College of Business and Law - Theses

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The Aarhus Convention and its implementation in Ireland: strengthening the role of NGOs in environmental governance
(University College Cork, 2015) Comerford, Phyllis; Ryall, Aine; Irish Research Council
One of the most striking features of the 1998 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters is the leading role envisaged for environmental nongovernmental organisations (ENGOs) in furthering compliance with environmental law. The Convention aims to secure the special status of ENGOs in environmental governance procedures by guaranteeing procedural rights of access to information, participation in decision-making and access to review mechanisms. Although Ireland did not become a Party to the Convention until September 2012, the Aarhus procedural rights were already guaranteed under European Union (EU) law. The EU has been a Party to the Aarhus Convention since May 2005 and has adopted a number of legislative measures to implement the Convention. This thesis examines the evolving role of ENGOs in environmental governance in Ireland. It provides a doctrinal analysis of the impact of the Aarhus Convention and EU law on Irish law and governance arrangements involving ENGOs. The thesis considers the extent to which Ireland has delivered faithfully on the standards set by the Aarhus Convention to facilitate ENGOs to fulfil the role envisaged for them under the Convention.
The accountability of transnational armed groups under international law
(University College Cork, 2015) Brennan, Anna Marie; Donson, Fiona; Mullally, Siobhan; Irish Research Council
Terrorist attacks by transnational armed groups cause on average 15,000 deaths every year worldwide, with the law enforcement agencies of some states facing many challenges in bringing those responsible to justice. Despite various attempts to codify the law on transnational terrorism since the 1930s, a crime of transnational terrorism under International Law remains contested, reflecting concerns regarding the relative importance of prosecuting members of transnational armed groups before the International Criminal Court. However, a study of the emerging jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court suggests that terrorist attacks cannot be classified as a war crime or a crime against humanity. Therefore, using organisational network theory, this thesis will probe the limits of international criminal law in bringing members of transnational armed groups to justice in the context of changing methods of warfare. Determining the organisational structure of transnational armed groups, provides a powerful analytical framework for examining the challenges in holding members of transnational armed groups accountable before the International Criminal Court, in the context of the relationship between the commanders and the subordinate members of the group.
Addressing strategy and innovation in family business practice; a process of adaptive change
(University College Cork, 2018) Gleeson, Peter; Doyle, Eleanor
This Portfolio of Exploration documents the transformation in my management practice from an operational to a strategic orientation. The central research question revolves around the impact of a process of adaptive change on my management and a series of business implementation actions. My operational approach had reached its limits with the 2009 construction industry recession exposing the invalidation of the assumptions underlying my management practice. I engage in a process of adaptive change to formulate responses to the changed operating environment both in terms of strategy and innovation. The process is organised into a set of three essays. In Essay One, I engage in a Professional Development Review to trace the development of my meaning making and to surface the theories underlying my management practice. I reflect on how my background in family business and accountancy training has shaped my ‘hegemonic assumptions’ (Brookfield, 1995). I structure the review using the Adult Mental Development theory of Kegan (1994, Kegan & Lahey, 2009). I document my experiences since returning to manage the family business and outline the developmental goals pursued in the remainder of the Portfolio. In Essay Two, I explore the themes underlying my developmental goals by engaging with source thinkers in the Reading for Change Essay. The movement generated in my meaning making enables me to re-define my management practice. I apply an adaptive approach to reading Porter (1980, 1985, 2008) and to analyse my operating environment. Based on this re-reading, I develop a strategy for my business, incorporating advances in strategy since the launch of Porter. I examine the business model assumptions underlying my practice using Brookfield (1995) and Drucker (1994) and explore the role of assumptions in driving business models. I demonstrate the impact of my new management practice in Essay Three, Transforming Practice. Through a series of action research projects, I demonstrate how my practice has been transformed and the effect on the operations of my business. The action projects illustrate the application of previously unused productive managerial resources to business development. In the Portfolio Conclusion, I conclude that adopting a strategic perspective is essentially a higher-order mental demand and requires meaning making operating at that level. This work adds to knowledge in the family business and strategic management areas by demonstrating the impact of an adaptive change process on the effectiveness of management practice. It also reviews the impact of adaptive change on the innovative projects pursued. I set out the implications of this for my selected audience, i.e. practitioners operating in a family business environment and those operating in the SME sector of a commoditised industry with strong competitive forces along with researchers, advisors and policy makers in these areas.
