OPUS: Open Ulethbridge Scholarship

Open ULeth Scholarship (OPUS) is the University of Lethbridge's open access research repository. It contains a collection of materials related to research and teaching produced by the academic community.

Self-archiving your research in OPUS is one way to meet Open Access policies of granting agencies. It is important to retain your final, post-peer-reviewed drafts for submission to OPUS, as this is often the only version publishers will allow to be archived. Click here for information on the U of L Open Access Policy.

Check here for more information about OPUS.

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Recent Submissions

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Equity Market Reaction to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Corporate Disclosure: Executive Compensation
(2024) Akumaning, Edward; Baulkaran, Vishaal
Corporate disclosure is crucial for corporate governance as it reduces information asymmetry, misalignment of investors’ interests, and other agency costs. Therefore, the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted various disclosure regulations to provide investors and other stakeholders with more transparent and comparable information about executive compensation. This quantitative study seeks to expand the body of knowledge by adopting an event study methodology to explore the stock market reaction to increased corporate disclosure of executive pay for US public firms. The population of this research comprises American-listed firms from 2021-2022. I employ a final sample of 2,914 firms for the complete sample analysis. Applying Zellner’s Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) methodology, I provide evidence that the equity market reacts positively to all the news announcements, giving rise to the 2022 SEC’s final executive compensation disclosure rules adopted on August 25, 2022. This positive market response confirms the prediction that increased compensation disclosure improves governance. The results also suggest that enhanced corporate disclosure increases shareholder value by reducing agency costs linked to information asymmetry. In addition, the positive daily abnormal returns tend to be stronger for small firms versus large ones for the initial publication and the final rules. This suggests that small firms have more information asymmetry, uncertainty, and risks and thus react more positively than large companies that likely have less information asymmetry and uncertainty. Keywords: Corporate governance, executive compensation, agency theory, seemingly unrelated regression (SUR), information disclosure, asymmetry information
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Divine intervention: multimodal pragmatics and unconventional opposition in performed character speech in Dragon Age: Inquisition
(Benjamin Johns, 2021) Villanueva, Emily; Ensslin, Astrid
Despite the fact that video games often take place in fictional worlds, the performed accents of game characters are very real reflections of the language ideologies of a game's creators and its indended audience. This chapter demonstrated how these ideologies are at play in the game world of Bio Ware's popular fantasy role-playing game Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014), through its linguistic differentiation of two of its primary female characters. On many levels of representation the characters are presented as counter to one another; however both are linguistically othered from the majority of in-game characters by way of their accented English. Video games allow players a number of medium-specific affordances absent from other forms of media, such as agency and interactivity, which gives players the unique opportunity to shape their own narrative. Thus, using medium-specific multimodal discourse analysis and the concept of procedural rhetoric, this chapter examines the ways in which Leliana and Cassandra's accents participate in the construction of social and ideological meanins during gameplay, and how the dynamic, performative nature of gameplay affects players' perception of these characters.
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Review of the book Algorithms of resistance: the everyday fight against platform power
(Iowa State University Digital Press, 2024) Villanueva, Emily
A brief review of Tiziano Bonini and Emiliano Treré's book Algorithms of Resistance: The Everyday Fight against Platform Power. Cambridge: The MIT Press. 256 pp. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/14329.001.0001 (open access eBook); ISBN 9780262547420, 30.00 USD (paperback).
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Patterns of sedentary time and physical activity in older adults: do sex and gender matter?
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Kinesiology and Physical Education, 2024) Zdjelar, Milena; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Copeland, Jennifer
Prolonged sedentary time and inadequate physical activity are detrimental to the health of older adults. Sex and gender may influence health and movement behaviours that impact health. The purpose of this research was to scope the available literature on sex and gender in sedentary behaviour and then explore the relationship between biological sex and gender traits on movement behaviour patterns among older adults. In the scoping review, 210 articles were screened and 41 were identified that examined sex and/or gender in relation to sedentary behaviour in older adults. Almost all studies used sex- and/or gender-related terms interchangeably. Of the 41 articles, 28 studies suggested the division of household labour is the main explanation for any observed sex and/or gender differences in sedentary behaviour. The remaining 13 studies identified other factors that may influence this relationship, like social support, access to transportation, and area-level crime incidence. To further explore the relationship, observational data from 72 healthy older adults (80.1 ± 9.4 years) were examined. Movement behaviours were assessed using ActivPAL4™ inclinometers and participants completed the 30-Item Bem Sex-Role Inventory to assess masculine and feminine traits. There were no statistically significant associations between movement behaviour variables, sex, and masculine and feminine scores. This exploratory study demonstrates a need for consistent use of sex and gender terminology and better tools to assess gender. A more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of sex and gender in relation to health is needed to enable the creation of tailored movement behaviour interventions for the aging population.
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Mental health and well-being of African immigrant women in southern Alberta, Canada
(Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Health Sciences, 2024-05-01) Odekina, Hannah I.; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Health Sciences; Lokanc-Diluzio, Wendi
The aim of this study was to delve into the experiences of African immigrant women in Southern Alberta and the ensuing impact on mental health. Employing an exploratory descriptive qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven (11) African immigrant women. Thematic analysis revealed that these women encountered intersecting challenges in Canada stemming from factors such as race, gender, social class, and immigration status, leading to negative effects on their mental health. Nevertheless, the participants employed various coping strategies to alleviate these challenges, with culture playing a significant role in shaping perceptions and coping mechanisms. The study underscores the importance of implementing culturally safe programs by stakeholders, policy makers, and mental health practitioners to facilitate the successful transition and integration of African Immigrant women into their new environment.