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Taking advantage of the implementation of the 2003 European Commission (EC) directive on financial reporting, we explore the impact of mandatory financial disclosure on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We find robust evidence that the number (and volume) of private firms becoming an M&A target increases with mandatory disclosure. Analyses of cross-industry differences, deal-level data, and post-deal performance indicate that financial disclosure increases M&A activity by reducing information frictions in the market for corporate control. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global knowledge flows are not only important in promoting economic activities but also in addressing global environmental issues. In order to examine the mechanisms of how firms in emerging economies can learn from global partners in finding solutions to environmental challenges, we explore a rich data set covering nearly 190,595 Chinese firms and analyze the knowledge flows that local firms received from foreign firms in developing eco-innovations. We examine both knowledge flows in the same industry and those in the up- and down-stream industries, and, in particular, provide a nuanced consideration around the under-explored industrial conditions and regional institutions of technology spillovers and domestic eco-innovation. We find clear evidence that foreign green technology spillovers have a positive impact on the eco-innovation of domestic firms in China. This superior performance is particularly pronounced in certain industries (e.g., technology-intensive, pollution-intensive, and highly competitive) and cities with higher levels of environmental regulation stringency. Our results show that domestic firms differ significantly in the extent to which they benefit from global knowledge flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the short-term effect of tropical cyclones on economic activity at a local level in Madagascar. To do so, we combine high-resolution spatial data about nightlight brightness and exposure to tropical cyclones with geographic information at the smallest administrative level in Madagascar, namely the Fokontany. Our findings reveal that exposure to tropical cyclones leads to an ambiguous economic response as proxied by nocturnal brightness during the first year after the shock. However, during the second year, nightlights clearly increase, leading to an overall beneficial effect of 5% just 2 years after the tropical cyclone. We then provide a finer analysis by interacting wind speed exposure with variables that capture many heterogenous dimensions of our data. This analysis shows that for Fokontany sharing specific characteristics, the short-run effect of tropical cyclones is negative. However, the positive effect of exposure in the second year emerges as a regular pattern in our analysis. Our empirical study is in line with economic mechanisms suggesting that after a period of contraction, the impacted economy rebounds beyond the counterfactual trend that would otherwise be observed in the absence of a shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic activities induced by wealth shocks can increase health risks. However, using individual-level national death registry data of South Korea from 2000 to 2019, we find little evidence that daily stock market returns influence instantaneous health risks measured by deaths due to substance abuse and heart disease. Combined with the findings from previous studies, our results provide supportive evidence of the hypothesis that stock market returns affect investors' instantaneous utility by anticipating future consumption rather than current consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing environmental constraints on resources necessitates finding renewable and sustainable means of production. Microalgae provides a promising resource for feedstock in many bio-products and for waste utilization. Microalgae contain a variety of high-value products and are known for their bio-synthesis from waste sources. Increased industrial operations become a sustainable source of wastewater containing nutrient loads; in parallel, energy expenditures imparted to wastewater reclamation deteriorate the environment. To balance this, a circular economy that creates benefits to the environment and increases industrial productivity through planning out pollution/waste and recycling waste and materials back into use is essential. For example, various chemicals in wastewater can be used as sources of nutrient and bio-synthetic inducers in algal biorefining. This review discusses the required technical developments and knowledge gaps across multiple reuse methods for wastewater resources that support public health, industry, and environmental regulatory policies. Furthermore, this review surveys how industrial wastewater can serve as a sustainable resource, with chemical contents as a source of nutrient and substrate for algal cultivation and strategies necessary for biorefinery methods. Wastewaters have noxious contents, but various algal traits are relatively tolerant towards mixed chemicals, in some cases influencing biosynthetic pathways. The chemistry of wastewater varies depending on the stages and processes involved in product manufacturing, this variation require careful planning to ensure that the contents of the wastewater