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Highlights • In this study, the PCMs/W-VO 2 intelligent temperature-control coatings and coated packaging paper were prepared. • The packaging paper can combine intelligent phase change and heat reflection to achieve temperature-control function. • The packaging paper has excellent thermal-insulation temperature-control, hydrophobicity and physical properties. • The PCMs/W-VO 2 microcapsules can be used for the protection of chemicals, precision instruments, and other items. Abstract Because of their insufficient temperature-control and waterproof property, traditional thermal-insulation materials cannot accurately control the temperature range and cannot be used for the protection of chemicals, precision instruments, and other items. In this study, waterborne acrylic resin was used as the main film former, and tungsten-doped vanadium dioxide microcapsules (PCMs/W-VO 2) were used as the filler. The PCMs/W-VO 2 intelligent temperature-control waterborne coating was prepared by supplementing with a flatting agent, organosilicon waterproofing agent, and other agents. The PCMs/W-VO 2 intelligent temperature-control packaging paper was made by applying a waterborne coating on an ivory board. The morphology, structure, and phase-change properties of the samples were analyzed using SEM, FTIR, DSC, XRD, EDS and other techniques. And the thermal-insulation temperature difference, contact angle (CA), and mechanical properties were also tested. The results show that the prepared packaging paper had a phase-change temperature at 45 °C, the infrared light reflectance increased by 32%, and the thermal-insulation temperature difference reached 10.7 °C, showing excellent thermal-insulation temperature-control property. The XRD and EDS show that the surface of intelligent temperature-control packaging paper contains PCMs/W-VO 2 microcapsules and organosilicon waterproofing agent. The SEM images show that the microcapsules were evenly distributed on the paper surface. CA analysis shows that the contact angle increased significantly, indicating that the paper sheet had good hydrophobicity. The physical properties of the paper sheet were also improved, and considering the economic factors of intelligent temperature-control coatings, the optimum tensile index, tearing index, burst index and folding index were 6.84 kN/m, 22.69 mN·m2/g, 3.60 kPa·m2 g−1 and 188 times (Resolation: 14.7 N), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Dentification of the water intensive industry—pulp and paper industry (PPI) at the firm level. • The partial static equilibrium model was applied to explore the economic effects. • Environmental regulation shows positive impacts on multiple indicators. Whether environmental regulation has negative impact on the economic performances of manufacturers in the real world cannot be concluded without reliable policy evaluations. The regional policy experimentation on raising the wastewater discharge standard in the pulp and paper industry in Shandong Province, China in the early 2000′s has been considered a success and has provided lessons for the crafting and strengthening of water pollution regulation for the whole country at a later stage. There has been, however, long lack of rigorous study that comprehensively evaluates the environmental and economic consequences of the policy experiment. The question about whether cleaner water came at a substantial economic cost remained unanswered. This may hinder cumulative policy learning and development. In this article, we adopt plant-level economic and environmental statistics and a difference-in-differences design to examine the economic effect of the Shandong wastewater policy in the 2000′s. Our results revealed that on average the environmental regulation enhanced the economic performances of pulp and paper plants. The regulation had positive effects on total output, total assets, and total profit, and it did not cause a statistically significant decline in employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the Nordic paper industry the years 2001–2007 were a culmination point as to paper production and deliveries. The study uses plant level empirical time series data from these years from one large integrated Finnish paper mill. The research data covers complete customer data and cost components, and a major supplier for European paper markets. The case company worked actively with a customer base and concentrated on the most profitable markets. However, some unprofitable deliveries, which still covered the variable and fixed costs, also supported the operation of the mill and the continuing of the 24/7 shift. The results indicate that even with matured and bulky products like paper, it is still possible to operate on the basis of separated pricing, some bargaining power, and customized focus. In this respect, the markets do not seem to follow the economic theory expectation entirely, that is, for such a mature and bulky product market price differentiation should not be possible. However, to utilize this, it requires up-to-date information system concerning internal cost accounting, together with an emphasis on the management to have an active role with the customer base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper evaluates system aspects of biorefineries based on biomass gasification integrated with pulp and paper production. As a case the Billerud Karlsborg mill is used. Two biomass gasification concepts are considered: BIGDME (biomass integrated gasification dimethyl ether production) and BIGCC (biomass integrated gasification combined cycle). The systems analysis is made with respect to economic performance, global CO2 emissions and primary energy use. As reference cases, BIGDME and BIGCC integrated with district heating are considered. Biomass gasification is shown to be potentially profitable for the mill. The results are highly dependent on assumed energy market parameters, particularly policy support. With strong policies promoting biofuels or renewable electricity, the calculated opportunity to invest in a gasification-based biorefinery exceeds investment cost estimates from the literature. When integrated with district heating the BIGDME case performs better than the BIGCC case, which shows high sensitivity to heat price and annual operating time. The BIGCC cases show potential to contribute to decreased global CO2 emissions and energy use, which the BIGDME cases do not, mainly due to high biomass demand. As biomass is a limited resource, increased biomass use due to investments in gasification plants will lead to increased use of fossil fuels elsewhere in the system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Qualitative and quantitative methods are applied to assess the impact of CIFOR’s political economy research on the Indonesian pulp and paper sector. Key-informant interviews triangulated by trend-series tests suggest important influence through advocacy intermediaries and counterfactuals of slower adoption of improvements. Effects on conservation set-asides, overcapacity, and plantation establishment are estimated to avert loss of 76,000–212,000hectares of natural forest (135,000 under main assumptions). Application of an economic-surplus framework for environmental benefits of forest conservation and avoided implicit wood subsidies finds benefits of US$19 to US$583 million (US$133 million main estimate), compared with US$500,000 of direct research costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Optimal Fibre Flow Model, a combined optimization and simulationmodel, calculates the optimal combination of energy recovery and recycling of waste paper for paper and board production. In addition, the environmental impact is estimated by using an environment load unit-index (ELU-index). The ELU-index assigns an environmental load valueto emissions and to the use of non-renewable resources such as oil and coal. Given a 'forced' utilization rate for the Scandinavian forest industry, optimization of marginal revenue shows environmental impact to be at a minimum with a utilization rate of about 30% in Scandinavia and 73% (an assumed upper limit) for the rest of Europe. If instead environmental impact is minimized, the utilization rate for Scandinavia is almost the same, while the utilization rate for the rest ofEurope is 53% (a lower assumed level). Given a fixed use of virgin fibres for the rest of Western Europe, a comparison of the environmental load at different 'forced' utilization rates for the Scandinavian forest industry shows no significant differences between the economicand environmental optimizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current approaches to study the coupling mechanism between economy and environment seem to fall into self-circulation, failed to reveal "economy–environment interdependence". In this