Stolen at the pump: an empirical analysis of risk factors on gas pump skimmer fraud attacks

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott H. Belshaw ◽  
Brooke Nodeland
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Personal Identification ◽  
State Agency ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Camera System ◽  
Payment Card ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Surveillance Camera ◽  
Gas Stations

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of gas stations where skimmer attacks occurred in a sample of Texas gas stations between 2019 and 2021. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature related to payment card fraud at the gas pump by providing one of the first examinations of the gas stations where gas pump skimming is known to have occurred. Design/methodology/approach Using data collected from a Texas state regulatory agency between 2021, the authors examine characteristics of gas stations where a gas pump skimming was detected. Findings Results suggest that the presence of a surveillance camera system was significantly related to gas pump skimmer detection for gas stations in both urban and rural areas. Europay chip readers were not present in any of the pumps where a skimmer attack was detected. Originality/value Gas pump skimming is a form of payment card fraud that costs upwards of US$11bn a year in the USA alone. Gas pump skimming occurs when electronic devices are illegally installed fuel pumps to capture data or record cardholders’ personal identification numbers. This is among the first studies to use data obtained from a state agency with specific information regarding each individual occurrence of gas pump skimming. As such, the paper makes a unique contribution by exploring specific characteristics of gas stations where skimming and ultimately payment card fraud, occurred.

Promoting employee ownership: a look at the states

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-189
Author(s):  
Nancy Wiefek ◽  
Corey Rosen ◽  
Timothy Garbinsky
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Private Equity ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Employee Ownership ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
State Agency ◽  
Outreach Program ◽  
Attractive Alternative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa

Purpose Close to half of all privately held companies in the USA are owned by baby boomers, meaning 2.7m American businesses are owned by someone age 55 or older. In the coming decades, all of these businesses will either change owners or disappear. The median state has 34,000 businesses approaching an ownership transition. The effects of this generational shift will be felt in cities, small towns and rural areas. At the same time, state governments are struggling with the challenge of preserving jobs and stimulating local economies buffeted by larger economic trends. States currently spend an estimated $45bn to $70bn a year on efforts to attract and retain jobs. If even a fraction of these exiting owners pursued an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) as their business exit strategy, the potential positive impact on workers, communities and state economies would be substantial. Yet, many business owners are not even aware of ESOPs as an option. In light of this knowledge gap, many of these businesses will instead shut down or sell to outside investors who may not be interested in preserving and growing local jobs. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Review of state information and statistics on employee ownership. Findings Currently, there are around 6,660 ESOPs in the USA holding total assets of nearly $1.4 trillion. These plans cover 14.2m participants. The Midwest is home to the greatest number of ESOPs, followed by the South. There is a least one ESOP headquartered in 4,131 distinct zip codes. Practical implications In order to increase the effectiveness and penetration of local outreach and education, states can: create an office of employee ownership with a dedicated staff person. The office could exist within a state agency or as a nonprofit receiving state funding; provide grants to one or more nonprofits to run an outreach program; hold seminars statewide in conjunction with professional, business, and trade publications and organizations; publish and disseminate brochures and other material; and work with the media to encourage stories on local ESOP companies. In order to promote ESOPs as an attractive alternative to private equity, outside competitors, and other potential purchasers of the business, ESOP outreach should: focus on business owners who are approaching retirement or a liquidity event, as opposed to start-ups or businesses who are interested in progressive management. Focus on the human side and emotional impact of employee ownership. Videos and other personal testimonials contrasting the storylines of a company that becomes employee-owned vs one that becomes owned by an outside investor can be powerful. Take advantage of the ESOP community by facilitating peer-to-peer connections, where company leaders talk with their peers who have sold to an ESOP. These connections are usually fostered based on location or industry. Take care to ensure that the center is seen as providing objective information as opposed to being perceived as trying to “sell” owners on the idea. Originality/value This is the first published review of ESOPs in the states.

