Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the school‐to‐work transition of graduates in different fields of study, as well as to study programmes in three subsequent generations of graduates in the 2007 to 2009 period. The paper focuses on graduates from the new Bologna‐harmonised programmes and investigates their early career outcomes by comparing them to those of graduates from pre‐harmonised programmes.

The authors apply a probit regression to calculate differences in the probability of employment for different fields of study and propensity score matching to investigate the effect of different study programmes in each field of education on early career outcomes, such as being employed within the first three months of graduation and the first nine months of graduation.

The authors find that graduating from a particular field of study affects the probability of employment in all three years. In general, regardless of the field, the authors observe decreasing probabilities of employment in 2008 and 2009. Using propensity score matching, the authors estimate the effect of the new Bologna‐harmonised programmes on the probability of employment and find a statistically significant negative effect compared to counterparts who finished pre‐Bologna programmes. The findings are robust to the use of different matching criteria.

In the institutional framework of a tuition‐free system in higher education and collective bargaining in the labour market, performance indicators such as employability can provide relevant information regarding student choice and a proxy measure for the quality of higher education in each participating university. In addition, this provides a rare insight into the employability of graduates from Bologna‐harmonised programmes, as well as for a post‐transition country such as Slovenia.

By covering entire populations of full‐time graduates in 2007, 2008 and 2009 who entered the labour market for the first time after graduation, the authors calculate the probability of employment within the first three and nine months of graduation. This allows the authors to infer about the effect of the new Bologna‐harmonised programmes as well as the impact of the recent financial crisis. The paper offers rare evidence of the school‐to‐work transition in a post‐transition and tuition‐free country.

The purpose of this paper is to intend as a contribution to the performance evaluation of Third Sector organisations (TSOs). The Italian experience on the development and adoption of harmonised indicators is considered here as an example of problems and possible solutions.

Preliminary analysis shows that, in the Italian situation, two main gaps exist. The first one relates to the incomplete statistical information on the magnitude and performance of TSOs; the second is related to the lack of a set of harmonised indicators. To address these problems, two initiatives have been recently set up in Italy. On the one hand, the newly presented “National Strategy on Social Corporate Responsibility – 2012-2014” has been oriented to fill the statistical gap, by extending the compilation of socio-economic and environmental accounts to TSOs; on the other hand, a joint initiative of the Italian Statistical Institute and the CSR Manager Network Italia towards the harmonisation of the “Global Reporting Initiatives-quantitative performance indicators” and the standards of the Italian statistical system. Within the second initiative, a specific sub-set of performance indicators for TSOs is proposed and presented in this paper.

The Italian experiences reported here, together with the set of proposed indicators, can be used to improve data collection and to move towards a common framework for performance evaluation in the TSOs.

The main contribution of the proposed set of indicators is to: first, provide standard definitions and clear calculation methods; second, define quantitative measurements allowing for aggregation; and third, promote data collection and performance evaluation in a context, as the Italian one, where statistical information for TSOs is largely incomplete.

The aim of this paper is to propose a model for international harmonization of the training and qualification of human resources for industrial professions. The outcome is a system based on training guidelines and a quality assurance methodology that is now in use in 42 countries around the world.

The paper describes the motivations that led to the development of the International System for the Training and Qualification of Welding Personnel. The structure of this system and the documents on which it is based are outlined.

The approach used has gained wide international acceptance. The progress achieved is analysed in the final part of the paper. More than 150,000 qualifications have so far been awarded around the world.

The need for a harmonized International System for the Training and Qualification of Welding Personnel has been recognized by industry and the authorities. The reference to this system in international standards and the general recognition of its reliability by stake holders is leading to its widespread use in more countries and by more professionals.

The harmonized international system for the qualification of human resources in welding technology is unique in Europe. The methodology used has proved to be successful and can be benchmarked for application in human resources development for other professions.

This study investigates the perception of users of corporate annual reports about various aspects of accounting harmonization. To serve this purpose, a questionnaire was distributed to four user groups (investors, government officials, auditors and academics). The results of the analysis revealed that sharing the same language, as well as sharing similar economic and cultural features are the most important factors expected to positively affect the harmonization of accounting practices in the GCC countries. However, the most important factors expected to obstruct accounting harmonization practices across GCC countries are the lack of professional and legal requirements as well as enforcement problems. The outcome of the analysis also revealed that harmonization is expected to (1) improve comparison between companies, (2) increase usefulness of financial information to decision makers, and (3) ensure consistency in the use of accounting rules over time. It was also evident from the analysis that lack of harmonization is viewed as the most likely factor to prevent some investors from investing across the GCC countries.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze politically exposed persons (PEPs) according to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations and assess the identification process followed by financial institutions to create a harmonized regional model for PEPs identification in Latin America.

FATF Recommendation No.12 states that financial institutions should identify PEPs. To do so, the latter uses either an internal identification system or an external database. Within this framework, the purpose of the research work is to determine whether the procedure adopted by the regulated entities complies with the requirements of the regulations. Both analytical and interpretative methods have been used for this purpose.

In accordance with FATF Recommendation No.12, national and foreign PEPs, as well as officials of relevant international organizations, close relatives and closest associates must be identified. This wide range of people forms an hybrid type of PEPs. Because of the lack of a harmonized identification policy, it is likely that some people who meet these conditions may not be spotted.

PEPs control success relies on accurate and prompt identification. Therefore, it is crucial to create an inter-state model of harmonized identification at a regional level in Latin America. It includes not only the participation of the obligated subjects but also the sector entities associated to the concerned economic activity.

