Monday, 30 January 2017

Mind mapping the topic of homelessness

Mind mapping the topic of homelessness


Joseph Kim-keung Ho
Independent Trainer
Hong Kong, China


Abstract: The topic of homelessness is a main one in Housing Studies. This article makes use of the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach to render an image on the knowledge structure of homelessness. The finding of the review exercise is that its knowledge structure comprises four main themes, i.e., (a) Descriptions of basic concepts and information (b) Major underlying theories and thinking, (c) Main research topics and issues, and (d) Major trends and issues related to practices. There is also a set of key concepts identified from the homelessness literature review. The article offers some academic and pedagogical values on the topics of homelessness, literature review and the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach.
Key words: Homelessness, literature review, mind map, the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach


Introduction
Homelessness is a main topic in Housing Studies. It is of academic and pedagogical interest to the writer who has been a lecturer on Housing Studies for a tertiary education centre in Hong Kong. In this article, the writer presents his literature review findings on homelessness using the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach. This approach was proposed by this writer in 2016 and has been employed to review the literature on a number of topics, such as supply chain management, strategic management accounting and customer relationship management (Ho, 2016). The MMBLR approach itself is not particularly novel since mind mapping has been employed in literature review since its inception. The overall aims of this exercise are to:
1.      Render an image of the knowledge structure of homelessness via the application of the MMBLR approach;
2.      Illustrate how the MMBLR approach can be applied in literature review on an academic topic, such as homelessness.
The findings from this literature review exercise offer academic and pedagogical values to those who are interested in the topics of homelessness, literature review and the MMBLR approach. Additionally, this exercise facilitates this writer’s intellectual learning on these three topics. The next section makes a brief introduction on the MMBLR approach. After that, an account of how it is applied to study homelessness is presented.

On the mind mapping-based literature review approach
The mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach was developed by this writer in 2016 (Ho, 2016). It makes use of mind mapping as a complementary literature review exercise (see the Literature on mind mapping Facebook page and the Literature on literature review Facebook page). The approach is made up of two steps. Step 1 is a thematic analysis on the literature of the topic chosen for study. Step 2 makes use of the findings from step 1 to produce a complementary mind map. The MMBLR approach is a relatively straightforward and brief exercise. The approach is not particularly original since the idea of using mind maps in literature review has been well recognized in the mind mapping literature. It is also an interpretive exercise in the sense that different reviewers with different research interest and intellectual background inevitably will select different ideas, facts and findings in their thematic analysis (i.e., step 1 of the MMBLR approach). To conduct the approach, the reviewer needs to perform a literature search beforehand. Apparently, what a reviewer gathers from a literature search depends on what library facility, including e-library, is available to the reviewer. So far, the approach has been employed by the writer for preliminary literature review. The next section presents the findings from the MMBLR approach step 1; afterward, a companion mind map is provided based on the MMBLR approach step 1 findings.

Mind mapping-based literature review on homelessness: step 1 findings
Step 1 of the MMBLR approach is a thematic analysis on the literature of the topic under investigation (Ho, 2016). In our case, this is the homelessness topic. To do so, the writer gathers some academic articles from some universities’ e-libraries as well as via the Google Scholar. With the academic articles collected, the writer conducted a literature review on them to assemble a set of ideas, viewpoints, concepts and findings (called points here). The points from the homelessness literature are then grouped into four themes here. The key words in the quotations are bolded in order to highlight the key concepts involved.