align with the specific targeted uses as a source of micro and macronutrients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature has argued that decentralization can create new forms of leverage for criminal gangs, increasing their territorial presence and levels of violence. In this article we reverse the causal arrow and analyze how gangs affect the performance of decentralized institutions. We study the case of El Salvador, a country with the ubiquitous presence of gangs. We find that the higher presence of gangs reduced municipalities' fiscal revenues, thereby increasing their dependence on transfers from the central government. This result is mostly driven by mid-size municipalities, as the effect is not significant for small and large municipalities. In addition to depressing revenues, gang presence was also associated with lower municipal spending and less service provision, effectively hollowing out municipal governance. The drop in municipal spending is particularly strong in capital spending and in small municipalities. The article also finds that gangs undermine economic activity – not just in the municipalities where they operate but through spill-over effects in neighboring jurisdictions as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public spending influences a country's economic activities due to its effect on aggregate demand. Although existing research has focused on government expenditures to understand the multiplier impacts of public spending, there is scant literature focusing on the spending of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), especially in strategic sectors such as the oil sector. This study analyzes the spending behaviour of an important Brazilian SOE, Petrobras, to understand its consequences to the Brazilian economic activity. The results suggest that multiplier impacts during recessions are bigger than those during economic expansions. The accumulated multiplier of Petrobras's investment expenditures is higher compared to current spending, especially in periods of recession. Moreover, the forecast error variance decomposition showed the impact that changes in government spending in Petrobras had on the Brazilian GDP growth in periods of expansion and contraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the predictive power of electricity consumption data for regional economic activity. Using unique high‐frequency electricity consumption data from industrial firms for the second‐largest German state, the Free State of Bavaria, we conduct a pseudo out‐of‐sample forecasting experiment for the monthly growth rate of Bavarian industrial production. We find that electricity consumption is the best performing indicator in the nowcasting setup and has higher accuracy than other conventional indicators in a monthly forecasting experiment. Exploiting the high‐frequency nature of the data, we find that the weekly electricity consumption indicator also provides good predictions about industrial activity in the current month with only 2 weeks of information. Overall, our results indicate that regional electricity consumption is a promising avenue for measuring and forecasting regional economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the determinants of green development in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries pointing out the influence of the sophistication of productive structure and exported goods (economic complexity). The study uses OECD data regarding green development, World Bank Indicators, World Penn Table Data, and MIT Harvard data covering the period of 1996 to 2020, in a heterogeneous panel approach. Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) models are estimated in order to express the influence on green development of the economic complexity index, KOF globalization index, renewable energy consumption, human capital index, and a constructed institutional quality index (computed by using the Principal Component Analysis based on data from World Governance Indicators). All considered variables have a validated statistical influence on green growth in both models. The Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test revealed a bidirectional causal relationship between institutional quality and green growth and unidirectional ones from economic complexity, human capital and renewable energy to green development and from green development to globalization. Policy implications are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automotive industry is widely considered to be crucial for the economy, as it reflects economic development in general. Despite interest in financial performance, few studies have considered paying attention to the ownership structure among stockholders. Hence, the study aims to find out how the degree of ownership concentration, measured through the independence indicator of the Bureau van Dijk, is reflected in the financial management of companies in the automotive industry among selected European countries. The generalized method of moments (GMM) technique is widely used while investigating panel data with a short estimating period, i.e. nine years annually in this case. However, this study reveals that, without deploying techniques, subsequently introduced a modified version of GMM estimators with panel data by providing an implementation using Stata statistical software. Otherwise, these particular econometric