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The purpose of this paper is to identify the key determinants of employability of information technology (IT) graduates in Vietnam and examines their impact on self-perceived employability and the duration of the job search.

This study is based on data collected from the responses to an online survey from more than 500 IT graduates from different higher education institutions in Vietnam. Employability, its outcome and its key determinants were integrated into one model. Exploratory factor, confirmatory factor and path analyses were conducted to test the model by means of structural equation modeling.

The self-perceived employability of IT graduates in Vietnam was determined by graduates’ English language skills, soft skills, adaptability skills, the quality of the institution’s IT program and job seeking efforts. Results also indicated that work experience, professional competencies and employability made the job search duration shorter, but job seeking efforts made job search duration longer.

Only determinants from individual and institutional aspects were considered, and the sample was also limited to one profession in one country.

Results can inform students and educators about the improvable areas of employability enhancement.

This study fills a gap in the employability research by providing a quantitative explanation about relationships among the employability, the job search duration and their key predictors from different aspects.

Algorithms for the construction of the Chomsky and Greibach normal forms for a fuzzy context‐free grammar using the algebraic approach are presented and illustrated by examples. The results obtained in this paper may have useful applications in fuzzy languages, pattern recognition, information storage and retrieval, artificial intelligence, database and pictorial information systems.

This paper studies the effects of lottery preference on stock market participation at the macro level.

The authors use the abnormal search volume intensity for lottery-related keywords from the Baidu search engine to capture retail investors' lottery preference. To measure stock market participation, they use five different macro-level measures from various angles. They perform the time series regression analysis in their empirical study.

First, the validation tests show that the lottery preference index in this study is reasonable. Further, the authors find that lottery preference increases people's propensity to enter and trade in the stock market. Besides, they find that the effect on trading behavior is asymmetric, that is, high lottery preference has a more significant impact on trading behavior than low lottery preference. However, lottery preference has no significant effect on the stockholding.

This paper contributes to the growing literature that examines the determinants of stock market participation and the role of lottery/gambling preference in the financial market. It also provides direct and novel evidence for Statman's (2002) conclusions about the similarity of lottery players and stock traders.

This article aims to analyze the performance and risk of landmark building in the housing sector and to evaluate their usefulness for a diversification strategy.

After comparing summary statistics on the performance of landmark building with respect to other types of housing investments, the article evaluates their usefulness for a diversification strategy. The role of landmark buildings is studied using the modern portfolio theory and evaluating the role of this type of asset in the optimal asset allocation. The analysis is performed considering both the risk/return trade-off in a one-year and a multiple-year time horizon.

The results show that a landmark building can be a good investment opportunity, especially for high-risk/return investors. A not perfect correlation of the returns of this asset class with other types of housing investments implies the existence of a minimum investment in this asset class for almost all portfolios on the efficient frontier. Results are robust with respect to the length of the investment time horizon.

The article presents a unique analysis of intra-housing market diversification opportunities focusing on the role of landmark building in the portfolio construction. Empirical evidence supports the hypothesis that real estate investors can take advantage of investing in landmark buildings in the residential sector as well because there are no reasons to limit such investments to trophy buildings in the office and commercial sectors.

This paper aims to improve the Commission of Higher Education (CHE)'s current university classification and develop the Thai Higher Education Classification Model (THEC‐model). This study supports the CHE's initiative to ensure that the future is more science‐oriented by encouraging universities to become National Research Universities (NRUs).

The research applies empirical data and a statistical approach for the THEC‐model's development. The model's results are then compared with the decisions reached earlier by the CHE in selecting public universities as research‐intensive.

The proposed classification criteria for NRUs consist of: research funding; the variety of instructional programmes; the level of instructional programmes; instructors and research staff body; and student body, which have significantly statistically influenced the differences in Y‐variables: research output, citation, and research awards at alpha 0.05. The initial results show that eight universities are selected. The findings are consistent with the 2008 announcement, except for two universities.

The developed THEC‐model benefits academic researchers, university administrators, and policymakers for many reasons. For example, the THEC‐model provides information for academic researchers to determine the important variables for a research university. The model provides information for policymakers to manage higher education effectively to raise the targets for a university.