Alcohol income and health: a complicated but desirable mix
(University College Cork, 2014) Ormond, Gillian; Murphy, Rosemary
The aim of this thesis is to examine if a difference exists in income for different categories of drinkers in Ireland using the 2007 Slán data set. The possible impact of alcohol consumption on health status and health care utilisation is also examined. Potential endogeneity and selection bias is accounted for throughout. Endogeneity is where an independent variable included in the model is determined within the context of the model (Chenhall and Moers, 2007). An endogenous relationship between income and alcohol and between health and alcohol is accounted for by the use of separate income equations and separate health status equations for each category of drinker similar to what was done in previous studies into the effects of alcohol on earnings (Hamilton and Hamilton, 1997; Barrett, 2002). Sample selection bias arises when a sector selection is non-random due to individuals choosing a particular sector because of their personal characteristics (Heckman, 1979; Zhang, 2004). In relation to alcohol consumption, selection bias may arise as people may select into a particular drinker group due to the fact that they know that by doing so it will not have a negative effect on their income or health (Hamilton and Hamilton, 1997; Di Pietro and Pedace, 2008; Barrett, 2002). Selection bias of alcohol consumption is accounted for by using the Multinomial Logit OLS Two Step Estimate as proposed by Lee (1982), which is an extension of the Heckman Probit OLS Two Step Estimate. Alcohol status as an ordered variable is examined and possible methods of estimation accounting for this ordinality while also accounting for selection bias are looked at. Limited Information Methods and Full Information Methods of estimation of simultaneous equations are assessed and compared. Findings show that in Ireland moderate drinkers have a higher income compared with abstainers or heavy drinkers. Some studies such as Barrett (2002) argue that this is as a consequence of alcohol improving ones health, which in turn can influence ones productivity which may ultimately be reflected in earnings, due to the fact that previous studies have found that moderate levels of alcohol consumption are beneficial towards ones health status. This study goes on to examine the relationship between health status and alcohol consumption and whether the correlation between income and the consumption of alcohol is similar in terms of sign and magnitude to the correlation between health status and the consumption of alcohol. Results indicate that moderate drinkers have a higher income than non or heavy drinkers, with the weekly household income of moderate drinkers being €660.10, non drinkers being €546.75 and heavy drinkers being €449.99. Moderate Drinkers also report having a better health status than non drinkers and a slightly better health status than heavy drinkers. More non-drinkers report poor health than either moderate or heavy drinkers. As part of the analysis into the effect of alcohol consumption on income and on health status, the relationship between other socio economic variables such as gender, age, education among others, with income, health and alcohol status is examined.
Analysis of barriers and drivers towards sustainable consumption behaviour from an Irish consumer perspective
(University College Cork, 2020-09-09) Colgan, Jodie; Onakuse, Stephen; Bogue, Joseph; Fadiran, Gideon; Environmental Protection Agency
To transition to a sustainable consumption environment, Ireland has articulated a variety of National framework plans and policies, yet several sustainability related indicators, such as resource efficiency, sustainable development goals twelve (SDG12) score and waste per capita positions Ireland at a low performance in comparison to other European Union countries. Identifying some of the drivers and barriers to sustainable consumption behaviour contributes to policy suggestions and target areas to stimulate the transition to a sustainable environment. This thesis analysed data from a survey of 318 Irish consumers to establish the presence of drivers and barriers to sustainable consumption behaviour. It applied three methodology steps accordingly, (i) Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to establish and extract sustainable consumption variables and constructs, (ii) Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate and analyse established sustainable consumption variables and constructs, (iii) Ordinal regression to link drivers of sustainable consumer behaviour and socio- economic characteristics. Four constructs were extracted representing the drivers of sustainable consumption behaviour as: sustainable food purchasing, shopping planning behaviour, food waste behaviour, environmental awareness while one barrier was identified, purchasing influencers. The study finds shopping planning behaviour positively drives a decrease in food waste behaviour. Furthermore, men were identified as less likely to consume food sustainably, projecting the group as a target to stimulate the sustainability transition. Women were more sustainable food consumers as they were more likely to write a shopping list before shopping and were less likely to waste food after a meal, indicating consideration for a gender dimension when planning policy interventions to reduce food waste. People in rented accommodation, either shared or privately rented, were identified as another cluster that can be targeted in the transition towards stimulating sustainable consumption behaviour.
Analysis of institutional arrangements and common pool resources governance: the case of Lake Tana sub-basin, Ethiopia
(University College Cork, 2013) Ketema, Dessalegn Molla; Chisholm, Nicholas G.; Enright, Patrick; Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia; Irish Aid
Although Common Pool Resources (CPRs) make up a significant share of total income for rural households in Ethiopia and elsewhere in developing world, limited access to these resources and environmental degradation threaten local livelihoods. As a result, the issues of management, governance of CPRs and how to prevent their over-exploitation are of great importance for development policy. This study examines the current state and dynamics of CPRs and overall resource governance system of the Lake Tana sub-basin. This research employed the modified form of Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. The framework integrates the concept of Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) and Interactive Governance (IG) perspectives where social actors, institutions, the politico-economic context, discourses and ecological features across governance and government levels were considered. It has been observed that overexploitation, degradation and encroachment of CPRs have increased dramatically and this threatens the sustainability of Lake Tana ecosystem. The stakeholder analysis result reveals that there are multiple stakeholders with diverse interest in and power over CPRs. The analysis of institutional arrangements reveals that the existing formal rules and regulations governing access to and control over CPRs could not be implemented and were not effective to legally bind and govern CPR user’s behavior at the operational level. The study also shows that a top-down and non-participatory policy formulation, law and decision making process overlooks the local contexts (local knowledge and informal institutions). The outcomes of examining the participation of local resource users, as an alternative to a centralized, command-and-control, and hierarchical approach to resource management and governance, have called for a fundamental shift in CPR use, management and governance to facilitate the participation of stakeholders in decision making. Therefore, establishing a multi-level stakeholder governance system as an institutional structure and process is necessary to sustain stakeholder participation in decision-making regarding CPR use, management and governance.
