Does the choice of proxy for stock market development matter? This paper suggests that the growth effect of stock market development is sensitive to the choice of proxy and using alternative financial development indicators have practically no influence on the results. We found that using either the stock market capitalization to GDP ratio or the stock market returns; have a positive and significant effect on growth. However, we cannot make same conclusion when one uses either the ratio of total value of trades on the major stock exchanges to GDP or stock market turnover ratio to proxy for stock market development as the coefficient on these variables were found to be statistically insignificant. The indexes extracted from principal component analysis confirm the sensitivity of the effect to the choice of proxy. This finding suggest that stock market development is a conceptual terms, thus, representing it with single indicators make it impossible to identify which stock market development indicators have a significant positive growth effects.

Global economy, financial markets and technology are on the verge of moving to a new stage of development – information society. Three major world countries the US, Russia and China will play a leading role in this process. However, the specific development path will depend on many factors, including the stability of legal systems, security of computer and financial technologies, the effectiveness of legislation. The focus of this article is to assess the current condition of the economy the major countries, to identify trends and methods of stabilization of legal systems on the basis of balance of rights and obligations of the business, suggest some methods of objective evaluation of the impact factors of the total taxes, fixed costs and the legal system dynamics on financial indicators.

The relationship between economic growth, growth volatility and financial sector development continues to attract attention in the theoretical and empirical literature. Over time, some studies hypothesize that finance has a causal linear relationship with growth. Recently several other authors contradict this claim and argue that the relationship that exists between finance and growth is nonlinear. We investigate these claims for Nigeria for the period between 1970 and 2015, using semi-parametric econometric methods, Hansen sample splitting techniques and threshold estimator. We observed no evidence of ‘Too much finance’ as claimed by many researchers in recent times. We show that the relationship between financial development and economic growth is U-shaped. This is equally true for the relationship between financial development and growth volatility. We also discuss policy implications of our findings and recommend financial innovations and decentralization of stock exchanges to boost access to financial services, in addition, improved regulation to enhance financial market efficiency.

In this paper, the validity of the Wagner’s law is investigated in tenth selected Sub- Saharan African countries, namely Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Nigeria, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and DR Congo. Five variants of the Wagner’s law were tested for the period 2005-2014, using panel econometric approaches encompassing cointegration and causality. The study found a long run relationship between the public expenditure and the various explanatory variables used as proxies of income. The long-run causality tests indicate that there is bidirectional causality between expenditure and income in all models with the exemption of the Gupta model. It is concluded that for Sub-Saharan Africa, both the Wagner’s law the Keynesian hypothesis tend to be valid under the period of investigation. The explanation is that there has been the tendency for public expenditure to grow relative to national income (Wagner’s law) and that public expenditure is a policy instrument (an exogenous factor) for improving national income (Keynesian hypothesis) during the 10-year period.

It has been observed that most adult citizens, globally, are not enjoying financial services. They are financially excluded, especially rural dwellers. Monetary authorities initiated financial inclusion, with the aim of including all adult population who are excluded from financial services into the financial system at an affordable cost to meet their basic needs. Studies have shown that it encourages household savings and affects growth positively. Central Bank of Nigeria initiated financial inclusion in 2012 and commenced implementation in 2014. Given the short period of its implementation, this study ascertained the effect on economic growth in Nigeria. The study used time series data ranging from 2004 to 2021. The study covered the pre-inclusion period, through its implementation period. Ordinary Least Square technique was adopted for data estimation. Preliminary and post-estimation tests were also conducted. Despite the short period of the implementation of financial inclusion strategy, the OLS result affirmed that it positively affects economic growth. It was concluded that financial inclusion is a growth driver. It was recommended that Central Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with commercial banks and microfinance banks, continue to enforce inclusion exercise in all rural communities, ensuring that women, youths, farmers, traders in the informal sector, are captured by the financial system. Also, Central Bank Nigeria should set up financial inclusion compliance committee at the Local Government levels, with a State Monitoring unit to ensure compliance.

Muslim countries witnessed outstanding intellectual and socio-economic prosperity up to the 18th century when they fell into a period of regression following the Ottoman’s global decline. Currently, economically Muslim societies lags behind the modern western world. Scholars hold different views, including the radical notion that Islam is inherently anti-development and thus resists progress. This study discusses the Islamic philosophy and principles of development in the context of institutional economics. The basic principles of Islamic economic development drawn from the Islamic sources and historical experiences will be explored for a better understanding of Muslims’ current condition. This study addresses questions including whether basic religious precepts caused Muslims’ economic underdevelopment, while examining the development process according to Muslim perspectives. The institutions, the organizations, rules, and applications will also be explored in addition to the impact of those institutions on development. The context of development will also be evaluated according to Western value perspective. A model of Islamic economic development will be discussed in addition to the discussions of institutions that contributed to the early development of the Islamic world.

Forest enterprise has been identified as a means of generating income among people; plays a vital role in enhancing the quality of life of forest-dependent people. Despite the opportunities timber marketing offers the people, the disparities in the income generation of the marketers in the Bodija sawn wood Market and the effect of socio-economic factors on income generation of the marketers is not well understood. This study was conducted to assess the socio-economic determinants of contributions of timber marketing to the income of timber merchants in Bodija sawn-wood Market. One hundred structured questionnaires were administered randomly in five zones of the sawn wood Market to obtain information on the socio-economic background of the sawn wood marketers and the contribution of timber trade to their incomes. The result indicated that 99.0% of the respondents were male while females constituted 1.00%. Seventy-five percent of the marketers had post-primary education and 25% had primary education. Two percent of the marketers had below 10 years of marketing experience, twenty-six percent had between 11 and 20 years, 57.00% had between 21 and 30 years, and 15.00% had more than 30years experience. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents earned between ₦10000-₦60000 (1US$ = 360.00) from timber marketing, thirty-one percent earned between ₦60001 and ₦110000, 7% earned between ₦110001 and ₦160000, while 4% earned above ₦160000 per month. Chi-square analysis of the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and income generation at α level of 0.05 indicated that ethnicity (0.001) and years of experience (0.009) significantly influenced income while the level of education (0.101), age (0.122), and religion (0.745) had no significant influence on the incomes of marketers. Experience is an important factor in sawn wood marketing and a major determinant of the contribution of timber marketing to the income of timber marketers in Bodija sawn wood Market.

The Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic situation has posed significant effect on tourism industry. Tourism destinations have embraced emergency health care measures and restrictions imposed on human movement around the world. Beaches and resorts are empty, peoples’ movements are stopped and travelling between territories is strictly controlled. The COVID-19 lockdown around the world has imposed negative impact on the livelihood of people and world economy as well. The present study attempts to find out the scopes for sustainable tourism development in near future from the consequences of social, economic, and environment in COVID-19 pandemic situation.

The paper examines the impact of inward remittances flows on per capita GDP growth in Bangladesh during 1976-2012. We find that the growth effect of remittances is negative at first but becomes positive at a later stage, an evidence of a non-linear. Unproductive use of remittances was rampant in the beginning when they were received by migrant families but better social and economic investments led to more productive utilisation of remittances receipts at later periods. This was the possible mechanism behind the U-shaped relationship. Unlike what is suggested in the literature that the effect of remittances is more pronounced in a less financially developed economy, our evidence do not show that the effect of remittances on per capita GDP growth in Bangladesh is conditional on the level of financial development.

The goal is to reduce poverty, the method used is a literature study to see the effect of using Financial Technology (Fintech) on financial inclusion, method to see the effect of financial inclusion on poverty. From the results of the tests, the use of Fintech can increase financial inclusion, thereby encouraging poverty alleviation. It can be seen that the Financial Inclusion variable has a significant and negative effect on the poverty variable. This shows that countries that have high levels of financial inclusion are generally estimated to have low poverty rates. Increasing a country's financial inclusion can reduce poverty.

Recent years' global shocks (e.g., the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic) and environmental shocks - such as natural disasters - have heightened the vulnerability of developing countries to future shocks, and can compromise their development prospects. International institutions and researchers have advocated that the strengthening of productive capacities in these countries would help them enhance the resilience of their economies to shocks, and promote sustainable development. The present paper has examined the effect of productive capacities on economic growth and economic growth volatility in developing countries, in particular when they face a high level of structural economic vulnerability. The analysis covers 117 developing countries over the period 2000-2018. It shows that productive capacities do not only promote economic growth, but also reduce economic growth volatility. On the other hand, structural economic vulnerability reduces economic growth, in particular when it exceeds a certain level, and induces greater volatility of economic growth. Interestingly, the findings suggest that productive capacities promote economic growth and reduce economic growth volatility in countries that face a high degree of structural economic vulnerability. These findings support the recommendation by international institutions and researchers that if they were to enhance the resilience of their economies to shocks, and promote sustainable economic growth, developing countries (in particular the poorest ones) should strengthen their productive capacities.

This article presents description of social structures such as, for example, states, in the context of their consideration as systems. Moreover, it seeks to develop K. Marx’s model in terms of systematic approach, as well as to justify the application of the Fibonacci sequence to systems in general and, in particular, to social systems. The description covers a wide range of issues, ranging from the assertion of the basic principle of living systems as patterns in resources flows to description of functions of various aspects of states and their economics in terms of objective needs of such structures. In addition, this article justifies synergetic effect based on proposed model, and the way this effect is applied to state systems. Moreover, it includes the description of main changes of socio-economic formations throughout the history as a natural development of social systems, including possible modern stages. The fundamental tool of this description is description of essence of the mechanism of property rights and its formation options. The differences of two extreme directions of such development are also described on the basis of the objective factor of resource provision. Special attention is given to the concept of surplus value as a feature of social production systems.

This paper uses the spatial analysis software GeoDa as a tool, takes GRP (Gross regional product) of Sichuan Province in 2012 and 2018 as the dependent variable, and takes the city (autonomous prefecture) factor-driven, investment-driven and innovation-driven indicators as the dependent variable to explore the impact of innovation activities on regional economic development and the spatial distribution characteristics of regional economy. Through the comparison of the global correlation and local correlation, this paper explores the crux of the regional economic polarization and unbalanced development, and puts forward some measures to solve the existing economic development problems, such as cultivating and improving the regional industrial dependence, accelerating the regional transportation accessibility and convenience, and constructing the regional collaborative innovation system, So as to achieve the strategic goal of the construction of innovative Province in Sichuan Province.

This paper analyzes the causal effect between domestic private investment, public investment, foreign direct investment and economic growth in Tanzania during the 1970-2014 period. The modified neo-classical growth model is used to estimate the ieffect of investment on economic growth. Also, the economic growth models based on Phetsavong and Ichihashi (2012) [1], and Le and Suruga (2005) [2]are used to estimate the crowding out effect of public investment on domestic private investment on one hand and foreign direct investment on the other hand. In the same way, the crowding out effect of foreign direct investment on domestic private investment is estimated. A correlation test is applied to check the correlation among independent variables, and the results show that there is very low correlation suggesting that multicollinearity is not a serious problem. Moreover, the diagnostic tests including RESET regression errors specification test, Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation LM test, Jacque-Bera-normality test and white heteroskedasticity test reveal that the model has no signs of misspecification and that, the residuals are serially uncorrelated, normally distributed and homoskedastic. Broadly, the empirical results show that the domestic private investment and foreign direct investment play an important role in economic growth in Tanzania. Besides, a revealed negative, albeit weak, association between public and private investment suggests that the positive effect of domestic private investment on economic growth becomes smaller when public investment-to-GDP ratio exceeds 8-10 percent. Similarly, foreign direct investment tends to marginally reduce the impact of domestic private investment on growth. These results suggest that public investment and foreign direct investment need to be considered carefully in order to avoid a reduced positive impact of domestic private investment on growth. Domestic saving may be promoted to encourage domestic investment for economic growth.