Theme 1: Descriptions of basic concepts and information
Point 1.1.              Homelessness as a concept can simply be defined as the state of a condition where someone is without home/a shelter” (Vakili-Zad, 2006);
Point 1.2.               “In it declaration on the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless, The United Nations …. acknowledged that a homelessperson is not only someone who lives on the street or in a shelter, but can equally be someone whose shelter or housing fails to meet the basic criteria considered essential for health and human and social development” (Speak, 2013);
Point 1.3.              “…homelessness as a symptom of a deep seated structural and socio-cultural problem is not that simple to define. In fact, it is not an identified static state. It is an ever-changing condition of a person or household representing a multi-layered spectrum with many shades that overlap one another, which makes it very hard if not impossible to distinguish and define” (Vakili-Zad, 2006);
Point 1.4.              Homeless is not just a matter of lack of shelter or lack of abode, a lack of a roof over one’s head. It involves deprivation across a number of different dimensions – physiological (lack of bodily comfort or warmth), emotional (lack of love or joy), territorial (lack of privacy), ontological (lack of rootedness in the world, anomie) and spiritual (lack of hope, lack of purpose)” (Somerville, 2013);
Point 1.5.              “The definition of homeless people is much narrower in Japan than in the US. In Japan it is common to confine homeless people to the visible rough-sleepers or the shelterless—that is, “the most extreme manifestation of homelessness” … Rough-sleepers in Japan are people who literally sleep on the roads, who live in the makeshift shacks made of cardboard or vinyl at the parks, the riverbeds and the station yards and who are accommodated only temporarily in shelters managed by city government” (Aoki, 2003);
Theme 2: Major underlying theories and thinking
Point 2.1.              “An extensive body of literature has been generated in the past 20 years documenting the myriad risks faced by homeless youths. Abusive and neglectful pre-street backgrounds and victimization of various forms accompanied by substance abuse have been linked to consistently high rates of suicidality …, mortality ….., poor mental …. and physical health” (Kidd, Miner, Walker and Davidson, 2007);
Point 2.2.              “Given homeless youths’ elevated rates of child maltreatment, it is likely that they are at high risk for dating violence” (Tyler and Melander, 2012);
Point 2.3.              “ … the prevention turn was not instantaneous and was not driven by a single cause, rather an examination of key homelessness prevention studies reveals three major drivers: the cost-effectiveness of prevention, the societal stigma of high homelessness populations and the benefits conferred on the individual” (Mackie, 2015);
Point 2.4.              “..‘….urban hybrid spaces’ – spaces that serve dual roles as legitimate business establishment and homeless habitation or hangout (e.g. bookstores, cafe’s, coffee shops, late night diners, gas station mini-marts, donut shops)” (Perry, 2012);
Point 2.5.              “‘Socially marginalised’ groups include those whose behaviour or circumstances may be viewed as having ‘transgressed’ accepted social norms …, such as homeless people, ex-offenders and people with substance misuse problems … While there is ample evidence of the ‘complex trauma’ typically experienced in childhood or early adulthood by these populations …, there may nonetheless be a strong societal tendency to attach ‘blame’ to behaviours considered ‘deviant’, particularly when exhibited by low-income groups” (Fitzpatrick and Stephens, 2014);
Point 2.6.              “‘Welfare systems’ (in Esping-Andersen) refer to the operation of the labour market and the tax and social security system, but do not include the income-in-kind that arises from services such as education and health care …. The absence of the ‘housing system’ (the operation of the housing market and policy) in conventionally defined welfare system analysis has prompted an extensive literature that has centred around the ‘wobbly pillar’ debate—whether or not housing represents a weaker intervention than the pillars of social security, health and education” (Fitzpatrick and Stephens, 2014);
Point 2.7.              “…the middle classes define themselves through their perceived difference and distance from lower class people in terms of appearance, taste and behaviour. Middle class worldviews tend to delegitimate lifestyles associated with lower class lifeworlds, rendering “the poor” strange and distant” (Hodgetts, Stolte, Nikora and Groot, 2012);
Point 2.8.              “As a structural feature of society, urban poverty involves groups of people with fewer resources than other people and a history of being rendered socially distant ….. Terms used to invoke such heterogeneous groups (who nonetheless defy easy classification) include the “unsavable”, “undeserving”, “unhomed”, “deviant”, “disruptive”, “poor” or “outcasts”…” (Hodgetts, Stolte, Nikora and Groot, 2012);
Point 2.9.              “Clearly, not all domiciled reactions to street homelessness are purely punitive …. Exclusionary practices are often combined with efforts to improve the quality of life for homeless people. Resources allocated towards assisting homeless people are usually derived from a mix of sympathetic responses to alleviate hardship and a perceived need to preserve order, aesthetics and social norms in shared urban spaces” (Hodgetts, Stolte, Nikora and Groot, 2012);
Point 2.10.         Conceptual approaches to understanding homelessness can be seen to fall along two intersecting axes …  In one direction, lies an axis focused on causation. Crossing this is an axis concerned with meaning” (Speak, 2013);
Point 2.11.         Despite their near-nightly habitation in the DD [Daylight Donuts], few of these inhabitants readily identify themselves as ‘homeless’. Indeed, most assiduously avoid identification as such. Some will protest, ‘I’m not homeless, homeless. I consider myself displaced.’..” (Perry, 2012);
Point 2.12.         Homelessness is experienced by individual (along any of its dimensions) but it is also imagined, for example, by policy-makers, academics and the general public. Such imaginings (or ideological constructions) tend to take a life of their own, for example, in terms of legislation” (Somerville, 2013);
Point 2.13.         “In recent studies, consensus appears to be emerging around a three-level categorisation of homelessness prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary ….  primary prevention seeks to prevent new entrants into homelessness, with interventions often universally available such as poverty reduction or affordable housing development. Secondary prevention initiatives tend to identify and end an episode of homelessness very quickly and are frequently referred to as rapid rehousing (the USA) or homelessness relief/alleviation (the UK). … Tertiary prevention …. relates to interventions targeted at those experiencing long-term homelessness or housing problems, aiming to reduce the impacts of longer-term housing needs” (Mackie, 2015);
Point 2.14.         “Individuals experiencing homelessness have numerous health concerns, including; arthritis and other musculoskeletal disorders; hypertension, respiratory tract infections, skin and foot problems, venous stasis disease, scabies and body lice” (Crawley, Kane, Atkinson-Plato, Hamilton, Dobson and Watson, 2013);
Point 2.15.         “It has been estimated that 80% of all homeless people are hidden homeless. Community planners remain challenged to identify the actual numbers and health needs of this unique, ‘hidden’ population. The hidden homeless may be described as individuals ‘provisionally accommodated’, including, ‘those whose accommodation is temporary or lacks security of tenure.’…” (Crawley, Kane, Atkinson-Plato, Hamilton, Dobson and Watson, 2013);
Point 2.16.         “Macro-economic change and individual or household poverty are frequently perceived structural causes of homelessness. However, many people benefit from such change, as witnessed by the rise of educated middle classes in India and China, for example. The problem is not the economic change itself but the way in which the values embedded within dominant neo-liberal ideologies which propagate it are interpreted” (Speak, 2013);
Point 2.17.         “People have experienced MEH [multiple exclusion homelessness] if they have been ‘homeless’ (including experience of temporary/ unsuitable accommodation as well as sleeping rough) and have also experienced one or more of the following other ‘domains’ of deep social exclusion: ‘institutional care’ (prison, local authority care, mental health hospitals or wards); ‘substance misuse’ (drug, alcohol, solvent or gas misuse); or participation in ‘street culture activities’ (begging, street drinking, ‘survival’ shoplifting or sex work)” (Fitzpatrick, Bramley and Johnsen, 2013);
Point 2.18.         “The effects of economic globalisation are apparent in Japan. It brings a shift from manufacturing industry to services in the industrial structure and the intensification of intercorporate competition. These changes lead to the deyosebisation of day-labourers from the day-labour market and the disemployment of casually employed unskilled workers in the general labour market. And both of deyosebisation and disemployment result in an increase in the number of homeless people” (Aoki, 2003);
