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Topic Review
Leverage
In finance, leverage (or gearing in the United Kingdom and Australia) is any technique involving borrowing funds to buy things, hoping that future profits will be many times more than the cost of borrowing. This technique is named after a lever in physics, which amplifies a small input force into a greater output force, because successful leverage amplifies the comparatively small amount of money needed for borrowing into large amounts of profit. However, the technique also involves the high risk of not being able to pay back a large loan. Normally, a lender will set a limit on how much risk it is prepared to take and will set a limit on how much leverage it will permit, and would require the acquired asset to be provided as collateral security for the loan. Leveraging enables gains to be multiplied. On the other hand, losses are also multiplied, and there is a risk that leveraging will result in a loss if financing costs exceed the income from the asset, or the value of the asset falls.
  • 2.5K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Renewable Energy Policies in Iran
The National Renewable Energy Policy can be introduced as an important step in increasing the investment and extraction of renewable energy in the total energy mix. Furthermore, to increase the use of local renewable energy sources, increasing the share of renewable energy in the composition of electricity generation can be achieved through facilitating the growth of the renewable industry, ensuring the reasonable cost of renewable energy production and creating public awareness of the importance of sustainable energy and clean technology.
  • 2.4K
  • 26 Jul 2021
Topic Review
The Influence of CSR and Ethics on Brand
Business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) exert an indirect positive effect on brand fidelity, with relationships mediated by brand love. In turn, brand attitude exerts an indirect effect on brand fidelity, through the mediation of brand love. 
  • 2.4K
  • 28 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Caesars Rewards
Caesars Rewards (Europe/North Africa: Player Rewards and South Africa: Emerald Rewards; formerly Total Gold and Total Rewards) is a casino loyalty program at nearly all Caesars Entertainment Corporation (formerly Harrah's Entertainment) locations.
  • 2.4K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Let's Encrypt
Let's Encrypt is a certificate authority that provides X.509 certificates for Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption at no charge. The certificate is valid for 90 days, during which renewal can take place at anytime. The offer is accompanied by an automated process designed to overcome manual creation, validation, signing, installation, and renewal of certificates for secure websites. It launched on April 12, 2016. The project claims to make encrypted connections to World Wide Web servers ubiquitous. By eliminating payment, web server configuration, validation email management and certificate renewal tasks, it is meant to significantly lower the complexity of setting up and maintaining TLS encryption. On a Linux web server, execution of only two commands is sufficient to set up HTTPS encryption and acquire and install certificates. To that end, a software package was included into the official Debian and Ubuntu software repositories. Current initiatives of major browser developers such as Mozilla and Google to deprecate unencrypted HTTP are counting on the availability of Let's Encrypt. The project is acknowledged to have the potential to accomplish encrypted connections as the default case for the entire web. Only domain-validated certificates are being issued, since they can be fully automated. Organization Validation and Extended Validation Certificates are not available. By being as transparent as possible, they hope to both protect their own trustworthiness and guard against attacks and manipulation attempts. For that purpose they regularly publish transparency reports, publicly log all ACME transactions (e.g. by using Certificate Transparency), and use open standards and free software as much as possible. Support of ACME v2 and wildcard certificates was added in March 2018.
  • 2.4K
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Monetary Policy Committee
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Bank of England, which meets for three and a half days, eight times a year, to decide the official interest rate in the United Kingdom (the Bank of England Base Rate). It is also responsible for directing other aspects of the government's monetary policy framework, such as quantitative easing and forward guidance. The Committee comprises nine members, including the Governor (from 2013 Mark Carney), and is responsible primarily for keeping the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation close to a target set by the government (2% per year as of 2016). Its secondary aim – to support growth and employment – was reinforced in March 2013. Announced on 6 May 1997, only five days after that year's General Election, and officially given operational responsibility for setting interest rates in the Bank of England Act 1998, the Committee was designed to be independent of political interference and thus to add credibility to interest rate decisions. Each member has one vote, for which they are held to account: full minutes of each meeting are published alongside the Committee's monetary policy decisions, and members are regularly called before the Treasury Select Committee, as well as speaking to wider audiences at events during the year.