This study attempts to assess the impact of corruption on economic growth in the Mediterranean countries, during the period from 1998 to 2007. Econometric analysis using panel regression has been adopted to test this effect. Individual effects models such as random effects model and fixed effects model were applied to the study sample of 160 observations, and to choose the suitable model, we implemented several tests. For our analysis, we used a basic model that includes the dependent variable GDP per capita as a factor of economic growth and the corruption perception index as the independent variable concerned. Then we completed the model with several standardized macroeconomic control variables mentioned above and applied the individual effects models. The outcomes illustrate that corruption has a negative impact on the selected Mediterranean countries’ economic growth.

This paper highlights the impact of financial inclusion on individuals’ borrowing and saving decisions in the United States and the United Arab Emirates. It does so, using data from the 2014 Global Financial Inclusion database, and an empirical strategy consisting of first testing the significance of the joint bivariate model over its binary conterparts using the Lagrange multiplier test, followed by a contrast between the fully-parametric and semi-parametric specifications of the saving and borrowing equations. Based on model performance measures, the semi-parametric bivariate probit specification is identified as a better framework for describing the two processes of saving and borrowing, with a correlation coefficient of 12.3%. Although no significant difference exists between UAE and US residents in borrowing behavior, we find that US residents are 31.4% more likely to save than their UAE counterparts. In addition, and in line with the Permanent Income Hypothesis, the results reveal the absence of an income based saving or borrowing gradient in the two countries. Conversely, we found the prevalence of a gender based saving (12.4%) and borrowing (13.8%) inequality in favor of the male gender. Furthermore, access to a bank account and a debit card, companies policy of direct wage and salary transfer, and government transfer programs with direct deposit options are all financial inclusion strategies that are found to significantly raise the likelihood of saving and borrowing. As such, companies with payroll practices based on cash or physical paycheck issuing, especially in the US, should revise such policy to create more financial inclusion, and thereby more saving potential which in turn would contribute to further borrowing, investment and growth of the national economy.

The last few years have witnessed an explosion of research on Sustainable development. Most of this research is concentrated on the developed countries related to the issues not compatible with developing countries. This paper fills the gap and reviews the literature related to developing and emerging economies and their environmental and social constraints under Renewable energy and sustainable development (RESD). It also investigates how RESD can be implemented in the presence of serious issues pertaining to population increase, shortage of energy supply, lack of transportation, shortage of clean water, less food production and bad environmental systems and these are coupled with war, and hunger and political instability. The main contribution of this paper is to present extensive discussion in the context of hypotheses of economic growth and its association with energy consumption, and renewable energy options for sustainable development.

In order to realize the sustainable utilization of water resources and the sustainable development of economy, the evaluation index system of water use efficiency system and economic development system was constructed. Entropy weight method and comprehensive evaluation method were adopted to determine the index weights and conduct comprehensive evaluation for the two systems. The coupling coordination model was used to calculate the coupling degree, coordination degree and coupling coordination degree of the two systems. The annual coupling stage and coupling coordination intensity of the two systems were analyzed and determined. The results showed that the comprehensive evaluation values of both water use efficiency system and economic development system in Jinan City increased greatly from 2008 to 2017, and showed a changing trend of ups and downs. The two systems were in the antagonistic stage, and were gradually approaching the running-in stage, indicating that they were in the state of common development. The coupling coordination degree of the two systems gradually increased in waves, progressed from the moderately to the highly coordinated coupling. In the future, if the water control path appropriate to Jinan City can be explored actively, the water-saving kinetic energy of economic development can be increased constantly, and the linkage effect between economic development and water resources utilization can be given full play to, the two systems will be in the orbit with the benign interaction and healthy harmonious development.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which traditional economic policies can be oriented by sound practices. It is becoming widely accepted that sustainable economic growth (and not only economic growth) is the final target of economic policies; but most economic policies are applied just looking to the short-run without taking in account the long-run perspective. Our aim will be to show how a sustainable economic policy-making would be possible, making compatible the stabilization of the economy in the short-run with a sustainable economic growth in the long-run. We confront the design of economic policies with the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda. We argue that all sustainable development goals can be attained by the design and implementation of sustainable economic policies. Finally, to illustrate this point we will conduct a simulation exercise to show under which combinations of demand policies technological shocks would promote a path of sustainable growth. Our results will provide a reference framework for a sustainable economic policy-making.

Until now, the literature on Chinese International Online Shopping (CIOS) (B2C export from China) mainly concentrated on the potential income that it constitutes for Chinese international trade. However, regarding International Online Consumers' (IOCs) purchase behaviors, research does not provide insight into the impact of Countries' Level of Economic Development (CLED) on the IOCs' preferences and choices about Chinese brands. Based on 9971 purchases about Chinese mobile phone brands, countries' macroeconomic data, and a multinomial logistics model (MLM), we examined IOCs' preferences and choices about Chinese brands. The result shows that the CLED influences IOCs' preferences and choices. Consequently, accounting of CLED in consumers’ preferences and choices introduces a new dimension in understanding IOCs' behaviors and attitudes towards Chinese mobile phone brands. This work contributes to Chinese brands' globalization research from the perspective of CLED. Such a model can be used to guide e-retailers and brand managers.

The major aim of this study was to investigate and explores the linkage between economic growth, electricity access, energy use and population growth in Pakistan. To check the variables stationarity, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron unit root test was applied and an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to co-integration was applied to investigate the dynamic causality link among the study variables. These tests shed light on the long-run connection among the variables; further, the results revealed that electricity access to population, electricity access to urban population, energy usage, population growth, and urban population growth had a significant impact on economic growth, while the electricity access to rural population and rural population growth has a negative impact on the economic growth in Pakistan. According to these findings, study commends that government of Pakistan pay further attention to increase its electricity production from different sources including, hydroelectric, solar, oil and gas and nuclear in order to fulfill the country’s demands. By using ARDL bounds testing approach, this study filled the literature gap regarding economic growth, electricity access, energy use and population growth in Pakistan.

This paper explores how the sustainable investment impacts financial returns and economic development in of Asia Pacific and North America, utilizing real data empirically. In academia and industrial field, it is polemical that indeed, the sustainable behavior has economic returns. In order to clarify that, we tested hypotheses with an analysis of seven stock markets, accounting of rates such as ROI, ROIC, and ROA in eleven companies, and GDP/GNI per capita. The results indicate that both financial return and economic development are positively germane to the sustainable investment. Besides, the variance of sustainability to economic development exists, depending on GDP per capita between two regions. We conclude, concerning the sustainability, by corroborating micro perspective for corporate level and macro perspective of economic development in the private and public sector. This research consequence will be interested in both practitioners and researchers in the measurement of sustainability performance

Most empirical work on sources of economic growth for different countries lack country-specific empirical evidence to guide policy choices in individual developing countries and previous studies of factor productivity tend to focus on the entire economy or a single sector. In this study, we use the recently developed growth accounting tools to explicitly determine the sources of economic growth at both national and sectoral levels in Zambia between 1970 and 2013. We use data from World Development Indicators and Zambia’s Central Statistical Office. On average, total factor productivity (TFP) contributes about 5.7% to economic growth. Sectoral analysis shows that agriculture contributes the least to GDP and that within each sector; factors that contribute to growth differ. Structural transformation has been slow and contributed to the observed inefficiency. We outline the implications of the observed growth and provide recommendations.

The study's motivation is to gauge the nexus between economic policy uncertainty and financial innovation for the period 2004M1 to 2018M12 in BRIC nations. For establishing a long-run cointegration study applied Autoregressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) and asymmetry effects of economic policy uncertainty investigated following nonlinear framework known as NARDL. Furthermore, directional causality is established by performing a non-granger causality test. Cointegration test results of Fpss, Wpss, and tBDM confirmed the long-run association between EPU and financial innovation. On the other hand, the Wald test results proved asymmetry effects furring from EPU to financial innovation both in the long-run and short-run. Referring to asymmetry effects that positive and negative shocks in financial innovation, the study revealed that negative linkage between shocks in EPU and financial innovation in the long-run but short-run effects are insignificant. Furthermore, financial innovation measured by R&D investment exhibits positive linked with shocks in EPU, implying that uncertainty induces innovation in the economy. Refers to directional causality estimation, the study revealed evidence supporting the feedback hypothesis between EPU and financial innovation in all sample countries.

(1) Background: Most of the existing studies focus on the evaluation of technology finance; the relationship between technology finance and technology innovation. But there are few studies on the development of technology finance and the quality of economic development in our country; (2) Methods: Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China, this paper constructs an index system to measure the development of technology finance through the improved entropy method, and tests the spatial correlation of the development of technology finance in China by Moran'I index. According to the test results, this paper constructs a spatial econometric model to empirically analyze the promoting effect of scientific, technological and financial development on high-quality economic development, and analyzes its promoting effect in different regions and different time periods; (3) Results: The results show that the quality of China's economic growth is spatially dependent, and the development of science, technology and finance can significantly promote the quality economic development in China. And the promotion coefficient of the central region is the largest, as well as the coefficient of the eastern region is the smallest. The promotion coefficient was small and not significant before 2015, and was significantly positive after 2015; (4) Conclusions: this paper puts forward the corresponding policy recommendations according to the research results.

The purpose of this paper is to apply China’s economy growth prospects and its potential drivers of future. China's fast rise and its growth model have accelerated important existing structural trends in the global economy and made them decisive characteristics of the world economy. China's role in the world economy over the coming decades, an exercise which would not be possible without an investigation of the prospects for China's continued economic rise. On the one hand, China is a large export market for the United States. A lot of U.S. firms use China as the final destination of assembly in their global supply chain networks. China’s huge holdings of U.S. Treasury securities support the federal government finance its budget failures. However, some analysts contend that China consolidates a number of distortive economic policies such as protectionist industrial policies and an undervalued currency that undermine U.S. economic interests. They warn that efforts by the Chinese government to promote indigenous innovation, often through the use of subsidies and other distortive measures, could negatively affect many leading U.S. industries

In rural Zimbabwe, selling of cattle has for a long time been one of the most dependable sources of income that has sustained livelihoods for decades. Informal cattle marketing which involves door to door or gate sales has been the most predominant system for the last three decades. However, the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic followed by the imposition of lockdowns has exposed the vulnerability of rural communities that are regressing into poverty due to a lack of alternative sources of income. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to delineate how formal cattle markets could be used as a sustainable source of income for rural communities’ livelihoods during and post the COVID-19 pandemic era. This qualitative research study relied on secondary data from published journal articles, online publications, and reports to understand the COVID-19 pandemic and also understand how it has impacted the livelihoods of people in rural Zimbabwe. The findings show that the current informal cattle marketing system is no longer suitable for rural communities as it exposes them to infections due to the challenges in ensuring compliance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) precautionary measures. It is recommended that formal (public) cattle markets be reintroduced in all rural areas as there is the certainty that WHO health guidelines will be enforced since they are organised by local and central government institutions. Since formal cattle markets offer competitive market-related prices this will then guarantee the flow of regular income thereby reducing the vulnerability of rural communities to poverty and inequalities.