Point 2.19.         “The influence of values on homelessness extends beyond the institutional into the social world. Phillipson … notes that economic growth drives change in social and family values with the consequent impact on intergenerational relationships and extended family support networks” (Speak, 2013);
Point 2.20.         Young adults are less likely than older adults to have resources in place to prevent homelessness or to cope should it occur. For example, they are more likely to have low-paying jobs with few benefits and are less likely to have health insurance, substantial savings, or experience with housing matters, legal rights, or community resources than more experienced adults” (Zerger, Strehlow and Gundlapalli, 2008);
Point 2.21.         “…the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA). Their ETHOS (European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion) typology moves beyond the narrow conceptualisation of rough sleeping, which dominates public perceptions and some government strategies. They identify four conceptual categories of homelessness: rooflessness, houselessness, insecure housing and inadequate housing” (Mackie, 2015);
Point 2.22.         “In geography, considerable attention has been given to the regulation of public spaces and displacement of strangers who are deemed to be “dirty”, “disruptive” and “out of place”…” (Hodgetts, Stolte, Nikora and Groot, 2012);
Theme 3: Main research topics and issues
Point 3.1.              “… one might hypothesise that lower levels of social protection in liberal regimes are likely to leave far larger numbers of people marginalised than in more protective social democratic regimes” (Fitzpatrick and Stephens, 2014);
Point 3.2.              According to Rossi, policy makers need to know the magnitude of homelessness, to develop workable solutions. Rossi notes that the lack of credible and reliable descriptive data is a major obstacle for the development of a policy” (Vakili-Zad, 2006);
Point 3.3.              “As a step towards a more appropriate approach to the study of homelessness, some commentators have adopted social constructionism, which is less concerned with causes and more focussed on understanding the social meaning attached to the condition. It suggests that the phenomenon of homelessness can be best understood through an exploration of the social meanings attached to it by different actors and agents” (Speak, 2013);
Point 3.4.              Basic research on counting the homeless in North America and Europe has employed primarily cross-sectional survey methods. The methods were designed to estimate the number of the homeless in a country, region, city or locality. Most investigators have identified or suggested the conditions under which the homeless find themselves (i.e., in shelters, on the streets, etc.) due to lack of housing or shelter” (Vakili-Zad, 2006);
Point 3.5.              “Conducting research with homeless youth poses myriad methodological complications associated with studying both adolescents and homeless persons, including confidentiality and consent issues, lack of trust, and transience” (Zerger, Strehlow and Gundlapalli, 2008);
Point 3.6.              “The cost per person of maintaining the same standard of living is probably between 36% and 47% lower in a two-person household than in a one-person household …Yet policies that encourage shared housing for formerly homeless people or people at risk of becoming homeless are rare” He, O’Flaherty and Rosenheck, 2010);
Point 3.7.              The observation that unhoused individuals prefer to avoid identification as ‘homeless’ is neither astonishing, nor novel. Most human beings seek to avoid stigmatized labels” (Perry, 2012);
Point 3.8.              Williams and Cheal … suggest there may be no such thing as ‘homelessness’ and ask if it is in any way different from inadequate shelter. Dupont … deliberately avoids the use of the term ‘homeless’ because it adds the loss of familial roots to a lack of shelter” (Speak, 2013);
Point 3.9.              “…in the Global South context, the scale of homelessness, the linking of home to kinship, the role of the extended family, the weaker position of women in society and the different attitudes to ownership all serve to make an industrialised ‘northern’ understanding inappropriate” (Speak, 2013);
Point 3.10.         “Across the developed world, homelessness prevention is being pursued with vigour alongside existing homelessness interventions and yet there has been no pause for a systematic evaluation of how prevention fits alongside existing systems” (Mackie, 2015);
Point 3.11.         “Much of our conceptual understanding of homelessness is derived from studies underpinned by ideas and definitions developed in, and for, the industrialised world. It appears inadequate to help us address the growing phenomenon of homelessness in the Global South. Moreover, with a few exceptions literature on homelessness in the Global South tends to present good empirical understanding but to shy away from reconceptualising” (Speak, 2013);
Point 3.12.         “There is an increase in the number of elderly homeless albeit a decrease in the proportion of elderly in the total homeless population. The reasons for this increase are still debated. Some authors implicate the deinstitutionalization movement, others focus on economic policies and still others focus on the inability of the elderly homeless to adequately receive and use the benefits they are entitled to by law” (Barak and Cohen, 2003);
Theme 4: Major trends and issues related to practices
Point 4.1.              For most people experiencing homelessness, intensive services may not be necessary. The vast majority of homeless individuals and families fall into homelessness after a housing or personal crisis that led them to seek help from the homeless assistance system” (Anon, 2012);
Point 4.2.              Homeless shelters are expensive to operate, and almost all homeless families and individuals would rather live in regular housing than in a shelter. Subsidizing movement of shelter residents into regular housing is therefore an appealing strategy, and one that is widely used” (O’Flaherty, 2009);
Point 4.3.              Malta has a comparatively sizeable social housing sector (9000–10,000) and approximately 3300 households on its waiting list. There is, however, no official recognition of homelessness, no definition and thus, no program to alleviate the problem” (Vakili-Zad, 2006);
Point 4.4.              “Many people experiencing homelessness report difficulty in accessing healthcare services and report being denied access to competent, compassionate treatment” (Crawley, Kane, Atkinson-Plato, Hamilton, Dobson and Watson, 2013);
Point 4.5.              “Since 1980s there is a noticeable change in the homeless population in Western countries. …. Among the ‘‘new’’ homeless there are increasing numbers of elderly subjects. The elderly homeless are a fragile and vulnerable group that suffers from high rates of physical and mental problems as well as increased mortality” (Barak and Cohen, 2003);
Point 4.6.              “Some subgroups are especially overrepresented among the homeless young adult population, including immigrants, racial and sexual minorities, and victims of physical or sexual abuse …. Those “aging out” of the foster care system are especially at risk” (Zerger, Strehlow and Gundlapalli, 2008);
Point 4.7.              “The largest group of the homeless in Chile is the allegados, people who seek a temporary solution to their problem by living in the homes of friends and family or building additional rooms in their backyards” (ÅŒzler, 2012);
Point 4.8.              The succession of Concertación governments [in Chile] between 1990 and 2009 sought to address the housing deficit through a continuation of the neoliberal policies established by the dictatorship under Pinochet. These policies emphasized home ownership with an understanding of housing as a commodity as opposed to a social right … They relied primarily upon providing subsidies to improve people’s opportunities in the housing market. This market-based approach proved unable to meet the needs of the poorest homeless, and even for those who received housing the process involved long wait times and frequently resulted in poor-quality housing in undesirable locations” (ÅŒzler, 2012);
Point 4.9.              “There is one reason why the definition [of homelessness] is so narrow in Japan. It is that only these immediately visible forms of homelessness are regarded as being important socially and politically—not only by the citizenry, but also by city government. But the problem of latent and invisible homeless people, who are now excluded from the definition of homeless people, is getting more serious at present” (Aoki, 2003);
Point 4.10.         “In Prague, an estimated 10,000 homeless people include a large proportion of them - 30% - between 19 and 29 years …. Homelessness in Prague in its overt form appeared only after the social changes related to the fall of the communist regime. Over the twenty past years it seems that the number of young homeless people gradually increases” (Jakub, Vágnerová and Csémy, 2011);
Point 4.11.         “In support of economic development city authorities around the world strive to present the globalised image of the World Class City, conforming to the largely northern aesthetic and lifestyle values about the look, feel and function of the urban landscape …  In this switch of values they exacerbate poverty and homelessness. For example, in 1999 the Metropolitan Corporation of Delhi evicted an estimated 3.5 million residents of slum clusters across the city in support of their goal of Delhi becoming a ‘World Class City’ by 2021” (Speak, 2013);


