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The paper seeks to understand the factors that shape populist radical right parties’ economic policies. While there is a good understanding of how these parties’ core ideology of nativism and authoritarianism shapes social policies, we know less about economic policies. With few exceptions, the insights of this literature have also not travelled to East-Central Europe, despite the strength of the populist right in this region. Instead, authors writing on the region focus on the social coalitions forged by populist parties as an explanation for policies. These authors however do not focus on the role of populism in policymaking. Our paper therefore asks whether the ideological literature can travel to economic policies as well, and specifically to the cases of Hungary and Poland. Drawing on the evidence of financial market reforms under the Fidesz and PiS rule in Hungary and Poland, and a congruence analysis testing the predictive power of existing approaches, we show that a combination of ideological and material factors is needed to explain observed economic policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper engages with the devastating consequences that the belated neoliberal reformation of the Greek welfare state – initiated after the 2009 economic crisis – had on income inequality and poverty. • It is argued that these reformations rely on the manner with which Greece has developed its relations within the global – mostly European – capitalist division of labor as a peripheral economy. Greece's economic affairs are approached as intimately conditioned by a multifaceted institutional structure of dependencies that outstrips its ability to exercise economic policy for its own interest. • Essentially built upon premises of a core-periphery dependency paradigm, the paper takes the view that since the onset of the 2008 global crisis, the EU anti-labor agenda is extended to country-members – such as Greece – which were long regarded as being poorly integrated or "lagged behind". The large-scale reformation of the Greek welfare state is exemplified and a novel interpretation of estimating the country's poverty level with attention paid to the ineffectiveness of the implemented reforms, is offered. • New estimation methods show the failure of neoliberal welfare policy in assisting even the most vulnerable members of the population, a process known as "targeting". This last part is further supported by genuine evidence drawn from several waves of microdata surveys (see Section 6) illustrating the uneven relation between Greece and the EU. • Three different measures of poverty and efficiency are presented based on original analyses of the official datasets, showing the extent of the overall income loss and the widening gap between Greece and the EU. The paper holds a critical view on EU austerity policies, with particular emphasis given to Greece. It is maintained that the main causes for the implementation of neoliberal reforms should be examined in the manner with which the Greek economy has developed in relation with the European capitalist division of labor as a peripheral economy. Greece is approached as intimately conditioned by a multifaceted institutional structure of dependencies that outstrips the country's ability to exercise economic policy for its own social interests. Essentially built upon the premises of a core-periphery dependency paradigm, the periodic post-war reconfigurations of the EU architectural design offered enough room to the formation of a stricter policy framework along these lines. By developing a set of differentiated indices on European poverty, the devastating consequences of the belated neoliberal reformation of the country's welfare state are highlighted. All calculations are based on microdata sets of EUSILC surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is currently focusing on the cooperative control of air pollution and CO2 emissions, as well as the mitigation of economic policy uncertainty (EPU). By using panel data from 282 cities spanning from 2003 to 2017 and a newly constructed city-level EPU index, a spatial Durbin, two-way fixed-effects model is employed, with the aim of estimating the impact of EPU on the synergistic emissions intensity (SEI) of air pollutants and CO2. Additionally, this paper investigates the potential channels through which EPU influences SEI. It also explores how pressures related to environmental protection and economic development affect the impact of EPU on SEI. The results indicate that a unit increase in EPU will result in a rise in the SEI of local cities, adjacent cities, and total cities by 930.9%, 69,162.7%, and 70,093.6%, respectively. Moreover, the channel analysis suggests that EPU exacerbates SEI by undermining the upgrading of the industrial structure, augmenting industrial structure distortion, and escalating labor market distortion. Furthermore, the effect of EPU on SEI may be lessened by an increase in environmental protection pressure, while an increase in economic development pressure may exert a positive influence. Finally, this paper concludes by recommending that policymakers should prioritize the maintenance and stability of economic policies, facilitate the advancement of the industrial structure, enhance the efficiency of labor resource allocation, and underscore the significance of managing urban air pollution and CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of China's new power system, various regions have implemented policies mandating the integration of new energy sources with energy storage, while also introducing subsidies to alleviate project cost pressures. Currently, there is a lack of subsidy analysis for photovoltaic energy storage integration projects. In order to systematically assess the economic viability of photovoltaic energy storage integration projects after considering energy storage subsidies, this paper reviews relevant policies in the Chinese photovoltaic energy storage market. It analyzes the cost and revenue composition of photovoltaic energy storage integration projects, and constructs a system dynamics model for the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of such projects. Taking a specific photovoltaic energy storage project as an example, this paper measures the levelized cost of electricity and the investment return rate under different energy storage scenarios. Combining energy storage