There are multiple factors determined causing the land subsidence (e.g. man-made and natural-climate change) which have impact on the urban built environment economic spectrum e.g. buildings, properties, infrastructures and land. This paper presents the cause-effect investigation of the causing factors which influence the direct-indirect impacting urban economic factor via multi-regression analysis using Shanghai megacity as case study. Factors are selected based on existing UUS-subsidence-economic impact (USEM) framework as well as modification and adaptation from Shanghai Masterplan 2017-2035 (SM 2035) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. Data are gathered secondarily via open sources e.g. scientific journal articles and reports. The results are parallel to previous studies on the current trend for rapid and unconscious UUS exploration development including tunneling seepage and leakage as leading causes for further land subsidence in Shanghai. A further concrete multi-integrated macro-scale USEM’s awareness and knowledge is needed to avoid future costlier damage. The highly regressed causing factors include increasing population, UUS-induced subsidence, underground tunnel leakage, cumulative UUS development and subsidence whereas building prices, reconstruction area ratio, land price, green buildings, tunnel settlement, loss of arable land, number of death and government revenue are the among the most impacted. Officials in Shanghai may further consider results for future USEM masterplans to prevent further unsustainability. It is also found that developing megacity may possess different factors according to their distinct condition.

The potential effect of implementing environmental regulations on economic growth is a controversial issue for a long time. As portrayed by Porter hypothesis, environmental regulations may impact on economic growth by reconstructing the economic structure. A number of previous literature proved the connections between the above three parties. With the intention of exploring the nature of this mechanism, it is important to understand the internal inter-relation of the three parties, requiring data from a large economy experiencing the transition in economic structure. By constructing a panel containing data from 30 Chinese provinces over 10 years (2008-2019), this paper investigate the dynamic inter-relation of the three parties by introducing PVAR model with Granger Test. Results reveal that environmental regulations give a “U” shaped impact to economic growth. In return, economic growth promotes the development of economy with a weakening strength. In addition, results also support the hypothesis that economic structure is the intermediate of economic growth and environmental regulations. There is a rooftop for the effect of economic structure to environmental regulations. The rooftop may signify the best optimization of primary structure.

The study uses annual time series data from the South Africa Reverse Bank (SARB) from 1980 to 2020 to examine the effectiveness of fiscal policy on economic growth in South Africa. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) unit root tests, as well as the Johansen Co-integration test, Granger causality test, and Vector Auto-Regression (VAR) method, were used in the study. Real GDP per capita (RGDP) is used as proxy of economic growth and gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), government expenditure (GEXP) and government deficit (GOVD) as the proxies of fiscal policy. The ADF test results show that all variables are stationary at the first difference, with the exception of GFCF and GEXP, which are stationary at I(0), whereas the PP test results show that all variables are stationary at I(1), with the exception of GEXP, which is stationary at I(0). At Maximum Eigenvalue, the four variables are not cointegrated. The findings of the Granger causality test demonstrated a unidirectional causation from GOVD to RGDP, as well as a bidirectional causality from RGDP to GFCF and GEXP. Error Correction Model Estimated using VAR shows that GFCF, GEXP have positive effect on RGDP whereas GOVD has a negative effect on RGDP in the short run. The findings also presented that the VAR's residuals are homoscedastic, which means they are normally distributed and have no serial correlation.

This study was conducted to propose the Green Economic Development Plan for Manufacturing S.M.E.s based on financial performance and operations thru Green Initiatives. The descriptive survey method used to gather data to determine the green initiative's implementation of small and medium (S.M.E.s) manufacturing enterprises. Green initiatives use as a basis for crafting a green economic development plan. Document analysis was also employed to obtain data from any available printed materials and records provided by the respondents. Such methods of gathering information used to validate data gathered from local and foreign-related literature. The observation also employed to survey the assets owned and validate any green initiatives practiced, including their implementation. The study's findings show that among the green initiatives implemented by SMMEs, which resulted in the reduction of total costs and expenses, were the proper disposal and segregation of waste materials, water management by recycling wastewater and using water-efficient equipment, natural resources, and raw materials management. SMMEs should encourage active participation and support of suppliers and customers in achieving G.E.D.'s objectives by developing incentive schemes.Furthermore, SMMEs should continue to benchmark with G.E.D. Practitioners are operating locally and abroad to adopt best greening strategies and regularly network with concerned government agencies for continuous updating on G.E.D. Initiatives that may benefit the firm. Further research may be conducted on green initiatives implemented by small and medium enterprises in other industry sectors.

Based on panel data of 31 provincial-level administrative units (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) in China from 2015 to 2019, using fixed effect model and mediation effect model, this paper makes an empirical analysis on the interaction among digital economy, industrial structure upgrade and high-quality economic development. The results show that, from the overall effect, the digital economy can significantly promote the high-quality development of the economy, and there are regular regional differences, and the relationship between the promotion intensity and the development level of the digital economy is proportional. From the mediation effect, in the relationship between digital economy and high-quality economic development, the upgrade of industrial structure has played a significant part of the mediation effect, the proportion of mediation effect is 25.17% . In addition, the mediation effect of industrial structure upgrade has obvious regional difference, the western area is the strongest, the eastern area is the second, the central area is the weakest. Based on the above research,the concrete policy suggestions are given to promote the development of digital economy and upgrade the level of industrial structure to promote the high-quality development of economy.

Oil revenues and external debt might have stimulated economic growth in the oil exporting countries via investment in capital projects. The paper estimated economic growth on oil revenues and external debt after controlling public investment and population growth over the period 1970-2015. Following the confirmation of the order of integration, our analysis is based on autoregressive distributed lag bound testing to cointegration approach. The key findings are that oil revenues and public investment contributes to Nigeria’s economic growth. However, our findings also indicate that external debt and population growth retards growth. The study suggests that minimizing fiscal deficits and unnecessarily foreign loans by creating tax avenues through the development of the non-oil sectors would reduce the dependency syndrome on a single commodity (oil) in Nigeria.

Climate change has become a major concern for developing countries given the risk that it posses on energy and food independence, and on general productivity. Despite having an energy system with low carbon intensity when compared to other Latin American countries, Colombia is already facing climate change impacts and requires urgent efforts to mitigate them. As a developing country, the challenge is bigger as policies for economic growth should be in line with the global commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With the aim of contributing to the design of climate policies, this study assesses the impact of economic development on the environment by examining the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for Colombia. Statistically validated and stable autoregressive distributed lag models are estimated for three different environmental indicators: carbon dioxide emissions, methane emissions, and ecological footprint. Moreover, the effects of other variables such as urbanization, foreign direct investment, value added of agricultural and industrial sectors, and energy use are analyzed with dynamic simulations. Empirical evidence supports a long-run equilibrium relationship among investigated variables and the existence of an inverted U-shaped EKC relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and methane emissions, and GDP and ecological footprint. Shifting to renewable energy sources and leveraging the use of cleaner technologies in agricultural and industrial sectors are found to be key for economic growth without harming the environment.

Researchers’ attention has been turned on Health expenditure, Carbon emissions, and economic growth as they play a focal role in the current debate on environmental protection and sustainable development. Our paper endeavors to investigate the impact of economic growth and CO2 emissions on Health expenditure for two main countries in Asia (China and India) using a dynamic panel data model estimated employing the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) for the period 1960–2019. Our empirical results show that there is a significant relationship between health expenditure, CO2 emissions, and economic growth. The empirical evidence indicates a significant positive impact of CO2 emissions on health expenditure whiles economic growth has a negative impact on health expenditure for both countries for the period under study. The population growth rate has transposed effect on India's health spending; on the other hand, its impact on China’s health spending is significantly positive. The strong observable correlation between health expenditure and economic growth is crucial for economic development.

Achieving high economic growth rate while maintaining low inflation rate, has become the main objective of monetary authorities all over the world. Indeed, empirical literature reflects that high inflation rates are detrimental to long run growth and entail welfare costs. To achieve this objective, central banks have availed different options from time to time which include inflation targeting. Monetary authorities in Tanzania have been targeting an inflation level of around 5 percent per annum for economic policy purposes. However, when high inflation is to be controlled, tight monetary policy is put in place which might in turn affect the economic activity. Also, the Tobin effect suggests that inflation causes individuals to substitute out of money and into interest earning assets, which leads to greater capital intensity which in turn promotes economic growth. Against these major points, this paper examines a non linear relationship between inflation and economic growth using both a quadratic and threshold endogenous models and attempts to identify the existence of threshold effects between these variables. The paper uses a data set spanning from 1967 to 2015. The most interesting finding of the estimations is that the estimated coefficient of the linear term of inflation is negative while the estimated coefficient of the square term of inflation is positive, suggesting a U-shaped effect as opposed to inverse or inverted U-shaped relationship found in other countries by previous studies. These results suggest that the Tobin effect may be valid for high inflation, in which people strongly realize the importance of substituting money for interest-bearing assets. This leads to an increase in capital investment, and in turn, an increase in economic growth even with high inflation rate. However, this U-shaped relationship between inflation and economic growth suggests that, the economy is better off at extremely low inflation episodes. The optimal inflation rate that ranges between 3.25 percent and 3.75 percent is obtained by minimizing the residual sum of squares and/or maximizing adjusted R-squared. These findings have some policy implications for the policymakers and development partners. The paper is consistent with policy suggestions by international agencies. Efforts to minimize inflation to a very low level are likely to have a positive effect on economic growth.

This paper aims to provoke fundamental thinking and action around the value and importance of socially-equitable development to the economic advancement, resilience, and prosperity of communities, as we contend with the 21^st Century grand challenge of the changing climate and disasters. As local communities and the global community have experienced an increased frequency, intensity and duration of natural and man-made disasters over the past several decades, opportunities have also grown to identify and reap the benefits of socially-equitable economic development. Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, we discuss the critical importance of socially-equitable economic development to the resilience and sustainability of communities and the infrastructure that supports them. To this end, we: (1) examine what constitutes socially-equitable economic development at different spatial scales of community; (2) explore whether socially-equitable development can occur at different scales of community; (3) explicate the importance of formally considering the inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes for socially-equitable development; (4) explain why the pursuit of equal distribution of the benefits and burdens of development is a necessary but not sufficient endeavor for socially-equitable economic development; (5) analyze the relationships between socially-equitable development, and resilient and sustainable infrastructure and communities; (6) explain why socially-equitable development should be a key component of infrastructure and community resilience strategies in the 21^st Century; and, (7) explain why socially-equitable development can ultimately be viewed as a long-term strategy for prosperity.

This paper studies the mechanism of how China’s state-owned enterprise (SOEs) reform can influences economic growth, and distinguishes the capital efficiency between state-owned and private enterprises. The results show that: 1) the capital allocation efficiency among state-owned enterprises is lower than private enterprise due to an insufficiently released productivity of state-owned enterprises; 2) although with a higher capital allocation efficiency, the improvement of technology progress of private enterprises at a much slower pace compared to its rapidly increasing share in China’s economy. In case of poor allocation with private sector, blindly reforming ownership of state-owned enterprises cannot effectively alleviate the problem of efficiency losses. State-owned enterprise reform can boost economic growth by increasing capital marginal output, improving capital dynamic allocation efficiency, promoting TFP growth and exerting external spillovers on other firms. At present, China is exploring the endogenous power of economic growth, improving the market institutions and promoting the state-owned enterprises reform with positive and steady pace. By properly re-allocation SOEs into the private sector, which has significant influence on improving economic efficiency and promoting sustained economic growth.

