Successful methods for a large class of nonlinear convex optimization problems have recently been developed. This class, known as self-scaled optimization problems, has been defined by Nesterov and Todd in 1994. As noticed by Guler in 1996, this class is best described using an algebraic structure known as Euclidean Jordan algebra, which provides an elegant and powerful unifying framework for its study. Euclidean Jordan algebras are now a popular setting for the analysis of algorithms designed for self-scaled optimization problems : dozens of research papers in optimization deal explicitely with them. This thesis proposes an extensive and self-contained description of Euclidean Jordan algebras, and shows how they can be used to design and analyze new algorithms for self-scaled optimization. Our work focuses on the so-called spectral functions on Euclidean Jordan algebras, a natural generalization of spectral functions of symmetric matrices. Based on an original variational analysis technique for Euclidean Jordan algebras, we discuss their most important properties, such as differentiability and convexity. We show how these results can be applied in order to extend several algorithms existing for linear or second-order programming to the general class of self-scaled problems. In particular, our methods allowed us to extend to some nonlinear convex problems the powerful smoothing techniques of Nesterov, and to demonstrate its excellent theoretical and practical efficiency.

Capital investment decision is one of the most important decisions, because it is thought to be affecting the short and long run situations of firms, and according to theory, it is thought to be affecting shareholders’ wealth. The researchers have recognized the two previously mentioned phases and conducted this study.   This study aims at identifying the extent to which capital budgeting techniques and its related practices are used by Jordanian listed services firms, and identifying reasonable justifications behind that pattern of this use. The study also aims at identifying if there is any relationship between firms’ performance and the degree of capital budgeting sophistication.   The researchers planned the study by formulating 3 research questions; these are, what are the capital budgeting techniques and their related practices that used by Jordanian listed services firms? Why Jordanian listed services firms use some capital budgeting techniques rather than others? What is the effect of the technique used on the firm’s performance?   To answer these questions, the researcher developed a questionnaire and addressed it to the capital budgeting decision makers of Jordanian listed services firms. The sample of the study is the whole population; 63 Jordanian listed services firms. The researchers received back 38 usable replies after which they started their statistical analysis to reach at findings about their first two questions. As to the third question, the researchers used a multiple regression model that explains performance by the degree of sophistication and size of the firm. The researchers run the analysis for the multiple regression model on 30 firms, the firms that have their financial statements available at JSC.   The results showed that PBP is the most used technique by the Jordanian listed services firms, followed by NPV, PI, ARR, and IRR. The results showed that the practices related to capital budgeting techniques; cost of capital estimation methods, risk analysis techniques, and cash flow forecasting techniques, are not widely used by the Jordanian listed services firms because of the domination of subjective judgment.   When started their study, the researchers expected that the selection of the capital budgeting techniques is explained by demographical characteristics, type of capital investment decision, and\ or the perception of the respondents to the advantages and disadvantages of each technique. The results showed that academic qualification has a positive effect on the use of DCF techniques, while the type of capital investment decision has no effect on the capital budgeting techniques selection. Based on the respondents’ perception to the advantages and disadvantages of each technique, the advantages of PBP and NPV explain their high use, and the disadvantages of IRR explain its low use. Finally, the results of the multiple regression analysis indicate that there is no relationship between the degree of capital budgeting sophistication and the performance of the firms.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : informatique et mathématiques appliquées : Grenoble 1 : 1987. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. p. 149-151.

Thesis (M.S.)--Kutztown State College. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 3080. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 39).

Certified organic farming is developing rapidly world-wide and has become of interest to many farmers, politicians, environmentalists and governments and is practised now in nearly all countries of the world. However, adoption of certified organic farming is not an easy option for farmers and it carries with it several barriers such as technical, economic, social, cultural or legal. The Jordanian Government is interested in proposing organic farming to farmers, but without initially investigating whether or not organic farming will be a suitable system for farmers. Therefore, this research is based on the need to investigate the main barriers and to evaluate opportunities and potential for organic farming in Jordan’s arid lands and to propose an adoption model based on local farmer participation, using farmers’ local knowledge and their initiative, as well as institutional participation. To do so, a two-stage research methodology was employed in this research to gain the necessary data during two periods of fieldwork, April to September 2004 and July to September 2005. During this fieldwork, interviews with 46 farmers using an open questionnaire and interviews with discussion groups and government officials were conducted to investigate barriers and potential for organic farming in Jordan. Also, a national workshop was conducted attended by the Minister of Agriculture and stakeholders to evaluate and to ensure the sustainability of the proposed model. Respondents reported that the main barriers to adopting organic farming included perception, technical, nutrient availability, cultural/social, marketing, economic, institutional, lack of national regulation and lack of information and advice, but that labour was not a barrier. Findings also showed that despite barriers the area has potential for organic production owing to its extensive area, good water quality, potential farmers and international agreements. Based on the results obtained from this research, a suitable organic farming model for Jordan, and other countries having similar conditions, was developed. The model is divided into four levels: government, field, academic and regional and international, and the role of each level and its relationship with other levels is explained. The research shows that the success of this model with delivery of its objectives does not rely on the work of only the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) or any other single body, but on everyone involved in the provision of organic farming in Jordan. Moreover, the model suggests a potential framework for an action plan on the subject of Jordan and organic farming. Also the methodology developed in this research is considered to be a great help for future researchers wanting to conduct research on organic farming or research related to sustainable agricultural development in the developing world context.