The article is intended to consider how entrepreneurship needs to adapt if it is to address the global sustainability challenge. The intention is to propose a new business model that recognises the interconnectedness of the global ecosystem.

The article analyses two case studies purposively written to demonstrate the difference between the traditional entrepreneurship approach, dating back to the 19th century and the proposed harmonised one. Both cases are based on secondary data and personal field observation.

While the two cases focus on wealth creation, job generation and innovation, the traditional approach is shown to have had a long-term deleterious impact on both society and the environment, whereas the proposed harmonised approach impacts positively. The article recognises the multifaceted nature of the sustainability challenge and that the three elements (economy/commerce, society and environment) are interconnected. If there is a change in the status of one the other, connected facets will change or will need to be changed. Thus any solution needs to address all three facets.

The proposed business model will be of interest to scholars and practitioners of entrepreneurship and sustainability, as well as to policy makers and educators.

Apart from proposing a new business model that will address the sustainability challenge, the article provides a definition of harmonious entrepreneurship and identifies the conditions required for it to be met, as well as the characteristics of the harmonious entrepreneur.

To support the standardized evaluation of bicyclist automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems, test scenarios, test procedures and test system hardware and software tools have been investigated and developed by the Transportation Active Safety Institute (TASI) at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. This paper aims to focus on the development of test scenarios and bicyclist surrogate for evaluating vehicle–bicyclist AEB systems.

The harmonized general estimates system (GES)/FARS 2010-2011 crash data and TASI 110-car naturalistic driving data (NDD) are used to determine the crash geometries and environmental factors of crash scenarios including lighting conditions, vehicle speeds, bicyclist speeds, etc. A surrogate bicyclist including a bicycle rider and a bicycle surrogate is designed to match the visual and radar characteristics of bicyclists in the USA. A bicycle target is designed with both leg pedaling and wheel rotation to produce proper micro-Doppler features and generate realistic motion for camera-based AEB systems.

Based on the analysis of the harmonized GES/FARS crash data, five crash scenarios are recommended for performance testing of bicyclist AEB systems. Combined with TASI 110-car naturalistic driving data, the crash environmental factors including lighting conditions, obscuring objects, vehicle speed and bicyclist speed are determined. The surrogate bicyclist was designed to represent the visual and radar characteristics of the real bicyclists in the USA. The height of the bicycle rider mannequin is 173 cm, representing the weighted height of 50th percentile US male and female adults. The size and shape of the surrogate bicycle were determined as 26-inch wheel and mountain/road bicycle frame, respectively. Both leg pedaling motion and wheel rotation are suggested to produce proper micro-Doppler features and support the camera-based AEB systems.

The results have demonstrated that the developed scenarios, test procedures and bicyclist surrogate will provide effective objective methods and necessary hardware and software tools for the evaluation and validation of bicyclist AEB systems. This is crucial for the development of advanced driver assistance systems.

The purpose of this paper is to broaden the perspective on how information and communication technology (ICT) relates to productivity by introducing a novel ICT variable: the share of ICT-schooled employees in firms, an intangible input often neglected or difficult to measure.

Based on a Cobb-Douglas production function specification, the association between the share of ICT-schooled employees and firm productivity is estimated by the use of unique comparable multi-linked firm-level data sets from statistical offices in six European countries for the period of 2001-2009.

There are indications that the share of ICT-schooled employees significantly and positively relates to productivity, and also that this relationship is generally more persistent than that of ICT intensity of firms, measured as the proportion of broadband internet-enabled employees. However, the strength of the association varies across countries and demonstrates that underlying factors, such as industry structure and institutional settings might be of importance too.

Data features and the way to access harmonised firm-level data across countries affect the choice of econometric approach and output variable.

The results emphasise the importance of specific ICT skills in firms independently of where in the organisation the employee works.

Studies on associations between employees with specific (higher) education based on formal credentials and productivity are rare. Even more uncommon is the cross-country setting with harmonised data including general ICT intensity of firms.

In pursuit of socio-economic growth, scholars and policymakers in emerging economies continues to show interest in understanding technology-based start-up (i.e. tech start-up) emergence, to help mitigate persistent failure experienced during commercialization. Howbeit, some scholars lamented that extant studies that investigated tech start-up emergence are mostly fragmented, because they focus on specific event/sub-process in tech start-up gestation. Thus, this study aims to conduct a systematic literature review to discover, harmonize and develop a framework that describes the interaction among varying dimensions of events/sub-processes that characterizes tech start-up emergence in an emerging economy.

To conduct this study, the authors engaged a concept-centric systematic literature review. Having developed a search protocol, the authors searched through information systems database, and other relevant discipline databases, to select relevant articles for review.

The systematic review revealed various dimensions of events (i.e. opportunity discovery and selection, team formation and domain consensus, bootstrapping and the development of minimum viable product and market experimentation feedback) that are critical to tech start-up emergence. Most prior studies are isolated, as they focus their investigation on specific event. Thus, from this review, the authors developed a framework harmonizing various dimensions of events characterizing emergence of a viable tech start-up.

The researchers conducted this study in response to lingering call for harmonized study that provides in-depth description of how different dimensions of events interact and characterize tech start-up emergence. Consequently, the study resulted in a descriptive framework. Furthermore, the findings highlight some practical implications and proposes new study directions as future research agenda for scholars interested in tech start-up emergence.