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The increasing pressure on natural resources and the climate has been noted by businesses and governments worldwide, who now face the difficult task of integrating paths of environmental sustainability and economic growth. One promising approach to sustainable development, reducing the pressure on natural resources and solving waste problems is circular economy. From different ways of implementing circular economy, this study focuses on the productization of industrial side streams, which carry a great deal of underutilized potential. In this article, the productization of pulp and paper industry side stream, fiber sludge, for commercial use as a dust-binding agent is studied via a descriptive, in-depth case study. Apart from inconsistent quality, fluctuating supply, cost of storage and logistics, what makes industrial side stream utilization challenging is the lack of knowledge that stakeholders have about side streams and their utilization and the lack of new value chain development for their commercial use. Therefore, it is essential for all parties involved to have a clearer vision of what is being sold for what purposes, through productization. This study found that the productization of side streams follows the same steps as the productization of any other traditional product, and the productized side streams can be added to the company's product portfolio as by-products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs a digital financial inclusion evaluation system suitable for cross-country comparison. It uses the data of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to calculate the index of digital financial inclusion, and measure the level of digital financial inclusion in 105 countries. Then, we examine the relations between digital financial inclusion and economic growth by using spatial data and techniques for 86 neighboring countries. Our findings display that digital financial inclusion has a significantly positive effect on economic growth, and has spatial spillover effects on neighboring countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the trajectory of global income inequality since 1981. Commonly used (relative) definitions indicate a decline in global inequality since the late 1980s. Looking ahead, it has been intuited that the influence of China's economic development—and that of other rapidly growing, populous nations—on the between-country component will, at some juncture, diminish and start to add to global inequality should economic growth persist. Our paper formalizes the turning point of global inequality through a simple model. For illustrative purposes, we empirically present the implications for the timing of the turning point in the context of a weaker post-pandemic growth recovery versus a stronger, albeit improbable, post-pandemic growth recovery. We conclude by arguing that the era of declining global income inequality is likely over, considering the forces influencing both the between-country and within-country components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of macroeconomic policies in real-time requires assessing the correct information regarding current economic conditions. This statement spurred researchers to develop methods involving high-frequency data for risk analysis. This paper extends the quarterly growth-at-risk (GaR) approach by involving a machine-learning approach based on the Mixed-Frequency Data Sampling Quantile Regression Neural Network (MIDAS-QRNN) model. This paper shows that the MIDAS-QRNN model has the best prediction accuracy and can show good PDB nowcasting. The monthly financial GaR can detect unusual economic growth movements during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term growth is not a simple transition along the path of equilibrium growth, but a process of the interplay of technological, economic, institutional, and social factors. Social capability is an important prerequisite for late-developing countries to catch up with leading countries, and the combination of social capability and the technology gap co-determine the potential of a country to improve productivity through catching up. This paper clarifies the theoretical mechanism of social capability to promote economic growth, and reveals that accountability quality may become capability gap which impedes the convergence of economic growth of the low-income countries by analyzing the panel data from 166 countries over the period 1996–2019. This paper believes that with the rising income level, it is the general path of sustained economic growth to promote the modernization of economic structure while ensuring the supply of goods and effective social incentives. [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]

We build an endogenous growth model featuring a new mode of human capital accumulation in a data economy. Data are generated as the byproducts of economic activities and then used by consumers for human capital accumulation apart from education. Although we find similar growth patterns compared with those in the related literature, economic growth is further accelerated by the new use of data factor. Quantitative analyses suggest that although the accumulation of human capital is promoted by the increasing importance of data, this promotion is not unlimited since data may over-absorb resources and crowd out education. In the transition dynamics, we see that consumers suffer temporary welfare loss. However, as data become a key factor in human capital accumulation, welfare ultimately increases. Our paper provides a first view of the effect of the data factor in the process of human capital accumulation. • Digital economy promotes economic growth through human capital accumulation. • A model is built to incorporate data into human capital accumulation. • The promotion effect of data on human capital accumulation is not unlimited. • In transition dynamics, consumers may face temporary welfare loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the moderating role of the macroeconomic environment in the crash risk-policy uncertainty sensitivity. We find that managers have lower risk perception and crash risk is less sensitive to policy uncertainty during periods of economic expansion. Managers' risk perception is the critical channel through which the macroeconomic environment affects the relationship between crash risk and policy uncertainty. Consequently, when firms' managers have an accurate understanding of the future economic environment, the moderating effect of economic growth is lower. This manifests in the weaker moderating effect of economic growth for SOEs and firms with stronger managerial ability, lower managerial ownership, and high media attention, which further supports the risk perception channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intangible capital stock is an important variable of current concern for all sectors, which is a new driving force of innovation-driven economic growth. However, there is still room for improvement in the estimation method of China's intangible capital stock, and the analysis of the estimation results is not yet sufficient. For this purpose, this paper firstly re-estimates China's intangible capital stock using the CHS classification framework, especially in the estimation methods of software capital and scientific R&D capital, and makes a lot of improvements. Then, this paper uses not only the growth model but also the mediating effect model to classify the intangible capital in the CHS framework into explanatory and mediating variables of economic growth, and proposes that the explanatory variables are what drive new driving force of China's economic growth and the intangible capital stock estimated in this paper. Finally, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the changes, structure, and distribution of the explanatory variables. The results find that (1) software capital and scientific R&D capital are the new driving forces of China's economic growth; (2) China's national stock of current-valued intangible capital rose from 0.4 trillion yuan to 16.4 trillion yuan from 2001–2017, with software capital stock growing faster than scientific R&D capital stock; (3) Intangible capital stock is mainly distributed in a few regions such as Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai; (4) The structure of intangible capital in most regions is not reasonable, and there is a bias towards software capital or scientific R&D capital; (5) The rapid growth of intangible capital stock in Jiangsu and other regions is one of the reasons for their fast economic growth rate, while the slow growth of intangible capital stock in Heilongjiang and Liaoning has led to a decline in their economic growth rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015, the United Kingdom (UK) has increased its