context, an exogenous variable is introduced into these models for better understanding the relationship. Benzo[a]pyrene (Bap) environment inventories in different cities in China were estimated by fugacity model based on Bap concentration data collected from previous studies. An extended model, stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT), generated from original IPAT (a model that expresses the idea that environmental impact (I) is the product of three factors: population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T)) was used to study the relationship between Bap environment inventory and anthropogenic factors including population, vehicle amount, affluence and energy consumption. A ridge regression has been applied to optimize the model parameters. Overall, there exist good relationships between Bap inventories and economic factors. Specifically, population and affluence are the most significant factors that influence Bap inventory. Rise of the scale of population and vehicle amount increases the Bap inventory, as growth of GDP per capita and the efficiency of energy utilization have inhibitory effect on Bap inventory. Apparently, the influences of anthropogenic factors on Bap inventory are different between north and south China. Bap inventory in north China is more sensitive to the change of population and energy consumption, while is highly correlated to GDP per capita in south China. Further, according to social-economic development prediction, with assist of the result from STIRPAT model, we find out that Bap inventory drop 31% from 2001 to 2020 in China. Our estimates are comparable with the published data and confirmed that Bap can be regarded as a chemical indicator of social-economic development in China. Image 1 • An extended STIRPAT model derived from original IPAT was developed. • Population and affluence are the key factors that influence Bap inventory. • Advance of affluence and technology level curbs Bap environmental exposure. • We predict Bap environmental inventory drop 31% from 2001 to 2020 in China. • Bap can be used as an indicator of social-economic development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the basic issues involved in identifying and providing solutions to transport problems. The paper argues that solutions focusing solely on investment in capacity or second-best solutions to pricing such as road pricing and free public transport ignore the essential economic relationships involved in transport. The paper provides a critique of investment and pricing and argues for a more integrated approach in which optimal pricing is a core consideration in any investment decisions. This is seen as particularly important in a post Covid-19 world where many of the fundamental drivers of transport demand have changed, and public authorities face significant constraints on budgets whilst new pressures such as commitments to net zero in the face of global warming threats add additional pressures. The paper offers some thoughts on the principles involved in establishing a more suitable structure for dealing with the transport problem. • Identifies the core elements of the transport problem as pricing and investment. • Reviews problems in implementing first-best pricing. • Critiques investment decisions in the light of wider economic impacts. • Considers changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and the move to net-zero. • Offers a set of principles for reforming transport policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last-mile delivery challenges and complexity are increasing simultaneously with the e-commerce growth, the e-commerce growth constitutes a threat to urban transport, especially for big cities and developing countries. This paper examines the economic impact of crowd-shipping based on public transport collaborated with the automated parcel locker and the impact of traditional delivery, as two different methods of last-mile delivery under the same circumstances. This paper aims to assess crowd-shipping as an alternative solution for last-mile delivery compared to traditional delivery. Data has been simulated based on Cairo reality, one of the largest cities in the world. The mathematical models were formulated for the problem, where the first model objective function minimizes the costs of vehicle possession and vehicle kilometers traveled, while the second model objective function minimizes the costs of establishing lockers, vehicle possession, and vehicle kilometers traveled. A genetic algorithm has been used due to the complexity of the problem. The results show that the economic impact of the crowd-shipping delivery system is better than the traditional delivery system under the conditions of large-sized and medium-sized demand, while the economic impact of traditional delivery is better than the crowd-shipping delivery system under the conditions of small-sized demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Examine industrial trends in six Central American economies, and find that the industrial employment share has declined by an average of 2.5 percentage points over the past two decades. • Decline not due to a trade-driven deindustrialization but rather due to an increase in barriers that restrict the efficient flow of labor across sectors. • Policy interventions targeting these barriers could potentially lead to significant industrial expansion, but the economic impact may be marginal, with aggregate output projected to increase by 3.2 percent or less. • Boosting productivity could be a more prudent growth strategy. This paper analyses industrial trends in six Central American economies by assembling and harmonizing sectoral data from multiple sources. Industrial employment share has declined by an average of 2.5 percentage points over the past two decades. Contrary to a trade-driven deindustrialization hypothesis, which suggests that cheaper imports have replaced domestic production of industrial goods, the findings indicate that this decline is primarily driven by an increase in barriers that restrict the efficient flow of labor across sectors. The paper argues that policy interventions that target these barriers could potentially lead to significant industrial expansion. However, the economic impact of such policies may be marginal, with aggregate output projected to increase by 3.2 percent or less upon eliminating these barriers. Moreover, this approach also carries risks, as it may introduce new distortions that could further hinder economic efficiency. Perhaps a more prudent growth strategy will be to concentrate on boosting productivity, which though challenging, directly affects the output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new index is proposed to quantify the economic impact of COVID-19 on countries. • The index shows an extreme heterogeneity in the economic impact of COVID-19. • The factors behind this heterogeneity are explored using regression techniques. • The analysis includes pandemic-specific factors and structural factors. • Results stress the importance of industrial development for resilience. The socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 has been widely uneven across regions and countries, reflecting underlying differences in their resilience against shocks. This paper tries to explain this heterogeneity by identifying factors of resilience and vulnerability. To fully capture the impact of the crisis on economic activity, we propose a novel index of GDP loss that measures both the initial shock and recovery rate at the country level. With a dataset of 125 countries, we implement cross-sectional regression techniques to estimate the impact of pandemic-specific and structural factors on the index. The focus of the analysis is placed on a dimension that was not sufficiently explored yet in the specialized literature: the role of industrial capabilities. Results show that industrial capabilities were crucial in supporting countries' ability to absorb and resist the global shock. The paper thus provides new empirical evidence on the role played by manufacturing industries in strengthening resilience to face unexpected events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a concise yet informative overview on future operations in near-Earth space including in-orbit servicing, assembly, manufacturing, and the use of space tugs, in the frame of the space traffic management context. After providing a general definition of these activities, the significant impact that they will have in the space domain from an economic perspective is highlighted. Past achievements in terms of orbital demonstrations are then recalled, leading to the identification of the most critical technological challenges which need to be addressed to improve reliability, frequency, and robustness of servicing operations. A summary of the most critical next steps and recommendations