Adult education has long been described as an emerging discipline, but there has been little empirical study of its emergence. This study examined 'emergence' by monitoring that particular knowledge base which is unique to adult education. Studies concerned with the theory and practice of adult education are a quantifiable indicator of unique knowledge about adult education. Evidence that researchers in adult education increasingly cite the work of other researchers in adult education would support the contention that the body of knowledge in adult education is growing. The articles published in Adult Education Quarterly between 1971 and 1986 were analyzed using citation analysis methodology. The frequency of citation to previous adult education studies (primary literature) as opposed to citation of studies peripheral to an adult education context (secondary literature) was determined. Distinguishing between citation categories was carried out by analyzing each title cited. The phenomenon of concern in the cited article was interpreted from the words used in the title, and coded dichotomously as 'primary literature' or 'secondary literature'. Each coded item was then recorded under named authors; thus, the cited author was credited for total frequency cited along with the coded category of writing (author of primary literature or author of secondary literature). Reliability measures performed for intra-judge consistency (recoding data), and inter-judge agreement (independent coding of data) resulted in differences in coding of less than four percent for the former, and nine percent with the latter. Validity of the procedures used in coding cited authors was tested by comparing results obtained to a 'standard'. 'Independent experts' were asked to identify from a list of the twenty most cited authors from each four volume period, those who were "primarily known for their adult education activities." The study's coding outcome of these authors compared with the expert's 'standard' resulted in greater than 75 percent agreement. With 4700 citations classified, it was found that a rising percentage of citations were to the "authors of primary literature"; from 41 percent of all citations in the first half of the study period (1971-1978), to 46 percent in the last half (1979-1986). A further breakdown showed the percentage of citations to "primary literature journals" also increasing; from 31 percent of all journals cited in '1971-1978' to 39 percent in '1979-1986'. As the scope of literature analyzed was exclusively from one North American journal, results need to be regarded with this limitation in mind. However, the empirical evidence of an increasing 'primary literature' base in adult education research suggests emergence of the field. Implications for future research are discussed in light of this and previous studies. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