  • 2.3K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Consumer Reselling
Since e-commerce has revitalized recently in the form of live commerce and Instagram shopping, both purchase and sales have become promoted among consumers while reselling has been facilitated in second-hand item markets and among consumers. Particularly, the new trend of consuming products, rather than merely owning products, has become a mainstream factor in the market. Accordingly, consumers show extraordinary consumption, focusing on the act of purchasing limited edition products of high scarcity and placing more importance on one-off experience rather than ordinary new products or premium products. It was verified that the need for joining was the most critical factor facilitating consumers' reselling of limited edition products. 
  • 2.3K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Volatility
In finance, volatility (usually denoted by σ) is the degree of variation of a trading price series over time, usually measured by the standard deviation of logarithmic returns. Historic volatility measures a time series of past market prices. Implied volatility looks forward in time, being derived from the market price of a market-traded derivative (in particular, an option).
  • 2.3K
  • 28 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Fake News Consumption
This entry analyzes some of the psychological, partisan and ideological factors that influence the consumption of fake news. For a better understanding of the consumption of fake news, consult the review paper of the authors [1].
  • 2.3K
  • 04 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Value-Free Analysis of Values
The Culture-Based Development (CBD) approach suggests that the value-free analysis of values needs: (i) to use positive methods to classify a value as local or universal; (ii) to examine the existence of what is termed the Aristotelian Kuznets curve of values (i.e., to test for the presence of an inflection point in the economic impact from the particular value) and (iii) to account for Platonian cultural relativity (i.e., the cultural embeddedness expressed in the geographic nestedness of the empirical data about values). In short, the value-free analysis of values is a novel methodological protocol that ensures an accurate and precise analysis of the impact from a particular cultural value on a specific socio-economic outcome of interest.  
  • 2.3K
  • 21 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Prenuptial Agreement
A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple prior to marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the legal rights they acquire upon marrying, and what happens when their marriage eventually ends by death or divorce. Couples enter into a written prenuptial agreement to supersede many of the default marital laws that would otherwise apply in the event of divorce, such as the laws that govern the division of property and retirement benefits and savings, and the right to seek alimony (spousal support) with agreed-upon terms that provide certainty and clarify their marital rights. A premarital agreement may also contain waivers of a surviving spouse’s right to claim an elective share of the estate of the deceased spouse. In some countries, including the United States , Belgium and the Netherlands, the prenuptial agreement not only provides for what happens in the event of a divorce, but also to protect some property during the marriage, for instance in case of a bankruptcy. Many countries, including Canada , France , Italy, and Germany , have matrimonial regimes, in addition to, or some cases, in lieu of prenuptial agreements. Postnuptial agreements are similar to prenuptial agreements, except that they are entered into after a couple is married. When divorce is imminent, postnuptial agreements are referred to as separation agreements.
  • 2.2K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Impact of Virtual Reality on Tourism
As an advanced technology, virtual reality (VR) could contribute substantially to the tourism industry, but differently than existing technologies. In fact, VR creates artificial environments like the real world, which are thus immersive virtual environments that are also more realistic. These features might foster attraction and engagement from additional tourists and improve their perceptions of different destinations (e.g., theme parks, cultural heritage centers, or museums).
