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This study was motivated by the proliferation of forest management businesses for industrial interests. The issuance of the Industrial Plantation Forest policy has benefited pulp and paper corporations, which can be observed from both the rapidly increasing amount of production and the area used under corporate land management, which has even exceeded the amount of land used as regulated by existing regulations.There were three problems that this study seeks to address. Firstly, how had the Industrial Plantation Forest policies during the administrations of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo impacted P.T. Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper and local communities. Secondly, in what ways the policy had caused deforestation, especially on peatlands. Thirdly, how had the state, as the policy maker, maintained the social life of the communities to reduce conflicts that would disrupt production, particularly in Riau. This study show that the industrial plantation forest policies had benefited pulp and paper corporations, that rely on wood as raw materials, by providing various facilities and subsidies from the government. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration issued a lot more policies that benefited corporations than Joko Widodo's administration. Meanwhile, Joko Widodo in its first period administration attempted to make amendment by making a moratorium policy that temporarily suspended the issuance of new forest and land management permits. In addition, the Joko Widodo administration also introduced a social forestry policy that allowed communities to own forestry management land. However, during the second period of his administration, forestry policies, again, had benefited corporations, especially with the issuance of the Job Creation Law which gave rise to many protests from the public.Fred Block’s in his book “the Revising State theory” to the conclusion that the business community has a strong influence on the formation of state policy and that business people seek government’s assistance to support their profit-seeking activities through various policies. The policies are in the form of trade protection, subsidy programs, tax benefits, punitive treatment of strikers, contracts from the government, and so on. However, Block also believes that other than providing support to corporations to accumulate capital, the government must also maintain social stability both as a protection for business confidence and because the government wants to maintain its power. Social forestry policy, for example, is aimed at reducing social conflicts by providing access to communities with cultivated land to improve their welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AI and other forms of automation are causing a shift into a more capital-intensive form of capitalism. Many scholars have suggested that we can best understand this process as the cost-efficient substitution of labour by capital in routine tasks based on relative factor costs. However, this model, which has cast firms as endlessly chasing the productivity frontier, has not paid sufficient attention to cross-national divergences in technological changes. This paper builds a comparative historical case study tracing the divergent introduction of credit scoring in British and German bank branches to argue that the introduction of credit scoring was a result of a policy-led process in both countries. Increased liberalisation of financial market institutions benefitted the rise of market-led banking which fundamentally changed the business model of banks resulting in a devaluation of the services provided by branch managers. This case suggests we need to think about the role of politics and policy within our, often deterministic, models of labour-saving technological change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to reexamine the relationship between financial openness and financial development in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach: The study applied maximum likelihood estimation and autoregressive distributed lag approach and tested Granger causality using quarterly data from 1990:1 to 2020:4. Findings: This study revealed a long-run equilibrium relationship between financial openness and development, indicating that financial openness is a critical factor in Ghana's financial development. Therefore, the study recommends with caution that policies aimed at promoting financial openness could be an effective way to encourage sustainable financial development in Ghana, as financial openness alone may not bring the desired outcome. Research limitations/implications: The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing empirical evidence of the link between financial openness and financial sector development in Ghana. Future research could delve deeper into the mechanisms through which financial openness affects financial development, exploring potential channels and transmission mechanisms. Practical implications: The findings suggest that policymakers, particularly the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana, should prioritize policies aimed at promoting financial openness. This includes continued efforts toward financial liberalization and creating an environment conducive to domestic and international financial transactions. Moreover, policies aimed at increasing trade openness, boosting real GDP and maintaining moderate real interest rates are essential for fostering financial sector development. Social implications: Enhancing financial sector development can have significant implications for society, including increased access to financial services, improved economic opportunities and enhanced overall economic stability. By promoting financial openness and development, policymakers would contribute to poverty reduction, job creation and overall socio-economic development. The study bridges the gap between theory and practice by providing empirical evidence supporting the theoretical proposition that financial openness stimulates