is finally provided. • A general definition and classification of In-Orbit Servicing activities is provided. • The economic and environmental impact of IOS activities is discussed. • Past achievements are reviewed and critical technical challenges are identified. • A summary of the most critical next steps and recommendations is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of zooarchaeological data for the principal livestock (i.e., cattle, sheep, goats and pigs) reveals regional and cultural variability in how animals were manipulated, marketed, bred, and utilized over the course of antiquity. This paper focuses upon those developments, as reconstructed through zooarchaeological frequency and morphometric data for the period from c. 1000 BCE to c. 700 CE. Regionally, North Africa encompasses a vast territory, from Egypt, in the East, to Mauretania, in the West. Ecologically, there are variations within each of these zones. Culturally, moreover, these regions witnessed the introduction and influence of different social and economic agents and factors over the timeframe under investigation. This paper examines patterns in these components in a broad synthetic manner, using zooarchaeological data across the entire expanse of Roman North Africa—from Egypt to Mauretania. Focus centers upon the nature and degree of size and shape changes within the principal livestock, modifications that were in part influenced by aspects such as the scale and pattern in trade, dietary appeal for animal products (notably fatty meats), market demands, ecological adaptations, as well as economic and cultural contact among areas. Key similarities and differences in faunal patterns, across time and space within ancient North Africa, and the links these share with changes in animal husbandry schemes are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Part of UN sustainable development goal 9 is upgrading production capabilities. • Increasing economic complexity is a key driver for sustainable economic growth. • Sequential model selection used for robust generalised method of moments estimation. • Chinese FDI evidently shows a positive impact on host countries' economic complexity. • Global policy makers should deepen their relationships with the belt and road. Upgrading the production capabilities in all countries is a target of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 9. Increasing economic complexity, that is, a country's ability to manufacture more sophisticated products and thus moving up the value chain, is a key driver for sustainable economic growth. This paper investigates whether Chinese Belt and Road investments have impacted the economic complexity of host countries — a topic not addressed in the literature to date, using a sequential generalised method of moments model selection approach. The research focuses on the countries whose economic complexities are below that of China. Our empirical results show significant positive effects of Chinese investments on such host countries' economic complexities. The inflows of Chinese investments have thus supported the upgrading of production capabilities in these countries. This is encouraging, especially for the Global South countries, to intensify their interactions with the Belt and Road initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Crowding-out effect of the public sector on private sector economic activity. • Two sources of financing for the government sector are discussed: government bonds and bank loans. • Contrasts state-owned and non-state-owned corporations. • The role of central government regulation. The local government debt risk has attracted government regulators' attention, and its economic consequences have become a new research topic. Based on data from Chinese prefecture-level cities, this paper empirically examines the impact of local government debt on corporate financing from 2006-2018. The results show that government debt financing reduces total corporate debt financing, increases the cost of corporate debt financing, and has a crowding-out effect on corporate debt financing. Local government financing through the financing platform company injects quality projects and reduces the financing constraints of the financing platform to attract credit resources from banks. Insides, the government provides a guarantee for the financing platform company and reduces the bond risk of the financing platform to attract investors to purchase. Severing the link between local governments and financing platform companies can reduce the crowding-out effect to a certain extent. The results of this paper provide evidence for the micro effects of local government fiscal policy, which are informative for further improving the financing capacity of enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• One Polish household wasted 0.56 kg of food per day. • In Polish households, fruit, vegetables, bread are wasted the most during the day. • Household characteristics explain food waste more than individual characteristics. • Single-person households waste more food products and semi-products than other. • On a per capita level Polish households with children waste less food. In Poland, to our best knowledge, none of the scientific publications produced to date have addressed the scale of wasted food in households and the impact of sociodemographic and economic factors on this. This study fills this research gap. The study was carried out in 2019 on a nationwide random-quota sample of 500 households, which are representative of all households. The survey was carried out in the respondents' homes for seven consecutive days. It consisted of an interview conducted by an interviewer (Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews method) and a paper diary completed by the respondents themselves. The aim of the study was to present the volume of wasted food, taking five groups into account,and to examine the impact of the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of the households and the person responsible for preparing meals on food waste. The results show that one person, on average, wasted 62.6 kg of edible food per year (98.2 kg of edible and inedible parts combined). According to the results, the most discarded food products include fruit and vegetables, bread, dairy products, drinks and juices, and cold cuts. Statistical analysis showed that the level of food waste in Polish households is conditioned by characteristics such as household size (persons), the presence and number of children, monthly income, as well as the characteristics of the person responsible for preparing meals, such as age and employment status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most migration studies and theories focus on understanding the initial migration of people from their home country. Less attention has been paid to the factors influencing immigrants' preferences to either permanently settle in the host country, return to their home country or move onwards to another destination. Understanding the characteristics and motives of those who aspire to leave the host country is, however, valuable for both host and home countries to formulate appropriate and effective policies in order to retain their valued immigrants or citizens and foster their successful (re-)integration. This paper provides a comprehensive global analysis of the characteristics and circumstances that shape first-generation immigrants' aspirations to stay, return or migrate onwards, based on individual-level data from the Gallup World Polls across 138 countries worldwide between 2009 and 2016. Our study reveals that immigrants' stated preferences are strongly influenced by demographics, human and spiritual capital, as well as by soft factors, such as social ties and sociocultural integration, while economic factors have a more feeble influence. Changes in circumstances in the home and host countries are also important determinants of locational aspirations. Some interesting exceptions to our results stand out when we differentiate home and host countries by their economic development levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Child pedestrian injuries in Greater London are studied. • A host of exposure measures, built environment and socio-economic factors are considered. • School enrolment was found to be a better proxy exposure measure compared to number of schools. • Social inequities are found to be strongly associated with child pedestrian safety. Introduction: Child pedestrian safety remains a challenge despite the remarkable progress that has been attained in recent years, particularly, in high income jurisdictions such as London. This study sought to identify and quantify the magnitude of the effects of various explanatory variables, from the domains of transport, built and natural environment, socio-demographic and economic