scholarly journals One Laptop per Child? Using Production Frontiers for Evaluating the Escuela 2.0 Program in Spain

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (20) ◽  
pp. 2600
Author(s):  
Daniel Feliciano ◽  
Laura López-Torres ◽  
Daniel Santín

Over the last few decades, public programs have driven the gradual adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education. The most ambitious project in Spain so far was Escuela 2.0, which provided students from the regions that opted into the program with laptops. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of this program on school performance and productivity. To do this, we developed a new methodological approach based on combining causal inference techniques and the analysis of production frontiers. We calculated the differences in productivity and performance between treated and control schools using the base-group Camanho–Dyson Malmquist index and the base-group performance gap index. We estimate the impact of the program as the variation of these differences, following the essence of the difference-in-differences analysis. The main results are that Escuela 2.0 had a negative impact on performance and productivity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6294
Author(s):  
Peiqing Zhu ◽  
Jianbo Song

Internal control plays a role in risk prevention for firms when dealing with serious emergencies, which ensures the sustainable development of firms during a crisis. Based on the rapid outbreak of COVID-19 in China, this paper empirically tests whether internal control alleviates the negative impact of the pandemic on firm performance. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from the first quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2020 and employing the difference-in-difference (DID) method, we find that the firms with a higher quality of internal control achieve better financial performance during the pandemic period; the more serious the pandemic is, the more obvious effect internal control plays. Furthermore, we consider the industry heterogeneity and firm heterogeneity of the risk resistance effect of internal control. In the manufacturing industry, which is a “disaster zone” of the pandemic, and the non-high-tech industry with a low degree of digitization, internal control can play a more important role in firms’ performance. Moreover, for state-owned enterprises, and firms with strong financing constraints, the role of internal control is more prominent. The above results provide empirical evidence for the risk prevention function of internal control and shed new light on the measures for firms to resist emergencies in the future.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Osuna Gómez ◽  

This paper estimates the impact of the capture of leaders of criminal organizations on the labor market in municipalities where these organizations operated between 2004 and 2006. The difference-in-difference analysis compares different employment outcomes in cartel locations and the rest, before and after the capture of cartel leaders. The results show that captures caused a decrease in nominal wages and paid employment in cartel municipalities. Using Economic Census Data, I find that captures also caused a fall in the number of establishments and had a negative impact on other establishment outcomes. This document focuses exclusively on the impact of the capture of leaders of criminal organizations on the labor market until 2011 without studying other possible consequences, and thus does not make an integral assessment of this policy


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Osorio-Gallego ◽  
John Londoño-Metaute ◽  
Esteban López-Zapata

Purpose: The objective of this article is to analyze the factors that influence the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by SMEs in Colombia.Design/methodology: To prove empirically these hypotheses, we administered a questionnaire to a sample of 474 SMEs in Colombia regarding the adoption of ICT and independent variables identified in the literature. Then, we conducted a series of multiple regression models using the data we obtained.Findings: We developed a model that identifies a positive relation between new business opportunities that ICT offer and their adoption level. Likewise, this research identified that a lack of confidence in ICT's security and privacy, a perception of ICT cost-benefit unbalance have a negative impact on the implementation of these technologies.Research limitations/implications: This study has limitations that are inherent to cross-sectional research. These restrict the possibility of conducting dynamic analysis between independent and dependent variables. Likewise, the generalization of results is circumscribed to a geographical context and the type of enterprises surveyed.Practical implications: The results of this research provide valuable contributions to decision-making by SMEs' directors and to public policies that foster the implementation of ICT in SMEs based on an analysis of benefits and barriers found in this study.Originality/value: In view of a lack of empirical work that analyzes the implementation of technology in enterprises in emerging countries, this study provides a valuable contribution to the creation of knowledge when attempting to explain the implementation of ICT using a representative sample of SMEs in Colombia identifying the quantitative form of the impact of the benefits and barriers of these technologies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Fandresena Arilala Sendrasoa ◽  
Naina Harinjara Razanakoto ◽  
Volatantely Ratovonjanahary ◽  
Onivola Raharolahy ◽  
Irina Mamisoa Ranaivo ◽  
...  