allocation ratios and internal rate of return indicators, this paper analyzes the net present value of photovoltaic energy storage integration projects under different subsidy standards. The results indicate that, while the current energy storage subsidy policies positively stimulate photovoltaic energy storage integration projects, they exhibit a limited capacity to cover energy storage investment costs, thereby failing to incentivize capital market participation in the construction of such projects. Rational allocation of energy storage capacity and optimization of corresponding subsidy policies are crucial prerequisites for enhancing the economic viability and widespread adoption of photovoltaic energy storage integration projects. This study not only aids in investment decision making for photovoltaic power stations but also contributes to the formulation of energy storage subsidy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of rapid global economic transformation, the influence of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) has penetrated all fields of production and life. It is significant to study how it affects the regional carbon emission intensity for regional sustainable development. Based on the data from 30 provinces from 2004 to 2017, this paper takes a complete account of spatial heterogeneity and the dynamic impact of economic policy uncertainty on carbon emission intensity using a spatial econometric model. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) For more than ten years, there have been significant differences and instabilities in economic policy uncertainty and carbon emission intensity in different regions of China. (2) China's local carbon emission intensity shows an objective spatial aggregation effect, which is significant, spatially auto-correlated and clustered. (3) Based on the national level, economic policy uncertainty will significantly increase the regional carbon emission intensity. Additionally, economic policy uncertainty has a significant positive spatial spillover effect, which may increase carbon emission intensity in neighboring provinces. (4) Based on the provincial level, the impact of economic policy uncertainty on carbon emission intensity in various regions is significantly positive, with the most significant impact on the western region. Based on the above conclusions, the paper proposes policy suggestions to stabilize the regional carbon emission intensity in all directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been hailed as a key pillar and catalyst for economic growth, industrialization, and sustainable development in Africa. One of the anticipated benefits is the promise to increase intra‐African trade through the elimination of import duties and other tariffs among countries. However, due to the heterogeneity between the African countries, questions remain as to whether each country will benefit from tariff elimination. This paper aims to evaluate the macroeconomic, fiscal, and welfare consequences of import tax removal in Senegal with the rest of Africa. We link an extended version of the partnership for economic policy (PEP) static computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with a non‐parametric microsimulation approach. We calibrate the model with Senegal's most recent Social Accounting Matrix. The microeconomic model is calibrated using the latest Senegalese household consumption survey. The findings indicate that tariff removal from the rest of Africa has favorable economic, fiscal, and welfare impacts for Senegal. The paper suggests that it will lead to an increase in economic growth and investment. The removal of tariffs is expected to favor urban households over rural ones and leads to a modest decrease in income inequality, accompanied by a 3.36% reduction in the number of poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper derives an inspection policy for an economic production quantity (EPQ) model under the assumption that a process may produce non-conforming (NC) items. In various stages of a production process, a department receiving an order uses a single sampling inspection policy to detect NC items. Under such a policy, a lot is accepted if the number of NC items in the inspected sample is equal to or less than the acceptance number. The proposed model considers both EPQ- and quality-related costs. Moreover, economic production order quantity, sample size and acceptance number are considered decision variables. A numerical example is presented, and a set of sensitivity analysis are provided to highlight the effectiveness of the proposed model. The results reveal that when the inspection cost is high, the classical EPQ model achieves a lower expected total cost for the production system compared with the EPQ model with the inspection. In contrast, when the NC cost is high, the EPQ model with the inspection policy outperforms the classical EPQ model, which can significantly decrease the expected total cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to clarify how and why South Korea initiated and maintained a fragmented aid structure, even though discussions about integration existed before the establishment of its aid institutions. The research utilises a path dependence framework for its analysis. This analysis reveals that discussions concerning the fragmented structure of South Korean aid began in the 1960s and ultimately led to the establishment of South Korean aid agencies. This paper delves into the issue of integrating fragmented aid within the South Korean government by using newspaper articles, government documents, and reports. Path dependence is further illuminated by its relationship to the policy environment and institutional context. In conclusion, the persistence of this fragmented structure can be ascribed to factors such as the intricate nature of the aid policy, which combines diplomatic and economic policies within the policy environment. In terms of the institutional context, the claims of legitimacy for preserving the policy authority of aid-related ministries and the diminished coordination authority of the Economic Planning Board in the 1980s steered the path dependence of the fragmented aid structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the spillover effect of government locations on economic growth by exploring more than 180 relocation events of city governments in China. Empirical results demonstrate that government relocations improve