During the last two decades, energy poverty has captured a growing attention of researchers and policymakers due to its strong association with economic poverty and poor economic performance. This study uses a broad set of macro level indicators and makes the first attempt to measure energy poverty and its impact on economic growth of Pakistan over the period 1990 to 2017. In particular, our energy poverty indicator considers four main dimensions of energy poverty, namely, energy services, clean energy, energy governance and energy affordability. Our main results show that though the overall energy poverty has reduced in Pakistan during the selected sample period, the country shows an increasing dependence on polluted energy supply in order to meet its growing demand of energy. In second stage of the investigation, we test the neoclassical growth theory where we incorporate energy poverty along with human capital as source of economic growth. Our cointegration results reveal a strong relationship between energy poverty and economic growth that is also dynamically stable in short run. These strong negative linkages between energy poverty with economic growth for the sample economy complement the previous literature on the subject.

: In this article, the authors propose an algorithmic approach to building a model of the dynamics of economic and, in particular, innovation processes. The approach under consideration is based on a complex algorithm that includes (1) decomposition of the time series into components using singular spectrum analysis; (2) recognition of the optimal component model based on fuzzy rules, and (3) creation of statistical models of individual components with their combination. It is shown that this approach corresponds to the high uncertainty characteristic of the tasks of the dynamics of innovation processes. The proposed algorithm makes it possible to create effective models that can be used both for analysis and for predicting the future states of the processes under study. The advantage of this algorithm is the possibility to expand the base of rules and components used for modeling. This is an important condition for improving the algorithm and its applicability for solving a wide range of problems.

This paper examines the indirect effect of democracy on economic growth using a dataset of 17 MENA countries from 1990 to 2015. Democracy is assumed to affect growth through a series of channels: education, health, physical capital accumulation per labor, government consumption, and trade openness. A system of six simultaneous equations, 3SLS, is used to estimate the effect of democracy on growth through these channels. For further analysis, the countries are classified into groups according to the democratic status on the one side, and the level of income on the other. The results indicate that democracy enhances growth through its positive effect on health in all classifications of countries within the MENA region. However, the effect of democracy on growth through education and physical capital/labor is non-monotonic. Democracy always hinders growth through government size and trade openness. Once all of these indirect effects are accounted for, the overall effect of democracy on growth is negative in less democratic countries and poor countries, but positive in more democratic countries and rich countries.

This paper aims to research whether there is link between FDI inflows and Economic growth in the Republic of Seychelles Island. The ordinary least square results obtained shows that in the impact of FDI inflows on economic growth is low. Small Island Developing States attracts less FDI inflow because they are limited to few resources that attracts overseas firms which results in retarded development. The research lighted that impact of foreign direct investment on host countries does not only depend on the quality and quantity of the FDI inflows but some other variables such as the internal policies and the management skills, market structures, economic trends among others.

The concept of green energy is now at the forefront of development discourse, with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7, 11, and 12 all aimed at promoting green energy consumption to combat the three planetary crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Similarly, issues regarding Africa’s natural resource curse have caused a stir in the growth and development literature for some time now and there is no sign that it will die out. This study, the first of its kind, simultaneously assesses the impact of green energy consumption and Africa’s natural resources rents on economic growth by applying the Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) estimator and the dynamic panel models of the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) and Mean Group (MG) estimators on data from 1990 to 2020 for 24 selected African countries. The results show that green energy consumption has a short-run growth-limiting effect and a long-run growth-enhancing effect in Africa. The study also found evidence of the natural resource curse phenomenon in Africa. The study, therefore, calls for the advancement and usage of green energy for both domestic and industrial production in Africa. The study further calls for a revamp in the global tax policy to curb illicit financial activities and strengthening institutional quality for transparency and accountability in the entire value chain of natural resource management in Africa.

The purpose of this study is to examine the connection between economic growth and unemployment in Liberia between 2001 and 2019. The unit root test and the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) Co-integration test were used to examine the relationship between unemployment and GDP. The Auto Regressive Distribution Lag (ARDL) bounds test is used to determine if the variables are linked in the long run. According to the results of the ARDL model, there is no long-run relationship between unemployment and economic growth. This study' results have particularly important policy implications for Liberian economic authorities. In both the long and medium term, the observational results showed no meaningful relationship between unemployment and economic growth. The Liberian government should direct its spending toward activities that directly and indirectly promote the creation of employment and decent jobs, a conducive environment and flexible labor market policies or legislation that are not impediments to job creation, and finally, the government should prioritize labor intensive industries.

The main purpose of study is to identify the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the green financing of banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) in an emerging economy such as Bangladesh. Also, this study shows the green banking activities of the banks and NBFIs during the pandemic. To analyze the impact of the pandemic on green financing, secondary data were obtained from the quarterly and annual reports of Bangladesh Bank (BB) on green financing as well as the annual reports and websites of 61 banks and 34 NBFIs in Bangladesh for the period 2021–2019. Subsequently, the study deployed dependent t-test statistics, growth rate (year-on-year), descriptive statistics, relative percentage changes, and varying tables and graphs to analyze the obtained secondary data. The empirical findings revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in green finance for all banks and NBFIs compared to before the epidemic, indicating that the pandemic had no negative impact on the total green finance growth of all banks and NBFIs. On the other hand, compared to the pre-pandemic period, bank-wise growth in green financing was higher for state-owned commercial banks (SOCBs), specialized banks (SDBs), and private commercial banks (PCBs) but lower for foreign-owned commercial banks (FCBs) during the COVID-19 epidemic. This suggests that the pandemic does not affect the expansion of green finance by SOCBs, SDBs and PCBs but significantly impacted the growth of green financing by FCBs. Furthermore, the research findings showed that the total outstanding and classified loans within the green finance investment decrease for both banks and NBFIs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicated that the Bangladeshi banks’ level of automation towards green banking were satisfactory during the pandemic. Therefore, major policy implications for the green economic recovery by the government, BB, and managers of the banks and financial institutions in emerging economies like Bangladesh were discussed.

Abstract：This paper uses the balanced panel data from 29 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China for a total of 17 years from 2000 to 2016 as a research sample, and establishes an empirical model to examine the impact of environmental regulations and technological innovation on the quality of economic growth. Then this paper test technological innovation as a threshold variable, in which play a regulatory role. Taking the provincial balanced panel data as a research sample, a fixed effect model, a system GMM model, and a panel threshold model were established for empirical testing and the robustness test. Based on the empirical results, this article draws the following conclusions: from a national perspective, environmental regulations and technological innovation can significantly promote the quality of economic growth; from a regional perspective, there are regional differences in impact effects. Under the constraints of environmental regulations, the promotion effect of technological innovation on the quality of economic growth will be reduced; the impact of environmental regulation on the quality of economic growth will have a "threshold effect", and environmental regulation can significantly promote the quality of economic growth only after crossing the threshold and the threshold of technological innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to test the Kuznets Environmental Curve (KEC) hypothesis for 10 MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries during the period 1987-2017. To do this, the translogical functional form has been adopted to estimate the relationship between Toxic Gases (TG) emissions, energy consumption and GDP per capita. The results confirm the presence of KEC, GDP per capita and energy consumption have a positive influence on TG emissions, and the presence of a feedback relationship between GDP per capita and energy consumption. As a result, the environmental framework of the selected countries improves as their level of growth has become more advanced. In addition, to reduce TG emissions, MENA countries are expected to significantly increase the use of renewable energy and a more efficient energy policy.

This study investigates the country level determinants of liquidity synchronization and degrees of liquidity synchronization during economic growth volatility. As a non-diversifiable risk factor, liquidity co-movement shock spreads market wide and thus disrupts the overall functioning of the financial market. Firms in Asian markets operate in legal and regulatory environments distinct from those of firms analyzed in the previous literature. Comprehensive analyses of liquidity synchronicity in emerging markets are limited. A major knowledge gap pertaining to Asian emerging markets serves as the primary motivation for this study. Seven Asian emerging economies are selected from the MSCI emerging market index: Bangladesh, China, India, Indo-nesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines for analysis from 2010 to 2019. The empirical findings show high levels of liquidity synchronicity in weaker economic and financial environments with low GDP growth, high inflation and interest rates and underdeveloped financial systems taking the form of low levels of private credit. Liquidity synchronicity is also affected by poor investor protection, political instability, weak rule of law and government ineffectiveness. Moreover, levels of liquidity synchronicity are higher in period of economic growth volatility.

Huge amounts of wastes are generated during shrimp processing, representing approximately 65% of the initial shrimp weight, which can become an environmental problem when accumulated. Residues such as shrimp shells can be processed to obtain value-added products such as chitin, chitosan, astaxanthin, and a nitrogenous extract under the biorefinery concept. In this work, the economic evaluation and the techno-economic sensibility analysis for a mass integrated biorefinery based on shrimp were developed to determine the economic feasibility of the project and to identify the critical techno-economic variables that affect the profitability of the process. The results showed that a biorefinery for the annual processing of 4,113.09 tons of fresh shrimp in Colombia is profitable, with a return on investment percentage (%ROI) equal to 65.88% and a net present value (NPV) of 10.40 MM USD. The process supports decreases of up to 28% in capacity of production and increases of 12% and 11% in the cost of raw materials and variable operating costs without incurring losses, respectively. However, the decrease over 500 USD/t in the shrimp meat selling price is not supported, thus it is mainly recommended to increase the selling price of this product.

Economists have long been interested in examining inflation-growth nexus. Nevertheless, the nature of their relationship and the optimal level of inflation threshold for economic growth have still remained controversial in both theoretical and empirical works. Accordingly, this study investigates the existence of threshold effects of inflation on economic growth in Ethiopia over the period 1975-2018 using a Two-regime Threshold Auto-regressive (TAR) model. The study mainly departs from previous works since it estimates sector-specific inflation threshold level in food and non-food sectors. Our preliminary analyses clearly reveal that inflation in food sector has become more volatile, less-persistent and key contributor to the general inflation as compared to its non-food counterpart. Further, The TAR model results and robustness checks indicate the existence of inflation threshold in a range of 9-10%. In particular, the threshold level for food inflation is 10% and 8% for non-food inflation. In all cases, our results robustly confirm growth-detrimental effects of inflation after the threshold levels. After all, this study suggests the need for considering specific behaviors of food and non-food prices, and implementing appropriate fiscal and monetary policies to bring inflation down to a single-digit level.

In the context of the economic and political uncertainty associated with the 2019-nCoV pandemic, it is necessary to determine the socio-psychological factors involved in the transformation of the behavior of insurance consumers under the influence of a biogenic threat. This study measures financial anxiety and its impact on the insurance behavior of Russian citizens. The correlation, comparative, and regression analyses of the financial anxiety of Russian citizens cover three stages of observation: before the start of the 2019 nCoV pandemic (“FA up to 19 nCoV; N = 766), during the period of quarantine measures announced in Russia in March 2020 (“FA 19-nCoV-1”; N = 856), and after the relaxation of quarantine measures at the end of April 2020 (“FA 19-nCoV-2”; N = 963).Psychological analysis data were obtained from the online survey “Financial anxiety (in the context of insurance)”. The questionnaire is psychometrically reliable and easy to use. It includes five measurement scales: MR1—Physical manifestations of financial incentive anxiety, MR2—With money shortages and financial uncertainty, MR3—The value of insurance coverage, MP4—Financial Confidence, and MR5—Perception of insurance and investment risks. It was found that Russian citizens consider it important to have insurance coverage for a “rainy day”, and they showed confidence in the insurance market during the biogenic crisis. However, unfortunately, during the 19-nCoV-1 and 19-nCoV-2 periods, Russian citizens did not feel financially secure, unlike in the period before 19-nCoV. Women showed high scores for physical manifestations of financial anxiety and low financial confidence in the future, in contrast to men, regardless of the observation period.