Each of the four themes has a set of associated points (i.e., idea, viewpoints, concepts and findings). Together they provide an organized way to comprehend the knowledge structure of the homelessness topic. The bolded key words in the quotation reveal, based on the writer’s intellectual judgement, the key concepts examined in the homelessness literature. The referencing indicated on the points identified informs the readers where to find the academic articles to learn more about the details on these points. Readers are also referred to the Literature on homelessness Facebook page for additional information on this topic. The process of conducting the thematic analysis is an exploratory as well as synthetic learning endeavour on the topic’s literature. Once the structure of the themes, sub-themes[1] and their associated points are finalized, the reviewer is in a position to move forward to step 2 of the MMBLR approach. The MMBLR approach step 2 finding, i.e., a companion mind map on homelessness, is presented in the next section.

Mind mapping-based literature review on homelessness: step 2 (mind mapping) output
By adopting the findings from the MMBLR approach step 1 on homelessness, the writer constructs a companion mind map shown as Figure 1.





Referring to the mind map on homelessness, the topic label is shown right at the centre of the map as a large blob. Four main branches are attached to it, corresponding to the four themes identified in the thematic analysis. The links and ending nodes with key phrases represent the points obtained from the thematic analysis. The key phrases have also been bolded in the quotations provided in the thematic analysis. As a whole, the mind map renders an image of the knowledge structure on homelessness based on the thematic analysis findings. Constructing the mind map is part of the learning process on literature review. The mind mapping exercise is speedy and entertaining. The resultant mind map also serves as a useful presentation and teaching material. This mind mapping experience confirms the writer’s previous experience using on the MMBLR approach (Ho, 2016). Readers are also referred to the Literature on literature review Facebook page and the Literature on mind mapping Facebook page for additional information on these two topics.

Concluding remarks
The MMBLR approach to study homelessness provided here is mainly for its practice illustration as its procedures have been refined via a series of its employment on an array of topics (Ho, 2016). No major additional MMBLR steps nor notions have been introduced in this article. In this respect, the exercise reported here primarily offers some pedagogical value as well as some systematic and stimulated learning on homelessness in Housing Studies. Nevertheless, the thematic findings and the image of the knowledge structure on homelessness in the form of a mind map should also be of academic value to those who research on homelessness.



 Bibliography
1.      Anon. 2012. “Opinion & Comment” Journal of Housing & Community Development November/December: 8-13.
2.      Aoki, H. 2003. “Homelessness in Osaka: Globalisation, Yoseba and Disemployment” Urban Studies 40(2), Taylor and Francis: 361-378.
3.      Barak, Y. and A. Cohen. 2003. “Characterizing the elderly homeless: a 10-year study in Israel” Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics 37,  Elsevier: 147-155.
4.      Crawley, J., D. Kane, L. Atkinson-Plato, M. Hamilton, K. Dobson and J. Watson. 2013. “Needs of the hidden homeless – no longer hidden: a pilot study” Public health 127, Elsevier: 674-680.
5.      Fitzpatrick, S. and M. Stephens. 2014. “Welfare Regimes, Social Values and Homelessness: Comparing Responses to Marginalised Groups in Six European Countries” Housing Studies 29(2), Routledge: 215-234.
6.      Fitzpatrick, S., G. Bramley and S. Johnsen. 2013. “Pathways into Multiple Exclusion Homelessness in Seven UK Cities” Urban Studies 50(1) January, Sage: 148-168.
7.      He, Y., B. O’Flaherty and R.A. Rosenheck. 2010. “Is shared housing a way to reduce homelessness? The effect of household arrangements on formerly homeless people” Journal of Housing Economics 19, Elsevier: 1-12.
8.      Ho, J.K.K. 2016. Mind mapping for literature review – a ebook, Joseph KK Ho publication folder October 7 (url address: http://josephkkho.blogspot.hk/2016/10/mind-mapping-for-literature-review-ebook.html).
9.      Hodgetts, D., O. Stolte, L.W. Nikora and S. Groot. 2012. “Drifting Along or Dropping into Homelessness: A Class Analysis of Responses to Homelessness” Antipode 44(4): 1209-1226.
10. Jakub, M., M. Vágnerová and L. Csémy. 2011. “Development and psychosocial characteristics of young adult homeless in Prague” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 30, Elsevier: 1888-1893.
11. Kidd, S.A., S. Miner, D. Walker and L. Davidson. 2007. “Stories of working with homeless youth: On being “mind-boggling”” Children and Youth Services Review 29, Elsevier: 16-34.
12. Literature on homelessness Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/Literature-on-homelessness-907105879398468/).
13. Literature on literature review Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.literaturereview/).
14. Literature on mind mapping Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.mind.mapping/).
15. Mackie, P.K. 2015. “Homeless Prevention and the Welsh Legal Duty: Lessons for International Policies” Housing Studies 30(1), Routledge: 40-59.
16. O’Flaherty, B. 2009. “When should homeless families get subsidized apartments? A theoretical inquiry” Journal of Housing Economics 18, Elseiver: 69-80.
17. ÅŒzler, Åž.ÃŒ. 2012. “The Concertación and Homelessness in Chile” Latin American Perspectives Issue 185, Vol. 39(4) July: 53-70.
18. Perry, S.L. 2012. “Urban hybrid space and the homeless” Ethnography 14(4), Sage: 431-451.
19. Somerville, P. 2013. “Understanding Homelessness” Housing, Theory and Society 30(4), Routledge: 384-415.
20. Speak, S. 2013. “‘Values’ as a tool for conceptualising homelessness in the global south” Habitat International 38, Elsevier: 143-149.
21. Tyler, K.A. and L.A. Melander. 2012. “Poor Parenting and Antisocial Behavior Among Homeless Young Adults: Links to Dating Violence Perpetration and Victimization” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 27(7), Sage: 1357-1373.
22. Vakili-Zad, C. 2006. “Counting the homeless in Malta” J Housing Built Environ 21: 141-157.
23. Zerger, S., A.J. Strehlow and A.V. Gundlapalli. 2008. “Homeless Young Adults and Behavioral Health – An Overview” American Behavioral Scientist 51(6) February, Sage: 824-841.


[1] There is no sub-theme generated in this analysis on homelessness.

Sunday, 29 January 2017

Basic ideas underlying Housing Imagination(s)

Part 1

Basic ideas of Housing Imaginations (HI 1.0) are as follows:

1. It endorses a set of ideas to examine the subjects of housing studies and housing policy, including topics within these subjects, e.g., homelessness, home ownership and social housing.
2. Its chief focus is to study housing-related images, perspectives, and thinking that are often shared by a group of people.
3. The ingredient ideas include: housing imaginations, artifacts (e.g., photos, painting, newspaper articles, songs, etc.), social discourse, space, place and home.
4. Its preferred research methods are case study research and discourse analysis. They are qualitative research in essence.
5. Its underlying research philosophy is pluralist, comprising the objective, subjective and critical philosophical stances.
6. It treasures research and investigation with both academic and practical values.