investment in transportation infrastructure to compensate for years of underinvestment in comparison with peer countries. It is of critical importance to evaluate the effect of these recent investments, as well as historical ones, on economic development, both theoretically and empirically, to provide guidance on future infrastructure investment. However, few research looks into such policy adjustment on economic growth in the UK. To fill this gap, this paper investigates the relationship between transport infrastructure development and economic growth in the UK from different time spans. Principal component analysis (PCA) is used to construct a comprehensive measure of transport infrastructure development. This paper then applies Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) to investigate both long-run and short-run relationships between transport infrastructure development and economic growth from 1970 to 2017 in the UK. Empirical results suggest that transportation infrastructure has a long-run promotive effect on economic development. However, in the short run, this effect turns out to be significantly negative. The analysis of this paper indicates differentiated roles that the UK's transport infrastructure played in economic growth, which should be considered in future policy design of achieving economic sustainability in the UK. • This paper investigates the relationship between transport infrastructure development and economic growth in the UK. • Transportation infrastructure has a long-run promotive effect on economic development. • In the short run, transportation infrastructure fails to promote economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the growing interest in understanding the social dimension of R&D investments better, approaches for measuring the societal impact of university-industry R&D collaborations (UICs) are called for. Several studies claim that such collaboration directly impacts innovation and, consequently, economic growth. In recent years, several papers have sought to assess the impacts of these collaborations. However, the interest seems to be focused on two of its main stakeholders: companies and universities. Few studies integrate university, industry and society outlooks on societal impact. Based on systematic literature review, this paper aims to provide a conceptual framework for the key elements that should be considered when measuring the societal impact of UICs, contributing to a theoretical understanding of the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a three-period gender-based Overlapping Generations (OLG) model of economic growth for Côte d'Ivoire in which life expectancy is endogenized and the rate of change of the poverty rate is linked to the growth rate of output per capita. We then calibrate the model using the country-specific calibration data to illustrate the role of public policies in the model, and its implications for long-term growth, gender equality, and poverty in Côte d'Ivoire. To this end, we discuss three sets of quantitative experiments: broad-based development policies (increase in education spending and infrastructure investment, and governance reform), gender-based policies (reduction in gender bias in the market place, increase in women's bargaining power, and reduction in family bias against girls' education), and a composite reform program (combination of pro-growth, pro-gender policies). Overall, our findings suggest that Côte d'Ivoire could achieve better growth and poverty outcomes if the country could implement a composite reform program that includes comprehensive development and gender-based policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship among Research and Development (R&D) expenditure, government effectiveness, and voice accountability in 15 Latin American countries. R&D expenditure is a crucial driver of innovation and economic growth, and effective governance and voice accountability are essential for promoting transparency and citizen participation in decision-making processes. The study utilizes a panel dataset from 2002 to 2021 and employs computer data analysis to estimate the effects of changes in government effectiveness and voice accountability on R&D expenditure. The findings reveal a positive impact of government effectiveness and voice accountability on R&D expenditure. A 1% increase in government effectiveness is associated with a 0.618% increase in research development expenditure, while a 1% rise in voice accountability corresponds to a 0.625% increase. These results highlight the importance of effective governance and citizen engagement in fostering R&D investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the role of green energy in realizing green transition and addressing environmental degradation needs to be brought into full play. To promote green energy development in China, this paper examines the relationship among green economic growth, green finance, and green energy (3G) between 2011 and 2019. The heterogeneous, asymmetric, and mediation impact relationship that exists in the 3G nexus is also explored in this study. Accordingly, the results suggest that: (1) Green economic growth and green finance are positively associated with green energy, and the impact is heterogeneous on different types of green energy and in different regions; (2) the impact of green economic growth on green energy are asymmetric, while that of green finance is consistent; and (3) green innovative technology is an effective mediator between green economic growth and green energy, while the investment effect is not significant. This paper contributes to formulating several reasonable policies for improving the green energy industry and achieving sustainable development. It is essential to give full play to the transformation of green achievements to enhance the role of green economic growth in promoting the green energy industry. • This study explores 3G nexus (green economic growth, finance, and energy (GRE)) in China. • The heterogeneity, asymmetry, and mediating mechanism are further analyzed. • Green economic growth and green finance can significantly promote GRE. • The impacts of green economic growth and green finance on GRE are heterogeneous. • Green technological innovation is an effective mediator in the 3G nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• EKs and global paper output have increased continually since 1971. • 64% of countries had peak to generate HS-EKs from 1991–2000. • HS-EK generation efficiency is independent of economic status. • Topics have homogenized since 1980s. • The homogenization is negatively correlated with HS-EK generation efficiency. While advantages of global homogenization and standardization have been discussed on scientific and technological research activities, specific discussion on the disadvantages to generate scientific innovation has been limited. In this study, we aim to clarify the impact of globalization to generate emerging topics in life science and medicine by applying the emerging keywords (EKs) and highly successful emerging keywords (HS-EKs) methodology, which represent scientometric elements of emerging topics and high-impact emerging topics, respectively, as indicators. We analyzed all paper output from 53 countries using PubMed and found a global increase in paper output and EK generation in line with economic growth in the past 50 years. However, the efficiency to generate scientific innovation, reflected in HS-EKs, was significantly reduced and this effect was independent of country-level economic output. We also reported homogenization in research topics over the study period as a possible factor for the observed decrease in HS-EK generation efficiency. Finally, we discuss the foundational issues that gave rise to homogenized science, the impact on scientific innovation, and what policies might be necessary to repair the scientific innovation-generating engine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how local industrial structure changes after bureaucratic transfers across Chinese cities. Utilizing firm-level data within the manufacturing sector, we show a positive and significant effect of transferred local leaders on the industrial similarity between cities connected by them, and this response arises 3 years after the transfers. However, when transferring between cities with notable disparities in resource endowments, local leaders induce diminished industrial similarity among connected cities. Our mechanism analyses then find that, after transferred leaders arrive, new superstar firms are more likely to be attracted to their current jurisdictions and new industries in which their previous jurisdictions have already superstar firms tend to be developed in the current jurisdictions, thus making the industrial structure between the connected cities more similar. Furthermore, we find that