This study examined the link between tax revenue components and economic growth in South Africa, utilizing time series data for the period of 22 years. The stationarity of the variables was established using the Phillips-Perron (PP) unit root test, and the existence of long-run and short-run equilibrium conditions was tested using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model. As a proxy for economic growth, the study used the real GDP growth rate as the dependent variable, with company income tax, personal income tax, taxes on international trade and transactions, taxes on income, profits, and capital gains tax, foreign direct investment, inflation, and gross savings as the independent variables. According to the PP findings, none of the variables are integrated at a higher order than one, i.e. (1). All variables are found to be cointegrated, and all explanatory variables have a long-run link with economic growth. According to the ARDL findings, company income tax, personal income tax, and taxes on international trade and transactions all have a positive long-run and short-run link with economic growth, whereas capital gain tax, foreign direct investment, and gross savings all have a negative long-run and short-run link with economic growth. The long-run coefficient is negatively related to RGDP, while the short-run coefficient revealed a positive link between inflation and economic growth, among other findings. Heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation are not present in our model, according to diagnostic tests. The CUSUM and CUSUMSQ values indicate that the model is structurally sound.

In the context of economic and political uncertainty associated with the 2019-nCoV pandemic, it is necessary to determine the socio-psychological factors in the transformation of the behavior of insurance consumers under the influence of the biogenic threat. This study is devoted to measuring financial anxiety and its impact on the insurance behavior of Russian citizens. Correlation, comparative and regression analyzes of financial anxiety of Russian citizens cover three stages of observation: before the start of the 2019 nCoV pandemic (“FA up to 19 nCoV; N = 766), during the period of quarantine measures announced in Russia in March 2020 (“ FA 19- nCoV-1 "; N = 856) and after the relaxation of quarantine measures at the end of April 2020 (" FA 19-nCoV-2 "; N = 963). Psychological analysis data were obtained from the online survey "Financial anxiety (in the context of insurance)". The questionnaire is psychometrically reliable and easy to use, including 5 measurement scales: MR1. Physical manifestations of financial incentive anxiety, MR2. With money shortages and financial uncertainty, MR3. The value of insurance coverage, MP4. Financial Confidence, MR5. Perception of insurance and investment risks. Russian citizens considered it important to have insurance coverage on a “rainy day” and showed confidence in the insurance market during the biogenic crisis. But, unfortunately, Russian citizens during the 19-nCoV-1 and 19-nCoV-2 periods did not feel financially secure in the future, unlike the period before 19-nCoV. ”Women showed high scores for physical manifestations of financial anxiety and low financial confidence in the future, in contrast to men, regardless of the observation period.

The Circular Economy of plastics is a promising concept that has the potential to reduce pollution and close the loop on plastic waste. However, further research is needed to develop more efficient and environmentally friendly methods of recycling plastic. This review article discusses the Circular Economy of plastics, its potential benefits and drawbacks, and the challenges that need to be addressed to make it a reality. Some case studies are also examined to explore how the Circular Economy of plastics has been implemented across the globe.

Balanced and coordinated economic development across regions is a critical goal of regional economic development and new-type urbanization in China. However, few studies have examined economic growth convergence clubs at the county level. To extend the research on convergence clubs, this research applies a log t convergence test and a dynamic spatial ordered Probit model (DSOP) to endogenously identify economic growth convergence clubs in counties and to examine the influence of initial states and structures on club convergence probability. The study sample covers 2286 counties of China from 1992 to 2010. The results show significant convergence club patterns at the county levels, resulting in the gradual formation of six convergence clubs. The DSOP estimation results show that per capita fixed assets, population density and industrialization have promoted convergence club formation to varying degrees.

The COVID-19 has caused gigantic negative effects on populace wellbeing, society, education, and the economy in Bangladesh. The aim is to deliver a comprehensive overview of the observed and the possible impacts that could appear in the coming days. The study is based on secondary information. During the early period, due to a lack of accurate facts about the case affected and death tension up-and-down among the nations. The total number of confirmed cases is increasing following geometric patterns in Bangladesh. Dairy farmers, vegetable producers, pharmaceuticals, poultry farmers are in deep crisis due to lower prices. Also, the pandemic has seriously affected educational systems, banking, FDI, ready-made garments, remittances, etc Finally, it is not possible to mitigate the effects of pandemic individually but the integrated effort from the state authority as well as concern people of all sectors need to come forward.

Introduction: Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention has been implemented in several countries. Previous literature has shown that its cost-effectiveness (and, under some specifications, cost-saving character) is dependent on the reduction in price due to generics, the time-horizon and its effectiveness. The intervention has never been studied in Catalonia, a territory with extensive implementation. Methods: Economic evaluation of the implementation of HIV pre-exposition prophylaxis using administrative data from Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) who receive the treatment (at the generic price). A deterministic compartmental model and a social perspective with a micro-costing approach over the time horizon 2022-2062 are used. A baseline 86% effectiveness of PrEP is assumed. Results: Daily oral PrEP is found to be cost-saving: discounted savings in costs are attained after 16 years, and after 40 years they reach 81 million euros. In terms of health indicators, 10,322 additional discounted QALYs are generated by the intervention. Results are sensitive to sexual behavioral patterns among MSM, the price of PrEP (reduced if offered on-demand), its effectiveness and the discount rate. Conclusions: The use and promotion of PrEP in Catalonia is predicted to result in substantial health and monetary benefits because of reductions in HIV infections. Short-term investments in the promotion of PrEP will result in important cost-savings in the long term.

It is widely discussed that growth of GDP has a vague impact on environmental pollution due to the emissions of carbon dioxide from consumed fossil fuels in production, transportation and power generation, and creation of required instruments to control environmental pollution as well. Due to the fact that environmental pollution can be a reason of mortality increase in a society, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between economic growth, fossil fuel consumption, mortality (from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease) and environmental pollution using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique in the case of CIS member states over the period of 1993-2018. The major results revealed CO2 emissions in in the region of CIS have a positive effect on increase of mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease. In regards to fossil fuel consumption, the estimation proved that this variable affects mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease positively. In addition, we found effect of economic growth, population growth and inflation rate positively, while any improvement in human development index (HDI) has a negative effect on increase of mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease in the CIS region. It is recommended that the CIS member states carry out different policies to improve energy transition indicating movement from fossil fuel energy sources to renewable ones. Moreover, we recommend the CIS member states to enhance various policies for easy access to the electricity from green sources and increase of renewable supply through improved technologies, sustainable economic growth, and increase of using green source in daily social life.

The study aims to examine the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on the consistency and analysis of financial statements in hotels in ASEZA, Jordan. This research is an exploratory, empirical study, which uses the methodology of data collection and interpretation to draw conclusions. The researchers used the arithmetic mean, standard deviation, T-test and ANOVA test to calculate the degree of significance of the study questions. The findings of a basic linear regression study of the impact of AI implemented in Jordanian hotels on the integration of accounting information systems and the association between AI and the integration of accounting information systems (R = 59.6%) also indicate that the fixed limit value amounted to (2.060) and the value of (Beta) for T-test

A techno-economic model was developed to investigate the influence of components on the system costs of redox flow batteries. Sensitivity analyses were carried out based on a example of a 10 kW/120 kWh vanadium redox flow battery system and the costs of the individual components were analyzed. Particular consideration was given to the influence of material costs and resistances of bipolar plates and energy storage media as well as voltages and electric currents. Based on the developed model it was possible to formulate statements about the targeted optimization of existing battery systems and general aspects for future developments of redox flow batteries.

Tourism may not sustainably support territories with limited natural resource stock as islands. The volume in visitor arrivals and the industry investments can increase the pressure even beyond sustainable levels. There is an evident and unresolved tension between these two great polarities, sustainability and economic growth driven by tourism. The aim for policymakers is to find an acceptable equilibrium between these two dimensions. This paper investigates the tourism evolution between 2007 and 2019 in 15 Mediterranean islands, comparing the tourism pressures through statistical indicators. The analysis will compare tourism demand and supply trends in these contexts. The performances will be evaluated to identify the Islands positioning between sustainability needs and tourism development opportunities considering post-covid-19 challenges.

In an attempt to improve free-range beef cattle herds and explore the economic viability of utilizing Opuntia ficus-indica (spineless cactus) cladodes as supplementary feed, we investigated the impact of cactus diets on animal growth performance and carcass characteristics of Nguni cattle heifers. Four dietary treatments were randomly assigned to 32 heifers aged 24-months, weighing on average 172.2±27.1 kg, with each dietary treatment replicated to 8 individually penned heifers for 90 days. The dietary treatments were control diet (pasture-based energy + protein sources), 10% cactus diet, 20% cactus diet and commercial diet (crop-based energy and commercial protein source). The heifers fed commercial and control diets attained significantly (P < 0.05) higher dry matter intake, average daily gains, fat thickness, carcass conformation scores and lower feed conversion ratio than those fed cactus diets. However, the final body weight gains, slaughter and carcass weights, rib-eye muscle area and meat pH45 min and 24h were comparable (P > 0.05) between heifers fed cactus diets and those fed commercial and control diets. The 10 and 20% cactus diets had greater gross margins (P < 0.05) of R278.6 and R296.9, respectively than the other diets, due largely to reduced total variable costs. The comparability of carcass traits of heifers fed cactus diets and those fed non-cactus diets as well as higher economic returns from cactus inclusion warrants the use of cactus diets, particularly during drought when commercial feed prices rise.

We do this research to investigate the relationship between renewable energy, public health expenditure, logistics performance indices, and economic and environmental sustainability in the ASEAN member states, through the analysis of a panel data from 2007 to 2017. The study used secondary data, which is downloaded from the World Bank Website and employs SEM (Structural Equation Modelling) model for testing hypothesis. The results show that the usage of renewable energy in logistical operations would enhance the environmental and economic performance in terms of mitigating carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions. While, public health expenditure and environmental performance is negatively correlated, which confirms that greater environmental sustainability with lower carbon emissions and greenhouse gases will improve human health and economic growth. Moreover, greater public health expenditure and poor environmental performance has negative effect on economic growth, inefficiency and low productivity of labor slowdown to the economic activities. For another side, the usage of renewable energy and the adoption of green practices in international logistics will develop the environmental sustainability, establish better image of a country and attract foreign direct investment inflows, and also minimize carbon emissions and public health expenditure, spurring sustainable economic growth with better export opportunities in pro-environmental countries.

(1) Background: in epidemiological terms, it has been possible to calculate the savings in health resources and the reduction in health effects of COVID vaccines. From the point of view of economic evaluation, some studies have estimated its cost-effectiveness with the vaccination showing highly favorable results, which in some cases is cost-saving; (2) Methods: a cost-benefit analysis of the vaccination campaign in the North Metropolitan Health Region (Catalonia). An epidemiological model based on observational data and before and after comparison is used. The information on the doses used and the resources assigned (conventional hospital beds, ICU, number of tests) has been extracted from administrative data from the largest Primary Care provider in the region (Catalan Institute of Health). A distinction is made between the social perspective and the health system; (3) Results: the costs of vaccination are estimated at 137 million euros (€48.05/dose administered). This figure is significantly lower than the positive impacts of the vaccination campaign, which are estimated at 470 million euros (€164/dose administered). Of these, 18% corresponds to the reduction of ICU discharges, 16% to the reduction in conventional hospital discharges, 5% to the reduction in PCR tests and 1% to the reduction of RAT tests. Monetization of deaths and cases with sequelae avoided account for 53% and 5% of total savings, respectively. The benefit/cost ratio is estimated at 3.4 from a social perspective and 1.41 from a health system perspective. The social benefits of vaccination are estimated at €116.67 per dose of vaccine given (€19.93 from the point of view of the health system); (4) Conclusions: the mass vaccination campaign against COVID is cost-saving. From a social perspective, most of these savings come from the monetization of the reduction in mortality and cases with sequelae, although the intervention is equally widely cost-effective from the point of view of the health system thanks to the reduction in the use of resources. It is concluded that, from an economic perspective, the vaccination campaign has high social returns.