Built on Housing Imaginations with critical systems thinking, Housing Imagination (HI 2.0) adopts the following additional ideas in addition to that of HI 1.0:

1. It embraces critical systems thinking (CST).
2. It employs HI methods and conceptual frameworks grounded on CST.
3. Its preferred research method is the Multi-perspective, Systems-based Research.


Part 2

e-resources on HI 

  1. Facebook page on HI
  2. e-book on HI

Part 3

Examples of HI artifact, in the Hong Kong context

1. Photos: photo 1; photo 2.
2. Videos: video 1; video 2.
3. News articles: article 1; article 2.



Saturday, 28 January 2017

Mind mapping the topic of dividend policy

Mind mapping the topic of dividend policy (DP)

Joseph Kim-keung Ho
Independent Trainer
Hong Kong, China


Abstract: The topic of dividend policy (DP) is a main one in Accounting and Finance. This article makes use of the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach to render an image on the knowledge structure of dividend policy. The finding of the review exercise is that its knowledge structure comprises four main themes, i.e., (a) Descriptions of basic concepts and information (b) Major underlying theories and thinking, (c) Main research topics and issues, and (d) Major trends and issues related to practices. There is also a set of key concepts identified from the DP literature review. The article offers some academic and pedagogical values on the topics of DP, literature review and the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach.
Key words: Dividend policy (DP), literature review, mind map, the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach


Introduction
Dividend policy (DP) is a main topic in Accounting and Finance. It is of academic and pedagogical interest to the writer who has been a lecturer on Accounting and Finance for some tertiary education centres in Hong Kong. In this article, the writer presents his literature review findings on DP using the mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach. This approach was proposed by this writer in 2016 and has been employed to review the literature on a number of topics, such as supply chain management, strategic management accounting and customer relationship management (Ho, 2016). The MMBLR approach itself is not particularly novel since mind mapping has been employed in literature review since its inception. The overall aims of this exercise are to:
1.      Render an image of the knowledge structure of dividend policy  (DP) via the application of the MMBLR approach;
2.      Illustrate how the MMBLR approach can be applied in literature review on an academic topic, such as DP.
The findings from this literature review exercise offer academic and pedagogical values to those who are interested in the topics of DP, literature review and the MMBLR approach. Other than that, this exercise facilitates this writer’s intellectual learning on these three topics. The next section makes a brief introduction on the MMBLR approach. After that, an account of how it is applied to study DP is presented.

On mind mapping-based literature review
The mind mapping-based literature review (MMBLR) approach was developed by this writer in 2016 (Ho, 2016). It makes use of mind mapping as a complementary literature review exercise (see the Literature on mind mapping Facebook page and the Literature on literature review Facebook page). The approach is made up of two steps. Step 1 is a thematic analysis on the literature of the topic chosen for study. Step 2 makes use of the findings from step 1 to produce a complementary mind map. The MMBLR approach is a relatively straightforward and brief exercise. The approach is not particularly original since the idea of using mind maps in literature review has been well recognized in the mind mapping literature. The MMBLR approach is also an interpretive exercise in the sense that different reviewers with different research interest and intellectual background inevitably will select different ideas, facts and findings in their thematic analysis (i.e., step 1 of the MMBLR approach). Also, to conduct the approach, the reviewer needs to perform a literature search beforehand. Apparently, what a reviewer gathers from a literature search depends on what library facility, including e-library, is available to the reviewer. The next section presents the findings from the MMBLR approach step 1; afterward, a companion mind map is provided based on the MMBLR approach step 1 findings.

Mind mapping-based literature review on dividend policy (DP): step 1 findings
Step 1 of the MMBLR approach is a thematic analysis on the literature of the topic under investigation (Ho, 2016). In our case, this is the DP topic. The writer gathers some academic articles from some universities’ e-libraries as well as via the Google Scholar. With the academic articles collected, the writer conducted a literature review on them to assemble a set of ideas, viewpoints, concepts and findings (called points here). The points from the DP literature are then grouped into four themes here. The key words in the quotations are bolded in order to highlight the key concepts involved.