tools to analyze a dynamic panel can often give false significant estimates. Overall, liquidity seems to be significant in the case of firms with less concentrated ownership, whereas companies with a major owner are affected more by selected macroeconomic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent empirical research has highlighted the role played by public investment in stimulating economic activity, while addressing a variety of systemic challenges such as climate change and supply chain resilience. However, theoretical considerations regarding the capacity-building effect of public capital formation have been often overlooked in the demand-led growth literature. The paper addresses this gap by introducing a public investment component within a supermultiplier model, treating government investment and consumption spending as two separate components of autonomous demand, growing at different rates over the long run. The model is proven to be stable as long as the non-capacity-creating component of demand grows faster than public investment. Even though the latter does not have long-term growth effects in the steady state, it does affect economic activity during the traverse. The model is then calibrated and simulated, showing that movements between steady-state positions are extremely long-lasting, thus reinforcing the idea that supermultiplier models are better suited to describe out-of-equilibrium dynamics, while pointing out the potential role of public investment in shaping macroeconomic outcomes in the short, medium, and long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe aim of this article is to estimate the main categories of classical economics in Iran from 1986 to 2016 using the method of Shaikh and Tonak (1994). The article first provides a theoretical discussion on the distinction between productive and unproductive labour, and this distinction is used to analyse the distribution of total value in the economy. Next, products and economic activities are reclassified to create classical basic tables and examine the trends of key variables in the classical economy. Finally, the value composition of capital and the general rate of profit are estimated using three models: the Circulating Capital Model, the Fixed Capital Model, and the Single Turnover Model. The findings indicate that the years under study can be divided into three periods based on the components of the most fundamental category of classical economics, which is the rate of profit. These periods are referred to as consolidation, deepening, and crisis phase of liberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the role of feminist ideologies in enabling entrepreneurship among disadvantaged women in societies entrenched in structures of patriarchy. The study draws on evidence from Lijjat, a women’s cooperative in India. Through careful consideration of the context and relations in which marginalized women were able to initiate, develop, and successfully grow a business, results draw two key conclusions. First, pragmatist feminist ideologies are particularly supportive of women’s economic activities in a patriarchal context. Second, ideological influences on women’s entrepreneurship exist both at the individual level (motivation) and at the collective level (organizational practices). Studying the intersection of these tiers enables a better understanding of how women’s entrepreneurship at the grassroots level can be supported in male-dominated cultures.HIGHLIGHTSPatriarchal norms limit disadvantaged women’s entrepreneurial opportunities in India.Lijjat, a women’s cooperative, provides insight into the role of feminist ideologies in empowering women.Pragmatist feminist ideologies encourage women to challenge traditional norms through entrepreneurship.These ideologies shape both individual motivations and collective organizational practices at Lijjat.Supporting women’s cooperatives can improve women’s economic participation and empowerment.Patriarchal norms limit disadvantaged women’s entrepreneurial opportunities in India.Lijjat, a women’s cooperative, provides insight into the role of feminist ideologies in empowering women.Pragmatist feminist ideologies encourage women to challenge traditional norms through entrepreneurship.These ideologies shape both individual motivations and collective organizational practices at Lijjat.Supporting women’s cooperatives can improve women’s economic participation and empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parasmittina is the most representative cheilostome genus of the family Smittinidae, often reported in the fouling non-indigenous marine community. Here, we present a review of Parasmittina species reported in the Southwestern Atlantic including the characterization of one species from Argentina (P. dubitata) and ten from the Brazilian coast: P. abrolhosensis, P. alba, P. bimucronata, P. ligulata comb. nov., P. longirostrata, P. pinctatae, P. serrula, P. simpulata, P. winstonae and the new species Parasmittina falciformis sp. nov. The new species is characterized by a smooth distally primary orifice with 1–2 oral spines, large lyrula, serrated condyles with hooked tips, and two types of avicularia–small and subtriangular and large sublanceolate. This study does not recognize four species previous recorded in Brazil: reports of P. betamorphaea and P. trispinosa are now assigned to P. pinctatae; records of