An analysis of political efficacy socialisation among threshold voters in the Republic of Ireland
(University College Cork, 2011-10) Murphy, Philip Joseph; Harris, Clodagh; Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences
The spread of democracy in the latter part of the twenty first century has been accompanied by an increasing focus on its perceived performance in established western democracies. Recent literature has expressed concern about a critical outlook among younger cohorts which threatens their political support and engagement. Political efficacy, referring to the feeling of political effectiveness, is considered to be a key indicator of the performance of democratic politics; as it refers to the empowerment of citizens, and relates to their willingness to engage in political matters. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the socialisation of political efficacy among those on the threshold of political adulthood; i.e., 'threshold voters'. The long-term significance of attitudes developed by time of entry to adulthood for political engagement during adulthood has been emphasised in recent literature. By capturing the effect of non-political and political learning among threshold voters, the study advances existing research frames which focus on childhood and early adolescent socialisation. The theoretical and methodological framework applied herein recognises the distinction between internal and external political efficacy, which has not been consistently operationalized in existing research on efficacy socialisation. This research involves a case study of 'threshold voters' in the Republic of Ireland, and employs a quantitative methodology. A study on Irish threshold voters is timely as the parliament and government have recently proposed a lowering of the voting age and an expansion of formal political education to this age group. A project-specific survey instrument was developed and administered to a systematic stratified sample of 1,042 post-primary students in the Cork area. Interpretation of the results of statistical analysis leads to findings on the divergent influence of family, school, associational, and political agents/environments on threshold voter internal and external political efficacy.
An analysis of the implications of the law of company rescue for small and medium sized enterprises in Ireland
(University College Cork, 2018) McCarthy, Jonathan; Donnelly, Mary; Irish Research Council
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the heart of Irish commercial activity. The prospects and resilience of the SME segment are critical to future growth of the Irish economy. In view of the preponderance of SMEs within the Irish economy, the degree to which legal processes can facilitate this key segment is indicative of how truly effective those processes may be. The central research question of this thesis is two-fold in, firstly, being concerned with analysing the implications of the law of company rescue for SMEs in Ireland, and, secondly, considering whether there are alternative rescue procedures that could prove more conducive to SMEs. The thesis investigates the effects of the legal framework for SMEs and examines the commercial realities faced by these businesses. The thesis reveals whether there are gaps which exist in present Irish processes of company rescue in terms of their suitability for SMEs. In so doing, the thesis uses original qualitative findings from the author’s empirical research. The work proceeds to set out the normative and practical basis for alternative procedures of SME rescue. An evidence-based proposal is presented for a new form of SME rescue under Irish law. The thesis culminates in expressing the merits of proposed procedures, termed as Voluntary Rehabilitative Arrangements (VRAs), within Irish law. The thesis is composed of six substantive chapters. Chapter 1 sets out the economic and commercial context in which SMEs in Ireland operate. Chapter 2 focuses on how to balance seemingly competing visions of the purposes and functions of corporate insolvency law. The thesis advances a particular perspective on company rescue as an alternative stance which exhibits efficiency and fairness. Chapter 3 outlines the workings of the existing Irish and regulatory framework of company rescue and assesses its suitability for SMEs. In contemplating a more effective approach to facilitate SMEs, Chapter 4 addresses the considerations to be taken account of in designing SME rescue processes. Chapter 5 evaluates Company Voluntary Arrangements in the United Kingdom as procedures which could possibly epitomise a convenient fit for SMEs requiring rehabilitation and restructuring. Chapter 6 establishes the core features of the proposed system of VRAs in benefiting SMEs.