financial sector development. Originality/value: This study fills a crucial gap in the literature on the effects of financial openness on Ghana's financial sector development. It focuses on Ghana, which liberalized its financial sector in 1988 as part of the overall economic reforms in 1983, and this justifies the starting point of this paper in 1990, as there are no adequate data before 1990. The study uses principal component analysis to construct an index that measures financial development. The study considers the recent financial crises in Ghana in 2017 and underscores the importance of understanding the link between financial openness and financial development, which becomes useful for policymakers and researchers studying financial system development in sub-Saharan Africa which includes Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial liberalization has noticeably reduced the role of the state in effectively influencing the economy in post-developmental states. Yet many studies have found that the legacies of the developmental model continue to influence the policies, institutions, and socioeconomic challenges that are faced by the states that previously adopted the model. These studies, however, do not clearly identify when and how such legacies may be manifested in state behavior. This paper contributes to filling this gap in the literature by arguing that financial crises can serve as a trigger to more clearly reveal the structural evidence of the legacy in institutions that were previously established and utilized for developmental objectives. By conducting a rigorous case analysis using historical and market data on the crisis responses of South Korea's public pension fund, this paper finds that South Korea's developmental legacy remains passively embedded in the governance structure of the pension fund in non-crisis times but manifests during financial crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the issue of accumulation dynamics of the Greek Public Debt between 1981 and Greece's entry into the Eurozone on 1 January 2001. The author argues that the recent research on the Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis (May 2010) did not take this matter into consideration. The paper uncovers the causes of the Public debt accumulation in the 1980s but also points out that its service costs were minimal since the Greek government sold domestically its non-indexed drachma obligations. The costs of refinancing rose since the end of the 1980s when Greece started to sell internationally debt denominated in other currencies. This move was in effect a result of the process of financial liberalisation of Greek markets and the abolishment of capital controls. The rising costs of debt servicing and public expenditures along with insufficient tax revenues troubled the government of the Nea Demokratia (1990-1993). As the case was, the bright prospects of Greece joining the Economic and Monetary Union reflected upon the diminishing interest rates of new debt issued in the second half of the 1990s. This allowed the Greek government to keep the debt-to-GDP ratio, so far reached, at a lesser expense. However, the financial liberalisation, which allowed foreign and local buyers to purchase government securities denominated in foreign currency, exposed Greece to the first speculative attack on its exchange rate in 1994 since the foreign speculators were attracted by the high debt-to-GDP ratio. Although the Greek government and the Bank of Greece repelled the attack, a more prudent policy decision would have been to decrease the debt-to-GDP ratio in the years to follow, but myopic policy constraints did not allow its execution although it has been strongly argued in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motive for writing this paper is to answer the question of how digital technology moved and how it affected the digital financial markets in conditions of great turbulence caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. But, also to answer how much the possibilities for the advancement of digital technology and digital financing affected the markets in those conditions. Several motives are the cause of the international tendencies, changes and effects of the movements of the global digitalization of the international financial markets. This paper connects the issues of the relationship between financial globalization, financial liberalization to financial integration by analyzing the movements of digitalization of financial markets and their transformation in pandemic conditions. The work is divided into two parts, the theoretical structural-methodological studies, the role, the problems and the conditions of global processes and it is indicating how digitalization reshaped financial markets and monetary systems. The basic research question is what dynamics, tendencies and movements the digitalization of the financial markets faced and what impact did the digitalization have after the major market turbulences caused by the pandemic. In the paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the digitalization era of the financial markets are emphasized. The paper also aims to emphasize the reasons for the ascertained turbulences. Of essential importance was the need to adapt various elements in the domestic policies of the countries to international movements and developments, which affected the overall conditions for the development of digital international trade. The following results are expected from the research: greater correct conceptualization of underdeveloped digital economies that will be able to create new high-quality institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financialisation in developing countries is the subject of an expanding literature but its characteristic features and its relationship to developed countries remain unclear. Reviewing the literature, this paper shows that financialisation in developing countries should be distinguished from financial liberalisation and financial globalisation. Furthermore, its character is partly derivative from financialisation in developed