transferred local leaders contribute to the synchronization of regional economic growth through facilitating the diffusion of productive capabilities across cities. • This paper examines how local industrial structure changes after bureaucratic transfers across Chinese cities. • Transferred local leaders contributes to a convergence of the industrial structure between the connected cities. • Superstar firms who follow local leaders' movements contribute to the increase of the industrial similarity between connected cities. • Transferred local leaders contribute to the synchronization of regional economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper tests whether personal income inequality can be considered exogenous to subsequent economic growth in Brazil. • Using a massive spatial dataset for all the 5564 Brazilian cities observed in 1991, 2000, and 2010, data reject the assumption of exogenous income inequality regarding subsequent growth. • The employed instrumental variable estimators identify causal effects from inequality to growth on average and conditional quantiles. • A decrease by 1 Gini point is associated with an increase in a cumulative economic growth of 2.5 percentage points in the following ten years. • Neglecting the endogeneity of income inequality to economic growth can lead to wrong conclusions. This paper estimates the impacts of personal income inequality on subsequent growth in a massive spatial dataset for 5564 Brazilian cities observed in 1991, 2000, and 2010 using instrumental variables methods. Based on Brazilian cities' data, the Wu-Hausman test rejects inequality exogeneity regarding growth. Instead of assuming exogenous inequality, we relax this assumption and let the data speak for themselves. Our methods identify causal effects between inequality and subsequent growth in conditional quantiles beyond the average. On average, the magnitude of the estimate implies that lowering personal income inequality by 1 Gini point would translate to an increase in a cumulative economic growth of 2.5 percentage points in the following ten years. Our findings call attention to the risk of following Litschig and Lombardi [ J. Economic Growth , 2019, vol. 24, pp. 155–187] when studying the influence of inequality on growth, neglecting the endogeneity of the former to the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Impacts of export quality on economic progress are examined. • The role of economic complexity for economic growth is investigated. • 28 OECD country's data is utilized from 1990 to 2019. • Export quality and economic complexity induce sustainable growth. • Institutional quality is a significant determinant for economic growth. It is important to unearth the role of structural change factors for sustainable growth in developed economies. Economic complexity, export product quality, and institutional indicators represent the overall structural change and transformation in an economy. This paper probed the influence of export product quality and economics of complexity on economic growth for 28 OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries using the data from 1990 to 2019. In doing so, the study employs three-panel data econometric models to investigate the role of economic complexity, export quality, and institutional quality on economic development. The paper performs the empirical tests, including the cross-sectional related dependency methods and cointegration techniques. As per the results emerging from fully modified OLS (FMOLS) and dynamic OLS (DOLS) estimation, export quality and financial development positively and significantly strongly impact growth in the long run. The empirical conclusions report detailed discussion on sustainable growth and discuss novel implications concerning product quality and institutional performance. The conclusions stress the practical implications for sustainable economic growth of OECD economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the economic impact of discretionary fiscal and monetary actions taken in the United States during 2020 and 2021. The fiscal actions are The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the "CARES" Act, passed in March 2020; The Consolidated Appropriations Act, passed in December 2020; and The American Rescue Plan Act, passed in March 2021. The paper focuses on the impact of the "economic impact payments" that underlie these fiscal actions. The paper also examines discretionary monetary policy actions taken during the same period. The overall implication is that there is a need to return to policies that increase economic growth and stability, including rules-based fiscal and monetary policy, rather than to continue with these one-time discretionary actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the domain of global socio-economic dynamics, the pivotal role of food production (FP) cannot be overstated. It constitutes the bedrock of fundamental human necessities while being inexorably linked with critical aspects such as economic expansion, societal equilibrium, and geopolitical interplays. The multifaceted nature of FP appears through its direct impact on macroeconomic indicators and its latent influence on international relations and policy-making. This critical nexus underscores the imperative for a comprehensive understanding and strategic management of food production processes to sustain and enhance global socio-economic stability and growth. Investigating the nexus between green finance (GF) and FP is pivotal for ensuring national security and promoting sustainable economic development. This research thus paper examines GF's impact on FP in China as outlined in the 2017 green finance policies. It employs the difference-in-differences (DID) method and analyzes a balanced panel dataset comprising 282 cities in China from 2009 to 2020. The results show that GF has an inhibitory effect on FP, and this remains valid after a range of reliability checks, including parallel trend assessments and placebo tests. Further findings of transmission mechanism analysis indicate that non-agricultural factors and financial exclusion are critical for GF's inhibitory effect on FP. Heterogeneity analyses show that GF's inhibitory effect on FP is more pronounced in the main food-producing areas, the main food-marketing areas, and cities with better infrastructure. The empirical results of this paper comprehensively illustrate GF's impact on FP and how it contributes to the achievement of food security objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change leads to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters. It has had a severe impact on agricultural economic growth in China. Based on data in China from 2004 to 2020, this paper uses a fixed-effect model to discuss the effects of natural disasters on agricultural economic growth. The empirical results are as follows. (1) Natural disasters negatively affect agricultural economic growth. The regression coefficient of natural disasters on agricultural economic growth is −0.1183. (2) The inhibition of agricultural economic growth by natural disasters is more prominent in areas with low government attention and average agricultural production conditions. (3) The mechanism analysis shows that natural disasters inhibit agricultural economic growth through channels that cause the spread of diseases and pests. (4) Expanding the scale of agricultural insurance can prevent the impact of natural disasters on agricultural economic growth. This research provides policy recommendations for preventing the negative impacts of natural disasters. Agricultural producers should raise awareness of disaster management and improve the accuracy of disaster warning mechanisms. • This paper measures the level of natural disasters in China. • This paper expands the application field of functional data analysis methods. • This paper examines the mechanism of natural disasters affecting agricultural economic growth. • This paper provides policy suggestions for ensuring agricultural economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine and port economy estimation is conducive to the understanding of the development law of marine economy degree. This study proposes a neural-learning network estimation model of the marine economy degree based on a priori architectural knowledge and adopts time-combined class array columns and multivariate modeling methods to estimate the indicators reflecting the development level of the marine economy degree in the ZJP region. The study adopts the PK_NN multivariate modeling method, taking cargo transportation volume, cargo turnover, cargo carrying value of ports near the sea, foreign trade throughput, port container throughput, and port container throughput as multivariate model inputs, and compared with the other modeling methods, the model of the time combination class array columns