Loan officer rotation and credit access: evidence from Madagascar

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-67
Author(s):  
Yaw Sarfo ◽  
Oliver Musshoff ◽  
Ron Weber
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Frequency Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Credit Access ◽  
Loan Officer ◽  
Microfinance Institution ◽  
Lending Decisions ◽  
Loan Officers ◽  
Loan Approval

Purpose With exclusive data from a commercial microfinance institution (MFI) in Madagascar, the purpose of this paper is to investigate if loan officer rotation (change of loan officer) has an effect on credit access (loan approval) in rural and in urban areas. The authors further analyze how the frequency of loan officer rotation affects credit access in rural and in urban areas. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply propensity score matching to compare credit access between loan applicants who experienced loan officer rotation and loan applicants who experienced no loan officer rotation in rural and in urban areas. Findings Results show that loan officer rotation has a positive and statistically significant effect on credit access. The authors observe further that loan officer rotation has a different effect on credit access in rural and in urban areas. Whilst rural loan applicants who experienced loan officer rotation are more likely to have credit access, urban loan applicants show no statistically significant effect of loan officer rotation on credit access. For the frequency effect on credit access, the authors observe that one loan officer rotation has a positive and statistically significant effect on credit access whereas results are mixed for two loan officer rotations. Research limitations/implications Even though the authors can show that loan officer rotation can improve credit access to loan applicants, especially in rural areas, the conditions in Madagascar are unique. Therefore, results need to be verified in other countries and institutional contexts. Practical implications From the perspective of MFI, the authors recommend that the management of MFI needs to provide better tools to loan officers to improve on the evaluation of agricultural loan products or standardize the assessment of agricultural loan products to improve on lending decisions. Further, if applicable, the authors recommend that MFI should consider using credit worthiness assessment procedures which rely less on loan officer’s judgment for loan evaluation, such as automated systems. From the perspective of loan applicants, the authors recommend that loan applicants should request for a change of loan officer if they experience successive loan applications rejection. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to provide empirical evidence on the effect and frequency of loan officer rotation on credit access in Sub-Sahara Africa, and Madagascar, in particular.

Predictors of loneliness among the left-behind children of migrant workers in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cut Maghfirah Faisal ◽  
Sherly Saragih Turnip
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Parental Presence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Emotional Loneliness ◽  
Children Of Migrant Workers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare loneliness between the left-behind children of migrant workers and the non-left-behind ones, and identify the most significant predictors of loneliness among the left-behind children. Design/methodology/approach Incidental sampling was performed to select 629 participants aged 11–16 from 5 schools in the rural areas of Karawang and Lombok in Indonesia. They filled in paper-and-pencil self-report inventories. Findings Left-behind children were significantly lonelier than their counterparts were. Emotional loneliness was more affected by parental absence compared to social loneliness. Left-behind children would be more susceptible to experience loneliness if they had more access to entertainment gadgets, experienced less support and intimacy from friends, had been left by their migrant parents more than once, were female, had low self-esteem, experienced emotional difficulties and rarely communicated with their parents. Research limitations/implications Qualitative research was needed to provide more elaborative explanation about the findings. Practical implications Parents needed to consider the psychological cost and benefit of working abroad to their children. Governments could intervene by limiting the duration and frequency of work among the migrant workers. Social implications Some beneficial implications to prevent and reduce loneliness among left-behind children were provided, such as by maintaining the frequency and quality of communication with the children, motivating and guiding the children to interact with their peers and spend less time on entertainment gadgets, as well as encouraging the children to engage in several positive activities to enhance their self-esteem. Originality/value This study enriched the understanding about complex relationship between parental presence and adolescents’ mental health despite the fact that adolescents seemed to be more interested in relationships with peers.