P. munita belong to P. falciformis sp. nov.; and reports of P. spathulata encompass at least two taxa, including P. abrolhosensis and P. simpulata. In this study, five species complexes (P. alba, P. longirostrata, P. serrula, P. simpulata and P. winstonae) were identified and require further investigations. While six species characterized here were first described based on specimens from the Southwestern Atlantic (P. abrolhosensis, P. alba, P. dubitata, P. ligulata comb. nov., P. simpulata and P. falciformis sp. nov.), the remaining species are mainly known from the Indo-Pacific. These taxa are here recognized as exotic (P. longirostrata) and cryptogenic (P. bimucronata, P. pinctatae, P. serrula and P. winstonae) in the studied area. Most of the non-native taxa are widespread along the Brazilian coast, growing on both artificial and natural surfaces, indicating that they are well-established in the area. As non-native bryozoans can negatively influence the environment, affecting human economic activities and beach usage, further studies on the fauna presented here are suggested to determine the origin of these taxa and help prevent bioinvasion events along the SW Atlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study draws attention to the associations between monetary and economic elements and their potential environmental impacts. The study uses time series data from 1960 to 2022 to examine the connection between CO2 emissions, industrial growth, GNE, and inflation in China. The researchers utilized the well-known econometric technique of nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) to examine nonlinear correlations between these variables. The results reveal that GDP, inflation, and economic development influence long-term CO2 emissions. The strong positive correlation between gross national expenditures and economic activity increases CO2 emissions. In the short run, CO2 emissions are positively and statistically significantly affected by inflation. While inflation temporarily affects CO2 emissions, this effect dissipates with time. Industrial activity increases CO2 emissions, and China's fast industrialization has damaged the environment. The energy-intensive fertiliser manufacturing process and fossil fuels increase CO2 emissions. The research shows how government officials and academics may collaborate to create tailored measures to alleviate the environmental impacts of economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Degradation of lands (and pastures) is the deterioration of the properties, fertility and productivity of lands as a result of economic activity. Summer pastures are usually represented by cereals and cereal-wormwood types. The vegetation of summer pastures develops more slowly than on spring pastures and reaches its maximum development in the early summer. Summer pastures are most productive and their feed is more nutritious in the first half of summer (May-June). By mid-summer, the vegetation on the pastures dries up and in the second half of summer, cattle use the dried feed mass to a large extent. The productivity of summer pastures is usually high and averages 3.1 c/ha of dry matter, or 1.8 c/ha of feed units (Dobrovolsky, 1997, p. 313-321). Summer pastures in the mountainous areas and winter pastures in the plains ofAzerbaijan are rich in biodiversity. Summer mountain pastures are complex coupled ecological and human systems. They provide vital forage for livestock during summer, and their traditional use is decisive for the maintenance of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and open landscapes, which benefit local populations and tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors construct an index of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) for Greece using textual analysis and analyze its role in the 10-year Greek economic crisis. Design/methodology/approach: To identify the causal relationship between various measures of economic activity and EPU in Greece, the authors use a sophisticated "shock-based" structural vector autoregressive identification scheme. Additionally, the authors use two additional models to ensure the robustness of the results. Findings: EPU is negatively associated with domestic economic activity and economic sentiment, and positively with bond credit spreads. EPU is also estimated to have prolonged the crisis even in periods when macroeconomic imbalances were cured. The results are robust across various model specifications and different proxies of economic activity. Originality/value: Brunnermeier (2017) observed that uncertainty may be central to understanding the evolution of the Greek crisis. Yet little attention has been paid to policy uncertainty in the existing long and growing literature on the Greek crisis. The authors attempt to fill this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the notion of "finance" reentered ordinary Chinese people's lives since the "Reform and Opening Up," how were "finance and economics" (caijing) perceived and felt? This essay focuses on the mainland critics' reviews of the "finance-themed" novels by the Hong Kong entrepreneur-cum-writer Leung Fung Yee (b. 1949) and discusses how "Leung fever" (1992 – 93) provided a medium for a collective imagination of the financial age. Leung's fiction introduced "sensuous and lively" financial knowledge particularly attractive to a financially uneducated mainland