Background. Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, and multifactorial dermatosis that impairs quality of life (QoL). Health-related QoL has become an important element in medical decision-making along with the effectiveness and the harmlessness of the treatments. Objective. To assess the impact of psoriasis in the QoL of patients with psoriasis by using the DLQI scales. Methods. A cross-sectional study from January to June 2018 was conducted in the Department of Dermatology of the University Hospital Joseph Raseta Befelatanana, Antananarivo, Madagascar, including patients more than 18 years old with mild to severe psoriasis. The severity of psoriasis was assessed using the “Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI)”. QoL of patients with psoriasis was evaluated by using the DLQI scales. Results. 80 patients were included, their mean age was 36.5 years, and the male to female was 1.5 : 1. The mean DLQI score was 13.8. Symptoms, feelings, and psychic were the most altered dimensions. QoL was impaired in young patients, single, having medium level education. Even though patients with disease duration more than 5 years had higher DLQI score than other patients, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.36). Furthermore, the clinical presentation of psoriasis did not influence the patient’s QoL (p=0.73). Patients with nail involvement had QoL impaired but the difference with another localization was not statistically significant (p=0.2). The quality of life was influenced by body area involved. The higher the body surface area involved, the more QoL is impaired (p=0.002). Furthermore, the higher the PASI, the more QoL is altered (p=0.002). Conclusion. Psoriasis has a negative impact in the quality of life in Malagasy patients with psoriasis, especially in younger and single patients. Worse quality of life is correlated to severity of psoriasis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-123
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Bielczyńska

Abstract The aim of the work was to analyze the influence of wave activity on invertebrate fauna living in the littoral zone. For this purpose, an algorithm was developed to analyze spatial and meteorological data, calculating the values of fetch and wind exposure. The taxonomic composition of the fauna and the values of selected water quality indicators were analyzed against the background of varied wind exposure, trophy, and various habitats. A significant negative impact of wind exposure on the taxonomic variety of the macrozoobenthic community, the number of Coenagrionidae damselflies and Baetidae mayflies was found. It is difficult to separate the impact of waves on the fauna from the impact of other natural and anthropogenic factors, because those factors may also be affected by water movements. The tool produced as part of this work can also be used to further investigate the issue of impact of waves on all the communities living in the littoral zone.


Author(s):  
Kostiantyn Mamonov ◽  
Svitlana Kamchatnaya ◽  
Yevhen Orel ◽  
Oleksandr Saiapin

The purpose of this article is to study and develop a methodological approach tosolving the problem of accuracy of the geodetic base of the route. For this purpose, the followingtasks are set: mathematical substantiation the dependence of the line length on the ratio of the traceslope and the guide slope; description of the function of optimal use of the guiding slope at highspeed; determination of the impact of errors in the course of the geodetic justification on the routelength. Starting from the determined point and further to the right, artificial development of the lineis required. Because when a trace is planed using level curves, this point can be reached sooner orlater, and in some cases, this point can not be reached not at all, the line length designed accordingto the plan will be slightly different than in the case of tracing with usage the exact data. Thus, theobtained results indicate the following. If the error positions during a high-speed segment are suchthat the ordnance datum of the passage is less than the truth, the route length will be less than thetrue and vice versa. This trivial result indicates that the location of geodetic support points ondifferent sides of the pass is not recommended. It is established that due to the accumulation of errorsin the transmission of coordinates in the working substantiation networks, the conditions of the linedesign and the amount of operating costs change. It is mathematically substantiated that the linelength depends on the depth of the excavation on the pass and the height of the embankment at thepoint, and also on the difference of ordnance datum at these points. The difference between the traceslope and the guiding slope has an inversely proportional effect. In addition, the function of optimaluse of the guide slope at a high-speed segment has the form of a broken line according to its fracturesthe need for artificial development of the route can be established. The influence of errors in the course of the working justification is manifested in the discrepancy between the true and projectedroute length. If this error is not taken into account, it will lead to significant overspending duringbuilding a longer line than necessary. Further development of the problem of increasing the accuracyof tracing and reducing the impact of errors is planned in the direction of creating methods of digitalmodelling and automated programs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (47) ◽  
pp. 12620-12625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertrand Jayles ◽  
Hye-rin Kim ◽  
Ramón Escobedo ◽  
Stéphane Cezera ◽  
Adrien Blanchet ◽  
...  