本研究係探討「上市公司季盈餘宣告」與「投信持股比例」之關係，希望瞭解季盈餘資訊對基金經理人投資決策之影響方向與程度。樣本涵蓋期間為民國八十四年第四季至八十六年第一季，以國內全體基金及其投資標的為研究對象，採用 t 檢定（單尾、雙尾）及簡單迴歸分析進行研究，實證結果如下： 一、關於「季盈餘成長率」與「持股比例變動百分比」之相關性： 就整體樣本而言，此二項變數間的關係並不顯著，但就產業別而言，「金融類股」與「其他類股」則出現顯著的結果，顯著水準分別是 1%與 5%。 二、關於「好消息」與「持股比例變動百分比」之相關性： 「季盈餘成長率」與「持股比例變動百分比」均達到 1% 的顯著水準，且後者的 t 值為證數，顯示好消息確實會引起持股比例顯著增加。 但就變動幅度的相關性加以分析，整體樣本的迴歸分析結果並不顯著，在產業類別方面，僅有「其他類股」出現顯著的狀況，達到 1%顯著水準。 三、關於「壞消息」與「持股比例變動百分比」之相關性： 「季盈餘成長率」與「持股比例變動百分比」均達到 1%的顯著水準，但後者的 t 值為負數，表示壞消息的出現反而造成持股比例顯著增加。 若就變動幅度的相關性加以分析，全體樣本迴歸分析結果達到 10%的顯著水準，至於在產業別方面，計有塑膠、營建、金融等三種產業出現顯著的結果，顯著水準分別是 10%、1%、1%。 四、關於「好消息的幅度」與「持股比例增加幅度」的分組檢定： 四組「好消息的幅度」均達到 1%的顯著水準，而四組「持股比例增加幅度」亦均達到 5%的顯著水準，顯示只要出現好消息，不論幅度大小，均會引起持股比例顯著增加。 但是迴歸分析方面，四組皆未達到顯著水準，顯示「持股比例增加的幅度」與「好消息的幅度」並不具有顯著的相關性。 五、關於「壞消息的幅度」與「持股比例減少幅度」的分組檢定： 四組「壞消息的幅度」均達到 1%的顯著水準，而四組「持股比例減少幅度」亦均達到 5%的顯著水準，顯示只要出現壞消息，不論幅度大小，均會引起持股比例顯著增加。原因可能亦為投信基金進場承接的結果。 至於在迴歸分析方面，四組皆未達到顯著水準，顯示「持股比例增加的幅度」與「壞消息的幅度」並不具有顯著的相關性，亦即只要出現壞消息投信基金就可能進場承接，但承接時買進的幅度與壞消息的幅度並未沒有顯著的相關性。 六、關於「本季盈餘成長率大於前一季」與「持股比例變動百分比」之相關性： 不論是全體樣本或細分的三組樣本（正正、負正、負負）均出現顯著的結果，除了「負正組」的顯著水準為 5%外，全體樣本與其餘二組（正正、負負）的顯著水準均為 1%。顯示投信業者相當重視上市公司盈餘改善的訊息，只要本季盈餘成長率大於前一季，不論前後二季盈餘成長率究竟是正號或負號，投信基金均會顯著增加持股比例。 七、關於「本季盈餘成長率小於前一季」與「持股比例變動百分比」之相關性： 不論是全體樣本或細分的三組樣本（正正、正負、負負）均出現顯著的結果，全體樣本與「負負組」的顯著水準為 1%，「正正組」與「正負組」的顯著水準為 5%。但四種情況的 t 值均為正數，與假說之預期正好相反，表示本季盈餘成長率小於前一季時，確實會引起投信基金進場承接。 / The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of quarterly report announcement on portfolio revision of mutual funds in the Taiwan stock market. Based on economics of information, mutual fund can be considered as a professional investor in the market such that management of mutual fund wold apply his (her) professional knowledge to forecast the realized number of earnings this period. Therefore, this study hypothesizes that mutual funds would response to the announcement of quarterly earnings earlier than other investors such that the porfolio of mutual fund would accord the announcement to make proper revision. The findings of this study can be summarized as follows. ● Except for financial servics and others industry groups, the relationship between the announcement of quarterly earnings and porfolio revisions of mutual funds is not significant. ● The positive growth of quarterly earnings will cause the significant porfolio revisions of mutual funds; but the relationship between their magnitude is not significant. ● The negative growth of quarterly earnings will cause the reverse significant porfolio revisions of mutual funds. This results implies mutual fund may be an instrument for maintaining price; or mutual fund may consider the bad news of this period being the worst condition of the firm. ● It is robust to conclude whatever itis a good news or not, mutual fund will increase its holdings. In particular, these results hold when the next quarter has the same sign of earnings growth.

The Performance Management System (PMS) has been introduced in the Republic of South African public service with intentions of planning, monitoring, developing under-performance, rating and rewarding good performance. The study was undertaken as an attempt to investigate the impact of the PMS on employees of the ECPL. The literature review shows that there are challenges facing the institution with regards to implementation of PMS. The findings of the study indicated that the supervisors have no understanding of PMS instead they used it as punishing tool. Other findings of the study showed that there’s a culture within the institution of using PMS as a money making scheme or a 14th checque. To achieve this, a semi- structured questionnaire was issued to employees of the ECPL. The recommendation on the basis of the study is that the compliance issue should be strengthened and disciplinary measures be taken against employees who failed to comply with the provisions of the PMS policy.