factors, on ward level child pedestrian injury frequencies in Greater London. Method: We adopted a multilevel random parameters model to investigate the factors associated with child pedestrian injuries given the hierarchical nature of the data comprising of wards nested within boroughs. Results: We found that crime, the Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) population, school enrollment, and the proportion of the population who walk five times a week had an increasing effect on the number of child pedestrian casualties. Conversely, the proportion of the population with a level 4 qualification and the number of cars per household had a decreasing effect. Conclusions: Our study identified high child pedestrian injury frequency wards and boroughs: Stratford and New Town had the highest expected child pedestrian injury frequencies followed by Selhurst, Westend, and Greenford Broadway. Some inner London boroughs are among the highest injury frequency areas; however, a higher number of high child pedestrian injury boroughs are in outer London. Practical Applications: The paper provides recommendations for policy makers for targeted child pedestrian safety improvement interventions and prioritization to optimize the utilization of often constrained resources. The study also highlights the importance of considering social inequities in policies that aim at improving child traffic safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the threshold effect of debt on economic growth in Nigeria, with a view to investigating debt sustainability levels in the country. The analysis included yearly data from 1981 to 2021. To achieve its objectives, the study used two-regime threshold ARDL regression approaches. Findings reveal that the optimal thresholds for total debt as a ratio of GDP (TDB/GDP), GNI (TDB/GNI), total revenue (TDB/REV), and exports of goods and services (TDB/EXP) are 46.1%, 54.5%, 355.3%, and 24.9%, respectively. Findings also indicate that debt ratios below the threshold levels have a significant positive impact on economic growth. This is true for all the debt ratios, except debt-to-export ratio. However, debt ratios above the threshold levels have a negative and significant effect on Nigeria's economic growth. Furthermore, findings reveal that only the level of domestic debt is sustainable over the long and short run, whereas external debt and total debt are only sustainable over the long run. When expressed as ratios of GDP and GNI, evidence indicates that Nigeria's debt is not sustainable by all the five measures of debt adopted in the study, both in the short run and in the long run while total debt to revenue ratio is only sustainable only in the long run. The paper adequately explores the implications of these findings and offers relevant policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature on inland ports has rarely discussed the regional economic dimension of inland port development. The economic impact of inland ports on host cities and regions is unclear. This paper accordingly seeks to fill this gap by analyzing the economic impact of the Yangtze River inland ports on regional development. To this end, this paper analyses the impact of inland port activities on regional development for a sample of 22 inland ports located in the Yangtze River Basin, observed over the period 2000–2018. The paper uses a spatial econometric model to estimate the direct and spillover effects associated with inland port activities. The results indicate that while Yangtze River inland ports induce a non-negligible economic impact on local economic development, positive and larger spatial spillover effects occur outside the host city where the inland port is located. This paper provides new evidence for the economic impact of inland ports on regional development and provides the basis for the policy of investing in the Yangtze River inland ports. • The spatial spillover effect of Yangtze River inland ports on regional economic development is investigated. • Inland ports tend to promote the economic development of the cities where they are located. • Also inland ports have a large positive indirect (spillover) effect on the economic development of neighboring cities. • The spillover effect on the neighboring cities is far greater than the direct effect on its local cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Environmental and economic impacts of e-waste recycling are reviewed. • Non-LCA studies have focused relatively less on the potential to change climate. • Economic impact studies rarely consider social costs. • Barriers from social, technological, and behavioral perspectives are discussed. • Solutions are proposed to encourage proper environmental and economic impact analysis. The surge in information and communication technology devices, along with electronic vehicles, has led to an undesirable output: a considerable amount of electronic waste (e-waste). E-waste poses environmental risks yet also contains recoverable valuable materials, including precious metals and rare earth elements. As such, the recycling of e-waste offers both environmental and economic benefits. Nevertheless, a substantial portion of e-waste remains unprocessed through official recycling channels, even in regions with stringent regulations like the European Union, where approximately 75% of e-waste is not properly managed. Moreover, the economic feasibility of recycling e-waste remains uncertain, necessitating an ongoing assessment to devise effective strategies. While numerous reviews have explored the environmental impacts of e-waste, comprehensive studies examining the economic implications are limited. This paper presents a critical and systematic review of 159 studies that evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of e-waste recycling. A structured search technique was employed, utilizing 216 keyword combinations to identify relevant studies. Research on environmental impacts has shown a lack of methodological diversity. In particular, non-LCA studies show a lack of focus on energy consumption and the potential for climate change. In addition, a significant number of environmental impact studies overlook economic impacts. Within economic analyses, it has been observed that many studies do not consider costs, and social costs are rarely considered. The review discusses barriers to e-waste recycling from social, technological, and behavioral perspectives. Furthermore, the paper discusses policy measures, financial incentives, and technical advancements to address these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Urban energy management by optimization through modified bat algorithm (MBA). • Stochastic framework using unscented transform (UT). • Blockchain integration for data security. This paper introduces an innovative approach to optimizing the allocation of local workforce and resources in the renewable energy sector through the application of the Modified Bat Algorithm (MBA). By leveraging MBA, the study achieves enhanced precision in decision-making, maximizing the positive impact of urban energy transition on local employment while respecting various constraints. To address the inherent uncertainties associated with the energy transition process, the paper employs a stochastic framework grounded in the Unscented Transform (UT). By incorporating UT, the study captures and analyzes the probabilistic nature of factors such as economic growth, energy production, and environmental impact. This framework provides a robust foundation for decision-making under uncertainty, ensuring the reliability of the proposed assessment model. Recognizing the critical importance of data integrity and security in the assessment of local economic and employment effects, this paper integrates blockchain technology to enhance the trustworthiness of the data transaction process. The use of blockchain ensures transparency, immutability, and security of data, thereby safeguarding the integrity of the results and fostering trust in the assessment outcomes. [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]

