)mature dubbing audiences: their habits, preferences, and (in)flexibility. The conclusions present a set of hypotheses drawn from the article’s discussion that provide plausible answers to the questions posed in the article’s title.

Factors Explaining ICT Investment Behavior of Firms During the 2008 Economic Crisis

ABSTRACT In this paper, we develop a set of research hypotheses concerning the effects of six groups of factors on firms’ behavior during the 2008 global economic crisis with respect to ICT investment: three groups of internal factors (overall firm resource endowment, ICT-related resource endowment, ICT-related capabilities) and three groups of factors (competition, liquidity problems, macroeconomic conditions concerning demand). These research hypotheses are tested using data from Greek firms for the economic crisis period 2009–2014.

How to build Theories of Change for transdisciplinary research: Guidance and considerations

A Theory of Change (ToC) is a set of testable hypotheses that model how an intervention will contribute to a change process. ToC development and use can help in the design of transdisciplinary research to build trust and accountability in the research process. We present an online process for ToC facilitation and offer guidance to collaboratively build a ToC for transdisciplinary research.Transdisciplinary research (TDR) aims to solve problems in complex systems by drawing from a range of methods and expertise to contribute to change processes. Theories of Change (ToCs) are well-suited to support TDR design and implementation, but they rarely achieve their full potential. In practice, ToCs are often compromised by insufficient engagement with the context, weak theoretical bases, poor articulation, and a lack of iteration. This paper presents a process for ToC design based on the authors’ experience facilitating ToC development for research planning and evaluation. We illustrate the process using an in-progress TDR example on patient-oriented cancer care research. The approach begins by framing the social and research problems and then identifies activities and outputs, key actors, outcomes, and underlying causal assumptions. Skilled facilitation and strong conceptual familiarity are key to effectively mobilize ToC concepts into a cohesive and testable model to refine a strategy with TDR stakeholders. Key considerations and resources are offered to enhance ToC development planning and facilitation.

Drivers and Barriers of Social Sustainable Development and Growth of Online Higher Education: The Roles of Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness

Online and distance learning classes have been touted for the last several years as an innovation in higher education that should help improve the entrepreneurial growth mindset of students. However, the reported negative online learning experience of many college students worldwide during the COVID-19 epidemic has shown that many opportunities remain to improve the sustainable development and growth of online visual instruction practices. In this study, we outline and investigate a set of hypotheses related to the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use (from TAM) of online video instruction in higher education courses during the pandemic. We employ grounded theory using autoethnographic case studies as a data source. We found that (a) synchronous broadcast lectures improve participant attitude (H1) and motivation (H2) toward online instruction, (b) prerecorded video instruction increases participant perceived “ease of use” (H3) and perceived behavioral control (H4) of online instruction, but (c) indicators of recorded dates on pre-recorded video instruction decreases participant perceived “usefulness” (H5) and “certainty” (H6) of online instruction. We enrich the insights of popular motivation models for organizations and the higher education industry by outlining a set of emotional elements originating in neuroscience leadership research (SCARF) that might either amplify or diminish the perceived the ease of use and perceived usefulness to technology usage relationships when participations engage in online learning situations.

Trauma and female reproductive health across the lifecourse: motivating a research agenda for the future of women's health.

The aetiology behind many female reproductive disorders is poorly studied and incompletely understood despite the prevalence of such conditions and substantial burden they impose on women's lives. In light of evidence demonstrating a higher incidence of trauma exposure in women with many such disorders, we present a set of interlinked working hypotheses proposing relationships between traumatic events and reproductive and mental health that can define a research agenda to better understand reproductive outcomes from a trauma-informed perspective across the lifecourse. Additionally, we note the potential for racism to act as a traumatic experience, highlight the importance of considering the interaction between mental and reproductive health concerns, and propose several neuroendocrinological mechanisms by which traumatic experiences might increase the risk of adverse health outcomes in these domains. Finally, we emphasize the need for future primary research investigating the proposed pathways between traumatic experiences and adverse female reproductive outcomes.