regional economic growth measured by night lights. This positive effect decreases with the distance to city governments' new locations. Government relocations are also found to accelerate urbanization. Potential mechanisms include the changes in land conversion and firm birth patterns in the move-in areas. These results indicate that the relocation of local governments can be an effective place-based policy to improve economic growth and urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of political connections in facilitating access to credit for firms in the Indian corporate sector. This study aims to address gaps in the literature by combining theoretical insights with empirical data. Our model proposes that political connections may reduce risk for firms, thereby enhancing their access to credit. Utilizing a unique dataset of S&P BSE 500 companies from 2001 to 2019, we analyze the extent of these connections and their impact on financial leverage and debt-to-asset ratios. Our findings reveal that politically connected firms, defined by their monetary donations to political parties and the inclusion of Members of Parliament on their boards, exhibit significantly higher financial leverage and debt-to-asset ratios than unconnected firms. This implies a lower perceived borrower's risk and an advantageous position in accessing credit, likely a result of their political ties. The implications of our findings extend to the realms of corporate governance, economic policy, and the broader understanding of emerging market dynamics. • Political connections, as part of non-market strategies of firms, may be crucial in accessing credit. • Our theoretical framework highlights role of risk and donation to political party by a firm in accessing credit. • This study constructs a novel dataset of political connections of Indian companies. • Political connections lead to more favorable borrowing-related outcomes of companies such as, financial leverage and debt-assets ratio. • Political connections specific to a particular political party tend to serve companies more (in terms of the aforementioned outcomes), when that particular party is in power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current situation of the Romanian economy must be understood beginning from the analysis of the main measures of fiscal-budgetary policy applied over the last years by the public authority. In general, the Romanian fiscal policy (before and after accession) was procyclical. However, we continue by presenting some of its characteristics for the past years when we underwent the last ascending phase of the economic cycle. Actually, Romania's GDP exceeded constantly the potential level, and the demand surplus became predominant, generating inflationary pressures. Maintaining the expansionist level of the fiscal policy, in the conditions of a positive deviation of GDP, as of 2017, and opting-out regarding the structural deficit target contributed to affecting the stability of public finances, on short-and medium-term. Romania entered into an extremely difficult economic context, generated by the pandemic, with an extremely narrow fiscal space which limited a lot the possibilities of combating the effects of the pandemic. In this paper we analyzed a period limited to the year 2020, because we consider this time as marking the end of an economic cycle in a period of peace and economic calm, as another is about to begin based on the new realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his government have implemented bold defence, diplomatic and economic policies against the challenges to the status quo order posed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and increased Chinese assertiveness. What do these policies unveil about Japan's strategy and response to the transformed strategic environment? This article argues that the Kishida government has upgraded Japan to a front-line guardian of the status quo order. To achieve its front-line role, the Kishida government has consolidated Japan's deterrence policy, namely focusing on two main pillars—military and rules. To ensure Japan's frontline role is sustainable, this policy paper makes three recommendations: Japan must develop strategic clarity and clear operational plans on how to respond to a regional contingency, such as the Taiwan Strait; Japan must resolve domestic problems that prevent the increase in defence spending to 2 per cent in the period to 2027. Japan's role as a front-line state to protect the status quo order is very much dependent on the availability of resources that would be provided by this increase in defence spending; Japan should re-energize its efforts towards east Asia through a sustained diplomatic, economic and security means. This is important in securing support for Japan's preferred vision of regional and global order from not only like-minded partners and friends in east Asia, but also China. Japan's approach should underscore how the extant status quo order benefits all states, including China, especially in terms of spreading economic prosperity, development and connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic policy uncertainty has had an important impact on trade and sustainable economic development. Especially in some specific industries, uncertainty has increased dramatically. The extant related literature mainly analyzes the nexus between uncertainty and trade across different industries and focuses less on a specific industry. Using Chinese customs data on HS 8-digit products over the period of 2000–2013, this paper first investigates the impact of both foreign economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and domestic intra-industry trade on China's mechanical and electrical product exports to 23 trading partners and applies pooled OLS regressions to conduct an empirical study. This paper finds that EPU has a significant inhibition effect on mechanical and electrical product exports; conversely, intra-industry trade can both significantly promote exports and alleviate the inhibition effect of EPU. In addition, the export impact of EPU varied with different trade patterns. It can significantly inhibit processing exports, while it has no effect on ordinary exports. The results of this paper indicate that in the context of increasing uncertainty, our findings could have far-reaching policy implications for China to build a new development pattern of domestic and international dual circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tensions between China and Taiwan have been heightened significantly lately. This paper is aimed at investigating the cross-Strait relations from Taiwan's perspective concerning, in particular, Taiwan's economic policy toward China. Indeed, China has long been Taiwan's largest trading partner; yet, political relationship between the two has fluctuated over time. On the one hand, China has been an attractive market for Taiwanese businesses, but one the other hand, there have also been economic and security concerns about Taiwan's dependence on China. This paper shows the connections between political and economic factors which jointly affect Taiwan's economic policy toward China. It argues that there may be a general equilibrium—a median voter—but it has often been distorted by the institutional constraints in Taiwan's political process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does a country embark on large-scale R&D programs? Among R&D programs, this is an intriguing question for large scale Science and Technology (S&T) projects such as space programs, because of the necessity for large resource commitments, and the difficulty of being accountable to the taxpayers when the outcome is not always known. It can be assumed that engineers, scientists, bureaucrats, and politicians play respective roles. This paper aims to shed light on the specific role of politics, through the examples of policies of and decisions by NAKASONE Yasuhiro. Nakasone was the minister for science and technology (1959–1960, 1972), and later became the prime minister (1982–1987). He played a crucial role in establishing the Science and Technology Agency and the National Space Activities Council in the 1950s, which would be the foundational institutions responsible for space policy for the next half century. As prime minister, he decided to participate in the Space Station program. Within his vision for Japan for the 21st century, he emphasized the need for radical change in economic policy, education, defense and S&T investment. He was one of the few politicians that had vision to promote S&T and recognized the strategic value to the nation. He was able to explain to the nation why Japan should promote the development of a launch vehicle, when the engineers faced development difficulties in doing so. Thus, he was influential both in the policy layer and in promoting specific programs to support his national vision. Politics intersects with S&T projects because of the uncertainty and tradeoffs associated with these efforts. Japan did not address space programs for national security and commercial space for a long time. It is a politician's role to create institutions, to allocate resources and, more importantly, to explain to the taxpayers why policy measures or programs are necessary. R&D investment is a societal activity: it reflects the social, political, and economic situation, as well as being important for diplomacy and international relations. Bearing in mind that it would be misleading to attribute the initiation of largescale S&T projects to the leadership of a single individual, this paper will attempt to show the driving forces behind, and fundamental objective of Japan's space policy, in addition to the historical shift in that policy by examining the influence of this notable politician. • Nakasone played the key role in establishing institutions promoting space development in post-war Japan. • Nakasone made the best use of close relationships with the U.S. in promoting Japan's space activities. • Nakasone made decisions on space policy process, resource allocation with vision, thus integrating the stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative housing studies traditionally focus on housing systems and social or economic policy, only rarely considering design issues. Through an examination of subsidized housing and its design in 20 countries, this paper explores how design research can benefit cross-national housing studies. Subsidized housing is essential to delivering decent and affordable homes, underpinning the right to housing. To relate design dimensions to housing systems, the analytical focus is on regulatory instruments, technical standards, and socio-spatial practices as well as housing providers, tenures, and target groups. Design research benefits the contextualization of housing systems and design outcomes in several ways. It reveals the contextual and contingent nature of regulatory cultures and instruments, socio-technical norms and standards, and socio-cultural expectations and practices that shape housing solutions. The paper concludes by considering productive ways architectural design research might contribute to an interdisciplinary housing research agenda by offering new means of theorization and analysis beyond traditional housing system typologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the dynamic linkages among economic policy uncertainty (EPU), the green bond market, the carbon market, and the macroeconomy using the time-varying parameter vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model with monthly data spanning from January 2016 to December 2021. Additionally, it assesses the robustness and accuracy of the empirical results through the Bayesian vector autoregressive (BVAR) model. The findings indicate that EPU negatively affects the green bond market in the short term but has a positive impact in the medium and long term. Conversely, EPU has a positive impact on the carbon market in the short term but a negative impact in the medium and long term. Furthermore, the green bond market negatively influences the carbon market in both the short and medium to long term. These results suggest that emerging markets, such as the green bond and carbon markets, are influenced by EPU. The adverse impact of the green bond market on the carbon market, however, contributes to expediting China's attainment of its low-carbon objectives. Appropriate economic policies can play a vital role in accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. The study also reveals that the US-China trade war has expedited the development of green capital markets in China, despite its impact on the green economic transition in the country. These findings provide insights for the government and investors to formulate suitable strategies for risk mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has spawned a crisis whose dimensions