readership who nonetheless desired to engage in adventurous economic activities. This essay is situated in the intersection of finance and literary practice and highlights the ways these critics' interpretations of Leung's novels helped instruct readers in how to feel, experience, and survive the financial age and legitimize the new economic behaviors in everyday life. This new age was first and foremost experienced as an "erotic-speculative sensation" in which an erotic adventure was experienced similar to the financial behavior of speculation. The mainland critics envisioned the figure of "the neoliberal labor heroine," one who creatively utilizes the intervals to maximize productive value and who performs "presentist worldly wisdom" to strategically navigate life and achieve optimal outputs and success in a disorienting world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a novel game where a decaying atmospheric quality, modeled as a stock variable determining the payoff externality, can be counteracted through individual mitigation efforts. It encompasses three characteristics of climate change as a social dilemma: (a) the continuous nature of climate degradation, (b) the constant influx of emissions resulting from human economic activities, and (c) the greater efficacy of early mitigation actions. We report findings from an experiment where, across four treatments, we manipulate the starting atmospheric quality and introduce inequality in the endowments employed to mitigate. Results indicate that subjects fail to mitigate in early periods, an individually rational strategy. We do not find differences between treatments at the aggregate level. However, participants treat their groupmates' past mitigation as a strategic substitute for their own mitigation (i.e., if others' mitigation increase, participants reduce their mitigation). This substitution is less intense if the initial atmospheric quality is negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fear of falling behind has been a driving force of European integration. Historically, Europe's response to the looming angst of declining competitiveness has been more market-creation, not market-direction. Recently, however, Europe has – in the name of safeguarding Europe's technological sovereignty – taken on a much more active role in directing economic activity towards sectors and technologies deemed geopolitically or geoeconomically important. In this paper, we attempt to explain this 'geo-dirigiste' turn. We reconstruct the evolution of EU industrial policy through the lens of Europe's fear of falling behind, drawing not only on primary (including archival) and secondary sources, but also on original interviews and deep transfer learning applied to an original dataset of 66.548 documents. Focusing on Europe's changing technological and geopolitical context, its coalitional underpinnings, and the role of ideational politics, we document and explain the historic shift away from market-creation and towards supranational market-direction in EU industrial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the tensions between political sovereignty and global capitalist accumulation that arise from neoliberal globalization: in the context of neoliberal globalization, the role of the state was substantially altered, and competitiveness became important to sustain economic growth, employment and wealth. However, for this purpose, the internal stabilization of the economy also has to be ensured. Competition state-ness aims to reconcile domestic and global market dynamics. This paper addresses this challenge from a Cultural Political Economy perspective, arguing that the specific way this is done results from ideas, institutional selectivities and materiality. As the supranational level gained importance during globalization, this paper uses the European competition state project as an empirical example. It uses a Critical Discourse Analysis to analyze the economic imaginaries on competition of the European socio-economic strategy, Europe 2020. The central findings are two imaginaries on competition that address different market dynamics in the neoliberal political economy: the 'sovereign entity' that promotes a well-functioning domestic market, and the 'competitive entity' that aims to increase European competitiveness to thrive on the world market. Although tensions arise between the imaginaries, it is argued in the end that three strategies based on them constitute the European competition state project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Barsky and Sims (2012, AER) demonstrated, via indirect inference, that confidence innovations can be viewed as noisy signals about medium‐term economic growth. They highlighted that the connection between confidence and subsequent activity, such as consumption and output, is primarily driven by news shocks about the future. We expand upon their research by incorporating the Great Recession and ZLB episodes, during which animal spirits have a greater potential to influence economic activity. Nevertheless, we confirm the main finding of Barsky and Sims (2012) that this relationship is predominantly driven by news about the future rather than animal spirits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the justifications for promoting tourism development is the capacity that it has to generate spillover effects on traditional economic