Resilient distributed hypothesis testing under time-varying multi-agent networks with multiple types of adversarial agents

In this paper, the resilient distributed hypothesis testing problem under multi-agent networks is studied, where the normal agents that are not attacked aim to cooperatively learn a true state from a set of hypotheses. Different from the existing works, the considered network is heterogeneous and time-varying, and it is allowed that multiple types of agents can be attacked. Within this framework, by designing a novel filtering mechanism, an effective resilient distributed algorithm is developed to solve the considered hypothesis testing problem. In the convergence analysis of the algorithm, a key definition about the robustness of heterogeneous time-varying networks is firstly introduced, then by combining the designed filtering mechanism with a delay-based analysis approach, it is proven that the beliefs of the true state held by all normal agents converge to 1 under the proposed algorithm, which means that the normal agents successfully learn the true state. Finally, the theoretical findings are verified through simulations, and a comparison is provided to show that the proposed algorithm by utilizing the network heterogeneity may tolerate more adversarial agents than the algorithm designed in homogeneous networks.

Inseparable Bedfellows: Imagination and Mathematics in Economic Modeling

In this paper we explore the hypothesis that constrained uses of imagination are crucial to economic modeling. We propose a theoretical framework to develop this thesis through a number of specific hypotheses that we test and refine through six new, representative case studies. Our ultimate goal is to develop a philosophical account that is practice oriented and informed by empirical evidence. To do this, we deploy an abductive reasoning strategy. We start from a robust set of hypotheses and leave space for the generation of further hypotheses and theoretical claims based on the qualitative analysis of new empirical data.

Computing eigenvalues of the Laplacian on rough domains

We prove a general Mosco convergence theorem for bounded Euclidean domains satisfying a set of mild geometric hypotheses. For bounded domains, this notion implies norm-resolvent convergence for the Dirichlet Laplacian which in turn ensures spectral convergence. A key element of the proof is the development of a novel, explicit Poincaré-type inequality. These results allow us to construct a universal algorithm capable of computing the eigenvalues of the Dirichlet Laplacian on a wide class of rough domains. Many domains with fractal boundaries, such as the Koch snowflake and certain filled Julia sets, are included among this class. Conversely, we construct a counterexample showing that there does not exist a universal algorithm of the same type capable of computing the eigenvalues of the Dirichlet Laplacian on an arbitrary bounded domain.

Phase II trial of neoadjuvant sitravatinib plus nivolumab in patients undergoing nephrectomy for locally advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Sitravatinib is an immunomodulatory tyrosine kinase inhibitor that can augment responses when combined with programmed death-1 inhibitors such as nivolumab. We report a single-arm, interventional, phase 2 study of neoadjuvant sitravatinib in combination with nivolumab in patients with locally advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) prior to curative nephrectomy (NCT03680521). The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) prior to surgery with a null hypothesis ORR = 5% and the alternative hypothesis set at ORR = 30%. Secondary endpoints were safety; pharmacokinetics (PK) of sitravatinib; immune effects, including changes in programmed cell death–ligand 1 expression; time-to-surgery; and disease-free survival (DFS). Twenty patients were evaluable for safety and 17 for efficacy. The ORR was 11.8%, and 24-month DFS probability was 88·0% (95% CI 61.0 to 97.0). There were no grade 4/5 treatment-related adverse events. Sitravatinib PK did not change following the addition of nivolumab. Correlative blood and tissue analyses showed changes in the tumour microenvironment resulting in an immunologically active tumour by the time of surgery (median time-to-surgery: 50 days). The primary endpoint of this study was not met as short-term neoadjuvant sitravatinib and nivolumab did not substantially increase ORR.

Foreign Direct Investment, Trade Openness and Environmental Degradation in SSA Countries. A Quadratic Modeling and Turning Point Approach

The consequences of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) countries cannot be ignore given it adverse effect on human health and global warming. With rising CO2 emissions and fallen volume of trade openness and FDI inflows in recent time, we seek to examine the effect of trade openness and foreign direct investment (FDI) on environmental degradation using time series data from 1975 to 2020 in SSA. Using the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework, the study employs a quadratic modeling and turning point approach to realize the study objectives. The findings reveals that (1) the trade openness-EKC and FDI-EKC does not hold given the presence of decreasing effects in the short run and increasing effects in the long run; (2) it confirms that a U-shaped trade openness-emissions and FDI-emission nexus holds given the decrease in trade openness and FDI in the short run and an increase in trade openness and FDI in the longrun; (3) The analysis supports the halo effect hypothesis before the turning point but the pollution haven hypothesis sets in after the turning point; (4) it shows evidence that trade openness and FDI contributes to reduce CO2 emissions in the short but increase it in the long run. The study recommends that SSA countries should adopt stringent environmental policies to attain sustainable economic growth without associative harm to the environment.