Gwadar is essential for Pakistan's financial stability. The third deep-water port in Pakistan, Gwadar, plays a significant part in trade between the Gulf countries, Africa, China, United Arab Emirates, and Cordillera Administrative Region. However, the load Shedding of 12-16 hours in Gwadar is the most concerning issue. Pakistan imports 70 MW of electricity from Iran. The wind and solar system are already installed but for a limited residential area. In Gwadar, there are enough renewable energy resources that can be utilized for electricity generation. In this context, a Techno and Economic Analysis is performed using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) Pro. Two models are considered for this study. Model-1 includes PV/Wind Turbine/ and Battery while Model-2 consists of PV/Wind Turbine/Converter and Grid. The yearly energy generated by Model-1 and Model-2 is 57.37 GWh and 81.5 GWh, respectively. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for Model-1 and Model-2 is respectively $0.401/kWh and $0.0347/kWh. It is shown that the simple payback of Model-1 is of 6.70 years, and the simple payback of Model-2 is 7.77 years. Due to the high LCOE of Model-1, its payback year is lesser than model-2. All of these facts indicate that Model 2 is the most optimal solution.

The present paper investigates the determinants of the country’s modernisation through the lens of its citizens. A combination of the ‘hard’ determinants of country’s modernisation (effectiveness of digitisation, infrastructure, environment and interoperability of natural resources; behaviour in line with environmental trends of the EU) and ‘soft’ (interest in opportunities and benefits of renewable energy) was investigated. It was revealed that even for some developed countries, the ‘hard’ determinants have a greater impact on country’s modernisation compared to the ‘soft’ ones. A representative cross-sectional survey of 1015 respondents and a factor coupled with a network analysis served as the main research instruments. Lithuania served as a geographic setting for the research.

LiFePO₄ (LFP) or Lithium-ion battery with its advantages compared to common current motorcycle battery is an appropriate alternative in substituting wet and dry cell battery. Huge amount of demand of motorcycle along with the battery in Indonesia also make it an interesting product for business. In order to assess the commercial potential for such a new technology, market share needs to be estimated as well as the techno-economic feasibility. Hence, market share prediction using the residents of Surakarta Region and techno-economic analysis using NPV, IRR and PBP indicators have been conducted in this study. Calculation using markov chain method shows that LFP battery tends to dominate the market after certain period. Techno-economic analysis also figures out that the commercialization is feasible in three conditions - first mover, even with market leader and equilibrium point. Therefore, there is a great commercial potential for LFP battery especially in Indonesia.

This study investigates the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on economic growth and examines the causality between FDI and economic growth in Bangladesh during 1972-2013. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), export performance (EXP), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) are considered to capture the objective of the study. The study methodology includes some systematic steps. As the data used in the study is time-series in nature, the author employs unit root tests, and in this case, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) tests are used. Then Johansen’s cointegration test, Granger causality test, regression with Newey-West Standard Error and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) are applied. By using the ADF and PP test the study reveals that the variables of four-time series are integrated of I (1) i.e. they are stationary at first difference. Regression analysis result demonstrates that FDI has a positive effect on economic growth. The Granger Causality test discloses that there is a unidirectional relationship between FDI and economic growth. But the VECM estimation finds that in the long run FDI negatively affects economic growth.

Shelter-in-place policies and the closure of non-essential workplaces intended to disrupt transmission of the SARS-COV-2 virus are effective approaches to combating COVID-19. They have, however, caused record levels of unemployment in the United States, raising questions of whether mitigation is more societally damaging than the disease. Here we use a coupled epidemiological-economic model to estimate the impact on employment of an unmitigated, business-as-usual approach to the pandemic. We compared unemployment between March-August 2020 in ten Californian socio-economic systems (SESs) to unemployment forecast by a model of industrial sector inter-dependencies subjected to unmitigated outbreaks of COVID-19. We found that economic losses are unavoidable because disease-driven losses propagate economically through SESs, amplifying losses to the disease. While model forecasts are generally lower than actual unemployment, jobs savings would come at the cost of greatly increased worker mortality. The costs would also be disproportionately greater among smaller and inland SESs.

The present reality about the Nigerian economy calls for investment and development in the non-oil sector. This becomes necessary as a result of fall in the oil price in the global market. This paper examined the Bayesian Vector Autoregression (BVAR) modeling and forecasting of the dynamic interrelationship between Economic growth and revenue from the oil and non-oil sectors in Nigeria. To achieve this, annual data on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), revenue from oil and non-oil sectors were collected from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) bulletin, the sample from 1981 to 2008 was used for analysis, while sample from 2009 to 2014 was used for model validation. Six (6) versions of Sims-Zha BVAR models were compared for out-of-sample forecast, the result revealed the superiority of the BVAR6 model over the other BVAR models. Lastly, evidence from the decomposition forecast errors revealed that revenue of oil sector contributed 7.69% to GDP while revenue from non-oil sector contributed 0.12% to GDP in Nigeria. This paper therefore recommended that the present government should encourage investment that is geared toward development in the non-oil sector, of which it has the capacity to improve the Economic growth of the Nigerian economy.

In this study, the efficiencies of flat-plate and U-tube solar collectors were investigated experimentally when an Al₂O₃ nanofluid was used as a working fluid and compared to those of solar collectors using water. The energy saving and CO₂ and SO₂ generated were calculated and compared to those of solar collectors using water. In addition, based on the experimental results, an economic analysis of the use of solar collectors in various countries was performed. As the concentration of the Al₂O₃ nanofluid increased, the performance of the solar collector improved. The highest efficiency for the solar collectors was shown at the concentration of 1.0 vol% with the nanoparticle size of 20 nm. The maximum efficiencies of the flat-plate and U-tube solar collectors using 1.0 vol%-Al₂O₃ nanofluid with 20-nm nanoparticles was 74.9% and 72.4%, respectively, when the heat loss parameter was zero. The efficiencies of the flat-plate and U-tube solar collectors using Al₂O₃ nanofluid were 14.8% and 10.7 higher, respectively, than those using water. When 50 EA flat-plate solar collectors were operated for one year using Al₂O₃ nanofluid, the coal use, generated CO₂, and generated SO₂ were 189.99 kg, 556.69 kg, and 2.03 kg less than those of solar collectors using water, respectively. In addition, the largest electricity cost reduction was in Germany.

(1)Background: To perform a simulation-based analysis of 2019 COVID-19 outbreak and how would the electronic commerce indursty help China’s economy resilient. (2)Methods: As the epidemic continues, it is possible to use Computable General Equilibrium model to simulate the economic consequences and analyse the role of electronic commerce industy in COVID-19 outbreak. (3)Results: Estimates and models produced at the time of the outbreak suggested that COVID-19 could have a catastrophic effect on China’s economy. National statistics were examined for anomalies that corresponded to the timing of COVID-19 outbreak and, where possible, the size of any gain or loss found estimated. Our analysis suggests that the electronic commerce industry could help China’s economy to recover by stimulating consumption, improving technological level and expanding investment. (4)Conclusions: This exercise holds important lessons for estimating the electronic commerce’s role of similar events – such as pandemic influenza – and measures to recover the economy. We suggest that electronic commerce industry should be paid more attention in economic development, especially in epidemic time. The implications of our findings are discussed in the light of a prospective epidemic.

Background-The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global economy from its starting. Indian economy is also affected by the pandemic and experienced a lot of economic damages. India has become the global hotspot of COVID-19 during the second wave of the pandemic and recorded the second-highest position in terms of positivity rate after China. The present study attempts to analyze the economic issues that emerged in the first and second waves of the pandemic in India. Method/Approach-There is no econometric tools or analytical models used in the present study. This study attempts to evaluate the two research questions which are formed on the basis of some previous studies by various organizations and researchers. The research questions are as follow, First, what are the sectors those are primarily affected at the time of the first COVID-19 outbreak? Second, which economic issues and impacts emerged in the second wave of the pandemic? Results/ Findings-From the study, it is found that the second wave of COVID-19 is not much affected by the Indian economy. At this time, no nationwide lockdown was announced by the Government. But so, it was much severe in the time of the first wave of COVID-19. Many sectors were affected by the pandemic like agriculture, MSMEs, Tourism, etc., and these resulted in substantial unemployment problems in the economy. The study is trying to analyze these problems and concluding it with a few policy recommendations for the economy of India.

The subject of this paper is to analyse the Math Principia of Economic 3D Black Holes in Roegenian economics. This idea is totally new in the related literature, excepting our papers. In details, we study two special problems: (i) math origin of economic 3D black holes, (ii) entropy and internal political stability depending on national income and the total investment, for economic RN 3D black hole. To solve these problems, it was necessary to jump from macroeconomic side to microeconomic side (a substantial approach so different), to complete the thermodynamics-economics dictionary with new entities, to introduce the flow between two macroeconomic systems, to study the Schwarzschild type metric properties on an economic 4D system, together with Rindler coordinates, Einstein 4D PDEs, and economic RN 3D black hole. In addition, we introduce some economic Ricci type flows or waves, for further research.

Following the development and dissemination of new climate-smart agricultural technologies to farmers globally, there has been an increase in the number of socio-economic studies on the adoption of climate-smart integrated pests’ management (CS-IPM) technologies over the years. In this study, we review empirical evidence on adoption determinants of CS-IPM technologies and identify possible science-policy interfaces. Generally, our review shows that socioeconomic and institutional factors are influential in shaping CS-IPM adoption decisions of farmers. More specifically, income was found to positively influence the adoption of CS-IPM technologies while land size owned influences CS-IPM adoption negatively. Registered land tenure (registered secure rights) positively influences CS-IPM technologies’ adoption, implying that efficient land markets that enable competitive and fair distribution and access to land, more so by the vulnerable but efficient smallholder producers do indeed increase the adoption of CS-IPMs technologies. Social capital, achieved via farmers’ organizations is also central in fostering CS-IPM technologies’ adoption, just as markets reforms that minimize market failures regarding access to credit, labor, and agricultural information, which could indirectly hinder farmers’ use of CS-IPM practices. Functional extension systems that improve farmers’ awareness of CS-IPM do also improve CS-IPM technologies’ adoption. However, the adoption of CS-IPM technologies in Ghana and Benin is slow-paced because of factors like lack of access to farm inputs that facilitate uptake of these technologies, lack of credit facilities, and limited extension services among others. Interestingly, our review confirms that CS-IPM technologies do indeed reduce and minimize the intensity of pesticide usage and foster ecosystem (environmental and human) health. Therefore, this review unearths strategic determinants of CS-IPM adoption and makes fundamental guidance around climate-smart innovations transfer and environmental policies that should be prioritized to curb environmental pollution and ensure agricultural ecosystems’ sustainability.