Much recent work on transport and the economy has focused on 'Wider Economic Impacts' (WEIs) of infrastructure investment, the impacts other than time savings benefiting those actually using the transport network. Differential effects of transportation infrastructure by mode such as urban rail and road are relatively well known. However, impacts of other mode such as walking are scarce. This paper estimates wider economic impacts related to productivity from full rail, road and walking transport networks in Hong Kong in 2016. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that makes use of complex network science indicators with spatial cognition-weighted accessibility combining full urban rail network, road network, and pedestrian network in capturing wider economic impacts. We use an instrumental variable approach to identify the causal effect of transport network centralities on productivity measured by gross value added. Our identification strategy largely relies on the exogenous variations from historical planned and existing transport networks. A first specification confirms the significance of urban rail and road. Specification with pedestrian network shows that pedestrian and rail networks can statistically significantly increase productivity in Hong Kong while roads play a less significant but still meaningful role. Our findings are robust to a variety of sensitivity tests such as using night-time light intensity and residential wage as alternative measures for productivity. The research suggests a key planning policy implication: place-based policies in a dense city require improvement in pedestrian and rail network structure that impacts local and global transport accessibility. [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]

The purpose of this study was to estimate the impacts of rapid and accurate tracing of cattle movements during a Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in the United States (US). To simulate introduction and spread of FMD we utilized InterSpread Plus, a spatially explicit disease transmission model, and a national livestock population file. The simulations began in one of four regions of the US via beef or dairy cattle as the index infected premises (IP). The first IP was detected 8, 14, or 21 days after introduction. The tracing levels were defined by the probability of a successful trace and the time to trace completion. We evaluated three tracing performance levels, a baseline that represents a mix of paper and electronic interstate shipment records, an estimated partial implementation of electronic identification (EID) tracing, and an estimated full implementation of EID tracing. To evaluate the potential to decrease the size of control areas and surveillance zones with full EID use, we compared the standard size for each to a reduced geographical area for each. The total number of IPs in an outbreak varied with the location of the index farms. Within index farm locations and across tracing performance levels, early detection (day 8) resulted in fewer IPs and a shorter duration of the outbreak. The impact of improving tracing was most evident within introduction region when detection was delayed (day 14 or 21). Full EID use decreased the 95th percentile but had a smaller impact on the median number of IPs. Improved tracing also decreased the number of farms impacted by control efforts in control areas (0–10 km) and surveillance zones (10–20 km) by decreasing outbreak size (total IPs). Decreasing the control area (0–7 km) and surveillance zone (7–14 km) sizes while using full EID tracing further decreased the number of farms under surveillance but increased the number of IPs slightly. Consistent with previous results, this supports the potential value of early detection and improved traceability to control FMD outbreaks. Further development of the EID system in the US is necessary to achieve the modeled results. Further research into the economic impacts of enhanced tracing and decreased zone sizes are needed to determine the full impact of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the EU's strategy for recovering from the economic and social consequences of the pandemic, of which the NextGenerationEU temporary stimulus package forms part. That strategy is compared to the diametrically opposite approach taken by EU institutions in the crisis of 2008. The most significant elements and economic policy references adopted in the two cases are identified. The paradigm shift in economic policy is evident, and the errors that led to a double dip in European economies in the handling of the earlier crisis have been avoided. In spite of the better discretionary response, it is argued that there is a need for a permanent, amply endowed, well-designed European stabilisation mechanism free from complexes in regard to the mutualisation of debt, so as to simplify procedures and reduce reaction times in the face of further crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usefulness of transportation project evaluation depends on the completeness of its benefit measures. Since transportation networks are intrinsically spatial, transportation improvement projects have spatial access and location characteristics that can lead to a variety of non-user economic benefits. Recent research has enabled us to better understand how spatial context and spatial heterogeneity play further roles in generating efficiency gains for non-users, in the form of productivity, income, and cost savings for both private and public sectors of the economy. This paper draws upon that body of research to expand our understanding of the means by which transportation projects can generate economic efficiency gains, and approaches needed to measure them. It covers topics beyond those captured by current definitions of "wider economic benefits," including additional sources of scale economies associated with freight distribution and connectivity, and further public and private sector economic gains enabled by environmental and social inclusion improvement. It points to ways that non-user economic benefits can be more comprehensively defined and better measured by recognizing their spatial scale, context, and threshold effects. It also identifies ways that current benefit measurement methods introduce unintended bias into transportation investment decision-making through omission and mismeasurement. The result is a case for a refresh of thinking about how we classify and recognize non-user economic benefits in transportation evaluation, and how we apply transportation planning and economic models to support their measurement. • Transport decisions biased when non-user benefits are ignored or mis-measured. • Non-user economic benefits depend on spatial access, proximity, or connectivity. • Spatial scale, context, and heterogeneity affect measurement of non-user benefit. • Benefits from freight density, virtual density, effective density, non-user cost. • Rigid travel modeling standards hold back non-user benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of extreme precipitation on Chinese industrial output and its total factor productivity (TFP) using data from the annual survey of industrial firms (ASIF) and daily weather data. The findings demonstrate a significant reduction in industrial firm output as a result of precipitation, with extreme daily precipitation decreasing output by approximately 1.22%. We provide an explanation for this precipitation-industrial output relationship from four perspectives: per capita wages, labor productivity, inventory, and depreciation. The effects of extreme precipitation are more pronounced in high-income and high-precipitation regions, as well as among foreign firms and low-technology firms. Our research suggests that extreme daily precipitation poses a serious obstacle to the development of the manufacturing industry. These results are crucial for understanding the economic impact and concealed costs of climate change, highlighting that extreme precipitation should be recognized as one of the primary sources of damage associated with climate change in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In oil production companies, corrosion is a common issue with various adverse economic and environmental consequences. Active well production fluid always comprises inherently corrosive and highly corrosive substances. There are a variety of treatment techniques to prohibit corrosion, such as chemical treatment, cathodic protection, and paint-based corrosion inhibitors. El Hamra Oil Company produces crude oil from three main locations. The research group noticed several downhole localized corrosion problems in the artificial lift system. This paper presents a case study to quantify the extra operation cost of periodically replacing the entire tubing string, renting the pulling unit, and production deferring. The research quantifies the economic impacts after corrosion inhibitor is injected downhole using the carrier line technique (CLT). The results show that the company saved more than 672 K $ during three years of using downhole chemical treatment; dramatically decreasing the regular corrosion incidents in three active wells. The actual profits are expected to increase exponentially for the following years, meanwhile reducing the environmental impacts to meet Egypt's strategy towards sustainable goals in 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a recursive dynamic general equilibrium model to study the impact of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia. It examines the government's fiscal responses: increased security spending and the reduction of the tourism sector's