Effect of education on migration decisions in Ghana: a rural-urban perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 336-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franklin Amuakwa-Mensah ◽  
Louis Boakye-Yiadom ◽  
William Baah-Boateng
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Migration Decision ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Migration Decisions ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of education on migration decisions focusing on rural and urban in-migrants by comparing the 2005/2006 and 2012/2013 rounds of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS5 and GLSS6). After correcting for selectivity bias, the authors observed that anticipated welfare gain and socio-economic variables such as sector of employment, sex, experience, age, educational level and marital status significantly affect an individual’s migration decision. Design/methodology/approach – The authors made use of Sjaastad’s (1962) human capital framework as a basis for examining the impact of education on migration. The migration decision equation was based on the Heckman two stage procedure. Findings – While educational attainment is observed to have a positive effect on migration decision in the period 2005/2006, the authors find a negative effect of educational attainment on migration decision in the period 2012/2013. The effect of educational attainment on migration decision in 2005/2006 for urban in-migrant is higher than the effect for rural in-migrant, with its significance varying for the different stages of educational attainment. In absolute terms, whereas the effect of secondary educational attainment on migration decisions for urban in-migrant is higher than that of rural in-migrant, the reverse holds for higher educational attainment during the period 2012/2013. Social implications – Based on the mixed effect of education on migration decision as evident from the study, policies to enhance the educational system in Ghana should be complemented with job creations in the entire country. Moreover, special attention should be given to the rural sector in such a way that the jobs to be created in the sector do not require skilled workers. With quality education and job creation, the welfare of individuals living in urban and rural areas will be enhanced. Originality/value – In spite of the importance of education in migration decisions, there is scanty literature on the rural-urban dimension. To the best of the author’s knowledge there is no literature in the Ghanaian context which examines the rural and urban perspective of the impact of education on migration with a much recent data. Further, the author consider how the determinants of migration decision have changed over time focusing on rural and urban perspectives.

Preoperative and postoperative cognitive functioning in patients with frontal meningiomas

2003 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Tucha ◽  
Christian Smely ◽  
Michael Preier ◽  
Georg Becker ◽  
Geraldine M. Paul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Lesion Size ◽  
Test Battery ◽  
Surgical Removal ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Fine Print

Object. There is presently no specific information available concerning the nature and course of cognitive deficits caused by intracranial meningiomas. In this prospective study the authors examined the cognitive functioning of patients with frontal meningiomas. Methods. Fifty-four patients with frontal meningiomas were examined neuropsychologically before and after neurosurgery. The test battery consisted of standardized instruments including those assessing memory, attention, visuoconstructive abilities, and executive functions. The time period between pre-and postoperative assessment ranged from 4 to 9 months. The patients' performance was compared with the results in 54 healthy adults who were also assessed twice by using the same test battery in a period ranging from 4 to 9 months. In addition, the effect on cognition of meningioma lateralization, localization, lesion size, edema, brain compression, time course, and the occurrence of preoperative seizures was analyzed. Conclusions. Except in the case of working memory, comparisons of pre- and postoperative assessments of cognition revealed no differences in memory, visuoconstructive abilities, or executive functions, although a postoperative improvement in attentional functions was observed. The results of this study indicate that the surgical removal of frontal meningiomas does not impair patients' cognitive functioning. Furthermore, improvements in attentional functions may occur in these patients.

Cervicothoracic radiculopathy treated using posterior cervical foraminotomy/discectomy

2003 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Harrop ◽  
Marco T. Silva ◽  
Ashwini D. Sharan ◽  
Steven J. Dante ◽  
Frederick A. Simeone
Keyword(s):  
Morbidity Rate ◽  
Symptom Duration ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Disc Disease ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Included Patient ◽  
Posterior Cervical Foraminotomy ◽  
Disc Herniations ◽  
Fine Print