Relative Effects of Positive and Negative Explanations on Satisfaction and Performance in Human-Agent Teams

Improving agent capabilities and increasing availability of computing platforms and Internet connectivity allows for more effective and diverse collaboration between human users and automated agents. To increase the viability and effectiveness of human-agent collaborative teams, there is a pressing need for research enabling such teams to maximally leverage relative strengths of human and automated reasoners. We study virtual and ad-hoc teams, comprising a human and an agent, collaborating over a few episodes where each episode requires them to complete a set of tasks chosen from given task types. Team members are initially unaware of the capabilities of their partners, and the agent, acting as the task allocator, has to adapt the allocation process to maximize team performance. The focus of the current paper is on analyzing how allocation decision explanations can affect both user performance and the human workers' outlook including factors such as motivation and satisfaction. We investigate the effect of explanations provided by the agent allocator to the human on performance and key factors reported by the human teammate on surveys. Survey factors include the effect of explanations on motivation, explanatory power, and understandability, as well as satisfaction with and trust / confidence in the teammate. We evaluated a set of hypotheses on these factors related to positive, negative, and no-explanation scenarios through experiments conducted with MTurk workers.

The Need for Kaizen Culture for Manufacturing Industries in Industry 4.0

Purpose: The study aims to find the need for creativity in industry 4.0, To test whether creativity can be embraced by Kaizen. Theoretical framework: The problem statement is does Kaizen / Creativity to be extended to industry 4.0 and the same is researched with Literature reviews and with a set of Hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach: Survey questions were framed to check the linkage of creativity and industry 4.0, two hypotheses was tested, 30 samples from Experts in Industry and Academia contributed to the thoughts, and Correlations and SEM were used to conclude the findings. Findings: SPSS was used and principal component analysis with a “t” test was done to look at the correlation of independent variables to the above-mentioned hypothesis, the results revealed that there is a significant relationship with, effective communication, open innovation, Continuous Improvement, transformational leadership, collaboration, Goal clarity team autonomy, attitude, and knowledge enhancement. Research, Practical & Social implications: The sample size is less and can need to be tested on a larger sample size. The study can also be done in employees in industry 3.0 and industry 4.0 to check the effects. The practical implications is well tested in Industry 2.0 and Industry 3.0 The same needs to be continued for industry 4.0 to induce creativity thereby knowledge enhancement and Team Autonomy. Considering human behaviour this closed loop of problems. Kaizens is needed to sustain the innovation and thereby creating a culture of involvement and ownership. Originality/Value: There is active research in present times, researchers are showing keen interest on convincing the needs and benefits of Industry 4.0, but the behavioural aspect and its implications with industry 4.0 need to be explored. The next generation i.e. industry 4.0 will be more challenging, as there would be the challenge of a skilled workforce, and pressure for time/productivity will be high. People will be working in isolation (Sharing of thoughts and ideas will be limited Stalling of thinking approach). This may lead to psychological problems.The present study contributes to bridge this research gap.

Sovereign Wealth Funds' (SWFs') social media strategies

It is estimated that there are currently 100 major Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) in operation worldwide, which command an asset total of some US$10.31tr (SWFI, 2023). SWFs are thus the largest class of nontraditional (alternative) pooled investment vehicles by assets under management (outstripping by far more conspicuous hedge-, private equity- or exchange traded funds (TheCityUK, 2021). Although SWFs tend to pursue a variety of objectives or their combinations: efficient management of foreign exchange (f/x) reserves, socioeconomic development, pension reform, macroeconomic stabilization and direct investments, their overriding goal is an intergenerational transfer of wealth – in conformity with the tenets of sustainable development (Brundtland, 1987). Despite fiduciary mandates to manage the savings of entire countries, states or provinces, SWFs tend to be highly opaque - their information disclosures performed via traditional media are scrimpy, infrequent and irregular. Most SWFs, although theoretically accountable to their societies, including the future generations of their beneficiaries, tend to shy away from social media engagement, i.e. the very media that such beneficiaries will increasingly use. The primary hypothesis set and examined in this research is thus a pervading and chronic lack of proactive social media policies by most SWFs. Although 78 SWFs maintain proprietary websites and some even use selected social media platforms to promulgate user-oriented content, they fail to engage societies (their primary stakeholders) in any form of interactive dialogue or accountability. SWFs’ use of social media is thus primarily geared to disseminating self-selected scraps of information without any pretense to comprehensiveness, regularity and interactivity. The paper empirically examines the social media strategies of most active SWFs and their role in enhancing the social accountability of their operations. The research also raises the need for more public awareness of SWFs’ objectives and activity.