value-added tax (VAT) rate. It finds that these responses accounted for a significant share of the attacks' total cost. The results also underscore the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing the economic consequences of terrorism. Increased security spending mitigates future risks but does not directly help the affected sector. Direct support to the sector by reducing VAT has an immediate and positive impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is extensive evidence documenting the economic consequences of discrimination patterns between individuals belonging to the same or different group identities. However, many group identities rely on convictions and beliefs that are non-observable, and therefore, might be uncertain. This paper investigates the effects of group identity uncertainty on individual interaction preferences and willingness to coordinate. Results from a laboratory experiment using a weakest-link game with endogenous group formation show that group identity uncertainty and diversity differently affect individual interaction preferences. Interestingly, the negative discrimination against individuals with a different group identity weakens and vanishes faster than the negative discrimination against individuals whose group identity is not observable. Furthermore, most discrimination patterns vanish when interactions entail high and mutual economic incentives for individuals. The findings offer several managerial implications for deterring discrimination and increasing coordination efficiency in teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade witnessed a wide expansion of a fossil fuel divestment movement. Fossil fuel free (FFF) financial products—which are portfolios that exclude companies involved in the production of oil, gas, and coal—have proliferated, initiating a debate on their financial and ecological implications for economic agents. This paper examines whether and the extent to which these financial products are immune to fluctuations in the price of fossil fuels. To do so, we empirically assess the daily effects of changes in oil, gas, and coal prices on returns on fossil fuel free indices provided by S&P. While we find no evidence that the FFF indices underperforms their conventional counterparts on average, the results from our model further show that the returns on FFF portfolios have more exposure to movements in fossil fuel prices than those on mainstream portfolios. The insights from our estimations have important implications for investors and other economic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-innovation refers to developing goods, processes, and services that seek companies' sustainable positioning and permanence in an ever-evolving and demanding market. On the other hand, the cluster approach has proven a successful strategy for companies to accomplish eco-innovation. This paper aims to pinpoint the factors that generate economic effects on the companies of a cluster when they engage in eco-innovation activities. The study was applied to a 40-company cluster in the Colombian metalworking sector, implementing the Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) methodology, which identifies the inherent causal relationships between factors having economic impacts on the cluster's companies. Through the FsQCA analysis, we identified those factors that have significant economic effects, to which companies must give special attention to achieve benefits and reduce operative costs while complying with environmental regulations. Moreover, the necessary and sufficient conditions analysis showed different pathways to achieving such benefits. The factors found to have economic effects are the companies' capacity, market demand, and regulatory policies. Finally, the paper shows that by focusing on the correct factors and actions, the cluster approach fosters the companies' competitiveness and leads them to successfully engage in eco-innovation. Thus, this work provides companies with a roadmap to achieve eco-innovation-related results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid advancement of distributed energy resources (DERs), artificial intelligence, and smart meter technologies, traditional consumers are undergoing a paradigm shift towards 'prosumers'. In this context, peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading emerges as an effective approach to enhance local energy utilization. Nevertheless, the inherent intermittency and forecasting challenges associated with renewable energy resources may magnify uncertainties in the markets, and pose a potential threat to destabilize the markets. To address this challenge, this paper presents a method to assess the economic impacts of forecasting errors and introduces a metric, the bill deviation index. Additionally, the consequences of forecasting errors on market outcomes are examined based on the mathematical model of three different pricing mechanisms. Our findings indicate that forecasting errors can lead to significant financial discrepancies, the magnitude of which is closely related to the pricing mechanisms and their dependency on energy quantity. The paper further underscores the role of variability in clearing price, balancing cost, and the supply–demand relationship in determining the economic fallout of forecasting errors. It concludes by providing insights for managing energy trading in markets marked by high forecasting errors and suggests strategies to mitigate the associated economic risks. • An economic impact assessment method considering pricing calculation principles is proposed. • The influence of forecasting errors on market outcomes is analyzed through three pricing mechanisms. • A P2P energy trading model is developed to evaluate crucial variables under various market conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to examine the exploitation of salt and its economic implications in Baden-Württemberg during the Iron Age as well as some wider perspectives on the subject from other areas of Germany. Salt is an important raw material that can have great economic implications and create long-term networks. The salt springs in the area are exploited using the briquetage method. It allows the production not only of salt but also of salt blocks, calibrated objects. The paper presents data on the production and distribution of salt around Schwäbisch Hall, some hypotheses on commercial competition between production centres. It also includes a more general discussion of the impact of the salt economy in the area. • This paper provides an overview of research of production and distribution of salt in Baden-Württemberg during the Iron Ages. • Spatial analysis approach of salt distribution allows to understand economic dynamics of salt. • Emphasis on the role of lowland settlements in the network of salt economy. • It addresses economic archaeology (trade networks, distribution mechanisms, social embeddedness of economic processes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated Energy Systems (IES) serve as an effective solution to address grid fluctuations. However, mainstream IES still adhere to established supply strategies such as thermal and electrical non-conversion (TENC), heat determined by power (HDP), and power determined by heat (PDH). These strategies overlook the additional flexibility generated by the synergy between electricity and heat, preventing the full realization of their advantages in supporting the grid. This paper proposes a Flexible Scheduling (FS) operational strategy for IES that maximizes the utilization of flexibility resources to meet the demands of heating, cooling, and electricity while maintaining grid stability. The superiority of this strategy is analyzed through an IES multi-objective optimization scheduling model and a comprehensive flexibility margin model. The results of a case study indicate that the FS strategy reduces total costs by 19.9% compared to TENC, 16.6% compared to HDP, and 5.2% compared to PDH. It exhibits the strongest support for the grid, increasing the overall flexibility margin of IES by 40.5% compared to TENC, 12.7% compared to HDP, and 8.2% compared to PDH. The FS-based IES operational strategy proposed in this paper contributes significantly to the flexible and economical operation of IES. • Established a multi-objective optimization scheduling model for integrated energy systems that considers both economic and environmental factors. • Established a model for the flexibility margin of system electricity and heat. • Proposed the system's "flexible scheduling" operating strategy and validated it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wild swings in Bitcoin's valuation keep attracting authorities' and policy-makers interest. Thus at present, many researchers are focus on analyzing and forecasting. The existing studies on Bitcoin price