Theme 1: Descriptions of basic concepts and information
Point 1.1.              Dividend policy refers to the payout policy that a firm follows in determining the size and pattern of cash distributions to shareholders overtime … The term policy rejects the possibility of randomness and arbitrariness in determining its pattern and size and implies some consistency and predictability” (Jabbouri, 2016);
Point 1.2.               “It is well-known that firms smooth their dividend payments relative to earnings. Lintner … finds that firms in the US pay dividends smoothly to maintain a target long-run payout ratio” (Jeong, 2013);
Theme 2: Major underlying theories and thinking
Point 2.1.              According to Lintner’s partial adjustment model, companies aim to pay out a certain per cent of permanent or core earnings as dividends and slowly adjust their current payouts to the target ratio” (Goncharov and Triest, 2011);
Point 2.2.                “According to the free cash flow hypothesis …, managers invest in projects with negative net present values in order to increase personal utility by a growth in power and company size. Such an overinvestment problem can be counteracted by increasing dividend payments in order to reduce free cash flow available to the management of a firm. Therefore, all other things being equal, corresponding agency costs are decreasing in dividends” (Breuer, Rieger and Soypak, 2014);
Point 2.3.               “….controllers of group-affiliated companies prefer to increase chair and board compensation rather than dividends as their cash-flow rights decrease” (Urzúa I., 2009);
Point 2.4.              “…firms with weak corporate governance are more likely to pay smoothed dividends to mitigate high agency cost. In fact, Michaelly and Robertsdocument that privately held firms smooth dividends less than publicly held firms do. They suggest that ownership structure influences the pattern of dividend smoothing” (Jeong, 2013);
Point 2.5.               “At the empirical level, and in spite of the large volume of evidence having become available, results remain mixed. For example,while Lang and Litzenberger … report evidence in support of the agency theory for payment of dividends, Denis, Denis, and Sarin … find the evidence that fails to provide such support” (Bildik, Fatemi and Fooladi, 2015);
Point 2.6.              “At the theoretical level, most extant research has dealt with examining and/or questioning of the assumptions underlying M&M's model. For the most part, such works focus on the mechanism of how the presence of market inefficiencies, limitations in arbitrage, and investor irrationality may render dividend policy value relevant” (Bildik, Fatemi and Fooladi, 2015);
Point 2.7.              If firm management correctly assesses the implications of transitory fair value increments for future earnings, fair value adjustments are not distribution relevant, and no relationship between fair value adjustments and dividends is expected. However, if management judges the adjustments to be persistent, this may impact dividend distributions” (Goncharov and Triest, 2011);
Point 2.8.              “Lintner … and Gordon …. argued that the investors valued dividends more than capital gains and the more money a company pays as dividend the more valuable it becomes, therefore the dividend policy is relevant. This theory, known as “bird in hand theory”, states that the money paid to shareholders is more valuable than the money reinvested” (Kaźmierska-Jóźwiak, 2015);
Point 2.9.               “Litzenberger and Ramaswamy …. claims that investors prefer lower payout companies for tax reasons. The implication of Litzenberger and Ramaswamy’s tax preference theory is that firms could increase their share prices by reducing dividends” (Kaźmierska-Jóźwiak, 2015);
Point 2.10.         “Lambert et al. … predict and find that the introduction of executive stock-option plans induces managers to reduce the dividend relative to the expected level. This is because the payment of dividend reduces the value of the options” (Eisdorfer, Giaccotto and White, 2015);
Point 2.11.         “Paying optional stock dividends instead of cash dividends allows a firm to payout a dividend while preserving cash equal to the fraction of the total dividend that shareholders choose to receive as stock. If all shareholders choose stock dividends, the result is equivalent in terms of cash flow and stock equity balance to the firm retaining earnings. Retaining earnings saves on taxes and transaction costs” (David and Ginglinger, 2016);
Point 2.12.         Dividend signaling theory suggests that there is asymmetric information between inside managers and outside investors. To resolve the difference in information sets, managers take actions to signal information to investors. Dividends are viewed as a signal of firm stability, health, and as an indication of relatively predictable future earnings” (Lee and Mauck, 2016);
Point 2.13.         Recently, scholars have developed the life-cycle theory of dividends … This theory contends that mature and established firms are more likely to pay dividends than young firms that have abundant growth opportunities ….with limited resources” (Fairchild, Guney and Thanatawee, 2014);
Point 2.14.         “According to this model [the behavioural explanation of dividend policy], people allocate their income in three different accounts: the current income account (I), the (current) asset account (A), and the future income account (F). Based on this differentiation, several reasons have been proposed to explain why investors with different preferences may prefer different dividend distributions” (Breuer, Rieger and Soypak, 2014);
Point 2.15.          “The market reaction to the announcement of optional stock dividends is a combination of three components: reaction to the cash dividend, reaction to the option to get stock and reaction to the equity offering part of the stock dividend” (David and Ginglinger, 2016);
Point 2.16.         “…dividend payments also increase the risk of default by reducing the amount of assets that is accessible for debt holders. … the observed dividend restrictions serve as a prerequisite for borrowing to take this issue under control. This would imply that firms with higher debt-equity ratios should favor lower dividend rates. This link is going to be especially important for firms with higher idiosyncratic risk” (Breuer, Rieger and Soypak, 2014);
Point 2.17.         “…dividend smoothing can increase wealth for investor by reducing the present value of the investor's future expected income tax liabilities. As tax treatment of dividend income becomes more unfavorable, it is likely that this will motivate firms to smooth dividends even further” (Jeong, 2013);
Point 2.18.         “…firm executives with high pension holdings will be reluctant to adopt a high dividend policy because this essentially commits the firm to a constant or growing level of dividends for the foreseeable future. Managers know, and the literature confirms, that once a firm starts paying dividends, cutting or omitting those dividends will have negative consequences in terms of both the stock price and the reputation of the managers” (Eisdorfer, Giaccotto and White, 2015);
Point 2.19.          “Bhattacharya …  shows that dividends represent costly signals. If a signal has no related cost then it may not be credible” (Lee and Mauck, 2016);
Point 2.20.         Cross-country differences in banks’ propensity to pay dividends and level of dividend payments are likely Cross-country differences in banks’ propensity to pay dividends and level of dividend payments are likely to be affected by differences in corporate governance and legal institutions, as well by softer dimensions such as national culture that may influence excessive earnings retention or payment as dividends” (Zheng and Ashraf, 2014);
Point 2.21.          “Dividends create a constraint for managers that conflicts with their common objective of conserving cash and maintaining financial flexibility” (David and Ginglinger, 2016);
Point 2.22.         “In general, the literature suggests that managers who are heavily compensated with debt-based instruments, such as pensions, tend to manage the firm more conservatively because they are exposed to default risk” (Eisdorfer, Giaccotto and White, 2015);
Point 2.23.         “Large firms have easier access to capital markets and are more likely to pay dividends” (Kaźmierska-Jóźwiak, 2015);
Point 2.24.         Liquidity condition of a firm is affected but also affects dividend decisions. Firms with higher cash availability are more likely to pay dividends than firms with insufficient level of cash” (Kaźmierska-Jóźwiak, 2015);
Point 2.25.         “On bank-level, low capitalized banks can be under severe regulatory pressure for increasing capital by not paying dividends than the banks which either meet regulatory capital requirements or operate with the capital levels significantly above regulatory minimum requirements. Similarly, on country-level, banks in some countries may face more stringent capital requirements than the banks in other countries which have less stringent capital requirements” (Zheng and Ashraf, 2014);
Point 2.26.         Optional stock dividends allow firms to issue new shares directly to shareholders without the help of an investment bank … and thus save firms a large part of the flotation costs. A major cost associated with optional stock dividends is the discount offered to shareholders opting for stock dividends” (David and Ginglinger, 2016);