In our digital and connected societies, the development of social networks, online shopping, and reputation systems raises the questions of how individuals use social information and how it affects their decisions. We report experiments performed in France and Japan, in which subjects could update their estimates after having received information from other subjects. We measure and model the impact of this social information at individual and collective scales. We observe and justify that, when individuals have little prior knowledge about a quantity, the distribution of the logarithm of their estimates is close to a Cauchy distribution. We find that social influence helps the group improve its properly defined collective accuracy. We quantify the improvement of the group estimation when additional controlled and reliable information is provided, unbeknownst to the subjects. We show that subjects’ sensitivity to social influence permits us to define five robust behavioral traits and increases with the difference between personal and group estimates. We then use our data to build and calibrate a model of collective estimation to analyze the impact on the group performance of the quantity and quality of information received by individuals. The model quantitatively reproduces the distributions of estimates and the improvement of collective performance and accuracy observed in our experiments. Finally, our model predicts that providing a moderate amount of incorrect information to individuals can counterbalance the human cognitive bias to systematically underestimate quantities and thereby improve collective performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 295 ◽  
pp. 01034
Author(s):  
Adigam Barlybaev ◽  
Zulfiya Ishnazarova ◽  
Inna Sitnova

The article analyzes the impact of digitalization on the life population quality, identifies areas, identifies the positive and negative impact of digitalization on the qualitative characteristics of the population’s life. The life quality is one of the important indicators of the level of development of society; it is a complex systemic integral characteristic of satisfaction with material and non-material factors of life of the population living in a certain territory. Since the environment and environmental conditions are constantly changing, various trends and patterns occur, the trends and requirements of our time, inevitably affect the life quality. One of such conditions, gaining momentum at the present time, is digitalization. Digitalization is the introduction of modern digital technologies in various spheres of life and production. Currently, in all types and levels of economic processes in the world and in individual countries, the so-called “digitalization” is gaining momentum - the active use of information and communication technologies. There is a need to accept digitalization as a universal process, adapt to it and use its levers for the best possible result for society. In nine areas, digitalization directly affects the life quality - the city, education, healthcare, economy, finance, information systems, infrastructure, business, and agriculture.


10.28945/3249 ◽  
2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendrenath Motah

The applications of the Information, Education and Communication approaches to all sectors have brought unexpected changes in the attitudes and behaviours of people of all ages. The overwhelming amount of theoretical and empirical work done regarding the impact of ICT on educational processes has highlighted the benefits of ICT to students, teachers, and parents. Mauritius is faced with a double dilemma: the positive value of information technologies, on the one hand, and the potentialities and possibilities of the negative impact on the life of people on the other. This paper aims to gauge the impact of the ICT, IEC and IT on the Mauritian population confronted with the issues related to the access to information through the technological advances the world has been exposed to. It is also to draw the attention of policy-makers of the need to consider the “digital opportunity” and its influence on the Mauritian population.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 586-604
Author(s):  
Theophilus Ehidiamen OAMEN

Pharmaceutical sales representatives are a pivotal workforce in the healthcare system. Due to the global impact of COVID-19, the impact on the psyche and morale of the pharmaceutical sales workforce has to be examined. The primary objective of the study was to assess the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psyche and productivity of the pharmaceutical sales workforce in Nigeria. A questionnaire-guided cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from pharmaceutical sales personnel across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria using purposive sampling. The final sample was 225. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 25. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation were used for demographic data. Cluster analysis was used to identify key demographic predictors of importance. X2 test was used to test the association between the sociodemographic characteristics of respondents and work-attributes. The difference of means was determined with a t-test. Highest and lowest-ranked work-attributes were information provider (3.62±1.36), and involvement in COVID screening activities (1.80±1.20). Average daily work hours before and during COVID-19 lockdown (2.16±0.04 vs. 1.88±0.11, p<0.05)) were affected. Average sales were significantly affected (3.15±0.48 vs. 1.35±0.36, p<0.0001). Psychological states of Anxiety and Increased burden have a medium to high impact on the psyche of respondents. The study revealed an association of both extremes of pessimism and optimism with regards to Frustration state of mind. Study suggests an overall negative impact on pharmaceutical sales representatives’ psyche and productivity. Attention to sales workforce welfare is required to safeguard medicine supply.


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