prediction are mainly in two ways: (1) study how economic factors, market and investor sentiment indicators influence Bitcoin price; (2) apply machine learning and artificial neural networks to predict the value of Bitcoin. This paper aims to implement a scenario analysis method to generate various hypothetical events and then determine their effects on the value of Bitcoin price. Scenario analysis is normally used to measure financial risk. In this paper, we propose a method that combines scenario analysis with historical data. We further aim to find the correlations among scenarios and examine the relationship between the significant shocks and Bitcoin prices. Our findings suggest that what-if analysis is a good way to measure the risk exposure of Bitcoin. The method can also be used for worse-scenario analysis to check how Bitcoin performs during crisis periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper assesses international spillovers from a twin demand shock, originating sequentially in two large economies. Using a network-based spillover model, the paper concludes that while the initial shock may be modest, the network effects in shock spillovers can be substantial, comparable, and often exceed the initial shock. Individual countries may amplify, absorb, or block spillovers. To illustrate the model, the paper quantifies the macroeconomic impact of a hypothetical reduction of bilateral trade between the United States and China as a result of mutual trade restriction. • A twin shock to the world economy may originate in two large economies. China-US trade tensions, which led to an increase of the tariff by the United States on its import from China and China's retaliation, is an example of a twin shock. • A network model of trade captures higher round network effects of a twin shock. Such effects can be substantial but have been largely disregarded. • Individual countries may amplify, absorb, or block twin shock spillovers. A twin shock would produce spillover, spillin, and spillback effects. • Potential economic impact from the US-China twin shock would be modest. On average, the shock from mutual tariffs would lead to a drop in bilateral trade by 10 percent (0.1 percent of world GDP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-speed rail (HSR) network in China has experienced rapid development since the 2000s. In 2016, the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued a revised version of the "Mid- and Long-term Railway Network Plan", detailing the expansion of the railway network and construction of an HSR system. In the future, the HSR construction efforts in China will further increase, which is considered to impact regional development and air pollutant emissions. Therefore, in this paper, we apply a transportation network-multiregional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to estimate the dynamic effects of HSR projects on economic growth, regional disparities, and air pollutant emissions in China. The results indicate that HSR system improvement could generate a positive economic impact but could also increase emissions. The gross domestic product (GDP) growth per unit investment cost stimulated by HSR investment is found to be the largest in eastern China but the smallest in the northwest regions. Conversely, HSR investment in Northwest China contributes to a substantial reduction in regional disparities in terms of the GDP per capita. In regard to air pollution emissions, HSR construction in South-Central China results in the largest increase in CO 2 and NO X emissions, while for CO, SO 2 , and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) emissions, the largest increase occurs due to HSR construction in Northwest China. At the regional level, the provinces with large changes in accessibility also experience large changes in their air pollutant emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public subsidy, a frequently applied tool of economic development is often provided to the business sector assuming that it promotes investments, employment, and income generation. In this paper a micro economic model based empirical analysis is presented that shows the possible impact of public subsidy on economic growth. The outcomes are derived by investigating the investment decision of the enterprise with and without public subsidy. It is demonstrated that public subsidy may increase social welfare, but under certain circumstances it also may decrease it, partly because authorities deciding about them fail to consider the information on the investment projects that determines the outcome. The empirical analysis of corporate subsidies proves that both cases occur. The number of firms that performed well and presumably had not enough own resources to fund the investment was less than 10% of all subsidized firms. The programs had an overall negative impact on economic growth. We provide recommendations on how methods of evaluations, project selection and monitoring should be modified to achieve better results of subsidy programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility has received increasing attention in recent decades. In this paper, we investigate how corporate involvement in poverty alleviation affects investment efficiency. Based on the context of China, we find that involvement in targeted poverty alleviation improves enterprises' investment efficiency through two channels: 1) resource effect, which alleviates enterprises' underinvestment by obtaining strategic resources, and 2) governance effect, which reduces enterprises' agency conflict and reduces enterprises' overinvestment and underinvestment. This study enriches our understanding of the determinants of corporate investment efficiency and the economic consequences of targeted poverty alleviation. In addition, our findings also provide policy implications for both regulators to encourage enterprises to actively fulfill their social responsibilities and promote their high-quality development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the asymmetric impact of renewable electricity energy usage and industrialization on the environmental sustainability of South Africa. The load capacity factor (LF) is a more extensive measure of environmental deterioration when compared to carbon emissions and the ecological footprint, which cover a range of both the demand on and supply of nature. The series dataset used for the empirical analysis spans between 1990 and 2019. The study also investigates the effect of human capital, industrialization, and economic growth on load capacity factor. The result of the NARDL estimator reveals that the increase in renewable electricity energy usage increases LF in the long and short term. However, the decline in renewable electricity energy usage has a neutral impact on LF. Furthermore, the results indicate that industrialization and economic growth impact LF negatively. Lastly, human capital improves environmental quality due to the increasing effect on LF. The spectral Granger causality approach outcomes show that all the parameters can forecast load capacity factors in the long term. Some policy implications, restrictions, and potential future study pathways have been explored in light of this paper's results. • The nonlinear autoregressive distributive lag is employed. • Asymmetric impact of renewable electricity consumption on environmental sustainability. • A broad environmental indicator is used, load capacity factor. • The positive change in renewable electricity consumption promotes environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) is a rail-sea intermodal transport corridor whose fundamental purpose is to closely connect western China and ASEAN through shortening the transport distance and trade time cost. Since the ILSTC is still a new initiative, there are few research focusing on its performance and implementation effects. Using computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, this paper attempts to analyze the economic impacts of the ILSTC since 2019 by simulating the scenario of transport time cost reduction. Results show that the ILSTC can promote the gross domestic product of China and the entire ASEAN by 0.20% and 0.84%, respectively; China's and the whole ASEAN's social welfare are both improved by more than US$10 billion; China's export and import with the whole ASEAN increases by 9.97% and 9.54%, respectively; The value-added trade flow contained in China's intermediate products which export to ASEAN countries first and finally return to China become larger; The impact on different sectors are heterogeneous, in which bilateral value-added and gross trade of grains and crops would increase most significantly; The value-added provided from service industry are also improved. Overall, the ILSTC plays a more important role in promoting the macro-economy of China and ASEAN countries than