The analysis, design, and development of a digital contact tracing prototype application for the identification of passengers in the event of a biological threat scenario onboard an airplane
(University College Cork, 2021-10-31) Gleeson, Michael; Neville, Karen Mary; Pope, Andrew
With the ever-increasing global aviation network, contagion can spread anywhere in the world within 24 hours. As a result, the potential risk of introduction and spread of infectious disease is on the rise. With over four billion airline passengers in 2017 and over seven billion expected by 2036, the transmission of infectious diseases in-flight, such as influenza A (H1N1), TB, and potentially Ebola, is of the utmost concern to global health. In 2003, the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) showed the potential of a contagion to emerge, spread and affect the health, social and economic life of people globally. Most recently, we have experienced the global spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), its impact on travel, society (individually and as a whole), and on the global economy. The increased mobility of people, facilitated by increased air travel, has resulted in the increased spread of contagion, including the a greater awareness of bioterrorism agents, across geopolitical boundaries of the globe. Many practitioners and researchers agree that contact tracing represents an important factor in mitigating the global spread of a pandemic. This study aims to explore the analysis, design and development of a ‘contact tracing’ prototype application in relation to (but not limited to) airline passengers in the event of a biological threat or pandemic. The current paper-based method of contact tracing, using the passenger locator form, often results in incomplete passenger data and delays in the dissemination of this data. These limitations can lead to delayed identification of passengers at-risk of potential infection and can ultimately result in the increased spread of contagion. From these limitations, the objective of identifying the stakeholders and user requirements of a digital contract tracing application, and to prototype the design stemming from those identified requirements, was developed in this research, from the perspective of Emergency Management (EM). In the event of a biological threat or infectious viral outbreak, it is EM practitioners and public health officials who are responsible for the collection, collation and dissemination of airline passenger data for the purposes of contact tracing. Through engaging with these practitioners from the beginning of this research a clear set of end-user requirements was identified to better inform the design and development of a prototype contact tracing application. An analysis of existing commercial systems in this area also informed this research and by examining the current processes of application development and research methodology, the most appropriate means of application development was chosen. Through employing an agile development methodology coupled with action design research, a prototype contact tracing application was developed, with collaboration from the end-users at each stage of the development process. This study provides for a comprehensive and complete prototype application encompassing information systems technology to facilitate an appropriate means to rapidly collect and analyse passenger data in an efficient and effective manner. Evaluation of the prototype application was two-fold: functional testing was carried out at each iteration of development, and user acceptance testing was conducted at the final iteration ensuring that the prototype application satisfied the needs of the end-user.
The analytical approach of the European Court of Human Rights in surveillance cases—the implications, justifications, and future of the Court’s reasoning, with a focus on the legislative impact in Ireland
(University College Cork, 2013) Murphy, Maria Helen; McDonagh, Maeve; Irish Research Council
A notable feature of the surveillance case law of the European Court of Human Rights has been the tendency of the Court to focus on the “in accordance with the law” aspect of the Article 8 ECHR inquiry. This focus has been the subject of some criticism, but the impact of this approach on the manner in which domestic surveillance legislation has been formulated in the Party States has received little scholarly attention. This thesis addresses that gap in the literature through its consideration of the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act, 1993 and the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act, 2009. While both Acts provide several of the safeguards endorsed by the European Court of Human Rights, this thesis finds that they suffer from a number of crucial weaknesses that undermine the protection of privacy. This thesis demonstrates how the focus of the European Court of Human Rights on the “in accordance with the law” test has resulted in some positive legislative change. Notwithstanding this fact, it is maintained that the legality approach has gained prominence at the expense of a full consideration of the “necessary in a democratic society” inquiry. This has resulted in superficial legislative responses at the domestic level, including from the Irish government. Notably, through the examination of a number of more recent cases, this project discerns a significant alteration in the interpretive approach adopted by the European Court of Human Rights regarding the application of the necessity test. The implications of this development are considered and the outlook for Irish surveillance legislation is assessed.
Antecedents of mHealth inequalities and mHealth equitable service model
(University College Cork, 2021-09) Njoku, Rowland Uche; Adam, Frederic; Woodworth, Simon
The introduction of consumer MHealth technology is highly extolled for its potential to facilitate access to health, alleviate the shortage of health care resources, reduce hospitalization of patients, and mitigate health cost. The overwhelming endorsement shows the use of MHealth to complement existing healthcare infrastructure by targeting heterogeneous audience for specific health need. However, consumer MHealth innovation is traditionally considered for measures of coverage, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness with little discussion of the unintended consequences of escalating inequalities for underserved consumers of low socioeconomic populations. Furthermore, MHealth studies show that inequalities are fundamentally addressed as derivative of socioeconomic phenomenon without further explanation of how social and technology factors reinforce and aggravate its patterns. Therefore, the proliferation of consumer MHealth innovation and its concomitant health inequalities have important consequences. Researchers, managers, and other health information systems’ stakeholders increasingly face the dilemma of reconciling the perplexing, and often contradictory rise in health inequalities in their commitment to implement MHealth innovation. Existing studies reveal the paucity of empirical research and methodological limitation, including the lack of relevant theories to describe, explain or predict how sociotechnical mechanisms reinforce and aggravate inequalities in MHealth. Thus, the study of inequalities in consumer MHealth presents fundamental challenges relating to its substantive nature, its origin, and scope; as well as the methodological concern of how to address the anomalies. It is therefore the objective of this research to address these gaps by exploring the antecedents of inequalities in consumer MHealth, and to resolve the following challenges: (1) the lack of consensus on the theoretical