encompass the domains of health and the economy. The latter is on account of the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as lockdowns in order to deal with a highly contagious disease. Though some vaccines have emerged, lockdowns of varying degrees are still required since geographical coverage of vaccines is uneven, the protection afforded by vaccines is only for a finite period of time and new variants may escape existing vaccines. This provides the context within which economic policy could intervene. Monetary policy is either unavailable or ineffective, especially when the neoliberal project is hegemonic. Therefore, the specific policy instrument that tends to be utilised is fiscal policy wherein it is postulated that the government tries to achieve a target degree of capacity utilisation. It is demonstrated within the framework of a heterodox macroeconomic model that considerations involving macroeconomic stability (and political economy more generally) may cause this target to be below what is warranted by public health requirements. The paper concludes with some suggestions for future work in this research direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the impact of large swings in economic policy on the risk-return trade-off faced by i nvestors? What is the impact of changes in policy regimes on investment strategies? In this paper we study the impact on returns of switches between periods of market-friendly economic policies and periods of populist policies. To quantify the impact of policy instability, we use data from Argentina--a country that has experienced frequent and very large regime changes--and find that the risk-return for individual assets and minimum variance portfolios are quite different across regimes. We then develop a dynamic model to understand optimal portfolios when investors are cognizant that regimes can change. We find that when portfolios are unrestricted, it is optimal for investors to take a large amount of risk. On the other hand, when portfolios are restricted to include only long positions, a real asset (real estate) dominates financial assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the applicability of economic policies and other developmentalist governmental actions to financialized economies. It mobilizes the theoretical-methodological regulationist principles for a historical and institutional macro-analysis. After a brief review of the concepts of the Regulation School, including the "economic policy regime" (Théret, 1992; Lordon, 2002; Boyer, 2015), the Brazilian case is analyzed as a remarkable example of institutional compatibility with rentier-financial accumulation to the detriment of the accumulation of productive fixed capital. Several indicators of this case are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a guest editorial for a special issue of the journal "Fluctuation & Noise Letters" on the topic of economic policy uncertainty and the energy stock market. The editorial highlights the importance of stable economic policies for consistent economic growth and discusses the negative correlation between economic policy uncertainty and the energy stock market. It also explores the integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence in finance and their potential to reduce economic policy uncertainty. The special issue includes 14 peer-reviewed papers that cover various aspects of energy economics, energy materials, energy stock market prediction, green energy commercialization, and renewable energy dynamics in society. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper, we examine the impact of macroprudential policy on economic growth. The results show that the implementation of macroprudential policies contributes to fostering economic growth, especially in the period following the onset of the global financial crisis. In particular, we show that tightening loan loss provisions, loan-to-value, lending restriction, liquidity requirements and systemically important financial institutions measures all lead to higher economic growth. However, we also find that, while tightening macroprudential policy is generally beneficial for the economy, excessive tightening policy can exert a negative growth impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an economic policy, currency substitution – the use of a foreign currency in lieu of a domestic currency – is rarely associated with nationalism. This is due to a natural tendency to equate nationalism with economic mercantilism and with the political need to foster nationalist feelings among the population. This need not to be the case, though, as the case of the newly independent Montenegro demonstrates. How can we explain the apparent inconsistency between nationalist leaders fighting for independence and opting to use the currency of the European Union (EU), the quintessential supra-national entity? This paper suggests that conventional explanations need to be complemented with a contextual historical analysis of nationalism. By incorporating the fluid and multifaceted nature of nationalism which, in the hands of skilful political elites, can be reframed to include apparently contradictory positions, I suggest that euroisation has been extremely consistent with nationalist goals. As the content and directionality of nationalist discourse shifted, the euro was transformed into a symbol of national identity in this Newly Independent Country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the emergence of China's workers' villages, and their changes over time in the 1950s in terms of residential planning and housing design characteristics. The new socialist regime realized in the 1950s numerous workers' villages around China. Along with the fluctuant Soviet impact and China's domestic realities, workers' villages built in different phases during this decade show diverse features in their plans and styles. In this article, the characteristics are analysed by selecting typical cases in each phase. The findings show the workers' village in early New China was driven mainly by triple reason: realistic demand, political commitment, and ideological instruction. In the first years, before the design and construction were Sovietized, the neighbourhoods were realized by following a western way. Since 1952, Soviet models were applied in China's workers' villages. But quite rapidly Chinese architects nationalized the Soviet prototype. From the