  • 2.2K
  • 30 Oct 2023
Topic Review
William Jennings Bryan Presidential Campaign, 1896
In 1896, William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for President of the United States. Bryan, a former Democratic congressman from Nebraska, gained his party's presidential nomination in July of that year after electrifying the Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech. He was defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, former Ohio governor William McKinley. Born in 1860, Bryan grew up in rural Illinois and in 1887 moved to Nebraska, where he practiced law and entered politics. He won election to the House of Representatives in 1890, and was re-elected in 1892, before mounting an unsuccessful US Senate run. He set his sights on higher office, believing he could be elected president in 1896 even though he remained a relatively minor figure in the Democratic Party. In anticipation of a presidential campaign, he spent much of 1895 and early 1896 making speeches across the United States; his compelling oratory increased his popularity in his party. Bryan often spoke on the issue of the currency. The economic Panic of 1893 had left the nation in a deep recession, which still persisted in early 1896. Bryan and many other Democrats believed the economic malaise could be remedied through a return to bimetallism, or free silver—a policy they believed would inflate the currency and make it easier for debtors to repay loans. Bryan went to the Democratic convention in Chicago as an undeclared candidate, whom the press had given only a small chance of becoming the Democratic nominee. His 'Cross of Gold' speech, given to conclude the debate on the party platform, immediately transformed him into a favorite for the nomination, and he won it the next day. The Democrats nominated Arthur Sewall, a wealthy Maine banker and shipbuilder, for vice president. The left-wing Populist Party (which had hoped to nominate the only silver-supporting candidate) endorsed Bryan for president, but found Sewall unacceptable, substituting Thomas E. Watson of Georgia. Abandoned by many gold-supporting party leaders and newspapers after the Chicago convention, Bryan undertook an extensive tour by rail to bring his campaign to the people. He spoke some 600 times, to an estimated 5,000,000 listeners. His campaign focused on silver, an issue that failed to appeal to the urban voter, and he was defeated. The 1896 race is generally seen as a realigning election. The coalition of wealthy, middle-class and urban voters that defeated Bryan kept the Republicans in power for most of the time until 1932. Although defeated in the election, Bryan's campaign made him a national figure, which he remained until his death in 1925.
  • 2.2K
  • 26 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Influencer Engagement on Social Media
The interactive capabilities of social media (SM) can provide a conceptual parallel to the conversational nature underlying the concept of engagement. For example, SM users’ interactions with specific brands are concrete manifestations of engagement marked by varying degrees of affective and/or cognitive and/or behavioral investment.
  • 2.2K
  • 19 Oct 2023
Topic Review
WebSphere Commerce
IBM WebSphere Commerce also known as WCS (WebSphere Commerce Suite) is a software platform framework for e-commerce, including marketing, sales, customer and order processing functionality in a tailorable, integrated package. It is a single, unified platform which offers the ability to do business directly with consumers (B2C), with businesses (B2B), indirectly through channel partners (indirect business models), or all of these simultaneously. WebSphere Commerce is a customizable, scalable and high availability solution built on the Java - Java EE platform using open standards, such as XML, and Web services. IBM WebSphere Commerce is sometimes referred to as WCS, however this abbreviation was originally used as a reference to the platform when it was named WebSphere Commerce Suite. Use of the abbreviation continued with users and solution implementers after the platform was renamed to WebSphere Commerce with the announcement of WebSphere Commerce V5.4.
  • 2.2K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Academic Journals
Many academics are critical of the current publishing system, but it is difficult to create a better alternative. The perspective relates to the sciences and social sciences, and discusses the primary purpose of academic journals as providing a seal of approval for perceived quality, impact, significance, and importance. The key issues considered include the role of anonymous refereeing, continuous rather than discrete frequency of publications, avoidance of time wasting, and seeking adventure. Here we give recommendations about the organization of journal articles, the roles of associate editors and referees, measuring the time frame for refereeing submitted articles in days and weeks rather than months and years, encouraging open access internet publishing, emphasizing the continuity of publishing online, academic publishing as a continuous dynamic process, and how to improve research after publication. Citations and functions thereof, such as the journal impact factor and h-index are the benchmark for evaluating the importance and impact of academic journals and published articles. Even in the very top journals, a high proportion of published articles is never cited, not even by the authors themselves. Top journal publications do not guarantee that published articles will make significant contributions, or that they will ever be highly cited. The COVID-19 world should encourage academics worldwide not only to rethink academic teaching, but also to re-evaluate key issues associated with academic journal publishing in the future.   