concepts of the relevant factors, (2) the elaboration of the relationship between the antecedent factors, and (3) to develop IS framework which can be used to mitigate inequalities in consumer MHealth innovation for PAB. To achieve the above objective, the researcher adopted the interpretivist paradigm and qualitative approach as a reflective method to capture the emergent complexity of human sense making in a natural sociotechnical interaction between information technology, the people, and the context. Multiple case study and purposive sampling were also adopted to enable comparative selection of cases, and to intensify comprehensive data gathering that captures the richness of the cases. Accordingly, the prerequisite technology artefact was operationalised with MHealth for physical activity and fitness (PAF). Essentially, the aim was to document in detail the conduct of everyday events in the implementation and use of MHealth for PAF and to identify the meaning assigned to these experiences by participants. The research study was conducted in the Republic of Ireland (ROI); and the data collection occurred in the period between July 2019 and March 2020. Twenty-four individuals from twelve households of ethnic minority people of African background (PAB) participated individually in the data collection which involved demographic survey, observational data with think-aloud protocol (TAP), and role-play demonstration (RPD), as well as in-depth interviews. The lack of pre-existing notion of the MHealth phenomenon and the originality of this study necessitated the use of TAP and RPD, which were devised as templates to apprehend the true nature of the emerging phenomenon. The TAP and RPD are direct observational tools designed to illuminate human interactions which are situated in practice, to grasp knowledge that are mainly observed but absent from other documentation. The researcher reasoned that unless research participants are extremely insightful, they might not know or remember all the rationale for their behaviour. Thus, the researcher prepared and collected quantitative and qualitative data from each participant for eight weeks. Thereafter, the researcher organised all data with NVivo QDAS and concurrently conducted grounded theoretical analysis. The qualitative analysis resulted to categories and core categories which have explanatory and predictive powers and provide understanding of the inequalities in consumer MHealth. Thus, this research study has immense contribution to IS theory and practice, especially for its novel methodology which uncovers the nine antecedents for examining inequalities in MHealth. Similarly, the discovery of the formative factors of inequalities in MHealth provides useful taxonomy, and clearly reveals that socioeconomic factor is one part of the nine antecedents that impact MHealth. Furthermore, the researcher developed the MHES model, and a framework to mitigate inequalities in consumer MHealth innovation. Consequently, the IS stakeholders, the PAB and underserved populations can leverage the MHESF at individual, social or organisational level to mitigate inequalities in consumer MHealth innovation. However, the transdisciplinary nature of sociotechnical research such as this requires complementary representation from relevant IS reference disciplines, as well as greater involvement of MHealth stakeholders for richer insight. Furthermore, qualitative studies of this type are subjective, idiographic, and emic, with emphasis on relevance. Notwithstanding, this study paves way for mixed method research that combines relevance and theory verification.
The application of an immersive design process to investigate theories for motion sickness in virtual reality data visualisations
(University College Cork, 2020-01-04) Hill, Ultan; Mcavoy, John; Emerson, William; State Street
Virtual Reality (VR) technology allows a person to be taken from their current environment and into an entirely new, digital and immersive one. Because of this capability, it has been used in several fields as a data visualisation tool to completely immerse researchers and industry professionals in their data. In industry, companies derive value from their data by relying on their employees’ ability to create meaningful information from it. Data literacy, in brief, is the ability to effectively manage, use, and understand data to produce meaningful information. However, given the recent increase in volume and complexity of data, the data literacy ability of these employees is now often inadequate. It has been speculated that, by addressing the core pillars of data literacy with VR instead of more traditional 2D visualisations, this problem can be addressed more effectively. This thesis conducts research to examine how this can be done. A common concern of creating VR visualisations is that they can be problematic to design in terms of the design process used. The design process for immersive visualisations can often be based on trial and error. This is not the optimal process for design as it is more time-consuming and relies on the designer guessing what the client wants instead of relying on requirements and feedback from them. To address this problem, this thesis details a novel design process which was created using the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology. This is then tested and iterated on in a real- world industry collaborative project. Another concern of creating VR experiences is the adverse effects on the user. Motion sickness is one of the most prominent physiological effects users experience. However, while there have been numerous studies into what causes it and how it can be mitigated, there has yet to be a study into why it occurs in VR data visualisations and how severe it could be. While the Sensory Conflict Theory is the most widely accepted reason for motion sickness in VR games and simulations, it has yet to be determined if this is the case for motion sickness in VR data visualisations. This thesis describes an experiment that was conducted to investigate this issue and determine how severe the effect of motion sickness could be in VR data visualisations. 2 The research objective of this thesis is to examine how an immersive design process for data visualisation can explain the effects of motion sickness. As a first step, data literacy is examined and, once a more comprehensive understanding is achieved, the research then investigates how VR can theoretically be applied to increasing data literacy. Once this theoretical grounding is provided, a practical application of VR is then examined which consisted of creating a prototype immersive visualisation in conjunction with State Street to visualise their numerous financial product and service offerings. This project not only resulted in a completed prototype but also in a research chapter detailing the creation of a novel process to design immersive data visualisations. Once this design process was created, a new research question was discovered in terms of how much of an effect motion sickness can have in VR data visualisations and what are the potential reasons that can cause it to occur. This led to an experiment where two different navigation conditions were implemented to determine the theory that best describes motion sickness in VR data visualisations and how severe motion sickness could be. Through these chapters, several new insights into immersive technologies and VR can be gained. Firstly, a greater understanding of the relationship between VR and data literacy can be appreciated. Secondly, the thesis shows how to design an immersive visualisation in a more efficient manner. Finally, potential reasons for, and the effect of, motion sickness on users of VR data visualisations are detailed.