The aim of my diploma thesis is to describe indirect methods that are used in the compilation of quarterly national accounts. The diploma thesis is divided into three parts and three chapters. The first chapter presents the theoretical background and describes the development of national accounts in the Czech Republic and the basic macroeconomic aggregates. The second chapter is devoted to the quarterly national accounts and mathematical and statistical methods that are used in their compilation. The third chapter describes in detail selected indirect methods, which consists in linking the indicator and aggregate. Consequently, this method is applied to the data of the Czech Republic and then quarterly estimates are constructed which are compared to actual values.

A previsão do PIB é um dos principais balizadores para as decisões produtivas de agentes econômicos. Com o objetivo de realizar previsões para o crescimento do PIB trimestral brasileiro, são utilizadas 16 séries mensais financeiras e econômicas como potenciais preditores, abrangendo o período do segundo trimestre de 1996 ao quarto trimestre de 2012. Para isso, aplicou-se as abordagens MIDAS (Mixed Data Sampling) e UMIDAS (Unrestricted Mixed Data Sampling), confrontando seus resultados de previsão fora da amostra com o benchmark ARMA. Foram encontrados erros de previsão menores nessas abordagens, principalmente quando utilizadas informações dentro do trimestre de previsão. Os resultados foram ainda melhores quando empregados múltiplos regressores. / The GDP forecast is an important indicator for production decisions taken by economic agents. In order to make forecasts for the Brazilian quarterly GDP growth, we used 16 monthly financial and economic series as potential predictors, covering the period from the second quarter of 1996 to the fourth quarter of 2012. For this purpose, we applied MIDAS (Mixed Data Sampling) and UMIDAS (Unrestricted Mixed Data Sampling) approaches and compared the out of sample forecasts with the benchmark ones provided by ARMA. MI- DAS and UMIDAS showed smaller prediction errors, especially when information inside the quarter forecast is used. The results were even better when multiple regressors were employed.

abstract: This dissertation examines the communication of U.S. Corporate executives in quarterly conference calls and in public forums at the World Economic Forum. Using grounded theory, the executive's core conceptual framework is identified and analyzed in the conference calls. Broadly speaking, it was found that an underlying aggressive orientation to the organization conceptualizes the executive as being the source of organizational activity. It places the executive in a causal-force relation to other organizational groups, which at once, inflates the role of the executive and poses a dilemma with respect to executive status and the communicative vitality of the organization. This project of organizational communication is situated within the broader areas of ideology, critical organizational scholarship, and communicative constitution of communication. The set of data consists of communication of executives of U.S. corporations in the S&P500 in 171 conference calls with shareholder agents. Grounded theory is used to identify the executives' conceptual view of the organization as it emerges from the data analysis. The findings from the analysis of the conference call data are presented in relation to two core categories, a causal-driving force and an ultimate objective category, including sub-categories that form an overall conceptual framework. An exploration of executive communication at the World Economic Forum extends these findings by demonstrating how it is transformed and mediated in a public venue in the presence of other stakeholders. One important finding from the study involves the emergence of a rival concept that poses an organizational dilemma for the future of the executive's communicative framework. And lastly, the issue of ideology is applied to the findings. This examination uses the sensitizing concepts of reification and fetishism drawn from the literature on ideology, which is developed into a systematic algorithm. The application of the findings to the model adds new insight into the relation between the executive and organizational communication. The results from this examination reinforce and highlight the conceptual dilemma the executive faces in relation to the organization and its future implications on organizational communication. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Communication 2019