  • 2.2K
  • 13 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Workers’ Right to Access Restroom
Workers' right to access restroom refers to the rights of employees to take a break when they need to use the bathroom. The right to access a bathroom is a basic human need. Unless both the employee and employer agree to compensate the employee on rest breaks an employer cannot take away the worker's right to access a restroom while working. There is limited information on the rights workers have to access bathrooms among the world's legal systems. The law is not clear in New Zealand, United Kingdom , or the United States of America as to the amount of time a worker is entitled to use a restroom while working. Nor is there clarification on what constitutes a 'reasonable' amount of access to a restroom. Consequently, the lack of access to toilet facilities has become a health issue for many workers. Issues around workplace allowance to use a restroom has given light on issues such as workers having to ask permission to use a toilet and some workers having their pay deducted for the mere human right of using a bathroom when they need to.
  • 2.1K
  • 30 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Additive Manufacturing and Circular Economy
Additive Manufacturing (AM), also known as three-dimensional (3D) printing has emerged as a disruptive and powerful tool for industrial systems in the Industry 4.0 era by helping businesses flourish in the contemporary dynamic competitive landscape. However, their achievements and development highly rely on “take-make-waste” linear business models, which come, all too often, to the detriment of the environment. Hence, a shift to Circular Economy (CE) practices promoting the acceleration of the transition to resource-efficient systems and the minimization of environmental degradation is now more imperative than ever. 
  • 2.1K
  • 17 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Traveler's Cheque
A traveler's cheque[lower-alpha 1] is a medium of exchange that can be used in place of hard currency. They can be denominated in one of a number of major world currencies and are preprinted, fixed-amount cheques designed to allow the person signing it to make an unconditional payment to someone else as a result of having paid the issuer for that privilege. They are generally used by people on vacation in foreign countries instead of cash, as many businesses used to accept traveler's cheques as currency. The incentive for merchants and other parties to accept them lies in the fact that as long as the original signature (which the buyer is supposed to place on the cheque in ink as soon as they receive the cheque) and the signature made at the time the cheque is used are the same, the cheque's issuer will unconditionally guarantee payment of the face amount even if the cheque was fraudulently issued, stolen, or lost. This means that a traveler's cheque can never 'bounce' unless the issuer goes bankrupt and out of business. If a traveler's cheque were lost or stolen, it could be replaced by the issuing financial institution. The financial institutions issuing traveler's cheques earn income in a number of ways. Firstly, they charge a fee on sale of such cheques. In addition, they can earn interest for the period that the cheques are uncashed, while not paying any interest to the cheque holder, making them effectively interest-free loans. Also, the foreign exchange rate commonly used on traveler's cheques (generally based on rates applicable at the time of purchase) is less favourable compared to other forms of obtaining foreign currency, especially those on credit card transactions (which use a rate applicable at the statement date). In addition, the setup cost and the cost of issuing and processing traveler's cheques is much higher than for credit card transactions. The cheque issuer carries the exchange rate risk, and normally pays a fee to hedge against the risk. Their use has been in decline since the 1990s, when a variety of more convenient alternatives, such as credit cards, debit cards, pre-paid currency cards and automated teller machines, became more widely available and easier for travelers to use. Traveler's cheques are no longer widely accepted and cannot easily be cashed, even at the banks that issued them. The alternatives to traveler's cheques are generally cheaper and more flexible. Travel money cards, for instance, provide features similar to traveler's cheques but offer greater ease and flexibility.
  • 2.1K
  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Social Entrepreneurship and Triple Bottom Line
Social entrepreneurship (SE) has gained prominence as a key segment of entrepreneurship. The unique mission and the market expectations are the key differences between social and commercial entrepreneurship. The concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has grown increasingly important in the entrepreneurship context. 
  • 2.1K
  • 19 Jun 2023
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