trade liberalization. On these basis, related conclusions for the promotion of commercial relationship between China and ASEAN countries are proposed, hoping to provide reference for traders and policy makers. • Measure the economic effects of China and ASEAN countries from the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC). • Expand the simulation results from the perspective of value-added trade to track changes in intra-industry trade. • Shed lights on better policy options between trade liberalization and the ILSTC for policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The shared and non-shared collection service systems are evaluated and compared. • The spatiotemporal characteristics of multiple stakeholders are considered. • A mixed-integer optimization model is established. • The shared service system is superior in economic and environmental implication. • The expansion of storage space is required to meet the future processing demand. One of the impending consequences of the rapid penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) is that a substantial amount of expired EV batteries will present an increasing waste collection and management problem, particularly in the urban context. Motivated by a lack of research on this issue, this paper comprehensively evaluates the relative benefits of shared versus non-shared collection systems, where the service outlets are not exclusive to specified automakers. Using a mixed-integer optimization model, the analysis features spatiotemporal and multiple stakeholder complexities. Based on the historical monthly EV sales data from 2016 to 2021, a representative case study of Beijing, China is conducted, including 16 district centers, 32 major automobile manufacturers, 153 collection service outlets and 4 disposal centers. The results show that a shared collection service system leads to higher profitability, higher collection rates, increased environmental benefits and improved facility utilization. Consequently, this research contributes to supply chain liberalization to foster the efficient waste management of EV batteries. With a further model extension, it can also provide decision support for the policy-making of more countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Discusses opportunities and challenges for virtual reality in education with focus on academia and industry. • Focus on the fundamental areas of technology, pedagogy and socio-economics. • Emphasis on the need for augmenting virtual reality interfaces with mathematical models. • Wider economic and social implications based on an ongoing case study application. With the advent of digitalization and industry 4.0, education in chemical and biochemical engineering has undergone significant revamping over the last two decades. However, undergraduate students sometimes do lack industrial exposure and are unable to visualise the complexity of actual process plants. Thereby, students might graduate without adequate professional hands-on experience. Similarly, in the process industry, operator training-simulators are widely used for the training of new and skilled operators. However, conventional training-simulators often fail to simulate reality and do not provide the user with the opportunity to experience unexpected and hazardous scenarios. In these regards, virtual reality appears to be a promising technology that can cater to the needs of both academia and industry. This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges for the incorporation of virtual reality into chemical and biochemical engineering education with an emphasis on the fundamental areas of technology, pedagogy and socio-economics. The paper emphasises the need for augmenting virtual reality interfaces with mathematical models to develop advanced immersive learning applications. Further, the paper stresses upon the need for novel educational impact assessment methodologies for the evaluation of virtual-reality-based learning. Finally, an ongoing case study application is presented to briefly discuss the social and economic implications, and to identify the bottlenecks involved in the adoption of virtual reality tools across chemical and biochemical engineering education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of infrastructure in many developed countries around the world is an increasingly pressing issue, with mounting costs the longer repairs are deferred. In today's rapidly urbanising world, the urban rail network is particularly critical, since infrastructure failures can have severe economic consequences for both the operator's finances and user time costs. This paper thus provides a system-level model of welfare-oriented supply optimisation that integrates asset management with the literature on optimal pricing and capacity provision. Using a simulation approach and calibrating with London Underground data, this paper delivers three key contributions. First, the economic efficiency of long-term capital planning is highlighted, with up to an 87% welfare gain when comparing a 40- versus 5-year planning horizon. Second, in general, the longer the planning horizon, the higher the annual welfare, demand, asset condition, fare and supply, in the steady-state. Third, the analysis explores why policies in reality diverge from the welfare optimum: we show that election cycles can have a detrimental effect, with increased asset neglect and volatility in spending. Economic efficiency improves in the short-term at the expense of the long-term; significant intervention is needed to break this downwards trend, as also reflected in various rail systems' histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since black carbon (BC) has become one of the most harmful pollutants and partly accelerated the melting of the Arctic sea ice, internationally mandatory policy to limit black carbon emissions in the whole Polar Code Area is on the agenda. To cope with this policy, some potential measures from both the coastal government and the shipowners, as well as the economic impacts of these measures, are considered in this paper. We analyze the daily navigation profits and the corresponding BC emissions after these measures are adopted. Since equipment-related cost is usually regarded as fixed and cannot be calculated on a daily basis, this paper also proposes an equipment investment payback period to access the time needed to achieve a balance between the investments and the profits of applying the equipment. A case of a dry bulk carrier navigating through the Northwest Passage is presented for concrete quantitative analysis. The results indicate that wind propulsion system can help shipowners mitigate the largest amount of BC emission. Wind-driven generators, which are used for auxiliary generating system, are the most economic-beneficial to shipowners under the current technology environment. Besides, we found that BC emission tax rate set by coastal governments plays an important role in the selection of different measures by shipowners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Current guidelines mandate organ donation to be financially neutral such that it neither rewards nor exploits donors. This systematic review was conducted to assess the magnitude and type of costs incurred by adult living kidney donors and to identify those at risk of financial hardship.Methods: We searched English-language journal articles and working papers assessing direct and indirect costs incurred by donors on PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, the National Institute for Health Research Economic Evaluation Database, Research Papers in Economics, and EconLit in 2005 and thereafter. Estimates of total costs, types of costs, and characteristics of donors who incurred the financial burden were extracted.Results: Sixteen studies were identified involving 6158 donors. Average donor-borne costs ranged from US$900 to US$19 900 (2019 values) over the period from predonation evaluation to the end of the first postoperative year. Less than half of donors sought financial assistance and 80% had financial loss. Out-of-pocket payments for travel and health services were the most reported items where lost income accounted for the largest proportion (23.2%-83.7%) of total costs. New indirect cost items were identified to be insurance difficulty, exercise impairment, and caregiver income loss. Donors from lower-income households and those who traveled long distances reported the greatest financial hardship.Conclusions: Most kidney donors are undercompensated. Our findings highlight gaps in donor compensation for predonation evaluation, long-distance donations, and lifetime insurance protection. Additional studies outside of North America are needed to gain a global prospective on how to provide for financial neutrality for kidney donors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]