The THEC‐model criteria were generated by reviewing the classification system in different locations. Such criteria could be applied extensively at domestic and international level. Moreover, the developed THEC‐model is based on a statistical approach and empirical data improved the reliability and would be beneficial to the CHEs in Thailand for further improvement on research‐focused HEI classification criteria in the future.

Hydraulic excavator cycle time and associated unit costs of excavation for given input estimating data, for machines operating in the UK construction industry, are predicted. Using multiple regression analysis, three variables are identified as accurate predictors of cycle time: machine weight, digging depth and machine swing angle. With a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.88, a mean percentage error (MPE) of −5.49, and a mean absolute error (MAPE) of 3.67, the cycle time model is robust; this is further validated using chi‐square analysis and Pearson's correlation coefficient (on predicted and actual values of machine cycle time). An illustrative example of the model's application to determine machine productivity is given. The paper concludes with a spreadsheet model for calculating excavation costs (m3 and cost per h) which is able to deal with any combination of the three independent cycle time predictor variables and other estimator's input data.

This article investigates the relative impact which marketing growth strategies have on profit performance as opposed to strategic debt utilisation, asset management, and margin management. A structural equation approach is used to assess which areas deserve the greatest attention in the process of making strategic decisions. Implications for management and future research are offered.

In the present era of modernization, the social group members interact with each other with selfish and unselfish intents. However, the unselfish means and ends build a long term relationship among people. On the other hand, selfish ends bud out unethical means such as abuses, violence and fights. The situation becomes tough when the same becomes evident among the family relationship and as a consequence the elderly are being treated unfairly. Out of such cases, some are reported and the majority of them remain unreported, which eventually becomes the cause of concern for the social welfare agencies. Thus, this paper aims to examine the elder abuse (EA) tendency in metro, non-metro and religious cities.

For this study, a mixed-method approach is used to develop survey instruments, validate findings using qualitative and quantitative data sources for better generalization of results. The present study explored and confirmed the related factors using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis for the establishment of a valid scale of EA. Further, the difference of perceptions among the elders for abuse across the metro, non-metro and religious cities was statistically checked using the ANOVA and post hoc techniques.

The present study identified the traces of EA and created a comprehensive understanding of it. The present study manifests the prevailing practices of EA in society by discussing the demerits of dependency and modernization. Moreover, the present study assesses the pervasiveness and the repercussion of dependency and the impact of modernization on EA followed by a discussion on how the victim elders may handle the situation. In the present study, a scale is developed to identify EA because of the dependency of the elderly and the modernization of society.

Some exclaiming thoughts such as the dependency of elders elevate the chances of EA on one side, while modernization of society hampers the social/family bonding leading to EA. The inconsistent development across the region has created modernization as a significant factor for EA. The level and depth of modernization across locations such as metro, non-metro and religious cities are the cause for varying degrees of EA. Based on the literature review, the present study has sensed the presence of EA in society at large by developing a scale for the aforesaid purpose.

Examines the effects of decision unstructuralness (unstructuredness + noisiness) on decision‐support systems (DSS) adoption. Suggests that end‐users are sensitive to “unstructuralness” when they select a decision support approach. Problem structuring at the intelligence phase generates the first signal about DSS usefulness. If this signal is in favour of DSS, the manager either immediately adopts the DSS, or performs problem solving at the design phase. At this phase a new signal will be generated thus, confirming or denying DSS usefulness. This confirms that problem structuring prevails in making the DSS adoption decision. That is, in making the DSS adoption decision, priority is given to problem structuring in the intelligence phase.

The purpose of this study is to examine the potential and cost of policy incentives for individuals to defer public pension (social security) claims.

Using Internet survey experiments, the impacts of introducing three potential policies to defer public pension claims are examined: (1) a tax incentive for private term pension premiums, (2) a tax incentive for private term pension benefits and (3) a tax disincentive for financial asset holdings. Effectiveness of information provision regarding projection of future financial assets is also examined.

Tax incentives have a certain impact on deferment of public pension claims. Among incentives, increase of benefits is the most effective one. Providing information regarding future financial assets reduces incentives.

This study is original in measuring cost for delaying public pension claims according to incentives and information provision.