of type GM_11, which has a better comprehensive performance. Finally, the PK_NN time-combined class array column model is used to estimate the development level of the marine economy in the ZJP region near the seaport from 2011 to 2020, and the results show that the estimated value of the marine economy in the ZJP region is close to the actual planning value of the ZJP region. The algorithm was applied to estimate the economic degree curves of the five near-seaport areas of ABCDE under different harbor head construction art modes, and the results showed that the relative value error of the estimation was controlled between 4% and 10%, and the fluctuation ranges of each month's specific growth value area estimation were comparable. This proves the effectiveness and accuracy of the a priori marine neural-learning-based network algorithm in this paper. • The algorithm was applied to estimate the economic degree curves of the five near-seaport areas of ABCDE under different harbor head construction art modes, and the results showed that the relative value error of the estimation was controlled between 4% and 10%, and the fluctuation ranges of each month's specific growth value area estimation were comparable. • This proves the effectiveness and accuracy of the a priori marine neural-learning-based network algorithm in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic inequality, in terms of income or wealth, is one of the most complex and perplexing challenges of our current capitalist economic system. While the dynamic relationship between income inequality and economic growth has been extensively investigated (since the beginning of the last century), the dynamic link between wealth inequality (or wealth concentration) and economic growth has been largely ignored in the literature, taking more attention in recent years. This paper asserts that the accumulation of non-productive assets/luxury goods is an important determinant of wealth inequality, as well as a determinant of the relationship between wealth inequality and economic growth. In this paper our aim is to show that an increase in wealth inequality is associated with a slowdown in economic growth. In particular, the paper shows that there is a negative relationship between wealth inequality and economic growth in France because poor households own a relatively large fraction of non-productive luxury goods. Nevertheless, this is not the case in the US, which is what explains that such negative relationship is not observed there. We conclude that a redistribution of wealth (from the rich to the poor) is important for attaining a sustained economic growth performance. • This paper contributes to the analysis of economic growth and wealth inequality in France and the United States. • We propose a macroeconomic model that includes both productive and non-productive assets. • Economic growth slows as the aggregate stock of non-productive assets increases as wealth inequality increases. • Redistribution will enrich the poorest households and therefore decrease their propensity to own unproductive assets. • Wealth inequality and economic growth may have a non-linear relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R), an exogenous innovative model of economic integration proposed by China, to examine the growth effects of economic integration on local economies. From 2013 to 2019, more than 120 countries successively participated in the B&R, which intensified the regional integration and interdependence of B&R countries. Employing a difference-in-differences estimation methodology that exploits the cross-country, cross-time variation in the timing of participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, the author finds that the Belt and Road Initiative materially improved the economic performance of local economies, with particularly strong effects for lower-income countries. This paper also provides suggestive evidence that the growth effects can be interpreted in terms of foreign trade and foreign direct investment inwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the relation between economic growth and life insurance consumption for a panel of 130 countries in the period between 2003 and 2016. To address endogeneity concerns, we instrument economic growth by the quality of governments' regulations and show that economic growth positively affects different measures of insurance consumption. Additionally, we find that the share of income households spend on life insurance increases as economies become wealthier. Our findings thus support the demand-following and feedback hypotheses, which state that economic growth contributes to insurance sector development. Finally, we provide evidence that these effects are stronger for middle- compared to high-income economies. Consistent with the idea that the marginal propensity to consume is especially large in low-income economies, we cannot find any evidence that economic growth affects insurance consumption in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Structural transformation via capital stock increases is enhanced by decreases in transaction cost. • Market policies should therefore complement production policies to facilitate optimal development in the context of structural transformation. • Zambia did not follow standard structural transformation, but successful agricultural led economic growth will be poverty-reducing. The Zambian economy does not follow the standard structural transformation pattern because agriculture's declining share in GDP corresponds to an increase in the share of services and not manufacturing. This paper establishes the relevance of capital as well as transaction costs in structural transformation using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. It is found that reducing transaction costs plays a significant role in aiding structural transformation through increases in value-added for all agricultural processing activities in the economy. When capital stock is increased in addition to the transaction cost decreases, the effects are enhanced. This highlights the importance of complementing production policies with market policies to achieve optimal development results. In the combined simulation labour moved out of agriculture to industry with the quantity of labour employed increasing relatively more for the agricultural processing subsector. The paper also confirms a well-known finding that agricultural led economic growth is poverty-reducing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the interactions between institutional quality, government expenditure, tax revenue, and economic growth in low-income countries (LICs) and lower middle-income countries (LMICs) over 2005–2019. The primary distinguishing factor of the paper is the simultaneous inclusion of all these four variables in a single temporal causal model. A second distinguishing feature of the paper is its focus on LICs and LMICs and a clear distinction between short-run and long-run results. Tax revenue is considered as general revenue as well as revenue from taxes on international trade, and customs and other import duties. Our results show that institutional quality, government expenditure, tax revenue, and economic growth often have endogenous links among each other in the short run. These results are not always uniform across our samples. On the other hand, a robust and uniform result across all samples is that the three covariates are important drivers of long-term economic growth. Thus, the co-development of stronger institutions and more effective fiscal policies (relating to taxes and government expenditure) appear to be key in procuring sustained long-term economic growth of countries. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Developing a renewable economic sustainable framework in urban systems. • Introducing a PBOA to efficiently schedule domestic device usage patterns. • Comparing the PBOA, DE and PSOA performance for energy management. This paper delves into the critical intersection of urban energy management, economic growth, and environmental sustainability through the integration of renewable energy sources in smart urban homes. The escalating demand for power has created an energy scarcity, necessitating innovative solutions to balance supply and consumption. In this context, the transition from traditional electric grids to smart grids (SG) is gaining prominence. To harness the potential of smart urban homes, particularly in the context of renewable energy, solar panels on rooftops have become indispensable. Smart grid technologies enable users to engage in demand response strategies, offering incentives and financial benefits for flexible device usage. This study introduces a novel optimization algorithm, the Polar Bear Optimization Algorithm (PBOA), designed to schedule domestic device usage patterns efficiently. To evaluate the effectiveness of PBOA, this paper conducts comparative analyses with other optimization algorithms such as Differential Evolution (DE) and Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (PSOA). Energy cost metrics, including Critical Peak Price (CPP) and Real-Time Price (RTP), are employed to assess cost reduction strategies. The primary focus of this study is to minimize energy costs and reduce the Peak to Average Ratio (PAR), thereby promoting economic growth and environmental sustainability in smart urban homes. It should be noted that neural network (NN) machine learning technique has been used for forecasting the weather and renewable energies output power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the co-movements between renewable and non-renewable energy sources and CO 2 emissions and GDP per capita in Saudi Arabia, respectively. Using the spectral Granger causality approach, our results suggested that non-renewable energy sources lead to carbon emission expansion in the frequency domain. Taken together, a significant causal relationship from fossil to economic growth is perceived over the long-term horizon while renewable energy source drives economic growth over different frequencies and considerably contributes to carbon emissions reduction. The wavelet plots revealed strong discrepancies in all variables in the time-frequency space. While non-renewable energy sources indorsed the economic growth across short-and medium-term scales and contribute to a polluted environment, renewable energy consumption has a substantial effect on carbon emission drop and on economic growth in the short-term. The multiple wavelet outcomes show that renewable energy may not only stimulate the economic growth but also promote sustainable and cleaner environment. The combined effects of non-renewable energy sources rise the carbon emissions. Thus, Saudi's government is counselled to promote the green energy investments and accelerate the transition to renewable energy production as its use as a substitute of fossil fuels carries advantages and opportunities alternating from environment to social-economic. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A long tradition in economic theory has seen the real exchange rate (RER) as a key determinant of trade performance. Several empirical studies, however, have found low estimates of macro trade elasticities and, as a result, questioned this argument. In this paper, we show that to understand and estimate the effect of RER on trade performance, it is crucial to explore the existence of heterogeneous responses of individual products to RER movements. Using trade data from Argentina, we employ the Mean Group method to estimate macro trade elasticities by individual products disaggregated at four digits of the SITC; rev.2. We find a wide range of heterogeneous responses of exports and imports to RER movements at the individual product level. We find that the estimated RER-elasticities in differentiated products and labor-intensive manufacturing goods are substantially larger than those of primary and homogeneous products. Based on the estimated elasticities at the product level, we obtain a "low" aggregate RER-elasticity of exports when we weigh them by the country's trade basket. We show that this result is a consequence of Argentina's economic structure, a country whose exports are heavily specialized in primary and homogeneous products. Our results are important because they help build a bridge between two conflicting views in the RER-economic development literature. Even in countries with "low" aggregate macro RER-elasticities, the real exchange rate may be an important variable for economic performance. An undervalued RER may facilitate economic growth by stimulating investment in activities producing more complex/differentiated goods in countries that specialize in the production of primary and homogeneous goods and, as a result, have "low" trade elasticities. This seems to be the case of several countries in Latin America, including Argentina. • We find a wide range of heterogeneous responses of exports and imports to RER movements at the individual product level. • The estimated RER-elasticities in differentiated products and labor-intensive manufacturing goods are substantially larger than those of primary and homogeneous products. • Based on the estimated elasticities at the product level, we obtain a "low" aggregate RER-elasticity of exports when we weigh them by the country's trade basket. • We show that this result is a consequence of Argentina's economic structure, a country whose exports are heavily specialized in primary and homogeneous products. • Our results are important because they help build a bridge between two conflicting views in the RER-economic development literature. Even in countries with "low" aggregate macro RER-elasticities, the real exchange rate may be an important variable for economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on economic growth and energy consumption for a panel of 27 countries ranked top of the ICT Development Index, from 1990 to 2019. By employing the panel nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model approach, we confirm the presence of a long-run asymmetric effect of ICT on economic growth and energy consumption. Specifically, negative changes (reduction) in the adoption and usage of ICT can have severe consequences on economic growth in these 27 countries in the long-run, erasing all previous gains from positive ICT changes. Additionally, positive or negative shocks to ICT in these countries increase energy consumption, indicating the rebound effect exists in these countries. Finally, the results also reveal that, while the economic growth in these countries is dependent on energy consumption in the short-run, it is energy independent in the long-run. Several important policy implications are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the simultaneous effects of oil shocks on stock markets under different regimes in Norway (as an oil-exporting economy) and Japan (as an oil-importing economy). We use a Structural Threshold VAR model and rely on the monetary policy's effectiveness. Our results show that oil shocks, mainly oil demand shocks, are significantly associated with the oil structure of the country (oil-exporting or oil-importing), channels of the effectiveness of the monetary policy, and the stock market regimes. Furthermore, the channel through which the money supply growth affects Norway's economic growth depends on the stock market regimes. Moreover, the results persist for the money growth-inflation nexus. Similarly, the impact of oil demand shocks depends on the Japanese stock market's regime and the monetary policy's effectiveness. Finally, we find that positive output shocks positively affect the stock markets of both countries in the long run regardless of the stock market conditions. In the short run, a positive inflation shock has a negative (positive) impact on Norway (Japan) during bullish and bearish market conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for the G7 group of countries through the ecological footprint and its components (namely built-up land, carbon, cropland, fishing grounds, forest land, and grazing land). Most previous contributions rely on CO 2 emissions as a measure of environmental damage, whereas using disaggregated ecological footprint allows us to consider resource consumption and waste generation compared to nature's resource generation and waste absorption. The empirical application is based on a panel data analysis for G7 countries from 1980 to 2018. The results indicate that the EKC hypothesis is confirmed for the ecological footprint overall, but the impact of GDP growth is unequal across its components. Long-term elasticities point to renewable energy generation significantly improving environmental sustainability. Globalization also decreases pollution indicators, while economic complexity seems to contribute to environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most important transportation infrastructure between cities, high-speed rail (HSR) not only had a huge economic effect on the cities along the route, but also had a certain effect on the economic disparity between cities. Based on the panel data of 40 prefecture-level cities along the main railway in China from 2001 to 2017, the economic effect of HSR is investigated by synthetic control methods (SCM) in this paper. The results show that HSR had the strongest significant positive economic effect on the city with higher economic development level and speed, had significant negative economic effect on the city that facing a negative economic growth, had insignificant weak positive economic effect on the city with lower economic development level and speed. Thus the economic effect of HSR had strong disparity. In addition, in order