Object. The authors conducted a study to identify the effectiveness and morbidity rate associated with treating cervicothoracic disc disease (radiculopathy) via a posterior approach. Methods. Nineteen patients underwent posterior cervicothoracic laminoforaminotomy during a 5.6-year period. Medical records, imaging studies, office charts, hospital records, and phone interview data were reviewed. Specific information analyzed included patient demographics, side of lesion, and conservative treatment, symptoms, and pre- and postoperative pain levels. Pain was rated using a visual analog scale and classified into a radicular and neck component. Data in 19 patients (seven women and 12 men) who underwent 20 procedures (one patient underwent separate bilateral foraminotomies) were analyzed. The mean patient age was 54.8 years (range 38–73 years), and the follow-up period ranged from 23 to 62 months. Symptom duration ranged from 1 to 14 months (mean 3.4 months) and consisted of weakness, numbness, and painful radiculopathies in 11, 16, and 20 cases, respectively. Motor weakness was identified in 11 of 19 patients (mean grade of 4.35), and postoperatively strength normalized in eight of 11 (mean grade of 4.79). The improvement in motor scores was significant (p = 0.007). Pain was the most common presenting symptom. Preoperative radiculopathies were rated between 0 and 10 (mean 7.45), and postoperatively scores were reduced to 0 to 3 (mean 0.2) which was significant (p < 0.0001). Preoperative neck pain was rated between 0 and 8 (mean 2.55), and on follow up ranged from 0 to 2 (mean 0.5), which was also significant (p = 0.001). Conclusions. Posterior cervicothoracic foraminotomy was a safe and effective procedure in the treatment of patients with laterally located disc herniations.

A principal component analysis of the determinants of spatial disparity between rural and urban localities of Ghana

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 715-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivy Drafor
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Component Analysis ◽  
Spatial Inequality ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Spatial Disparity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural And Urban

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the spatial disparity between rural and urban areas in Ghana using the Ghana Living Standards Survey’s (GLSS) rounds 5 and 6 data to advance the assertion that an endowed rural sector is necessary to promote agricultural development in Ghana. This analysis helps us to know the factors that contribute to the depravity of the rural sectors to inform policy towards development targeting. Design/methodology/approach A multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to data from the GLSS-5 and GLSS-6 to determine the characteristics of the rural-urban divide in Ghana. Findings The findings reveal that the rural poor also spend 60.3 per cent of their income on food, while the urban dwellers spend 49 per cent, which is an indication of food production capacity. They have low access to information technology facilities, have larger household sizes and lower levels of education. Rural areas depend a lot on firewood for cooking and use solar/dry cell energies and kerosene for lighting which have implications for conserving the environment. Practical implications Developing the rural areas to strengthen agricultural growth and productivity is a necessary condition for eliminating spatial disparities and promoting overall economic development in Ghana. Addressing rural deprivation is important for conserving the environment due to its increased use of fuelwood for cooking. Absence of alternatives to the use of fuelwood weakens the efforts to reduce deforestation. Originality/value The application of PCA to show the factors that contribute to spatial inequality in Ghana using the GLSS-5 and GLSS-6 data is unique. The study provides insights into redefining the framework for national poverty reduction efforts.

An interactive query-based approach for summarizing scientific documents

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Farnoush Bayatmakou ◽  
Azadeh Mohebi ◽  
Abbas Ahmadi
Keyword(s):  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Information Need ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Interactive Query ◽  
Summarization System ◽  
Clear Idea

