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The relationship between budget deficits and macroeconomic variables (such as growth, interest rates, trade deficit, exchange rate, among others) represents one of the most widely debated topics among economists and policy makers in both developed and developing countries. However, the purpose of this paper is to review the extensive literature to such a relationship, concentrating on theoretical debates and empirical studies, in order to derive substantive conclusions, which can be beneficial in the macroeconomics area; policy analysis; or in terms of constructing or developing a macroeconomic model for analyzing the impact of budget deficits on macroeconomic variables. The majority of these studies regress a macroeconomic variable on the deficit variable. These studies are cross-country and utilize time series data. In general the key outcomes from the studies presented in this paper indicated that both the method of financing and the components of government expenditures could have different effects. Therefore, it is crucial for the government to distinguish between consumption and investment expenditures especially when the government is in the process of evaluating the impact of fiscal policy on private investment and output growth or in the process of cutting expenditures to reduce the fiscal imbalances in the country. Even though the overall results from the empirical literature with respect to the impact of public investment on private investment and growth are ambiguous, the bulk of the empirical studies find a significantly negative effect of public consumption expenditure on growth, while the effects of public investment expenditure (such as on education, healthcare) are found to be positive although less robust. The key findings from these studies is important in particular for developing countries to be aware of the importance of government investment expenditures in the area of education, healthcare, infrastructure to long-term economic growth and the benefits from which are an important contributor to welfare and well-being. The key outcome from all of the studies presented in this paper while investigating the relationship between the budget deficit and current account deficit showed strong evidence in both developed and developing countries towards supporting the Keynesian proposition (conventional view) which suggests that an increase in the budget deficit would induce domestic absorption and, hence import expansion, causing a current account deficit. The key findings from the empirical studies investigating the relationship between the budget deficit and interest rates indicated strong evidence towards supporting the Keynesian model of a significant and positive relationship between budget deficits and interest rates. The major outcomes from the empirical studies examining the relationship between budget deficits and inflation showed strong evidence that the budget deficit financed through monetization and a rising money supply could lead to inflation.

This study examines the financial rights and responsibilities of China’s local villages and townships based on a field survey conducted in Xingguo County. This field study focussed on local revenues and expenditures from 2012 to 2014. Upon analyzing data from the survey, we noted numerous difficulties of local financial management due to a lack of well-configured financial authority and power among central and local governments. In addition, revenues and expenditures are unbalanced at the local government level in China. Rural financial management systems need to be improved, and the rural finance function should be strengthened.

In this paper, the results of a survey on capital structure decisions of Hong Kong listed firms are reported. It is found that Hong Kong firms conformed more to the "pecking order" principle than a target long term debt-equity mix in their financing decisions. Financial managers' preferences over alternative capital raising instruments are also investigated. The degree of information asymmetry and firm size are found to have impacts on the ranking of some factors governing capital structure decisions. However, signaling motivation does not play a role in managers' financing decisions.

This paper presents the design of an eLearning Index (eLI) to determine the adaptability of a corporation or education institution for eLearning. Firstly, it describes the framework of eLearning. Secondly, it describes the methodology and the evaluation of eLearning Index. Thirdly, it reports the research results of two surveys. Finally, it concludes its findings on how to assess an organization's adaptability to eLearning. The principal aim of this paper is to design an eLI which is used to determine the adaptability of a corporation or education institution to eLearning before full implementation of an eLearning strategy. In the determination of eLI, staff of a corporation or education institution are required to answer twenty key questions. The average score of the eLI of the staff is used to determine the adaptability to eLearning. The higher the average score of the eLI is, the better the adaptability of the corporation or education institution to eLearning is.

This paper presents partial results of a research developed during the year 2002 to 2006. Population analyzed was Science and Technology teachers of Spanish universities. The investigation has worked with sample academic users, distributed among 19 Spanish universities. The main contribution of this study is to present a BIQUAL tool. It is useful for the evaluation of the quality services in university libraries and especially of Science and Technology. This tool is created using the user's point of view. Results identify behaviour of these users and the aspects that concern the quality of the service in this environment. We also discuss about some problems and difficult experimented in this research. We analyzed the use of quantitative methods, in special, survey as well as it effectiveness to library quality management.

Public Libraries can surely play a significant social, cultural and economic role. Improvements on quality however are a necessary prerequisite. On the other hand, quality is a complex and subjective concept, which should incorporate at any given time the true (expressed and implied) needs of all interested parties. This paper investigates and empirically assesses the current perceptions for quality in Greek public libraries in order to suggest a way forward for quality management implementation. For that purpose a survey based on semi-structured interviews with the directors of Greek public libraries has been constructed and the results are presented.

In order to more fully understand the cultural shifts in technology within and between generations, a sample survey of several public libraries in a rural university community will be analyzed. The following subjects will be addressed and compared on a generational level within this poster presentation: programming, technology—types and usage, and frequency and purpose of visits. A thorough analysis of the data in this case study will provide insight into the changing role of technology use among two distinct generations of library patrons.

The paper reports a project conducted within the framework of the National Library of Sweden's Expert Group on Library Statistics. The project is financed by the National Library of Sweden, and it aims to capture how library managements make use of the current library statistics (based on the ISO-standard) in the decision-making process. Questions are also asked about the quality and usefulness of the existing statistical data, whether data covers all relevant aspects of library activity, and what additional data is required in order to enhance the validity of collected statistics.

The primary method used is semi-structured group interviews (focus groups). Four such interviews were held with the participation of 15 library directors from academic and other research or special libraries from different parts of Sweden. The results show that there is considerable ambivalence among the informants concerning the usefulness of current statistics. On the one hand there is severe criticism of what today is reported on a national level (too much and too little), on the other hand statistical data is used locally to underpin arguments supporting library activities.

Stakeholders representing university or institutional management were not available for group interviews. With the support of the interviewed library directors a group of 12 vice-chancellors or other senior managers were identified and approached with a mail survey. Questions were asked about what kind of documentation of library activities they use or prefer, be they quantitative, qualitative or of other kind.

Concept map has been advocated as an effective tool for teaching, learning, and assessment of conceptual understanding in science education. Although the term “concept map” might not be new to many Chinese mathematics teachers, few of them are familiar with its uses and fewer apply it in educational environments. How Chinese mathematics teachers feel about concept map and how they would use and incorporate it in teaching are issues of interest. This study investigated Chinese mathematics teachers' perceptions of concept map, and their incorporation of concept map in mathematics teaching through lesson plans and practical teaching. With brief introduction, both the prospective and in-service teachers were positive with the use of concept map and indicated a willingness to try it in their classroom teaching. But to actually apply concept map in practice, the teachers, especially the in-service teachers, were to a degree hesitant due to some practical reasons, such as curriculum schedule and pressure from exam. They needed more operational training on concept map to guide their trial and solid evidences to convince them the effectiveness of concept map. Successful initial experience seemed to be a key for teachers' willingness to use concept map in future teaching.