Applications of machine learning in finance: analysis of international portfolio flows using regime-switching models
(University College Cork, 2019) Ó Cinnéide, Ruairí; O'Brien, John; Hutchinson, Mark; State Street
Recent advances in machine learning are finding commercial applications across many sectors, not least the financial industry. This thesis explores applications of machine learning in quantitative finance through two approaches. The current state of the art is evaluated through an extensive review of recent quantitative finance literature. Themes and technologies are identified and classified, and the key use cases highlighted from the emerging literature. Machine learning is found to enable deeper analysis of financial data and the modelling of complex nonlinear relationships within data. The ability to incorporate alternative data in the investment process is also enabled. Innovations in backtesting and performance metrics are also made possible through the application of machine learning. Demonstrating a practical application of machine learning in quantitative finance, regime-switching models are applied to analyse and extract information from international portfolio flows. Regime-switching models capture properties of international portfolio flows previously found in the literature, such as persistence in flows compared to returns, and a relationship between flows and returns. Structural breaks and persistent regime shifts in investor behaviour are identified by the models. Regime-switching models infer regimes in the data which exhibit unique characteristic flows and returns. To determine whether the information extracted could aid in the investment process, a portfolio of global assets was constructed, with positions determined using a flowbased regime-switching model. The portfolio outperforms two benchmarks, a buy & hold strategy and the MSCI World Index in walk-forward out-of-sample tests using daily and weekly data.
Are players born earlier in the calendar year more likely to experience elite dropout?
(University College Cork, 2021) Buckley, Timothy Cathal; Butler, David; Butler, Robert; Jordan, Declan
The relative age effect (RAE) has been consistently documented among elite football players at youth level but has been shown to dissipate at senior level. This research explores whether players born earlier in the calendar year, initially selected to play at an elite level, are more likely to be identified as dropouts at a later date. Statistical analysis is used to test for the presence and extent of RAE from a sample of almost 9,000 elite underage national league football players in the Republic of Ireland. Results reveal a bias towards players born early in the calendar year, and in the first quarter in particular. The bias is most pronounced at the youngest age group included in the analysis, at U15 level. Further statistical analysis assesses the differences between the observed distribution of births of 163 players who were identified as dropouts and the expected distribution of births. Players born earlier in the calendar year are also found to be more likely to be identified as dropouts from underage national league football in the Republic of Ireland. In comparison, their relatively younger counterparts, although less likely to be selected to play at an elite level initially, are significantly less likely to be identified as dropouts. Recommendations made based on the results include adopting a more strategic and long-term approach to be adopted during the initial player selection processes, and further education of coaches regarding youth development as well as the presence and consequences of RAE.
The Artists’ Resale Right Directive 2001/84/EC: a socially orientated reconceptualisation – fomenting social inclusion and remunerative parity
(University College Cork, 2018) O'Dwyer, Anthony; White, Fidelma; Crowley, Louise; Ronan Daly Jermyn Solicitors
Due to the nature of their work visual artists enjoy a unique place within copyright law. Not only do these creators benefit in the main from the right of reproduction but also from the value attached to the original artefact embodying the protected work. Framed accordingly it might seem that visual artists are particularly well positioned to benefit from this remunerative duality, traditionally however, this has not proven to be the case. Throughout history visual artists have sold their work at a mere fraction of the work’s inherent value, a value that would only later be realised by subsequent purchasers. Recognising this inequity the droit de suite developed with the objective of adequately rewarding visual artists for their exploits by connecting their recompense with the work’s subsequent resale value. As the right spread through Europe it often embodied a social security function that distributed funds to benefit elderly, needy and emerging visual artists. Despite an express EU social mandate, today’s EU equivalent, the Artists’ Resale Right (ARR) Directive 2001/84/EC is shorn of any such social responsibility. The question that this thesis addresses is whether visual artists would be better served under a resale rights rubric that reflects its original social function. This investigation brings to the fore the liminality of the resale right as part copyright, part income security; distributing royalties to successful visual artists while contemporaneously providing a social net to those less fortunate. In considering whether a theoretical justification exists to support this liminality the thesis investigates the dialectic of Hegel’s personality theory and social citizenship. By advancing the idea of citizens’ duty to one another, social citizenship provides the theoretical basis upon which the aforementioned construction is justified, and in doing so excludes a strictly individualistic understanding of the artists’ resale right that is largely economically orientated and copy-centric. The primary conclusion of this thesis is that the ARR Directive would better serve visual artists at the margins of our society by adopting a redistributive, social function, redolent of the extant ARR models of Germany and Norway.