Purpose Query-based summarization approaches might not be able to provide summaries compatible with the user’s information need, as they mostly rely on a limited source of information, usually represented as a single query by the user. This issue becomes even more challenging when dealing with scientific documents, as they contain more specific subject-related terms, while the user may not be able to express his/her specific information need in a query with limited terms. This study aims to propose an interactive multi-document text summarization approach that generates an eligible summary that is more compatible with the user’s information need. This approach allows the user to interactively specify the composition of a multi-document summary. Design/methodology/approach This approach exploits the user’s opinion in two stages. The initial query is refined by user-selected keywords/keyphrases and complete sentences extracted from the set of retrieved documents. It is followed by a novel method for sentence expansion using the genetic algorithm, and ranking the final set of sentences using the maximal marginal relevance method. Basically, for implementation, the Web of Science data set in the artificial intelligence (AI) category is considered. Findings The proposed approach receives feedback from the user in terms of favorable keywords and sentences. The feedback eventually improves the summary as the end. To assess the performance of the proposed system, this paper has asked 45 users who were graduate students in the field of AI to fill out a questionnaire. The quality of the final summary has been also evaluated from the user’s perspective and information redundancy. It has been investigated that the proposed approach leads to higher degrees of user satisfaction compared to the ones with no or only one step of the interaction. Originality/value The interactive summarization approach goes beyond the initial user’s query, while it includes the user’s preferred keywords/keyphrases and sentences through a systematic interaction. With respect to these interactions, the system gives the user a more clear idea of the information he/she is looking for and consequently adjusting the final result to the ultimate information need. Such interaction allows the summarization system to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the user’s information needs while expanding context-based knowledge and guiding the user toward his/her information journey.

Market overreaction, firm-specific information and macroeconomic variables in US and Chinese markets during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ooi Kok Loang ◽  
Zamri Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Stock Return ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Macroeconomic Variables ◽  
Real Gdp ◽  
Chinese Markets ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Loser Portfolio

PurposeThis study examines the impact of firm-specific information and macroeconomic variables on market overreaction of US and Chinese winner and loser portfolio before and during COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachThe firm-specific information includes firm size, volume, volatility, return of asset (ROA), return of equity (ROE), earning per share (EPS) and quick ratio while the macroeconomic variables are export rate, import rate, real GDP, nominal GDP, FDI, IPI and unemployment rate. Besides, one-third of the top performance stocks are categorized as winner portfolio while one-third of lowest performance stocks are categorized as loser portfolio. This study uses AECR to indicate stock return and measure market overreaction. GAECR is used to determine contrarian profit. The data range of pre-COVID-19 is from 1-Jan-2015 to 31-Dec-2019 while the period of COVID-19 is from 1-Jan-2020 to 31-Dec-2020.FindingsIn pre-COVID-19, firm-specific information (volatility, ROA, ROE and EPS) and macroeconomic variables are found to be correlated to stock return in US and Chinese portfolios except Chinese winner portfolio. Nonetheless, the impact of firm-specific information has vanished and macroeconomic variables are significant to stock return in COVID-19. It shows that investors rely on the economic indicators to trade in turbulent period due to emergence of COVID-19 as a disruption in market. Furthermore, US and Chinese portfolios are overreacted during COVID-19. Chinese loser portfolio has higher tendency of overreaction than US loser portfolio while US winner portfolio has higher tendency of overreaction than Chinese winner portfolio.Originality/valueThe results of this study assists academician, practitioners and investors on understanding and create awareness to the existence of market overreaction and the determinants that can cause the phenomenon.

Exploring teacher learning process in Chinese lesson study: a case of representing fractions on a number line

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingfeng Huang ◽  
Rongjin Huang ◽  
Mun Yee Lai
Keyword(s):  
Germ Cell ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Lesson Design ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Expansive Learning ◽  
Oriented Activity

PurposeThis paper presented the learning process of a group of primary mathematics teachers who participated in two iterations of lesson design, enactment and reflection in a Chinese Lesson Study.Design/methodology/approachAn expansive learning theory was employed to examine the teachers’ learning process in lesson study (LS) on representing fractions on a number line. The evolution of a germ cell was utilized to feature the transformation of the object of activity from abstract to concrete through resolving contradictions among LS members. The videos of lesson planning, research lessons (RLs) and debriefing meetings were collected and analyzed to reveal the expansive learning process.FindingsThe analysis showed that the teachers expanded their learning through transforming the object from diffuse to concrete and expanded through consciously articulating the germ cell. The outcomes of object-oriented activity include improving the enacted lesson which promoted students’ conceptual understanding.Originality/valueThis study made a unique contribution to understanding the learning process of teachers in Chinese LS from the perspective of expansive learning.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document