activities. However, the strength of these spillover effects depends, largely, on the complementary or competitive nature of the traditional sector with respect to the resources used by tourism. Using time series analysis techniques, this paper examines the relationship existing between tourism development and the local fisheries sector. The results suggest that fisheries have been benefiting from growth in tourism, not so much in terms of an increase in the volume of catches but rather due to an increase in their value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study undertakes a rigorous examination of the environmental sustainability impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on its member countries. Employing a robust difference-in-difference quasi-natural experimental technique, our analysis spans a panel of 69 countries, covering the years from 1990 to 2022. Our primary metric for assessing ecological strain is the total Ecological Footprint consumption (EFP), measured in global hectares, which encapsulates the ecological exhaustion resulting from economic activities. This study not only contributes to the growing body of literature on the BRI's economic, social, and environmental impacts but also distinguishes itself by providing experimental evidence of its environmental repercussions 10 years post-initiative commencement for member countries and 4 years for African countries in which the majority joined in 2018. Our findings reveal a significant increase in ecological footprint consumption among the BRI member countries after 2014, implying that participation in the BRI has contributed to heightened ecological depletion in these nations. Additionally, our analysis highlights the same impact for African countries, where ecological footprint consumption substantially escalated after joining the BRI in 2018. This pivotal discovery calls for the attention of not only the Chinese government, a driving force behind the BRI, but also all member countries partaking in this international collaboration. It signals a potential ecological deficit and future productivity impairment, urging stakeholders to reconsider and address the environmental ramifications of their endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article studies Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) in late imperial and Republican‐era Shanxi province, China, from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. It investigates how communal finance fostered pre‐industrial economic growth and commercial activity. Drawing on previously unused, original materials from historical Shanxi ROSCAs and households, it makes several important discoveries. First, it finds widespread ROSCA participation, estimating no fewer than 7.1 per cent of Shanxi households participated in ROSCAs. Second, it estimates expected internal rates of returns on ROSCA membership at 2.55–6.01 per cent annually. This suggests that ROSCAs were economically competitive with other Chinese traditional financiers, which often charged more for loans and offered less to savers. Third, it finds a surprising degree of liquidity for ROSCA shares. Finally, it uncovers commercial entities participating in ROSCAs, suggesting ROSCAs could be useful to for‐profit enterprises. The article concludes that ROSCAs and communal finance may have played an important role in supporting pre‐industrial economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Agriculture is Ethiopia's principal economic activity, employing the vast majority of the population, however, smallholder farmers in the country face long-standing challenges, including low levels of production, low income, and less credit use. This study aimed to analyze the impact of access to credit on crop productivity and income among small-scale farmers in the study area. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study from January 1st to 30th, 2022. Primary data were collected from purposely selected seven (7) kebele of the district based on potential users of agricultural credit. Then the impact was investigated by applying the propensity score matching technique. A Probit regression model was used to determine factors associated with credit use. The significance of the variables was decided at a 5% level of significance. Results: In our study, a total sample of 347 smallholder farmers were randomly selected, out of which 42.9% were credit-users while 59.1% were non-users. Regarding sources of credit use, Vision Fund was the most commonly used source of credit with 67.8% of users, followed by the Omo Microfinance institution with 22.1%. Sex of the farmer, age of the farmer, existence collateral, farm size, attitude towards risk, extension service, membership in credit institutions, road access, and number of total livestock units in tropical livestock units (TLU) had significant effects on credit use at a 5% level of significance. Moreover, the estimates showed that utilizing credit resulted in a rise in crop productivity in current market value and total yearly income by 19,302.44 and 18,009.63 respectively. Conclusion: Our study suggested that credit use had a considerable impact on crop productivity and total annual income. As a result, the study recommended that the government's rural finance policy agenda should prioritize opening different branches near farmers, improving credit usability, and providing more training programs