to explore the reasons for the economic effect disparity of HSR, this study further analyzed the mechanism of the disparity. It is found that the indirect economic effects (accelerating the flow efficiency of factors of production and changing the distribution of factors of production) brought by HSR had positive economic effects in certain cities, but had negative economic effects in some others. And it was the main reason for the economic effect disparity of HSR. By contrast, the direct economic effects of HSR (promoting the development of traffic consumption and tourism industry) often only had positive economic effects, and showed strong consistency in different cities. • This paper constructed a new evaluation framework to investigate the mechanism of HSR's economic effect and its disparity. • The results show that economic effect of HSR had strong disparity in cities with different economic condition. • The indirect economic effects brought by HSR was the main reason for HSR's economic effect disparity. • The direct economic effects of HSR showed strong consistency in different cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the current energy mix and the power generation infrastructure of Turkey have been analyzed and two different hydrogen based alternative scenarios applied on Burdur TIMES energy model to foresee the economic and environmental results in the 2016–2031 time period. An improved RES was created to illustrate the current energy network of Burdur city and to determine the relationships between energy carriers and the respective technologies, and then this structure is specified by the relevant data, including fuel cell-powered land vehicle technologies integrated into the land transportation demand side. This paper analyses the feasibility of hydrogen as an alternative energy carrier in the fuel mix for electricity generation in Burdur City to achieve sustainable economic growth, to improve the energy security by minimizing respective environmental emissions and indicate the possible implications of the introduction of the hydrogen supply chain and respective fuel cell end-use technologies in a city level energy modelling perspective. Burdur is selected as the target city to implement the designated level of land transport passenger demand by hydrogen technologies; and after implementation of hydrogen cars in 2020; it has been evaluated that only 0.09 PJ of hydrogen car activity prevents a total of 43.44 kT CO 2 emission in Burdur, addressing the 8% of the total emission in the base scenario between the analysis time horizon. Finally, hydrogen has been evaluated as a clean, dependable option to diversify the energy mix on the current energy supply system of Burdur. • A reference energy system developed for Burdur City in Turkey. • Hydrogen chain supply specified into the reference energy system. • An integrated optimization model structured for the hydrogen supply chain. • A long-term urban bottom-up energy model created for hydrogen in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand the long-term consequences and the possible channels (mainly, technological progress and human capital accumulation) through which a declining population may eventually sustain long-run economic growth and innovation in advanced economies, we build an endogenous, non-scale growth model with horizontal R&D activity and human capital investment. Population growth and per capita human capital accumulation are linked to each other by means of what in the paper is identified as the 'multiplicative effect' of population. As long as the strength of this effect exceeds a given positive threshold, population growth and per-capita income growth can be negatively correlated. This means that a negative rate of population growth can sustain a positive economic growth rate in the long run. • Human capital investment is embedded into an R&D-based endogenous growth model. • The law of motion of per-capita human capital includes a class-size effect. • Economic growth is simultaneously sustained by R&D– and human capital–investments. • Conditions are found for negative population growth to yield positive macro effects. • We challenge the idea that a declining population is always bad for long-run growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effort to achieve a balance between industrial development, environment, human health and economic growth in the world represents a driving engine of the latest strategies for resource usage and carbon footprint reduction, which include the application of the Circular Economy (CE) concept. The central idea of the CE concept is to increase the value of resources within a closed system to enable the use of a minimum number of natural resources while providing sustainable economic growth. The aim of this paper is to map the history and evolution of the CE concept to highlight its current application. Historical literary sources and scientific studies were used to map the CE concept evolution while policy instruments provided information mainly on current development. The overview indicates both success and failure of the CE projects over time listed by regions. Successful applications of the CE in the Czech Republic have been identified. The results provide useful information for further research seeking to define the CE concept in practical terms and consider potential opportunities that arise during its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• HSR had impacts on socio-economic, territorial and transport systems in several countries. • The paper analyses the impacts induced by HSR services in Italy after ten years of operation. • Italy represents the first case of competitive HSR market without public subsidies. • Competition between HSR operators brought a significant decrease in ticket prices (-40%) • HSR passengers/year passed from 15 to 45 millions (+200%) in 10 years. • HSR contributed, in 10 years, to an increase of the rail-based transport accessibility up to + 30% • HSR contributed to an extra growth of per capita GDP of + 2.6–5.6% in 10 years. • Regional equity in terms of travel time accessibility decreased by 11% in 10 years. • Extension of the HSR network would increase accessibility (+18%), economic growth (+3.6%) and equity (+49%) The deployment of HSR services in the recent decades has been, arguably, the most significant innovation for intercity travel around the globe. HSR has brought impacts which have been widely studied in different countries in relation to the different socioeconomic, territorial and transport characteristics. This paper analyses the economic growth, the transport accessibility and the social impacts observed in Italy after ten years of HSR operation, as well as the estimated impacts of the system completion. The Italian case study is of particular interest since along the 1,467 km of new high speed line (300 km/h), a combination of major cities distances and a unique HSR competitive market, producing prices reductions and more daily trains, brought a 200% increase of HSR demand (from 15 to 45 millions of passengers/year). Estimations results show that, on average, HSR in Italy contributed to a significant increase in transport accessibility (+32%) for the zones along the HSR network, while only marginal for the others (+6%). Impacts on the economic growth show that HSR has contributed to an extra growth of per capita GDP of + 2.6% in 10 years and would have contributed to a further increase of 3.6% if the final project scenario (HSR_N) would had been completed by 2018. Regional (horizontal) equity impacts were evaluated in terms of the Gini indexes variations with respect to the distribution of the transport accessibility. It results that HSR in Italy has decreased equity in terms of users' travel time accessibility of 11%, increasing the differences between the zones served by HSR and those not. If the HSR_N scenario would have been completed equity indices would have increased of 29% with respect to the pre-HSR 2008 scenario, thus reducing regional inequalities in the country. Results show that the HSR project was a country-level "game changer" in Italy, suggesting that the wider economic benefits, the assumptions on market regulation, the effects on regional disparities and the compensatory measures should be included in the ex ante and ex post evaluation of similar projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an empirical analysis of the impact of institutional reform policies and institutional quality on the economic growth of five Western Balkan countries (WB countries: Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia and Albania) in the period 2006-2016. It was developed its own model of quantification concerning the impact of the most important indicators of the quality of institutions on the economic growth of these countries, which are in a delayed phase of transition and