This thesis analyses the hirak movements that emerged in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 2011. Amalgamating literature from studies of identity and defensive democratization, the thesis places two central questions into historical context: why did the hirak movements emerge in the rural tribal strongholds of the Hashemite monarchy before spreading into urban centers? And why did the founders of more urban and demographically heterogeneous hirak collectively agree in the nascent stages of their movements’ geneses to underrepresent the presence of Palestinian-Jordanians? / Graduate

This dissertation examines Islamic banking in Jordan. It is argued that institutions perceived as culturally authentic may play important political roles in a post-colonial society. Islamic banking in particular can both function in a modern, globalized economy and express cultural tradition. It may help to legitimate Jordan’s political structures and overcome social and economic bifurcations between traditional and modern sectors of society. Jordan is a part of a region of the world in which the colonial experience continues to have an enduring legacy. What had previously been a tribal Bedouin society was transformed almost overnight. Its modern banking system transgressed Islamic norms and laws and excluded huge portions of the population who continued to see meaning in the religious values and principles rooted in the social and cultural institutions that had just been trampled upon. This dissertation looks into how Islamic banks that interact in a global economy while remaining true to culturally authentic beliefs and practices can begin to close the gaps between state practice and popular beliefs. The strongest opposition to the monarchy in Jordan has come from political Islamists who feed upon popular discontent and alienation caused by the practices and actions of a ruling elite that does not share the same cultural values as the majority of the population. Much of what the Islamists espouse, while culturally authentic, is removed from the political, financial, and economic realities of the modern era. Islamic banking thus has the potential to play a mediating role between a modernizing elite and this Islamist backlash. This dissertation will test the extent to which cultural authenticity matters by observing how Islamic banks in Jordan have been able to tap into a latent demand for alternative financial practices and how the Islamic financial movement relates to Islamist political movements. Although Islamic banking has not achieved its full potential, the dissertation presents strong evidence of its capacity to bridge divisions between state and society. / text

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This study documented the decline of the forests of the Petra Region of Jordan, as represented at Sidd al-Ahmar, within the Petra Archaeological Park. Biogeographical and anthropological methods were employed to explore the history of the forests. Archaeology and historical narratives provided a portrait of the study area from prehistory to the early 20th century. Aerial surveys from 1924 and 2002 were analyzed to quantify changes in forest cover. Mapping and inventory of indicator species measured short-term change between 2003 and 2006. Interviews, field observation and participant observation in the tourist industry provided a socio-cultural context for quantitative analysis and for recommendations for remediation of pressures on the remaining forest. The research documents a 58% decline in tree cover between 1924-2002, and a decline of 4.23% between 2003-2006. The conclusions question concepts such as "landscape integrity" and the usefulness of non-interventionist ideology in an historic and rapidly changing region.

Drawing on a variety of primary and archaeological sources, this study attempts to recreate the political history and the social and economic character of the Balqa' region during the Umayyad period. The Balqa' was a provincial area of Transjordan, which had long been part of the classical world heavily influenced by the Arab tribes of the Syrian desert. After the Arab conquest the Balqa' took on a new role as the home or some of the ruling Umayyad elite. But a process of economic, demographic and urban decline had already begun in the middle of sixth century. Even the ethnic and religious composition of the Balqa's population remained stable; the region was primarily inhabited by Christian Arabs during both the late Byzantine and the Umayyad periods. In passing from Byzantine to Umayyad control the Balqa' underwent a process of transformation, especially in regards to political matters. But the more important trend was one of continuity, even the transfer of political power from the Byzantine bureaucracy to Arab notables was but the culmination of a trend which had begun with the rise of the Ghassanids in the previous century.