Point 2.27.         Profitability has been found as one of the most important determinants of dividend policy. The pecking order theory, which explains how companies prioritize their financing sources, states that firms prefer to use internal funds. When internal funds are insufficient to meet financial needs, firms turns to debt (first to risk free, then risky debt), and finally equity. Myers … suggests that this behavior may be due the cost of issuing new equity” (Kaźmierska-Jóźwiak, 2015);
Point 2.28.          “The P/E ratio implicitly incorporates the risk of a company's future earnings. … high P/E ratio suggest that investors are expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared to companies with a lower P/E. High P/E ratio may be associated with low risk and higher payout ratios” (Kaźmierska-Jóźwiak, 2015);
Point 2.29.         “…dividend payouts are associated with more persistent earnings, higher accrual quality, and greater earnings informativeness” (Deng, Li and Liao, 2017);
Point 2.30.         The signaling and free cash flow hypotheses are two major theories that have been developed to explain corporate dividend policy. The signaling hypothesis … states that, under asymmetric information, managers pay dividends to convey signals to investors about the firm's future profitability. Alternatively, the free cash flow hypothesis … states that dividends help address agency problems between managers and outside investors” (Fairchild, Guney and Thanatawee, 2014);
Point 2.31.         “Abreu and Gulamhussen … find that firm characteristics such as size, profitability and growth opportunities suggested by Fama and French ….. as significant determinants of dividend policies are relevant for banks. They conclude that bank holding companies having big size and higher profitability pay more dividends, whereas, the bank holding companies having more growth opportunities pay lower dividends” (Zheng and Ashraf, 2014);
Theme 3: Main research topics and issues
Point 3.1.              “… a significant body of literature has been devoted to the question of dividends and their value relevance. The extensive body of literature that has since emerged includes the treatment of the issue both at the theoretical and at an empirical level, with the latter representing the lion's share of the contributions” (Bildik, Fatemi and Fooladi, 2015);
Point 3.2.              “…. up to now, there has been no empirical analysis aiming at explaining cross-country differences in corporate dividend policy by behavioral patterns. Furthermore, previous behavioural approaches have not discussed empirically which factors would drive investors’ demand for dividends in the first place and they have not yet succeeded in tying behavioral factors to investors’ dividend demand empirically in a straightforward way” (Breuer, Rieger and Soypak, 2014);
Point 3.3.              “…there is an emerging literature which studies the impact of female directors and managers on specific corporate decisions. This literature tends to concur that female directors and managers have a significant impact on these decisions” (Chen, Leung and Goergen, 2017);
Point 3.4.              Despite their theoretical elegance, earlier signalling models did not match some well-established empirical facts. It is large firms with less asymmetric information that make the largest dividend payout. It is small and young firms with the most need to communicate with market that tend to do little or no dividend payment. Finally, dividend payments are too stable to be a signal of future earnings” (Shapiro and Zhuang, 2015);
Point 3.5.              “In markets that are far from being perfect, distinguished by information asymmetry, agency problems of debt and equity, and prudent and, often, irrational investors, the irrelevance theory proposed by Miller and Modigliani … is no more a satisfactory answer” (Jabbouri, 2016);
Point 3.6.              “There is an extensive body of prior literature, using a variety of research designs that has failed to provide strong and consistent evidence of dividend tax capitalization” (Hanlon, Myers and Shevlin, 2003);
Point 3.7.              “Whether and to what extent dividend taxes are capitalized into share prices is of particular interest because the capitalization of dividend taxes has potential implications for the tax benefits of debt relative to equity, organizational form choice, the cost of capital for firms, tax clienteles and firm dividend policy” (Hanlon, Myers and Shevlin, 2003);
Point 3.8.              “DeAngelo et al. …. find no support that dividend changes can identify firms with superior future earnings. Dividends are not seen as good signals because they might incorporate behavioral bias of managers that overestimate firms' prospects” (Lee and Mauck, 2016);
Point 3.9.              Since Miller and Modigliani …  put forward the hypothesis concerning the “information content of dividends,” which argues that dividends could convey information about firms’ future cash flow, numerous studies have examined whether dividends indicate firms earnings. One stream of the literature examines the association between dividends and stock price, and most of the studies find that stock price has a significant reaction to a change in dividend policies and that investors regard dividends as providing corroborative evidence for the announced earnings” (Deng, Li and Liao, 2017);
Point 3.10.         “Stock distributions either by stock splits or stock dividends are puzzling corporate behaviour. In theory, these distributions are cosmetic operations aimed at dividing the corporate pie into more pieces with no change in the total value of the firm. However, previous empirical studies report a significant positive market reaction on the announcement day, often related to a combination of signaling, liquidity, attention-getting, and retained earnings hypotheses” (Adaoglu and Lasfer, 2011);
Point 3.11.         “Lintner's …  survey evidence indicates that managers are reluctant to cut dividends because doing so has a negative impact on stock price, and they do not raise dividends if they are not confident that the firm's profitability will improve. This suggests that, if the signaling hypothesis is supported, dividend changes should be followed by profitability changes in the same direction. Many researchers have attempted to test this implication of the signalling hypothesis, but the results are inconclusive” (Fairchild, Guney and Thanatawee, 2014);
Point 3.12.         “Since the existing research on dividend policy is replete with evidence from the U.S. and developed markets, researchers have recently started looking at corporate dividend policy of firms in emerging markets, and have increasingly recognized that dividend policy may be affected by the international context in which it occurs” (Fairchild, Guney and Thanatawee, 2014);
Point 3.13.         “….firms with a larger fraction of female directors on their board have greater dividend payouts” (Chen, Leung and Goergen, 2017);
Theme 4: Major trends and issues related to practices
Point 4.1.              Aharony and Swary … find that the stock price has a more obvious reaction to dividends than to earnings, and they explain this result as indicating that the management can time dividends announcements but cannot time earnings announcements, so dividends could provide more information about firms’ true performance” (Deng, Li and Liao, 2017);
Point 4.2.              “Lie ….. confirms that firms that historically experienced high earnings volatility tend not to pay dividends” (Shapiro and Zhuang, 2015);
Point 4.3.              “…. several studies …have reported that managers view dividend stability as one of the most important factors in payout policy. Firms that decrease or omit dividends suffer a severe decline in value …, making managers reluctant to cut dividends” (David and Ginglinger, 2016);
Point 4.4.              “…empirical research  …indicates that …There is a significant positive reaction to a dividend increase and an even stronger negative reaction to a dividend cut” (Shapiro and Zhuang, 2015);
Point 4.5.              “Allen et al…. and Leary and Michaely …. find evidence showing that institutional investors are more likely to hold dividend smoothing stocks. In contrast, Javakhadze et al…… document that ownership concentration negatively affects dividend smoothing” (David and Ginglinger, 2016);
Point 4.6.              “Although it started to change in recent years, dividends are typically more heavily taxed than capital gains and, thus, paying dividends makes little sense under those considerations” (Breuer, Rieger and Soypak, 2014);
Point 4.7.              Brav et al. … find evidence supporting the role of dividends as a signal of the firm’s ability to commit to long-term stable cash flows” (Shapiro and Zhuang, 2015);
Point 4.8.              Considering China's special institutional settings, … Dedman et al. …  find that cash dividends could convey value-relevance information and have predictive power for future earnings and future cash dividends. When firms do not pay cash dividends, stock dividends could also take the role of cash dividends” (Deng, Li and Liao, 2017);
Point 4.9.              Considering China's special institutional settings, … the investors respond negatively to the announcement of cash dividends, as investors regards the cash dividends as instrument of tunneling used by the non-tradable shareholders” (Deng, Li and Liao, 2017);
Point 4.10.         “Yoon and Starks … show that dividend increases lead to capital expenditure increases. Dividend changes are associated with revisions in analyst earnings forecasts” (Lee and Mauck, 2016);
Point 4.11.         “French firms will use optional stock dividends as backdoor equity during periods of economic downturns when they are unable to raise equity on the market at an acceptable cost” (David and Ginglinger, 2016);