countries, as is confirmed by two theoretical approaches, related but different from each other, namely 'subordinate' and 'dependent' financialisation. By further reviewing the empirical literature, the paper also shows that financialisation in developing countries is highly variable and different from that in developed countries regarding the conduct of non-financial enterprises, banks, and households. Moreover, the literature addresses several sources of vulnerability for developing countries relating to financialisation. Finally, there are significant literature gaps, above all, the connection between financialisation and the globalisation of production as well as the role of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study reviews the empirical literature on banking efficiency by conducting a meta‐regression analysis. The meta‐dataset consists of 1661 observations retrieved from 120 papers published over the period 2000–2014. While the role of study design and method‐specific characteristics of primary studies is evaluated, the focus concerns regulation in banking. The results are fourfold. First, parametric methods always yield lower levels of banking efficiency than non‐parametric studies. Second, banking efficiency is higher in studies using the value‐added approach rather than the intermediation method. Third, efficiency scores also depend on the journal's ranking and on the number of observations and variables used in the primary papers. Finally, regulation matters: primary papers focusing on countries with a liberalized banking industry provide higher values for efficiency scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While economic diversification is crucial for economic development in most countries, it remains a challenge for some low- and middle-income developing nations, as well as for small and non-touristic economies. This research paper assesses the current state of economic diversification in the Arab Maghreb countries, including Algeria (the leading state), which has adopted various strategies to boost its economic diversification across different sectors. The aim is to understand the role of foreign trade liberalization adopted by the Maghreb countries in economic diversification and the extent of its impact on their economic development, positioning them among developed nations. To achieve this, we will examine the economics of these countries, particularly Algeria, to illustrate the close link between foreign trade and the economic development performance of these nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the time of writing this paper there are already some implementations of autonomous vehicles. This paper approaches this subject from a different perspective by defining what automation means in other areas of transportation as well as ethical problems regarding the operation of this kind of vehicle. In the later part although of equal importance discuss the operation of the autonomous vehicle from a security and data privacy point of view. This paper tries to define autonomous vehicles by comparison with other ways of transportation which have a higher degree of automation and defines what autonomous vehicles might impact our lives and our privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few decades, most of the emerging market economies (EMEs) have adopted financial liberalization. Evidence shows that the financial sectors/institutions in emerging economies were either underdeveloped or functioning with a lot of inefficiencies under inadequate regulation. The paper examines whether liberalization in the financial sector has led to financial development for a bunch of EMEs including BRICS. The paper differs from the existing literature in its approach of dealing with the measurements of financial development and considering financial liberalization as a gradual process. Panel regressions are estimated for 9 countries based on 22 years' data for four aspects of financial development, viz. depth, efficiency, stability and competition. Results indicate that financial liberalization in terms of freedom in capital markets has a positive effect on financial depth and competition, whereas liberalization from government interference in the banks and other financial institutions has a positive impact on the stability of the financial sector. Trade openness has a role in enhancing the efficiency of the financial sector. Also, evidence suggests that capital account openness leads to increased depth and does not destabilize the financial sector. GDP, political stability, regulatory quality and government effectiveness are also important factors in influencing more than one aspect of financial development in a country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cesarean section is a surgical procedure that is most often performed in gynecology and obstetrics In the world, including in our country, there is a trend of increasing the number and liberalization of cesarean sections. It is hard to believe that the very high frequency of cesarean sections has a medical justification. In current obstetric practice, the relative safety of cesarean delivery, focuses on short-term rather than long-term outcomes for the mother. However, after a cesarean section, women are at increased risk for a number of chronic gynecological conditions. The aim of the research is to determine the complications and risks of cesarean delivery in different parts of the world. Materials and methods: The article is the result of a review of scientific literature published in English and Bosnian. Using the search engine scholar.google.com and the Pubmed database, and using the keywords "cesarean section", "complications", "mortality" and "morbidity", 11 scientific papers were selected, which were published in the period 2013-2022. years. Results: By reviewing the scientific literature, we selected 11 scientific papers, from different parts of the world, which talk about the risks and complications of cesarean delivery. Complications that occur after cesarean delivery are shown in separate studies. The trend of increasing