Current empirical literature on the activities of foreign banks exhibit some degree of consensus around the thesis that foreign banks are less efficient than domestic banks in the case of industrial countries, but they are more efficient than domestic institutions in emerging economies. The reasons for such phenomenon include the exposure to tougher competition in industrial countries, adoption...

The disciplinary separation between comparative politics and international relations is regularly challenged but persists as a result of institutional inertia and hiring practices. This essay uses the issue of democratization in an attempt to go beyond rhetoric and to develop a framework that integrates the role of transnational activism into the analysis of domestic regime change. Comparative ...

BACKGROUND Mental health service users are at high risk of domestic violence but this is often not detected by mental health services. AIMS To explore the facilitators and barriers to disclosure of domestic violence from a service user and professional perspective. METHOD A qualitative study in a socioeconomically deprived south London borough, UK, with 18 mental health service users and 20...

The present study was performed to investigate the seroprevalence and risk factors for Dirofilaria immitis infection in cats from Liaoning province, northeastern China. From October 2014 to September 2016, sera of 651 cats, including 364 domestic cats and 287 feral cats (332 females and 319 males) were assessed. They were tested for the presence of D. immitis antigen using SNAP Heartworm RT tes...

This paper presents the first steps in a series of on-going user evaluations of intelligent environments for supporting elderly users at home. We specifically focus on a comparison of elderly perceptions of social assistive domestic robots between Italian and Swedish user groups. The evaluation was carried out in Rome, Italy and Örebro, Sweden, including surrounding towns. The results, obtained...

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To explore in detail how women perceived their experience of domestic violence and leaving or ending the abuse. This research also examined how service providers identified their professional role in assisting women to end such relationships. BACKGROUND Domestic violence against women continues to occur internationally. Reliable statistics are difficult to capture because ...

While there is a growing body of literature dealing with the development of migrant domestic work in Western countries, so far there has been very little attention paid to the development of formal domestic services as an economic activity actively structured through public policy. Yet the development of the domestic services sector in Europe is part of a specific political and economic strateg...

Business groups played an important role in the economic development of East Asian countries. Yet business groups in East Asia face an uncertain future. Following the Asian Crisis, foreign creditors and investors have demanded that business groups have more transparent operations and stronger corporate governance. At the same time, as governments in East Asia have loosened trade barriers, busin...

The present study investigated the effect of practicing domestic vs. foreign newspaper on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ reading comprehension ability. The main question this study tried to answer was whether or not practicing domestic vs. foreign newspaper has any effect on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ reading comprehension ability. To answer this question, 45 Iranian lea...