mid-1950s, workers' neighbourhoods were gradually simplified due to political and economic policy adjustment. By analysing the evolution of worker villages impacted by multiple factors, this article sheds lights on China's socialist architectural discourse and supplements the existing scholarship on the transnational socialist architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) has been identified by the EU as a powerful resource capable of making substantial contributions to energy savings and reducing GHG emissions. Spain's effort to promote CHP has been prolific since the 1980s. In this regard, there have been various Laws, Royal Decrees (RDs) and European Union (EU) Directives addressed to reach the national objectives set for the CHP sector. Despite these attempts, the evolution and growth of installed CHP capacity has been irregular, compared to other technologies. Likewise, the academic treatment of the Spanish CHP evolution has not deserved the same attention as other technologies such as wind, photovoltaic and thermal solar systems. As a result, this article is aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of the regulatory frameworks applied to the Spanish CHP sector and analysing the reasons behind the variable evolution of the installed CHP capacity. The study covers the legislative context from 1980 to 2020, describing the evolution during both the pre-liberalization and liberalization periods, highlighting the modifications in economic policies that affected self-producers and the so-called Special Regime (SR) for CHP, and examining the challenges faced during the cost containment measures that followed. The manuscript finds and explains the connection between the regulatory framework and the evolution of installed CHP capacity in Spain. Likewise, the connection between the industrial situation and the promotion of CHP, as well as the influence of the Spanish Electricity Sector (SES)'s liberalization on the CHP sector are also pointed out. The paper intends to provide valuable insights for CHP experts and policymakers by showcasing the importance of aligning regulatory measures with the objectives of energy efficiency. It also serves as a reference for countries in various stages of promoting CHP, and provides evidence for the importance of stable energy-policy control mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the international accounting network memberships' impact on audit fees. We find that, firstly, the audit fees charged by the member audit firms are significantly higher; secondly, if the revenue, ranking or audit and accounting business share of the international network the audit firm join is higher, the charge is also higher. Additional results show that economic policy uncertainty will intensify this positive relationship, and member audit firms charge higher fees by improving their overseas expertise. We also find that international network memberships will reduce abnormal audit fees, and improve the quality of financial reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which uncertainty in the energy market, the financial market, the commodity market, the economic policy, and the geopolitical events affect crude oil returns. To consider the complex properties of time series, such as nonlinearity, temporal variability, and unit roots, we adopt a two-instrument technique in the time–frequency domain that employs the DCC-GARCH (1.1) model and the Granger causality test in the frequency domain. This allows us to estimate the dynamic transmission of uncertainty from various sources to the oil market in the time and frequency domains. Significant dynamic conditional correlations over time are found between oil returns—commodity uncertainty, oil returns—equity market uncertainty, and oil returns—energy uncertainty. Furthermore, at each frequency, the empirical results demonstrate a significant spillover effect from the commodity, energy, and financial markets to the oil market. Additionally, we discover that sources with high persistence volatility (such as commodities, energy, and financial markets) have more interactions with the oil market than sources with low persistence volatility (economic policy and geopolitical risk events). Our findings have significant ramifications for boosting investor trust in risky energy assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the policy package pilot implemented in Hubei Province, China, in April 2020 as a natural experiment, we use the synthetic control (SC) and synthetic difference in differences (SDID) methods to estimate the impact of the Chinese government's support policy on the economic resilience and to analyze the mechanisms by which it impacts. This study finds that the policy package has contributed to the growth of economic resilience in the pilot provinces, with the policy package increasing the average economic resilience of the pilot provinces by 0.062 compared to their potential resilience. The validity and robustness of the above conclusions are objectively confirmed by multidimensional quantitative outcomes such as placebo tests, ranking tests, and replacements in calculating resilience. The mechanism analysis shows that the investment in real estate development, the stimulus for consumption, and the core industry development are virtual channels for the policy package to promote economic resilience growth in the pilot provinces. Moreover, traditional investment in transportation fixed assets plays a minor role. This paper quantitatively corroborates the academic idea that government governance capacity affects regional economic resilience (RER), and research can provide empirical support for regional economic recovery and policy support under a major crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the effects of fiscal policy on economic growth in Brazil between 1999 and 2017. For this purpose, a novel methodology is applied, using a Vector Autoregressive with Mixed Frequency (MIDAS-VAR) model, proposed by Ghysels (2016), which allows for the estimation of the spending multiplier by measuring the impact of high-frequency data at low-frequency and vice versa. The impact of various types of spending on the gross domestic product (GDP) is analyzed, including primary expenditure, personnel, social benefits, subsidies, investment, and costing, while the central government's primary revenue is used as the revenue variable. The expenditure and tax revenue are the high-frequency variables (monthly observations), whereas GDP is a low-frequency series (quarterly). The estimated fiscal multipliers for primary spending are less than one, suggesting no significant Keynesian effect on output, with particular attention given to the investment multiplier, which is estimated to be close to zero. Our results suggest that the frequency of data matters, and government expenditure has no significant impact on real GDP growth in Brazil. Therefore, the ability of Brazilian fiscal policy to influence economic growth may be limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper analyzes the relative technical efficiency of the transition economies of the Western Balkans in the period 2007–2021, in comparison with the former countries with a socialist state system, today members of the European Union (EU), based on selected macroeconomic indicators and panel data. Design/methodology/approach: Data envelopment analysis (DEA), i.e. its extension, DEA Window analysis, is applied. Total technical efficiency, as a prerequisite of economic efficiency, is decomposed into pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE). Bootstrapping method and Mann–Whitney U test were used to check the robustness of the obtained results, i.e. efficiency values. Findings: The results show that in 2020, all observed countries recorded a significant drop in economic efficiency as a result of a general, disproportionate drop in the value of selected macroeconomic variables, which occurred due to the global economic crisis and the slowdown in economic activity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This drop in efficiency was significantly greater in the former socialist states, now members of the European Union, which showed their greater sensitivity to global crises. None of the observed economies in the observed period was relatively efficient, that is, at the level of best practice, which occurred primarily as a consequence of the inefficiency of business conditions expressed in the economies of scale. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study stems from the very nature of the concept of DEA efficiency, which is relative in nature. Also, the results and their interpretation are also significantly influenced by the choice of model variables, as shown by Lábaj et al. (2013), as well as a small number of decision-making units (DMUs). The mentioned limitations prevent unambiguous interpretation and generalization of the obtained results. Practical implications: The study may be of importance to economic policy makers in macroeconomic decision-making. The application of the DEA concept in measuring the technical efficiency of national economies is a useful tool in the analysis of macroeconomic performance and a benchmarking approach for positioning and achieving competitive advantage on the international market. Originality/value: Since research of this type is very limited, the results of this study make a theoretical and empirical contribution to the literature, creating a basis for future research and reexamination. The application of the DEA concept in measuring the technical efficiency of national economies is a useful tool in the analysis of macroeconomic performance and a benchmarking approach for positioning and achieving competitive advantage in the international market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political scientists agree that most Americans are “operationally liberal.” However, economic preferences have traditionally been measured as opinions on public spending, independent from the “costs” of public policies. In reality, redistributive economic policies often impose costs on some actors while delivering benefits to others. When a policy’s costs and benefits are both apparent, what types of redistribution do Americans prefer? This paper’s novel survey evidence shows that preferences for policy benefits are indeed sensitive to which subgroups would bear the policy’s costs (and vice versa). American majorities do support a wide range of redistributive economic policy packages—as long as the wealthy are footing the bill or the costs are hidden. When the size of the group facing the policy cost (e.g., tax) increases, overall support declines. Preference differences between Republicans of varying economic statuses are large, while divisions within the Democratic coalition are subtler but still clear on certain policies. Overall, this paper shows that measuring preferences for a policy's costs (e.g., taxation) are crucial to truly understanding voters’ holistic economic policy demands. Further, the lack of enactment by political elites of the forms of redistribution consistently supported by the public casts research on democratic representation in new light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a methodology for assessing the subjective policy reflection in national trade policies through the use of Choquet integral. Specifically, we introduce three fuzzy measures that reflect different policies based on the trade items included in data on the annual trade amounts of selected national animal products from 2010 to 2020. The Choquet expected utility serves as a tool for evaluating subjective policy reflection, allowing for the comparison of national economic policies across selected countries. To demonstrate the practical application of the proposed methodology, we provide specific numerical values that represent the evaluation of subjective policy reflection. Furthermore, we present a decision-making strategy that pertains to the allocation of subsidies on imports and exports of trade transaction amounts, assuming that government subsidies are budgeted using the Choquet expected utility. The proposed methodology offers a valuable framework for policymakers and stakeholders, facilitating in-depth analysis and improvement of the effectiveness of national trade policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores China's endogeneity of economic policy uncertainty (EPU). Previous studies have disagreed on the causal relationship between uncertainty and the business cycle. By using shock-based restrictions, we identify structural shocks and investigate the endogeneity of China's EPU index. The findings suggest that an increase in EPUs is more likely to cause fluctuations in the Chinese economy than the reverse. The paper also uncovers spillovers of China's EPU on the US EPU, indicating a national strategy at play. In the long run, EPU shocks