This paper has examined the effect of economic complexity on poverty in developing countries. The analysis has used a sample of 84 countries over the period 1980-2017. Results indicate that greater economic complexity results in lower poverty headcount rates. This is particularly the case for countries that enjoy higher economic growth rates, lower levels of income inequality and lower degrees of economic growth volatility, including due to lower sizes of export demand and financial flows shocks. These findings have important policy implications for developing countries that are exploring ways and means to recover from the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and prepare for future crises.

Background: Covid-19 patients with any pre-existing cardio-vascular disease (CVD) are at highest risk for viral infection and for developing of severe disease. Pathophysiological mechanism is characterized by the viral link to Angioten-sin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) and the involvement of the endothelial system with the release of cytokines and direct damage on myocardium, micro throm-bosis, and alterations of oxygen diffusion. Aim of the study is to analyze clinical course, treatment and outcome in patients (gender stratified) with pre-existing CVD. Methods: Out of the 1299 (700 M/599 F) patients admitted to Internal Medicine COVID Unit of “Castelli Hospital”, Lazio, Italy, from 01/01/2021 to 31/12/2021, 278 patients (167 M/111 F), mean age 76 (76 M/ 75 F) had previous CVD. Demographic characteristics, length of the stay (LOS) and oxygen therapy were evaluated. Results: Most common CVD pathologies were Hearth Failure (HF): 131 (72 M/59 F), Atrial Fibrillation (AF): 45 (25 M/20 F), Myocardial Infarction (MI): 26 (19 M/7 F) and associations among them. 100% of CVD COVID patients under-went Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) and were treated with more than 5 drugs. HF was linked with increased LOS (23 days) compared to AF (21 days), MI (18 days) and no CVD (16 days). Overall mean LOS was 16,5 days. 21,4% of total pa-tients had CVD. Conclusions: Timely identification and evaluation of patients with pre-existing CVD are fundamental for adequate treatment based on gender, severity and state of illness and for risk reduction. Keywords: polypharmacy, gender medicine; COVID 19; Sars CoV 2; cardiovas-cular disease.

The sample data are used from Shaanxi Statistical Yearbook （1999-2018）and poverty population in X County of Southern Shaanxi in 2018. By using Eviews and Excel, this report focuses on analyzing the relationship between education investment and economic growth, education for poverty population, per capita income and poverty caused by education in X county, which can explain reasons for the phenomenon of poverty caused by education. The countermeasures are proposed to solve the phenomenon of poverty caused by education, including establishing scientific education view, correctly understanding education investment and benefit, and improving the aid mechanism for poor students to realize the effective connect among poverty alleviation through education, accurate poverty alleviation and rural revitalization.

This work aims to investigate systematically the tecno-economic feasibility of ther-mos-catalytic cracking process for two solid waste materials, a lipid-base material (re-sidual fat/scum from retention box of the University Restaurant of UFPA) and a lig-nin-cellulosic material Açaí seed (Euterpe oleracea. Mart). The thermo-catalytic process-es were carried out in pilot scale (THERMTEK/LEQ/UFPA/IME/RJ), and their economic feasibility analyzed. The yields of biofuels produced by fractional distillation were al-so studied. The physicochemical characteristics of the raw materials, the organic liquid product (bio-oil) and the chemical composition of kerosene, light-diesel and heavy-diesel from the lipid-base material, as well as those of kerosene and light-diesel from the Açaí seed were also determined. The economic indicators for the evaluation of the most viable cracking (pyrolysis) and distillation process of bio-oils were: a) the sim-ple payback criterion, b) discounted payback, c) net present value (NPV), d) internal rate of return (IRR), and e) index of profitability (IP). The analysis of the indicators showed the economic viability of crude palm oil (Elaeis guineensis, Jacq) and unfeasibil-ity for the palm oil neutralization. The minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) obtained is this work for the biofuels was of 1.34 US$/L) and the breakeven point obtained was of 1.28 US$/L. The sensibility analysis demonstrated that the pyrolysis and distillation yields are the most important variables to affect the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP).

Background: Telemedicine (interconsultation between primary and hospital care teams) has been operating in the counties of Central Catalonia Bages, Moianès and Berguedà since 2011 in the specialties of teledermatology, teleulcers, teleeyelids and teleaudiometries. For the period until the end of 2019, a total of 52,198 visits have been recorded. Objective: To analyse the differential costs between telemedicine and usual care in a semi-urban environment. Methodology: A cost-minimization evaluation, including direct and indirect costs from a societal perspective, distinguishing healthcare and user’s costs, within a three-month period. Results: Telemedicine saved € 780,397 over the period analysed. A differential cost favourable to telemedicine of about € 15/visit has been observed, the patient being the largest beneficiary of this saving (by 85%) in terms of shorter waiting times and travel costs. From the healthcare system perspective, moving the time spent in a hospital care consultation to primary care is efficient in terms of the total time devoted per patient. In social terms and in this context, telemedicine is more efficient than usual care. Conclusion: Users’ saving of time in terms of consultation and travel is the main driver of interconsultation between primary and hospital care savings in a semi-urban context. The telemedicine service is also economically favourable for the healthcare system, enabling it to provide a more agile service, which also benefits the healthcare professionals.

Water management can improve the quality of valuable ecosystem services but can be costly to implement and the management costs are covered by national taxes collected by water users. Based on 30 valuation studies of water quality improvement from the Environmental Valuation Information System (EVIS) database provided by Korea Environment Institute (KEI), a meta-regression analysis was employed to measure the benefits that major river basins provided to the society. We compare these benefits to the costs, namely River Management Funds (RMFs) which are financial resources to support a variety of projects for managing and improving upstream water quality. Based on benefit-cost comparison, this study evaluates the efficiency of water resource management in South Korea. This study also provides policy options that are helpful to maintain the sustainability of water resource by improving the planning and performance of water management in the long run.

Traditional high pressure mechanical compressors account for over half of the car station’s cost, have insufficient reliability and are not feasible for a large-scale fuel cell market. An alternative technology, employing a two-stage, hybrid system based on electrochemical and metal hydride compression technologies, represents an excellent alternative to conventional compressors. The high-pressure stage, operating at 100-875 bar, is based on a metal hydride thermal system. A techno-economic analysis of the metal hydride system is presented and discussed. A model of the metal hydride system was developed, integrating a lumped parameter mass and energy balance model with an economic model. A novel metal hydride heat exchanger configuration is also presented, based on mini-channel heat transfer systems, allowing for effective high-pressure compression. Several metal hydrides were analyzed and screened, demonstrating that one selected material, namely (Ti_0.97Zr_0.03)_1.1Cr_1.6Mn_0.4, is likely the best candidate material to be employed for high-pressure compressors under the specific conditions. System efficiency and costs were assessed based on the properties of currently available materials at industrial levels. Results show that the system can reach pressures on the order of 875 bar with thermal power provided at approximately 150 °C. The system cost is comparable with the current mechanical compressors and can be reduced in several ways as discussed in the paper.

The livelihood of most of the fishers in Indian Sundarbans is dependent on Penaeus monodon post larvae fishing. These post larvae collectors are socially backward lacking economic security. The activity of collecting Penaeus monodon post larvae for rearing in aquaculture, destroy other aquatic species. Many other juveniles of shellfish and fin fish were destroyed in the process of collection of Penaeus monodon post larvae. The removal of juveniles before they reach maturity disturbs the ecological chain by hampering breeding processes and may cause extinction of some fish species in the long run. The present study is an attempt to estimate the economic value of juveniles destroyed in the collection of (Penaeus monodon) post larvae. In total 32 species were identified in P.monodon the post larval by-catch. The economic loss is assessed based on estimating biomass by taking a length-weight relationship from published literature. Further, the paper illustrates how does a profit enterprise is linked with natural resource exploitation. The paper explores government policy and nature conservation issues for social justice and effective conservation.In conclusion, suggestions are given to reduce the burden of livelihood on natural resources to the extent of exploitation and to strengthen institution and policy-making considering socio-ecological vulnerabilities of the area.

The paper addresses an analysis of the efficiency and profitability of the operation of a photovoltaic installation located in the geometric centre of Europe (near Białystok, Poland), where the intensity of solar irradiation is not too high compared to other European countries. It is calculated that in that place average solar irradiation being lower even by approx. 26 kWh than that for the whole Europe, which results in a 26% drop in the economic potential of the utilisation of solar energy for its conversion. A case study and an economic analysis show that without minimum funding amounting to 50% of the investment costs paid for the modernisation of a central heating system assisted by PV cells, the time of return of pecuniary expenditures exceeds 7 years. Apart from the Simple Pay-Back Time SPBT, discount indicators determined in the paper also include the net present value NPV and the internal rate of return IRR. Moreover, a direct ecological effect has been determined for such an investment.

This conceptual article is aimed at evaluating the COVID19 impacts on the global economy and to postulating an ‘economic paradigm shift’. We argue that the existing economic, political, and trade principles have been challenged due to the global pandemic issue. We also compare the COVID19 impact on Western countries and Eastern countries with their control mechanisms. The emerging of new economies is due to the travel restrictions and disrupt of the global economies are discussed that pave a gateway to the economic paradigm shift. The article finally assesses the advent of 5G technology and its implications to face any future health threats that will lead to the next economic paradigm shift in the modern world.

This work aims to investigate systematically the tecno-economic feasibility of ther-mos-catalytic cracking process for two solid waste materials, a lipid-base material (re-sidual fat/scum from retention box of the University Restaurant of UFPA) and a lig-nin-cellulosic material Açaí seed (Euterpe oleracea. Mart). The thermo-catalytic process-es were carried out in pilot scale (THERMTEK/LEQ/UFPA/IME/RJ), and their economic feasibility analyzed. The yields of biofuels produced by fractional distillation were al-so studied. The physicochemical characteristics of the raw materials, the organic liquid product (bio-oil) and the chemical composition of kerosene, light-diesel and heavy-diesel from the lipid-base material, as well as those of kerosene and light-diesel from the Açaí seed were also determined. The economic indicators for the evaluation of the most viable cracking (pyrolysis) and distillation process of bio-oils were: a) the sim-ple payback criterion, b) discounted payback, c) net present value (NPV), d) internal rate of return (IRR), and e) index of profitability (IP). The analysis of the indicators showed the economic viability of crude palm oil (Elaeis guineensis, Jacq) and unfeasibil-ity for the palm oil neutralization. The minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) obtained is this work for the biofuels was of 1.34 US$/L) and the breakeven point obtained was of 1.28 US$/L. The sensibility analysis demonstrated that the pyrolysis and distillation yields are the most important variables to affect the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP).

The global transport sector of the world economy contributes about 15% of the Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) emissions in the world today. The University of Saskatchewan has pursued the green energy transition over the years. They have spearheaded diverse sustainability projects and agendas, due to the importance of curbing climate change and advancing sustainability. The transport system in the university campus is one area of focus where the Sustainability Office plans to introduce some innovations, as a way of curbing GHG emissions while also advancing sustainability practice in the university campus. The study carried out an economic benefit analysis on the campus fleet (consisting of 91 ICE vehicles) to determine if it is economically or financially feasible to transition from Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) or PVs (Petrol Vehicles) to Electric Vehicles (EVs). The analysis used RETScreen Expert software for analyzing renewable energy technology projects. The variables of Payback Period (PBP), cash flow projections, savings made from transitioning (fuel cost savings and energy cost savings), Benefit-Cost-ratio, GHG emission reduction potential, etc. were analyzed. The findings revealed that the GHG emission from the campus fleet will be reduced by 100% (this will result in the removal of about 298.1 tCO₂ from the environment). Also, the fleet manager will save approximately $129,049 (88.9%) in fuel costs. Apart from these, the return on investment will be achieved in year 5 (all things being equal), but can be reduced to year 2 if the vehicles are put into constant and active use (eliminating most idle times. Also, the Sustainability Office will be making a GHG reduction revenue of $14,906.