現代化的企業型態，所有權與經營權分離，會計報表可以呈現經營績效讓投資人作為評估的依據，為二者之間的橋樑。 　　根據理性預期理論，一個理性的投資者，當公司宣告盈餘時，投資者會依盈餘宣告所帶來之新資訊調整投資行為，而這些行為即會反應在股價上，亦即盈餘新資訊會包括在股價形成之中。本研究以探討季盈餘宣告與股價變動的關係來證明季盈餘是否具有資訊內涵。 　　本研究擬依序回答下列的研究問題：1.是否季盈餘具有顯著的資訊內涵2.一至三季的資訊內涵與第四季是否有顯著差異3.是否季盈餘的資訊內涵具規模效應。 　　本研究係採t檢定來支持異常報酬異於零的假說，對於假說二及假說三則採兩樣本間的t-test來假定兩組間的平均異常報酬是否有顯著的不同。 　　實證結果如下：一、依未預期盈餘分組，UE為正的有正的異常報酬UE為負的有負的異常報酬，但由於並未達統計上之顯著水準，故未能獲得「季盈餘具有資訊內涵」之結果。二、由實證結果顯示，第四季盈餘宣告較能引起較高之異常報酬，但未達統計上之顯著水準，第四季與1-3季股價之反應，在兩組t-test之中並未達顯著，故無法獲得季盈餘具有季節效應之假說。三、以規模大小所做的t-test亦未達統計上之顯著水準，故結論亦不支持「季盈餘具有規模效應」之假說。

<p>Aim of the Thesis: To investigate from a company’s perspective if the pressure for companies to produce quarterly reports has turned away their attention from working towards long-term value creation. The companies investigated are listed on the large-cap section on the Swedish stock exchange (OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm AB).</p><p>Methodology: A quantitative approach has been used and empirical data has been collected through questionnaires. The data has been analyzed and presented with descriptive statistics.</p><p>Theoretical Perspectives: A literature review has been conducted and resulted in a theoretical framework illustrating the concepts of quarterly reporting, long-term value creating, short-termism and forecasting.</p><p>Empirical data: The empirical data was collected by distributing questionnaires to the companies listed on the large-cap section of the OMX.</p><p>Conclusion: Companies listed on the large cap section of the OMX do not perceive that the pressure to produce quarterly reports affects them in a negative way. The study also showed that many companies lack awareness of the risks associated with short-termism.</p>

Aim of the Thesis: To investigate from a company’s perspective if the pressure for companies to produce quarterly reports has turned away their attention from working towards long-term value creation. The companies investigated are listed on the large-cap section on the Swedish stock exchange (OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm AB). Methodology: A quantitative approach has been used and empirical data has been collected through questionnaires. The data has been analyzed and presented with descriptive statistics. Theoretical Perspectives: A literature review has been conducted and resulted in a theoretical framework illustrating the concepts of quarterly reporting, long-term value creating, short-termism and forecasting. Empirical data: The empirical data was collected by distributing questionnaires to the companies listed on the large-cap section of the OMX. Conclusion: Companies listed on the large cap section of the OMX do not perceive that the pressure to produce quarterly reports affects them in a negative way. The study also showed that many companies lack awareness of the risks associated with short-termism.

A previsão do PIB é um dos principais balizadores para as decisões produtivas de agentes econômicos. Com o objetivo de realizar previsões para o crescimento do PIB trimestral brasileiro, são utilizadas 16 séries mensais financeiras e econômicas como potenciais preditores, abrangendo o período do segundo trimestre de 1996 ao quarto trimestre de 2012. Para isso, aplicou-se as abordagens MIDAS (Mixed Data Sampling) e UMIDAS (Unrestricted Mixed Data Sampling), confrontando seus resultados de previsão fora da amostra com o benchmark ARMA. Foram encontrados erros de previsão menores nessas abordagens, principalmente quando utilizadas informações dentro do trimestre de previsão. Os resultados foram ainda melhores quando empregados múltiplos regressores. / The GDP forecast is an important indicator for production decisions taken by economic agents. In order to make forecasts for the Brazilian quarterly GDP growth, we used 16 monthly financial and economic series as potential predictors, covering the period from the second quarter of 1996 to the fourth quarter of 2012. For this purpose, we applied MIDAS (Mixed Data Sampling) and UMIDAS (Unrestricted Mixed Data Sampling) approaches and compared the out of sample forecasts with the benchmark ones provided by ARMA. MI- DAS and UMIDAS showed smaller prediction errors, especially when information inside the quarter forecast is used. The results were even better when multiple regressors were employed.