in China account for at least 22% of China's economic activity variation and 30% of the US EPU variation. These findings remain consistent when accounting for the COVID-19 period, adopting heteroskedasticity identification schemes, and using alternative EPU indexes. • Comprehending the endogeneity of EPU is essential for economic theory and policy. • China's EPU is closely linked to economic fluctuations and the US EPU. • We employ shock-based restrictions to analyze the endogeneity of China's EPU. • EPU shocks in China are a driver of economic fluctuations and US EPU. • Our results remain consistent under an alternative identification strategy and EPU index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the connection between the current wave of populism, economic policies and governance practices. We first review the different ways in which populist political economy has been conceptualised, focusing on the relationship between populism and neoliberalism in terms of both policy and polity. We then briefly discuss right-wing populist governments’ recent economic policies and institutional changes. We argue that, while representing a continuation of neoliberalism in some areas, right-wing populism may, when in power, undermine neoliberal economic policies and institutional power by subverting governance norms and reintroducing the state as a major actor in the economy. To demonstrate and support our argument, we analyse the Israeli case, in which the right-wing populist leader Benjamin Netanyahu led three governmental coalitions between 2009 and 2019. We focus on the Israeli government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis and the housing crisis. We show that the populist Israeli government went beyond clientelism and welfare chauvinism and moved towards a more redistributive and expansionist economic agenda. To finance and legislate this agenda, it used unorthodox, short-term governance practices to bypass or overcome institutional limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In input-output models, a technical coefficient is considered important when its variation causes significant changes in output, thus having great capacity to influence the economy. This concept of importance has limitations, some of which are resolved in this paper. Thus, a generalization of this concept is proposed by including in the analysis households as another sector to be considered. A new conceptualization of the notion of importance is also raised, in which changes in the total output are considered rather than the sectoral changes. Finally, a connection is established and formulated between an important coefficient and the intensity of the field of influence. • Obtaining important coefficients is very relevant in terms of potential contributions to the formation and evaluation of economic policies, especially those related to addressing spatial and personal inequalities. • The more important a coefficient, the greater the technical output-coefficient elasticity. Therefore, policies affecting important coefficients will generate greater economy-wide impacts. • One extension consists in the analysis based on demographic-economic models that would allow for the introduction of households as another relevant factor to be considered. • The importance of the sectors was measured through an indicator (SIDI), which considers both the number of important coefficients and the relevance of each coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the responsiveness of renewable energy production (REP) to fluctuations in geopolitical risks, oil prices and economic policy uncertainty (EPU). It applies a cross-quantilogram framework to examine monthly data of the US economy for the period of 1986–2022. The findings illustrate the asymmetric effect of historical geopolitical risk (GPRH) on REP under long memory. The findings also hold after different subcategories of GPRH, including geopolitical threats and geopolitical acts, are considered. A positive shock in GPRH has the most decisive positive impact on REP when the policies are driven by both energy security and environmental commitments. A positive shock in GPRH can negatively impact REP when policies are driven by energy security causes only. EPU exerts strong negative effects on REP in bearish and bullish states of the market under medium and long memory across different measures of EPU. Dynamic connectedness analysis applying TVP-VAR method between pairwise variables indicates that net REP is a volatility receiver to the changes in GPRH, its subcomponents, oil prices and different measures of EPU. [Display omitted] • Application of cross-quantilogram approach to US monthly data during 1986–2022. • Responsiveness of renewable energy production to historical geopolitical risk. • A positive shock in GPRH has asymmetric effects on REP in long memory. • This nexus is sensitive to the motivation of energy policies in US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rising awareness of green and sustainable development, corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance has become an essential topic in academia. Existing studies have focused on the driving role of formal institutions on corporate ESG performance while ignoring the motivational role of informal institutions such as culture. Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2021, this study adopts textual analysis to quantify corporate culture and discusses the impact of corporate culture on ESG performance and its internal mechanism. We find that corporate culture significantly enhances ESG performance. Mechanism test indicates that corporate culture can promote green innovation and improve information transparency through resource and information effect, enhancing ESG performance. We further demonstrate differences in the impact of corporate culture dimensions on ESG performance, with innovation culture and quality culture being the most prominent. In addition, there is heterogeneity in the impact of corporate culture on ESG performance. In the context of non-state-owned property rights, low market attention, and high economic policy uncertainty, the impact of corporate culture on ESG performance is more significant. This paper enriches the related research on ESG performance drivers from the informal system perspective and provides decision-making references for enterprises to promote ESG practices and achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]