Table of Contents
- Research Article
Does Government Policies Improve Business Performance? Evidence from Nigeria PDF Taofik Mohammed Ibrahim, Taiwo Adewale Muritala This paper empirically examined the impact of government fiscal and monetary policies on business performance in Nigeria. The study which covered the period from 1970 to 2010 used secondary data. The study hypothesized negative relationship between inflation rates, value added tax, exchange rate and return on assets, which is the measure of business performance. Collected data were regressed using the Fully-modified OLS estimation technique while Augmented Dickey Fuller and Johansen Cointegration tests were used to determine the stationarity and long run properties of the variables. Findings indicated a negative relationship between monetary policy measures (inflation and exchange rate) and return on assets (ROA), while the impact of value added tax on ROA was positive. Hence, it was recommended that Nigerian government should be consistent and maintained its policy framework (fiscal stance, exchange rate policy, interest rate policy, and pricing policy) to spur confidence of foreign and local investors. - Research Article
Parental Education Matters for Adolescent Health: The Importance of Parental Education in the US PDF Jia Yu Parents, not doctors, are the primary gatekeepers of their children's health. Parental behavior plays an important role in child health during the prenatal and childhood (post-natal) periods. This paper investigates the association between parental schooling on the one hand, and adolescent health outcomes (height and weight) and general health status (missing school days due to illness/injuries and number of times in ER/ED) on the other. Using recent data from National Health Interview Studies (NHIS) from 2010 to 2011, I aim to understand the mechanisms through which parental schooling affects adolescent health. The results show that parental education has a significant effect on children health status as expected. Notable findings of this paper include the followings: the effects of the paternal education level on adolescent health are much more significant than the effects of mother's; and parental educational partly affects adolescent health indirectly through the influence on income, employment, family structure, and insurance enrollment. - Research Article
Notes to Albert Schweitzer, His Concept of "Reverence for Life" and the Fifth Commandment PDF Andreas Pawlas The theologian, musician and physician Albert Schweitzer is one of the great Persons of modern times. But he was a big critic of modernity and even of Christianity, and tried to give his time a new ethical basis with his concept of "Reverence for Life". However, it must be revealed that his concept has certainly to do with moments of self-promotion.
With his ethical concept he stands in a special relation to the Fifth Commandment "Thou shalt not kill". The more important it must be to realize, what influence had this relation in the political debates on war and peace he was engaged in.
But even if it is to see that Schweitzer's conclusions remain contradictory and even if he was not successfull to built up a perfekt ethical system, his concept of "Reverence for Life" gives an important impuls against the modern rational manipulation and exploitation of the world and for a life in God"˜s creation that is worth living. - Research Article
Positivism in Understanding the Contemporary Social World: A Critical Discussion PDF Hayat Ali, Muhammad Faisol Chowdhury This theoretical paper aims to critically discuss the extent of positivism in order for us to understand the contemporary social world. The discussion concentrates on philosophical positivism from a social science standpoint, firstly, its origin and development during the eighteenth century, then secondly, the development of the Vienna Circle, and lastly, the influence of the late nineteenth century's postmodernism has on positivism. Rather than focusing on the distinct recurrent anticipations of positivism of ancient ideologies of philosophy, the paper describes the theoretical understandings of positivism in sociological perspective. Then it highlights the tenets of positivism developed by different sociologists and philosophers. Lastly, by probing into those tenets and methodological implications of different positivist approaches it critically analyses the extent to which this ideology aids our understanding of the concurrent social world. - Research Article
Literature and the Possibilities of Language Function PDF Amechi N. Akwanya The variety of human activities and needs gives rise to a plurality of language functions, among them communication. However, communication is so highly rated that for many this is not merely a function, but the key factor that defines the reality of language. This high rating of communication has important consequences. For example, the variety of functions tends to be reduced to forms of communication. On the other hand, it leaves language in an environment to function in anonymity and pure transparency, becoming a point of serious discussion only within academic linguistics. Among literary scholars, it is either ignored just as in the common usage or it is discussed under one theme or another of academic linguistics. Between these two extremes, however, lies a deep question as to what language is to literature. This is the question opened up in this paper; and it is postulated that an adequate account of the relation of language and literature may only be attempted within a theory of literature.