Each of the four themes has a set of associated points (i.e., idea, viewpoints, concepts and findings). Together they provide an organized way to comprehend the knowledge structure of the dividend policy (DP) topic. The bolded key words in the quotation reveal, based on the writer’s intellectual judgement, the key concepts examined in the DP literature. The referencing indicated on the points identified informs the readers where to find the academic articles to learn more about the details on these points. The process of conducting the thematic analysis is an exploratory as well as synthetic learning endeavour on the topic’s literature. Once the structure of the themes, sub-themes[1] and their associated points are finalized, the reviewer is in a position to move forward to step 2 of the MMBLR approach. The MMBLR approach step 2 finding, i.e., a companion mind map on DP, is presented in the next section.

Mind mapping-based literature review on DP: step 2 (mind mapping) output
By adopting the findings from the MMBLR approach step 1 on dividend policy (DP), the writer constructs a companion mind map shown as Figure 1.





Referring to the mind map on DP, the topic label is shown right at the centre of the map as a large blob. Four main branches are attached to it, corresponding to the four themes identified in the thematic analysis. The links and ending nodes with key phrases represent the points from the thematic analysis. The key phrases have also been bolded in the quotations provided in the thematic analysis. As a whole, the mind map renders an image of the knowledge structure on DP based on the thematic analysis findings. Constructing the mind map is part of the learning process on literature review. The mind mapping process is speedy and entertaining. The resultant mind map also serves as a useful presentation and teaching material. This mind mapping experience confirms the writer’s previous experience using on the MMBLR approach (Ho, 2016). Readers are also referred to the Literature on literature review Facebook page and the Literature on mind mapping Facebook page for additional information on these two topics.

Concluding remarks
The MMBLR approach to study DP provided here is mainly for its practice illustration as its procedures have been refined via a number of its employment on an array of topics (Ho, 2016). No major additional MMBLR steps nor notions have been introduced in this article. In this respect, the exercise reported here primarily offers some pedagogical value as well as some systematic and stimulated learning on dividend policy (DP) in Accounting and Finance. Nevertheless, the thematic findings and the image of the knowledge structure on DP in the form of a mind map should also be of academic value to those who research on this topic.


Bibliography
1.      Adaoglu, C. and M. Lasfer. 2011. “Why Do Companies Pay Stock Dividends? The Case of Bonus Distributions in an Inflationary Environment” Journal of Business Finance & Accounting 38(5) & (6): 601-627.
2.      Bildik, R., A. Fatemi and I. Fooladi. 2015. “Global dividend payout patterns: The US and the rest of the world and the effect of financial crisis” Global Finance Journal 28, Elsevier: 38-67.
3.      Breuer, W., M.O. Rieger and K.C. Soypak. 2014. “The behavioral foundations of corporate dividend policy a cross-country analysis” Journal of Banking & Finance 42, Elsevier: 247-265.
4.      Chen, J., W.S. Leung and M. Goergen. 2017. “The impact of board gender composition on dividend payouts” Journal of Corporate Finance 43, Elsevier: 86-105.
5.      David, T. and E. Ginglinger. 2016. “When cutting dividends is not bad news: The case of optional stock dividends” Journal of Corporate Finance 40, Elsevier: 174-191.
6.      Deng, L., S. Li and M. Liao. 2017. “Dividend and earnings quality: Evidence from China” International Review of Economics and Finance 48, Elsevier: 255-268.
7.      Eisdorfer, A., C. Giaccotto and R. White. 2015. “Do corporate managers skimp on shareholders’ dividends to protect their own retirement funds?” Journal of Corporate Finance 30, Elsevier: 257-277.
8.      Fairchild, R., Y. Guney and Y. Thanatawee. 2014. “Corporate dividend policy in Thailand: Theory and evidence” International Review of Financial Analysis 31, Elsevier: 129-151.
9.      Goncharov, I. and S.v. Triest. 2011. “Do fair value adjustments influence dividend policy?” Accounting and Business Research 41(1) March, Routledge: 51-68.
10. Hanlon, M., J.N. Myers and T. Shevlin. 2003. “Dividend taxes and firm valuation: a re-examination” Journal of Accounting and Economics 35, Elsevier: 119-153.
11. Ho, J.K.K. 2016. Mind mapping for literature review – a ebook, Joseph KK Ho publication folder October 7 (url address: http://josephkkho.blogspot.hk/2016/10/mind-mapping-for-literature-review-ebook.html).
12. Jabbouri, I. 2016. “Determinants of corporate dividend policy in emerging markets: Evidence from MENA stock markets” Research in International Business and Finance 37, Elsevier: 283-298.
13. Jeong, J. 2013. “Determinants of dividend smoothing in emerging market: The case of Korea” Emerging Markets Review 17, Elsevier: 76-88.
14. Kaźmierska-Jóźwiak, B. 2015. “Determinants of Dividend Policy: Evidence from Polish Listed Companies” Procedia Economics and Finance 23, Elsevier: 473-477.
15. Lee, B.S. and N. Mauck. 2016. “Dividend initiations, increases and idiosyncratic volatility” Journal of Corporate Finance 40, Elsevier: 47-60.
16. Literature on literature review Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.literaturereview/).
17. Literature on mind mapping Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.mind.mapping/).
18. Shapiro, D. and A. Zhuang. 2015. “Dividends as a signaling device and the disappearing dividend puzzle” Journal of Economics and Business 79, Elsevier: 62-81.
19. Urzúa I., F. 2009. “Two few dividends? Groups’ tunnelling through chair and board compensation” Journal of Corporate Finance 15, Elsevier: 245-
20. Zheng, C. and B.N. Ashraf. 2014. “National culture and dividend policy: International evidence from banking” Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance 3, Elsevier: 22-40.



[1] There is no sub-theme generated in this analysis on DP.