cesarean deliveries in twin pregnancies has led to increased morbidity and mortality of mothers and fetuses, as well as severe maternal morbidity in patients who were in trial delivery after a previous cesarean delivery, and an increased risk of deaths after cesarean delivery compared to to vaginal delivery. Conclusions: Cesarean section is the cause of up to three times higher maternal mortality rate compared to vaginal birth, either directly or by contributing to the existing risks. Common early maternal complications are postpartum hemorrhage, wound infection, and prolonged hospital stay. After a previous cesarean birth, a trial birth should be performed in institutions with 24-hour surgical services and under the constant supervision of qualified experts. Cesarean delivery in twin pregnancies is associated with increased maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including the role of tourism towards China's economic growth; liberalization of Chinese financial markets; and papers Contemporary monetary policy in China: An empirical assesment'.

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]

Attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is vital for Greece's growth in the aftermath of a lengthy economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. Concurrently, the European Union (EU) seeks to safeguard essential bloc-wise security interests that are compromised by third country investors, especially Chinese ones, sprawling across member states - a policy concern substantiated in normative text as recently as 2019 by the enactment of Regulation 2019/452. The latter set the basic pan-European contour in terms of member states' cooperation for the screening of FDI. A year later, the Greek Parliament voted for Law 4864/2021 on Strategic Investments, with a view to incentivizing aspiring high-profile investors. In that regard, the main objective of the present policy paper is to examine how Law 4864/2021 interplays with Regulation 2019/452. The paper will conclude that the Greek liberalized framework will have to align in the future with the European trend of extended screening over FDI, notwithstanding Law 4864/2021 moving into the opposite direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a financially globalized world, managing long-term interest rates through short-term interest rates can be difficult. In this paper, we examine whether net capital inflows contribute to weakening the link between short- and long-term interest rates. We find that more financially open economies or those with more developed financial markets tend to have a greater negative relationship between net capital inflows and short- to long-term interest rate pass-through. We also examine whether macroprudential policies can affect the extent of interest rate pass-through and find that broad-based capital macroprudential tools are effective in retaining control of interest rate pass-through. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the economics jargon on 'rational choice', nowadays the entire world has nothing else to choose except to succumb under the spell of magic words of modern economics, i.e. 'neoliberalism', 'financial liberalization', 'free market' (laissez-faire), and 'globalization'. All of these can be shown to be part of a preconception, called "utility maximization" (cf. Milton Friedmann), i.e. far beyond the 'neutral' idea of natural sciences. In Fritjof Capra's book 'Turning Point' (Bantam Books, 1982) these phenomena are summarized as follows: economics thinking have started by assuming that in economics sciences one can achieve the same generality and universality that physicists enjoy in doing Natural Sciences. In other words, economists try through their work to become 'hard science' rather than recognizing that in economics the subject of their study is human/people which is far from being predictable, either as individual or as society. As an alternative path way and in accordance with Edward Said's "Culture and Imperialism", it has become more obvious that culture is a vehicle of imperialism all over the world through globalization. In this paper, this writer argues that the term of Cultural Advantage which I and Prof. Florentin Smarandache coined back then 2008, can be a postcolonial resistance, i.e. a method which can be used by developing and under-developing countries (especially in Asia) to resist the globalization of culture brought by the First World Countries. In this paper, this writer will discuss why Postcolonialism study matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous papers investigating the structural determinants of budget deficits in panels of developing and/or developed countries either found that there exists a negative relation between financial development and fiscal balance or that the first is not a significant determinant of the later. This paper asks whether financial development is relevant to explain budget deficits within a country specific context. We use data from Cameroon between 1990 and 2021 and the ARDL bound cointegration technique. Our results show positive significant coefficients in the short-run, statistically not significant coefficients in the long-run and an ECT of - 1.48. In Cameroon, financial liberalization and financial development may lead to fiscal discipline so as to reduce budget deficits progressively. We then recommend enhancing financial development in order to improve the country's fiscal balance management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exchange rate volatility is a major concern for local and foreign investors. Its impact on economic growth has been widely documented in literature. In this paper, we model exchange rate volatility using GARCH (1,1) and analyze its impact on economic growth in Ghana, with a particular focus on the post exchange rate liberalization period, 1990-2019. Additionally, this paper assesses the pathways through which exchange rate volatility affects economic growth. By employing the autoregressive distributed lagged (ARDL) model, we find evidence that exchange rate volatility has a negative