at some stage in the EU accession process. Achieving high and stable rates of economic growth for WB countries becomes the ultimate prerequisite for completing the EU transition and accession process. In order to improve growth dynamics, among other things, it is necessary to identify key drivers of growth and to model appropriate growth and development policies based on the results obtained. In the paper, WB countries were viewed as a whole. By empirically testing the impact of individual quality indicators of institutions on economic growth, according to the World Bank Governance Indicators methodology by using panel data multiple linear regression analysis, the largest statistically significant and positive impact came from the Government Effectiveness and Regulatory Quality variable. The intensity of the impact of the Control of Corruption and Rule of Law variable on GDP per capita is slightly weaker, but it is also very pronounced. In this respect, the empirical results obtained can be a useful framework for modeling the development policies of WB countries. They represent an important guide for policy makers to implement measures aimed at improving the quality of institutions and at the same time modeling economic growth policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic growth in the Eurozone has been lacklustre over the last two decades due to increased global competition from economic players in other regions, economic and financial crisis, and political uncertainties within the zone. To increase the global competitiveness of the region, the European Union launched the Europe 2020 Strategy to raise the level of entrepreneurship and innovation, which are purported to be key drivers of economic growth. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate whether this assertion is true. Thus, the paper investigates the Granger causal relationships among entrepreneurship development, innovation, and economic growth for a sample of the Eurozone countries for the period 2001–2016. Using a vector error-correction model, the study finds that in the long run, both entrepreneurship and innovation stimulate economic growth. In the short run, strong causal links exist but are not always uniform. The results reveal that Eurozone countries should indeed base their growth strategies on policies that promote innovation and policies that create incentives for entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the connections between indebtedness, discipline and economic growth in the context of rural Colombia. It investigates the expansion of interest-bearing debt and the transformations that this has elicited on the lives of peasants in the country's most important hub of cocoa production: El Carmen de Chucurí. Within a framework combining agrarian studies, political economy and economic anthropology, the study is based on ethnographic data which allowed a nuanced understanding of the phenomena at play. In order to comply with timely debt repayment, peasants have been forced to adopt "maximizing strategies" based on a specific (capitalist) form of economic rationality, and to extend their work routines at the expense of their health. Theoretically, I argue that these transformations of their mindsets and bodies, respectively, can be understood as part of the overarching disciplining effects of debt. In particular, the changes brought about by debt have materialized in a renewed push towards increasing cocoa's productivity and profitability. By focusing on the consequences of indebtedness on the debtors' lives, this paper challenges the conventional idea that economic growth is only the outcome of a "natural desire" for improvement. Instead, rising productivity of cocoa can also be read as the result of a compulsion for growth in order to repay loans. This has important implications for analysing the rise and evolution of capitalism. In advancing some of its key imperatives (i.e. accumulation and profit maximization), debt repayment can be seen as a major channel for the reproduction of capitalism in the countryside. • Expansion of interest-bearing debt has explicit ties with the evolution of capitalism. • Economic growth is not solely the outcome of a "natural desire" for improvement. • Debt is a factor forcing economic growth and not only a cause of stagnation. • Indebtedness shapes rural communities' ways of thinking and behavior in line with a capitalist logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that a deeper integration of capital markets in the European Union is necessary to support accelerated economic growth. Further integrated equity and bond markets will provide access to capital funding improve the allocation of capital, help mitigate market and systemic risks, and ultimately foster a counter-cyclical, sustained real economy growth. The paper provides evidence that the increases in both total portfolio equity and debt to GDP ratios in the euro area actively contribute to real GDP growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper constructs an SD-PLUS model to predict the EW of the YREB. • A calculation method considering the public goods attribute of EW is proposed. • GDP growth has an inverse U-shaped relationship with EW. • GDP growth has a U-shaped relationship with equality of EW. • Double GDP by 2035 is the balance point between protection and development. Economic development often leads to environmental damage, resulting in the disorder of ecological well-being in various regions and affecting the equity of ecological well-being in multiple areas. However, economic growth and ecological well-being do not always have a single linear relationship. Therefore, exploring the changes in ecological well-being and its equity in different economic growth contexts is a question worthy of study, which will be beneficial to achieving high-quality development. This paper constructs an analytical framework to explore the equilibrium point between economic growth rate and ecological well-being and its equity. It explores the state of ecological well-being and its equity under different economic growth rates by simulating the monetary value of ecological well-being in 130 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt under different economic growth scenarios. The results show that: ① The SD-PLUS model has high simulation accuracy and can simulate land-use change and ecological well-being in different scenarios. ② By 2035, the overall ecological well-being and GDP growth will show an inverse U-shaped relationship. Under the six growth rates measured in this article, a 5% GDP growth rate will be closest to the inflection point. ③ By 2035, there will be a U-shaped relationship between ecological well-being equity and GDP growth. Under the six growth rates measured in this article, a 5% GDP growth rate will be closest to the inflection point. Therefore, when formulating policies, the rate of economic development should be planned rationally and kept above 5% as far as possible so that when ecological well-being per capita is relatively consistent, rapid economic development can be maintained while improving the equity of ecological well-being and achieving high-quality development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate crisis is recognized as one of the world's most serious concerns, posing a threat to environmental, social, and economic growth. However, previous work has failed to address the dynamic effects through which economic growth may affect green growth and climate crisis. In this research, we take a closer look at the impact of carbon emissions, eco-innovation adoption, and international collaboration on economic growth and the influence of economic growth on green growth. This paper used the generalized method of moments (GMM) for 54 African countries from 2010 to 2019, allied with an imbalanced panel of 540 observations. This paper finds a positive relationship between carbon emissions, eco-innovation international cooperation, and economic growth with p-values lower than 0.047. Our study discovers economic growth's robust and positive impact on green growth with a p-value of 0.009. This research finds a three-pronged mediating effect of economic growth between its driving factors and green growth. Lastly, this paper furnishes new visions into the argument over economic growth versus green growth. It informs policymakers of the need to pay attention to the growing effect of eco-innovation driving factors on attaining sustainable and greener growth and climate crisis mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective control of electricity consumption is crucial to achieving China's dual carbon goals, as it can significantly reduce coal consumption and associated carbon emissions. Using the Logarithmic Mean Divisa Index (LMDI) method, this paper constructs a two-stage decomposition model, which can divide total electricity