Assembling the crowd: a boundary object approach to designing a crowdfunding campaign
(University College Cork, 2019) Warren, Stephen; Gleasure, Rob; O'Reilly, Philip; Feller, Joseph
Assembling the Crowd: a boundary object approach to designing a crowdfunding campaign sets out to approach crowdfunding using action design research to outline prescriptive principles which will lead to a successful crowdfunding campaign. Using a boundary object approach this research considers the elements of a crowdfunding campaign and how they interact in order to succeed with a campaign. The thesis consists of a joint paper which looks at a proof of concept for an internal enterprise application which enables crowdfunding with the help of blockchain technology. The second paper applies a boundary object approach to crowdfunding and contributes the foundation principles for the entire thesis. When to use Rewards in Charitable Crowdfunding looks at the use of token rewards in campaigns specific to charitable campaigns. This contributes to these aim by providing a clearer view of the interaction between the various groups involved in a crowdfunding campaign. The final paper; Assembling the Crowd: a boundary object approach to designing a crowdfunding campaign applies the contributions of the other papers and combines the research conducted to set out a final set of prescriptive principles which can be used to create a successful crowdfunding campaign. These principles are as follows: Design Principle 1: Identify different groups of potential backers and identify dominant norms in those groups Design Principle 2: Design and present rewards/returns in a manner that appeals to the specifically targeted social worlds Design Principle 3: Design an assemblage of artefacts capable of translating content and balancing participation across each of the related social worlds Design Principle 4: Design an ongoing communication strategy which is specific to each social world
An assessment of the impact of land structure on the economic performance of dairy farming in Ireland
(University College Cork, 2021-11-11) Bradfield, Tracy; Hennessy, Thia; Butler, Robert; Dillon, Emma; Teagasc
The European Union (EU) milk quota was abolished in 2015 leading to an increased demand for land for dairy farming in Ireland. Between 2014 and 2019, raw milk production increased by 42 percent in Ireland (Bradfield et al., 2021a). However, the land market in the Republic of Ireland is restricted by low mobility. The Republic of Ireland’s agricultural land market experiences very low levels of sales with less than 1 percent of agricultural land sold each year (CSO, 2020a). This is attributed to a strong desire of people in Ireland to keep land in the family name. Ireland also has a low level of land rental. To increase land rental on secure leases, the Irish government increased incentives in 2015 for landowners to rent out their land on long term leases. Using econometric techniques applied to farm-level Teagasc National Farm Survey data, which is part of the Farm Accountancy Data Network, this research provides contributions to the study of agricultural land markets that focus on three main research questions. These include an assessment of the factors that influence the decision to rent in agricultural land and the determinants of profit among renting dairy farms in Ireland, the effect of land fragmentation on dairy farm technical inefficiency, and the impact of land lease duration on dairy farm investment. Research findings show that dairy farms are using the rental market to improve profitability. Farm characteristics such as a small size, a high stocking rate, the presence of a successor and high levels of hired labour increase the likelihood of entering a rental agreement. Renting in land and a less fragmented farm structure reduce dairy farm technical inefficiency. Dairy farms can reduce their technical inefficiency by either renting or purchasing land parcels that are adjoining their current land resources. The results also indicate that farms with a high portion of rented land, which is rented on long-term leases, invest more in their herd and capital. This suggests that long-term land rental is a feasible means to create certainty over investments when land purchases are not possible. In conclusion, these findings highlight the benefits of an active land market to individual farmers and the overall dairy sector, which lends support to policy measures to improve the rental market and thus land mobility. Although the number of agricultural land rental agreements has risen since the removal of the EU milk quota and the increase in tax incentives for long-term land leases, Ireland continues to have the lowest level of land rental in the EU, at 19 percent, compared to an average of 54 percent (European Commission, 2018). This research recommends a review of the structure of current tax incentives for long-term leases because the existing thresholds do not maximise incentives for farmers to rent out their land. Other contributions of this research include a greater understanding of markets with an inelastic supply curve, the role long-term leases can play in improving tenure security, the importance of an extensive use of land fragmentation indicators when studying farms’ structures, and the requirement for market intervention to improve land mobility. Topics for further research are also outlined.