impact on economic growth in Ghana. In addition, inflation and interest rates are significant transmission pathways through which exchange rate volatility impact growth in post exchange rate liberalized Ghana. The paper thus suggests the implementation of policies aimed at curbing excessive and rapid fluctuations in the exchange rate. In addition, the Central Bank must embark on more inflation-targeting policies aimed at stabilizing the local currency to attract foreign direct investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While prior studies have examined various factors that affect immigration policymaking across Europe, little attention has been paid to the impact of the gender structure within parliament. It has been found that female parliamentarians are more concerned with the interests of women, children, and other marginalized groups than their male colleagues. Consequently, they are more likely to prioritize the rights of immigrants who represent an important social minority in European settings. Leveraging a panel data set spanning 26 European states from 2007 to 2019, the paper shows that an increase in the share of women parliamentarians is indeed associated with the liberalization of immigration policy. The results remain significant when employing historical female enrollment as an instrumental variable. Notably, the growth of the right-wing parties (including mainstream and radical right parties) in parliament would undercut the positive impact of female parliamentarians. The paper sheds some light on European immigration policymaking and female political representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effects of capital account liberalization on female employment and its implications for structural change in developing countries. Using a large industry-level panel of 88 low and low-middle-income countries, we provide evidence that episodes of financial liberalization lead to large declines in female employment in tradable sectors. These declines are driven primarily by structural reallocation effects between sectors, although we also find modest changes in the gender composition of employment within sectors, depending on the sample definition. Based on this evidence, we build a stylized model of a small open economy with tradable and nontradable sectors featuring occupational segregation across genders. We use this framework to study the impact of capital inflows and the female wage penalty on female employment in tradables and the real exchange rate. Our model also implies that when the female burden of non-market home production is sufficiently large, capital inflows will disproportionately hurt female employment relative to male employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the relationship between economic freedom and Islamic rural banks' efficiency in the case of Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach: The study covers 40 Islamic rural banks in 34 Indonesian regions from 2014 to 2020. Tobit regression is utilized to expose the impact of economic freedom on the efficiency of Islamic rural banks, and nonparametric frontier data envelopment analysis is used to acquire banks' technical efficiency. Findings: The findings reveal that overall economic freedom has a strong favorable impact on the efficiency of Islamic rural banks. The study's breakdown components suggest that business freedom, government spending and investment freedom are favorable indicators, whereas government integrity and tax burden are negative indicators, and all indicators agree with previous studies. Practical implications: This research can serve as a guideline for Islamic rural bank management in terms of maintaining financial efficiency. The government should think about the ramifications of financial sector liberalization and reforms, according to these findings. When financial intermediaries operate in a less constrained environment, they are more likely to pursue competitive practices that increase their operating rate and other efficiency metrics. Finally, academics might utilize this information to investigate the economic flexibility of Islamic rural banks. Originality/value: The novelty of this study is in using data envelopment analysis and Tobit regression to identify economic freedom and Islamic rural banks' efficiency. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the study of the role of economic freedom in Islamic rural bank's efficiency is limited, particularly in the context of Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impacts of trade openness on the allocation of human capital between public sector and private sector. Using a matched dataset of the 1% survey of China's population in 2005 and other city-level data, we find that individuals who reside in cities with higher degrees of trade openness are less likely to work in public sector, and this effect increases with educational attainment. We then employ a difference-in-differences model and a triple differences model based on the trade liberalization of China to alleviate endogeneity concerns, and finally come to a same conclusion. Further analysis reveals that trade openness triggers human capital reallocation by ameliorating business environment and raising the returns on human capital that is allocated to private sector [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:Global Financial liberalizationhas increased the integration of the stock market worldwide. The conditional volatility of the financial market is an important factor responsible for the stock market return and reaping the benefits of diversification for investors. The purpose of the paper is to estimates the interdependence of volatility of stock indices of countries like India, China, USA, and Japan. Design/Methodology:GARCH model has been used to find the co-movement and volatility transmission among the stock markets. Daily closing prices of NIFTY (India), SENSEX (India), NIKKEI (Japan), NASDAQ (U.S.) and, SHANGHAI (China) over the period from January 2008 to December 2019S has beenusedinthestudy. Findings: The result indicates that ARCH and