The epidemiological situation generated by COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of applying non-pharmacological measures. Among these, mass screening of the asymptomatic general population has been established as a priority strategy by carrying out diagnostic tests to limit the spread of the virus. In this article, we aim to evaluate the economic impact of mass COVID-19 screenings of an asymptomatic population through a Cost-Benefit Analysis based on the estimated total costs of mass screening versus health gains and associated health costs avoided. Excluding the value of monetized health, the Benefit-Cost ratio was estimated at approximately 0.45. However, if monetized health is included in the calculation, the ratio is close to 1.20. The monetization of health is the critical element that tips the scales in favour of the desirability of screening. Screenings with the highest return are those that maximize the percentage of positives detected.

The Nordic countries are practically always well positioned in the main international economic, social and sustainability indices and recommending the scientific literature that the variables that these indices intend to measure translate into sustainable economic growth, with this unprecedented empirical study we intend to verify through the ARDL methodology for space temporal 2004 -2018 if the maintenance of high scores in these indexes translates into effective economic growth. The ARDL methodology has the advantage of giving us short- and long-term coefficients. Using four of the main international indices, we conclude that for Nordic countries for economic growth, economic freedom is of no significance and business-friendly regulation is the most important variable. A fundamental discovery in our study (in which Granger's Causality complements the ARDL methodology) is that these countries have been able to adapt perfectly to the globalization process and that entrepreneurship has worked as an important contribution to the continued economic and social success of these countries, allowing them to continue to enjoy their “Nordic Welfare States” in these uncertain and troubled times. These variables have contributed to its economic and social sustainability.

For water-stressed regions like Iran improving the effectiveness and productivity of agricultural water-use is of utmost importance due to climate change and unsustainable demands. Therefore, a hydro-economic model has been developed here for the Zarrine River Basin with the central concept of that demands are value-sensitive functions, where quantities of water-uses at different locations and times have a changeable economic benefits. To do this, the potential crop yields and the surface and groundwater resources, especially Boukan Dam inflow are simulated using the hydrologic model, SWAT, based on predicted climatic scenarios i.e. quantile mapping-downscaled projections. Then, to allocate the agricultural water based on the agro- economic crop water productivity (AEWP) of crops, a basin-wide water management tool, MODSIM, is customized. Next, a simulation- optimization model has been developed using a coupled CSPSO-MODSIM, to optimize the total AEWP, considering climatic impact and crop pattern scenarios, for 2020-2038, 2050-2068 and 2080-2098 periods. Finally, the optimum crop pattern and crop water irrigation depths are presented for different RCPs and periods. The results indicated that this approach will improve considerably the AEWPs and decrease the agricultural water-use up to 40%. Thus, this integrated model is able to support water authorities and other stakeholder in a water-scarce basin, as is the study area.

This paper contributes to the debate on the impact of economic diversity and the resource curse on economic growth. We use dynamic panel data models on data on Canadian and US sub-national jurisdictions. We find evidence for a positive relationship between diversity and growth. Based on the Krugman Specialization Index, our analysis shows that the required threshold for not having the resource curse is 0.209. Above this threshold, the marginal contribution of natural resources to economic growth is lower for a more diversified regional economy than a less diversified one. We highlight the policy implications of these findings.

The COVID-19 outbreak and its economic, social and financial fallouts have generated a renewed interest in finding adequate policies and means to strengthen economic resilience to future shocks, particularly in developing countries. The latter are usually disproportionately affected by adverse shocks (compared to developed countries) and lack the adequate resources to weather these shocks. Strengthening economic resilience is now at the heart of the policy discussion both at the national and international levels. The present paper aims to contribute to this debate by investigating the effect of productive capacities on economic resilience in a panel dataset of 118 developing countries over the period 2000-2018. It constructs a regression-based economic resilience indicator, and makes use of the indicator of productive capacities recently developed by the UNCTAD. Results are quite interesting, including from a policy perspective. The development of productive capacities is associated with greater economic resilience. This is particularly the case for countries with greater trade openness, greater capital account openness, and those that promote a stable macroeconomic environment. Interestingly, development aid appears to matter for the effect of productive capacities on economic resilience. On the one hand, the magnitude of the positive economic resilience effect of productive capacities increases as countries receive higher Aid for Trade (AfT) flows. On the other hand, NonAfT flows (i.e., other development aid flows that AfT flows) hinder the possible positive contribution of productive capacities to economic resilience. These findings have important policy implications that are discussed in the paper.

The quality of the environment affects human behavior, the micro-communities of human beings need creative thinking and ideas. Social environments have a significant impact on collective behaviors and social interactions. Nowadays achieving social indicators in housing with a sustainable approach is one of the goals that have been considered. The most important issue in the field of research is recognizing and examining the value of spaces in residential environments to achieve social life, in which it leads human to be social in public residential spaces. Paying attention to social relations with neighbors and people to create Social relationships are proportionate to the presence of individuals in their realm of life. The concept of neighborhood is being responsible for creating social relationships, influencing people living in the complex and community-based life. In this research, by satisfying the human need to communicate and interact with others, creating collective spaces in different scales such as commercial and recreational spaces in residential complexes, the presence of people in these spaces leads to the socialization of collective space and the factor in which the space achieves success. By explaining and identifying the components of socialization in the collective spaces of residential complexes, such spaces can be prepared for the presence of people in the space.

This review has been realized within the agribusiness sector and experiments the Transaction Cost Theory a branch of the New Institutional Economy which explain market failure caused by many factors. Transaction costs are associated with carrying a transaction between buyers and sellers. This study has been conducted between 2014 and 2017; and has collected data from 11 broiler producers in Jezzine, Lebanon, about: Production costs, capital investment, revenues, land tenure, access to infrastructure, and information about the contract. The propensity score matching method is used to compare the effect of participating in contract farming and to solve the hypotheses, which say: There is a positive relationship between contract farming and the economic benefits of broiler producers and the development of the broiler sector in Jezzine District. Findings from farmer’s interviews indicated that sustainability, guaranteed price, risk reduction, credit facilities and technical aids are the main reasons for signing a contract. In contrast, Farmers have expressed problems concerning the contractors’ responsibilities such as delay in payment and delivery. Also, when prices are high, it was argued that farmers were selling the products in the open market.

This research is aimed at determining the characteristics of the current level of entrepreneurial potential of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) countries, the ability to overcome the consequences of extraordinary events, such as COVID-19 and prospects for the return to an accelerated development once the destabiliser of the economic system, the coronavirus pandemic, has ceased. Eurostat, World Bank and the World Economic Forum data for 2015-2019 were used for the purpose of the research. The research was divided into three stages, i.e. assessment of economic development on the basis of a synthetic ratio of economic anchor development, for which a relative benchmark method based on spatial median (so-called L1 median or Weber point) was used, identification of conditions for the development of entrepreneurial capacity and statistical analysis showing the correlation between economic anchor measures and selected factors of the 3SI countries economic development. Our study found that the entrepreneurial capacity of the 3SI countries in 2015-2019 was determined by nine characteristics, belonging to six areas, i.e. local economy, demographic situation, social situation, trade exchange, innovation and tourism economy. The entrepreneurial potential of the 3SI countries was spatially diversified, and its development was determined, among others, by the entrepreneurial activity of residents (entrepreneurship index) and the conditions for running a business.

This article discusses the outcomes of a quantitative analysis of the competitiveness of grain and its recycling in the countries-members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) through econometric panel data models. The analysis is based on the data of public authorities’ statistics of the countries-members of the EEU, as well as the United Nations Comtrade Database which is a repository of official international trade statistics. The results of the analysis allow to assess the level of competitiveness of produced agro-food products in the countries-members of the EEU and determine the extent to which various factors affect it. The research conclusions can be used to develop and adjust the agreed with the agro-food policy in the EEU.

The objective was to estimate the monetary loss of potato producers up to the year 2100 as a result of temperature and precipitation impacts, taking into account the A2 and B2 scenarios of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). The Pooled Production Panel Model was used, whose database was prepared taking into account climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) and agricultural variables (production, harvested area, farm-gate price) for the period 1996 - 2020, which form the independent variables of the study. The estimations used 60 observations and a total of 38 estimations were run in the econometric software EViews8, of which Equation 05 of the Production Pooled Panel Model was chosen as the best. The model obtained used temperature and precipitation forecasts from Brazil's INPE (National Institute for Space Research), validated for the study area. The results indicate a concave function between potato production (t/ha), temperature and precipitation. Finally, based on the A2 climate scenario, which is the most pessimistic and using the period 2021 - 2100, a loss for potato producers of approximately 8'927,521.48 million soles was estimated.

The poultry industry is affected by many epidemics and Newcastle Disease (ND) is a constant threat, known as a devastating disease for poultry farmers around the world. According to the average death time of chicken embryos, virus strains can be classified as lentogenic, mesogenic, or velogenic. The current research will clarify the vulnerable host range as well as the epidemiology and geographic distribution of ND in Pakistan. The introduction of the virus into poultry can have serious economic consequences, including the loss of production of sick and dying poultry, the cost of control measures (such as population reduction and disinfection measures), and possible trade restrictions in the event of an outbreak. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with sick poultry or carriers. Infected birds can also spread the virus in their feces. It can also be spread through respiratory secretions, contaminated feed, equipment, water, or feces. We will also discuss vaccines that which vaccines are available for NDV in Pakistan and vaccines can fight against this disease or not? In this study, a qualitative risk analysis was carried out to assess Pakistan's vulnerability to the introduction of virulent NDV strains

In this article we propose an application of humanitarian logistics theory to build a supportive framework for economic reactivation and pandemic management based on province vulnerability against COVID-19. The main research question is: which factors are related to COVID-19 mortality between Peruvian provinces? We conduct a spatial regression analysis to explore which factors determines the differences in COVID-19 cumulative mortality rates for 189 Peruvian provinces up to December 2020. The most vulnerable provinces are characterized by having low outcomes of long-run poverty and high population density. Low poverty means a high economic activity that leads to more deaths of COVID-19. There is a lack of supply of a set of relief goods defined as Pandemic Response and Recovery Supportive Goods and Services (PRRSGS). These goods must be delivered in order to mitigate the risk associated to COVID-19. A supportive framework for economic reactivation can be built based on regression results and a delivery strategy can be discussed according to the spatial patterns that we found for mortality rates.

Since the financial crisis in 2008, the U.S. economy has weakened, and the world economy has slowly developed. As the world's leading country, the United States has used many methods to restore the economy. But it does work efficiently. However, there are many issues in developed countries such as domestic social, economic, immigration in the United States/United Kingdom; those are not optimistic. Developed countries have entered a dilemma. The neoliberalism financial system has been unable to move forward. Populists have pointed out that those problems have been causing by globalization. Under the leadership of the Brexit Referendum, President Trump has caused a wave of anti-globalization. Under a series of systems such as the China-US trade war and the US-Mexico border wall repairs, the anti-globalization trend is getting stronger. This article mainly analyzes the in-depth reasons and mechanism research of globalization and anti-globalization alternately—the data obtained from an international method performance study. The results show that anti-globalization is temporary, along with globalization. There are three main factors affecting globalization: the situation of the dominant country, natural disasters, and wars. After so much literature review, I believe that the United States' globalization is gradually weakening, and globalization may return to regionalization under the United States' opposition.