consumption into industry and domestic electricity consumption and further examine the differential driving mechanism of the two types of electricity consumption separately. Taking the Yangtze River Delta as the research object, this paper analyzes the drivers of its temporal differences in total electricity consumption from 2000 to 2019 and fills the research gap in the identification of drivers of spatial differences in electricity consumption. The results showed: (1) Industry electricity consumption is the main driver of the increase in total electricity consumption, with economic growth and domestic electricity intensity being the primary and secondary factors behind this trend. The population scale also contributes to the increase. However, the effects of industrial structure, industry electricity intensity, and urbanization on total electricity consumption are not constant over time. This paper further decomposes the factors influencing changes in total electricity consumption in the provinces of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. (2) The spatial difference of electricity consumption between the other three provinces and Shanghai mainly comes from industry electricity consumption. (3) There are two kinds of conversion relations for the spatial-temporal differences of total electricity consumption. According to the conclusion, the targeted countermeasures and suggestions for total electricity consumption control are obtained. • We use the LMDI model to study the driving factors of total electricity consumption. • Production is the main reason for the increase of total power consumption. • Economic growth is the first factor to promote the total electricity consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper investigates the effects of agricultural exports on agricultural growth and overall growth in ECOWAS countries. • The instrumental variables approach is applied to control the cross-sectional dependence and endogeneity issues. • Findings indicate that the agricultural export-led agricultural growth hypothesis is verified. • We show that agricultural export increases the overall economic growth while the combined effect of the agricultural export and agricultural growth does not affect overall growth. • To increase foreign exchange earnings and avoid vulnerability to external shocks, ECOWAS' policymakers should pursue the implementation of outward-looking strategies, and agricultural export promotion and adopt market diversification policies. Given the urgent need to increase farming income and foreign exchange earnings, a substantial expansion of agricultural production for export is often a rational policy in developing countries, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The study analyzes the effects of agricultural exports on agricultural growth and overall economic growth in the ECOWAS region for the period 1996–2018. It also explores the combined effect of agricultural exports and agricultural growth on economic growth. We use the instrumental variables approach to control the endogeneity issue. Findings indicate that agricultural exports significantly enhance agricultural growth and overall economic growth. Moreover, the effect differs considerably from the agricultural growth equation to the economic growth equation. We also find that there is no complementarity nor substitutability effect of agricultural exports and agricultural growth on economic growth. These findings have important policy implications in agricultural development policy design and implementation in ECOWAS countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Different dimensions of wellbeing present heterogeneous trends, encouraging to resort to a multidimensional index for an inclusive overview on Chinese development based on household microdata. • Between 2011 and 2015 the average level of multidimensional wellbeing stagnated. Although a slight decrease in well-being is nominally recorded, the overall trend is stable when controlling for other phenomenon (such as the ageing of the sample). • Individual characteristics (such as age and gender) and residence matter in terms of multidimensional wellbeing. As expected, wellbeing decreases in old age following a non-linear trend, and women record lower outcomes too. Inhabitants of coastal provinces and urban citizens (provided they possess an urban hukou) have higher than average scores. The impact of these characteristics is not homogeneous across the distribution of wellbeing. • Heilongjiang province, an emblematic case of economic stagnation in the north-east, reports a significantly worsening well-being trend, significantly different from the remaining "pooled" data. On the contrary, the catching-up Guizhou province records faster growth in the multidimensional wellbeing index. After many years of outstanding GDP growth and structural changes, China is now facing an economic slowdown. This paper aims to analyse the effects of this slowdown on individual well-being, from a multidimensional and provincial perspective. The empirical analysis is based on data obtained from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, for the 2011 and 2015 waves. The notions of moderate prosperity, harmony and balanced growth pursued by the Chinese Government are used to select nine dimensions. These dimensions – based on 56 variables – are aggregated into an individual well-being index using the Multidimensional Synthesis of Indicators technique. The econometric results reveal that, in the 2011–2015 period, individual multidimensional well-being stagnated; moreover, some dimensions were affected much more than others, according to individual characteristics (e.g. age, gender) and geographical differences (e.g. urban/rural, east/west provinces). This creates new challenges for the central and provincial governments of China, in their pursuit of a more 'harmonious' and balanced development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the thesis of Levine (1991) on the positive contribution of the financial market on the rate of economic growth. According to the author, the stock market performs, because it facilitates the formation of capital by increasing the liquidity of the market. In contrast, the economy private financial markets would be less effective. Such a conclusion is yet far from obvious. From the model of Levine (1991), we examine the equilibrium proportion invested in high-return (illiquid) projects and we show that the self-financing economy can record a growth rate higher than that of the economy of financial markets. Regardless of the stock market, economic growth is related to the interactions between the aversion to risk and the parameters of the set of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the reasons for the weak and inconclusive effect of human capital on growth in existing cross-country studies may be the use of inappropriate specifications that do not account for different channels through which human capital affects economic growth. It has been suggested that both the initial stocks and changes in the human capital stocks have positive growth effects when considered together, while each channel often appears insignificant in isolation. This implies that the effect of human capital is likely to be underestimated in restricted (single-channel) specifications. However, this paper shows that extended (two-channel) specifications might also fail to provide a reasonable explanation for the inconsistent human capital effects in existing growth literature. It seems that the omitted variable bias problem resulting from the 'incomplete' specification of human capital in growth regression may not be as pronounced as expected. In addition, we consider some aspects of measurement error and low signal in the changes in human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the four aspects of economic development, scientific and technological innovation, ecological environment protection and shared coordination, this paper constructs a regional high-quality evaluation index system on three dimensions, namely target layer, criterion layer and index layer. The entropy method, comprehensive evaluation method and Gini coefficient were adopted to evaluate regional high-quality development and they are used to explore the balance of high-quality development of cities regionally. As the object of research, the data from 2010 to 2019 of 11 cities in Hebei was collected and conducted or processed. The research results indicate that economic growth is a key factor to promote the high-quality development of Hebei; the evaluation results reveal that the high-quality development among the 11 cities in Hebei have different scores; the balance analysis demonstrates that the high-quality development differences of cities in Hebei present a decreasing trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]