GARCH effect is significant among Nifty, SENSEX and NASDAQ but not significant for SHANGHAI and NIKKEI stock indices. Research Implication:The volatility interactions between Nifty and NASDAQ are more prominent as compared to other stock indices considered. The US market act as an leading indicator for the Indian stock market. Practical Implication: The research can aid the investors in forming a diversification strategy. The comovement of stock indices can aid in developing an optimum portfolio that maximizes return and reduces risk. The policymakers can also benefit from the study in establishing a lead-lag relationship of the transmission among stock indices. Investors and researcher also have a keen interest to study the interdependence of the financial market are suggested to study the movements of NASDAQ before making investment decision for Nifty. Originality / Value: The study adds to the body of literatureby exploring the financial integration among various indices. The research also discusses lead-lag relationship of selected stock market specifically post subprime crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature often portrays emerging market economies as helpless victims of international financialisation. Based on evidence from central banks, international organisations and finance associations, this paper shows how in South Korea financial liberalisation heavily depended on the support of domestic interest groups. After the 1998 Asian financial crisis, Korean policy-makers adopted a pragmatic approach allowing a degree of financialisation while reviving state-led investment strategies. The financial sector expanded in the realm of consumer credit and real estate but alongside this, public financial institutions revived their influence and became an ally to the government in promoting innovation through their active engagement in venture capital. The strategy also pushed back on foreign banks operating in Korea. With its approach, the Korean government successfully prevented any financial instability in the country after the 1997 Asian financial crisis and promoted state-led investment showing that emerging market economies can take control of financialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the understanding of subordinate financialisation in emerging and developing economies by setting out a novel core–periphery framework that elucidates the place of Latin America in the global architecture of finance. This framework builds on the centre–periphery financial model of uneven regional credit and economic growth, originally proposed by Victoria Chick and Sheila Dow in 1988. In the era of deregulated financial flows and market-based credit, the core–periphery relationship has become a three-level hierarchical system, in which Latin American nations occupy a subordinate place. The key drivers of this structural shift within these nations have been the liberalisation of cross-border financial flows and investment, the deregulation of banking and the adoption of private pension systems. These drivers' adoption can be traced to both push and pull factors: specifically, recurrent financial crises requiring external intervention (especially by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)), and the possibility of engaging with the financial instruments and megabanks driving the globalisation of finance. Participating in this hierarchical system has required importing elements of the financial architecture that evolved in the 1980s in advanced economies and has also arguably deepened this region's financial dependency and vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between financial development and economic growth has become a hot topic in recent years and for China, which is undergoing financial liberalisation and policy reform, the efficiency of the use of digital finance and the deepening of the balance between quality and quantity in financial development are particularly important for economic growth. This paper investigates the utility of digital finance and financial development on total factor productivity in China using interprovincial panel data decomposing financial development into financial scale and financial efficiency; an interprovincial panel data model is used to explore the utility of digital finance on total factor productivity. This involves the collection and preprocessing of financial data, including feature engineering, and the development of an optimised predictive model. We preprocess the original dataset to remove anomalous information and improve data quality. This work uses feature engineering to select relevant features for fitting and training the model. In this process, the random forest algorithm is used to effectively avoid overfitting problems and to facilitate the dimensionality reduction of the relevant features. In determining the model to be used, the random forest regression model was chosen for training. The empirical results show that digital finance has contributed to productivity growth but is not efficiently utilised; China should give high priority to improving financial efficiency while promoting financial expansion; rapid expansion of finance without a focus on financial efficiency will not be conducive to productivity growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional wisdom highlights civil society as an integral component of a democratic society. Due to the dominance of the state in all aspects of life, civil society was largely absent in Uzbekistan until the change of government in 2016. The new President Mirziyoyev's liberalization policy towards media gave birth to a strong group of opinion formers visible on social media platforms, otherwise known as "bloggers". This paper seeks to identify how Mirziyoyev's liberalization policy affects Uzbekistan's path to consolidate its democracy. It argues that the recent political liberalization showed early signs of the emergence of civil society groups. To support this argument, the paper uses the case of two unrelated incidents: large scale demolition of people's properties by the khokimiyat in