An autoethnography of trusted data governance with a focus on food data
(University College Cork, 2018) Costello, Jim; Feller, Joseph; Sammon, David
Trusted data is today as topical as it is elusive. Data governance is, or should be the guide to trusted data. However, as the world of data grows at an unprecedented rate, the clarity on its accuracy, appropriateness and authority remains a constant challenge for most users. Research suggests that just 3% of firms have confidence that their data meets basic quality standards. Some frameworks exist for data governance but this study expands beyond the boundaries of those models to include the data community, the data governance processes and the evolving technology governance. It then presents a novel and comprehensive framework for trusted data governance emerging from a food sector research case. Irish produced food, mainly dairy products, beef and lamb and its related consumer products, is amongst the premium food brands in the world and is growing every year to meet the demands of a global population which continues to grow and demand safe and quality food. Ours was a sunset industry from the darkest days of the famine era in the 19th century when our farmers could not produce what our population needed to survive, to a supplier to Europe at war in the early 20th century and primitive production and food chain systems in post independent Ireland from the 1920’s to the 1970’s when Ireland joined the European Union. Now Ireland produces over twelve times what our population needs. The industry is worth over €25 billion annually to the economy, we export €11 billion and the industry employs 230,000 people on the approximately 140,000 farms and the related service industries around it. The average farm size is just 32.5 hectares but it is now a modern food eco-system with some of the leading practices in the world and a leader in sustainable grass based production systems providing high quality, sustainable and tasty produce. At the heart of this great growth story is a well-run and managed industry that depends on data to promote and protect the industry. I ran the company, SWS that helped to build many of these data systems over the last twenty years. This thesis presents an autoethnography of my experience in SWS focusing on how these trusted data systems evolved over the twenty-year period. The research method is underpinned by a strong methods paper in Chapter 2. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 take us through a people, process and technology perspective on the evolution of these systems as Chapter 3 examines the community governance, Chapter 4 researches the data governance and Chapter 5 studies the technology evolution over the programme. Each of these chapters presents a number of significant research contributions. To conclude, Chapter 6 brings the research together and proposes a “New Framework for Trusted Data Governance”.
Becoming a CEO: an exploration of the theory and practice of effective organisational leadership
(University College Cork, 2012-10) O'Keeffe, Niall; Doyle, Eleanor; Fanning, Connell
This Thesis is an exploration of potential enhancement in effectiveness, personally, professionally and organisationally through the use of Theory as an Apparatus of Thought. Enhanced effectiveness was sought by the practitioner (Subject), while in transition to becoming Chief Executive of his organization. The introduction outlines the content and the structure of the University College Cork DBA. Essay One outlines what Theory is, what Adult Mental Development is and an exploration of Theories held in the Authors past professional practice. Immunity to change is also reflected on. Essay Two looks at the construct of the key Theories used in the Thesis. Prof. Robert Kegan’s Theory of Adult Mental Development was used to aid the generation of insight. The other key Theories used were The Theory of The Business, Theory of the Co‐operative and a Theory of Organisational Leadership. Essay Three explores the application of the key Theories in a professional setting. The findings of the Thesis were that the subject was capable of dealing with increased environmental complexity and uncertainty by using Theory as an Apparatus of Thought, which in turn enhanced personal, professional and organisational effectiveness. This was achieved by becoming more aware of the Theories held by the practitioner, the experiences from the application of those Theories, which then led to greater insight. The author also found that a detailed understanding of the Theory of the Business and a Theory of Leadership would support any new CEO in the challenging early part of their tenure.
The brand-orientated play-community: toxic play in the marketplace
(University College Cork, 2013) O'Sullivan, Stephen Robert; Richardson, Brendan
This ethnographic study makes a number of original contributions to the consumer identity projects and the marketplace cultures dimensions of consumer culture theory research. This study introduces the notion of the brand-orientated play-community, a novel consumption community form, which displays, as locus, a desire to play. This contributes to our understanding of the fluid relationship between subcultures of consumption, consumer tribes, and brand community. It was found that the brand-orientated play-community’s prime celebration, conceptualised as the ‘branded carnival’, displays characteristics of the archetypal carnival. The community access carnivalistic life and a world-upside-down ethos via the use and misuse of marketplace resources. The branded carnival is further supported by the community’s enactment of ‘toxic play’, which entails abnormal alcohol consumption, black market illegal resources, edgework activities, hegemonic masculinity and upsetting the public. This play-community is discussed in terms of a hyper-masculine playpen, as the play enacted has a direct relationship with the enactment of strong masculine roles. It was found that male play-ground members enact the extremes of contrasting masculine roles as a means to subvert the calculated and sedate ‘man-of-action-hero’ synthesis. Carnivals are unisex, and hence, women have begun entering the play-ground. Female members have successfully renegotiated their role within the community, from playthings to players – they have achieved player equality, which within the liminoid zone is more powerful than gender equality. However, while toxic play is essential to the maintenance of collective identity within the culture so too is the more serious form of play: the toxic sport of professional beer pong. The author conceptualises beer pong as a ‘toxic sport’, as it displays the contradictory play foundations of agon and corrupt ilinx: this is understood as a milestone step in the emergence of the postmodern sport era, in which spontaneity and the carnivalesque will dominate.

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