Scientific journals can promote ethical publication practices through policies on conflicts of interest. However, the prevalence of conflict of interest policies and the definition of conflict of interest appear to vary across scientific disciplines. This survey of high-impact, peer-reviewed journals in 12 different scientific disciplines was conducted to assess these variations. The survey ide...

a r t i c l e i n f o In this study, the advanced panel threshold regression model was used to test whether a marginal threshold value representing optimal financial decisions exists respective to the holding ratio of free cash flow, the debt ratio, and the dividend payout ratio determined by the U.S. life and property–casualty insurance industry. The results indicated that an optimal financial...

Like Archimedes who demanded a place to stand so that he could move the Earth, scientific journals also need a firm point to stand on. We use this example because it stresses the importance of determining the journal’s specific research field by editorial policies. One of the basic strategies for medical journals is to define their scope, which helps them to target specific readership, attract ...

Statistical significance tests (SSTs) have been the object of much controversy among social scientists. Proponents have hailed SSTs as an objective means for minimizing the likelihood that chance factors have contributed to research results; critics have both questioned the logic underlying SSTs and bemoaned the widespread misapplication and misinterpretation of the results of these tests. The ...

Faced with a difficult economic climate with high levels of unemployment and widespread home foreclosures, the Administration of President Barack Obama has created a unique opportunity to rethink and redirect fundamental policies and practices ranging from health care to regulation of the financial industry. A similar opportunity exists to change Federal homeless assistance policies and programs.

Sudden crises like those recently experienced in Mexico and Asia provide a special perspective on the structure of the international economy. Traditional open economy models with efficient global financial markets cannot provide an adequate explanation for either their existence or their severity. As this paper shows, global financial and output markets tend strongly to mitigate rather than to ...

— This paper examines the role of financial sector policies in determining private investment in the economies of India and Malaysia. The results suggest that significant directed credit programs favoring certain priority sectors tend to discourage private capital formation in both countries. Interest rate controls appear to have a positive impact on private investment, with the effect being mo...

This paper lays out some of the basic concepts surrounding financial inclusion, including access to banking, digital payments and financial literacy, as well as markets for health insurance, crop insurance, agricultural credit, small firm finance, and microcredit/ microfinance. It goes on to discuss various empirical and institutional studies of these dimensions of financial inclusion in the co...

This study investigates monetary and financial shocks on macroeconomic variables, focusing on the role of banking intervention. For this purpose, a Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model is designed for Iran’s economy that involves financial and banking sectors. The results of the model simulation show that the financial accelerator theory works in the Iranian economy. Al...