Urganch, and forced labor of public servants in the Bukhara region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, multinational corporations (MNC) have increasingly penetrated bottom of the pyramid (BOP) markets due to globalization and market liberalization. To gain legitimacy within these markets, MNCs have employed corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. This paper focuses on how BOP consumers perceive the CSR strategies of advanced country MNCs (AMNCs). Specifically, this study examines how BOP consumers' admiration of economically developed countries (AEDC) influence CSR strategy success in BOP markets. In doing so, this paper contributes to the literature on BOP strategies and BOP consumer psychology. With a sample of consumers from Madagascar, the results provide evidence that AEDC is a relevant construct that firms from developed countries should consider when implementing consumer-oriented strategies in BOP markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: This paper extends the early papers by Brander (1981) and Brander and Krugman (1983) who used a simple partial equilibrium Cournot duopoly to a full general equilibrium setting. The explanations of intra-industry trade can be based either on oligopolistic reciprocal dumping idea (Brander, 1981) or product differentiation (Dixit and Norman, 1980; Krugman, 1979, 1980, 1981; Lancaster, 1980; Helpman, 1981). In this paper we combine both explanations in a unified general equilibrium model. Purpose of the article: We develop a two-sector, one-factor general equilibrium model, in which the first sector produces a differentiated good under monopolistic competition and the second sector produces a homogenous good under Cournot oligopolistic competition. In this paper, we study how competition between domestic and foreign firms resulting from trade liberalization affects intra-industry trade in both sectors. Methods: The paper develops a two-sector model based on several assumptions. Consumers have a two-tier utility function of the Cobb-Douglas-Spence-Dixit-Stiglitz form. Firms operate in two sectors and produce goods under increasing returns to scale resulting from the existence of fixed costs. One sector produces homogenous good under Cournot competition, and the second one produces a differentiated product in under Chamberlinian monopolistic competition. Free entry is assumed in both sectors. Labor is assumed to be the only factor of production with perfect mobility and full employment. Findings & Value added: In contrast to previous papers, our study is based on a full general equilibrium Cournot oligopoly framework with many firms. Moreover, we endogenize the number of firms and study the resulting trading equilibria. Therefore, this paper can be regarded as the extension and unification of the early papers by Brander (1981), Brander and Krugman (1983) and Krugman (1979, 1980). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalisation gives the opportunity to contractors from a particular country to venture into various countries around the globe as the construction market is unlimitedly open. Due to this globalisation, the government has signed free trade agreements (FTA) as the result of the liberalisation process. Globalisation and liberalisation do not only provide opportunities and benefits to the local construction market, but also give challenges to local contractors in terms of competition with other local and foreign contractors. Yet, a question arises whether the local contractors in particular are aware with the competitive challenges they are facing against the foreign contractors or even amongst the local contractors themselves. This is because there are limited studies conducted which seek to identify the current levels of awareness on competitiveness among local contractors within the Malaysian construction industry. Hence, this paper emerges with the objectives of (1) identifying the current level of awareness of local contractors on competitiveness and (2) investigating the most important attributes of awareness of local contractors in the Malaysian construction industry. Questionnaire surveys were conducted on local Malaysian contractors involving 61 organisations from 112 venturing into overseas market. Data were analysed via Rasch analysis consisting of five method analysis which are the reliability and validity analysis, organisation misfit analysis, unidimensionality analysis, item misfit analysis and item measure order analysis. Findings from this paper reveal that most of the contractors have a moderate level of awareness on the competitiveness in the Malaysian construction industry. The findings of this study have been concluded as the local contractors acknowledge their competitors' strength and weaknesses when bidding for new projects and also aim to improve their competitiveness in competing with other local contractors locally. Recognition of this paper on the awareness of the importance of competitiveness by various local contractors in the Malaysian construction industry is in line with the Construction Industry Transformation Plan (CITP) 2016-2020 in addressing the Internationalisation Thrust with the aim to increase competitiveness of the domestic market, especially with the presence of foreign players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the short and long-run relationships between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Trade Openness and GDP in China, India and Mexico from 1980 to 2011. Based on the properties of individual time series data, the paper estimates the VAR or VECM of the three variables to determine short and long-run causal relationships. The results confirm the existence of long-run causal relationships between the three variables for China and Mexico. The results also point to sharp differences in short-run causal relationships in the three countries and several plausible explanations consistent with the findings are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the extent of transmission of volatility shocks in the equity and foreign exchange markets among BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries to infer the degree of risk sharing and the possibility of a beneficial financial integration among its member countries. To this end, the paper makes use of the spillover index methodology suggested by Diebold and Yilmaz (2012). Nonetheless, the paper extends this methodology by incorporating ex ante volatility measures that account for long memory in equity and foreign exchange markets. The paper finds asymmetric influences among BRICS countries in relation to the cross transmission of risks. The finding of the paper implies the possibility of unequal benefit that could result from a possible capital market liberalization between the BRICS countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of fiscal and monetary policies on the real sector under globalization by using the dynamic panel System-Generalized Method of Moments estimator technique with a sample of 79 countries during the 1998–2018 period. The paper primarily aimed to evaluate the roles of fiscal and monetary policies on the real sector by considering aspects of globalization. The results demonstrate that globalization has significantly distorted the role of expansionary fiscal policy on the real sector. Further, the role of monetary policy on the real sector has remained reliable under globalization in developing countries but not in developed countries. Moreover, the effects of economic globalization through trade and financial liberalization on the reliability of fiscal and monetary policies were also investigated. In accordance with the effects of globalization, trade and financial liberalization were found to distort the role of fiscal policy on the real sector; however, under trade liberalization, monetary policy was more effective for the industrial and service sectors than fiscal policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The finding of Feldstein and Horioka (1980) that domestic saving and domestic investment are highly correlated across countries despite the rapid globalization and liberalization of financial markets in recent decades has been regarded as a Puzzle or Paradox. However, in this paper, we show that countries as a whole may not be able to transfer their capital abroad and that the Feldstein–Horioka Finding of domestic saving and domestic investment being highly correlated across countries may arise even if there are no frictions in financial markets and even if individual investors can freely transfer their capital abroad if there are frictions in goods markets such as transport costs, tariffs, nontariff barriers, the cost of regulatory compliance, etc. In fact, there is evidence that frictions in goods markets are a more serious impediment to countries as a whole being able to transfer their capital abroad than frictions in financial markets, especially in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by Rajan's study and existing economic reform theories (especially the lobby theory), we highlight income inequality as a driver of financial liberalisations. However, no evidence yet supports this idea. To verify this liberalisation‐induced‐by‐inequality hypothesis, the nexus of income inequality and financial liberalisations is formalised and empirically investigated in this paper. We utilise an ordered logit model with two‐way fixed effects and panel data from 91 countries to conduct the analyses. The baseline empirical results indicate that income inequality is a positive and significant determinant of financial liberalisations in aggregate and three component indicators. The results for three component indicators remain stable after a series of robustness checks, including mitigating the potential endogeneity via IV‐2SLS, Lewbel instrumental variable technique and difference within group, assessing the bias from the unobservable variables, considering the persistent and learning effects of liberalisations and the interaction effects, alternating the measures of income inequality, reducing business cycle, and using financial reforms rather financial liberalisation as independent variable. The results for aggregate liberalisations are slightly unstable in models with persistent and learning effects. Thus, liberalisation‐induced‐by‐inequality hypothesis is generally confirmed. In addition, the impacts of income inequality on financial liberalisations are widely heterogeneous across countries, the rate of change in income inequality and wealth inequality could also predict the occurrence of financial liberalisations, and the evidence that income inequality makes the poor easier access credits (i.e., Rajan's hypothesis) is found. Finally, the role is investigated of financial liberalisations in shaping banking stability, and we find that financial liberalisations can enhance growth and lower financial risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three decades before the Great Recession (the 2008 financial and economic crisis) were marked by the continuous growth of current account imbalances and income inequality. This period of high globalization is accompanied by financial liberalization and an increase in trade openness. The empirical investigations of the causes of global imbalances show that growing income inequalities are worsening the current account. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, new EU member states experienced an increase in trade openness accompanied by current account deficits and financial liberalization, but also an increase in income inequality. The Great Recession led to a decrease in imports in these countries and an improvement in the current account. The goal of our research is primarily to examine the relationship between income inequality, current account, and economic openness in the new EU member states. We show that rising income inequality linked with financial liberalization is connected with the deterioration of the current account in new EU member states. Financial liberalization relates to an increase in household domestic debt, contributing to a deterioration of the current account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]