to smallholder farmers to improve their skills and help reduce the problems that impede their use of agricultural credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to address basic dilemmas of the strategic interventions policy delivery within the framework of spatial governance and the recent financial and social conjuncture in Europe. The related research concerns the case of the former ‘Hellinikon’ airport area in Athens. Because of the unfavourable economic situation and the inability to form an effective spatial governance framework, the state retreated and the initiative was taken by the private sector, shaping the frame for a fragmented ‘spatial fix’ of global economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper examines the influence of climate change vulnerability on the likelihood and severity of communal violence, with a particular emphasis on delineating large-scale regional patterns. Specifically, the analysis centres on Sub-Saharan Africa and South/South-East Asia – both regions being predominantly characterised by rain-fed agriculture and climate-sensitive economic activities – spanning the years 1995 to 2021. Relying on the ND-GAIN Vulnerability Index as a multidimensional measure for propensity of societies to be negatively impacted by climate change, we found robust evidence that greater vulnerability is conducive to a higher likelihood and severity of communal violence in Sub-Saharan Africa. On the other hand, in South/South-East Asia, results suggest that current climate variability, measured as rainfall deviations within the period, exerts a greater effect on communal violence outbreak than overall vulnerability to climate change. In both regions, greater access to productive means is significantly associated to the reduction of communal violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely and accurate rainfall prediction is crucial to social life and economic activities. Because of the influence of numerous factors on rainfall, making precise predictions is challenging. In this study, the northern Xinjiang region of China is selected as the research area. Based on the pattern of rainfall in the local area and the needs of real life, rainfall is divided into four levels, namely 'no rain', 'light rain', 'moderate rain', and 'heavy rain and above', for rainfall levels nowcasting. To solve the problem that the existing model can only extract a single time dependence and cause the loss of some valuable information in rainfall data, a prediction model named DFFNet, which is based on dual-branch feature fusion, is proposed in this paper. The two branches of the model are composed of Transformer and CNN, which are used to extract time dependence and feature interaction in meteorological data, respectively. The features extracted from the two branches are fused for prediction. To verify the performance of DFFNet, the India public rainfall dataset and some sub-datasets in the UEA dataset are chosen for comparison. Compared with the baseline models, DFFNet achieves the best prediction performance on all the selected datasets; compared with the single-branch model, the training time consumption of DFFNet on the two rainfall datasets is reduced by 21% and 9.6%, respectively, and it has a faster convergence speed. The experimental results show that it has certain theoretical value and application value for the study of rainfall nowcasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The appropriate amount of regulation to reconcile social stability and economic prosperity is a subject of intense study and debate. In practice, the degree of regulatory enforcement is at least as important as the regulation itself. In this work, we present a simulation model of society as a network of interacting agents subject to regulation of their economic activities, with varying degrees of enforcement. Each agent's compliance with regulation is modeled as a string of bits, which also governs the probability of connection with other agents. Each agent has an initial share of the total wealth that changes over the course of transactions. At each simulation step, the poorest agent takes action to achieve a wealth change at the expense of its first neighbors in the network. Non-conformity to regulation is punished with a probability parameter representing the strength of regulatory enforcement. Our results suggest that regulation has the benefit of reducing wealth inequality but also the disadvantage of increasing job instability, which could lead to lower wealth production in the real world. Our analysis indicates a possible method for choosing an optimal level of regulatory enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dominant interpretation of the classical theories of aggregate activity levels and economic growth is that they are supply-side in nature with the contributions of Sismondi and Malthus viewed as notable exceptions. However, a focused examination of the key texts of the classical economists such as Cantillon, Quesnay, Turgot, Steuart, Smith, and Ricardo reveals that strong demand-side thinking has in fact been lurking beneath the surface in the theoretical world of the classical economists even before Sismondi and Malthus. The major implication is that Say's law is an imposition on classical economists and that in the case of Ricardo, his endorsement of Say's law cannot easily be reconciled with the demand-side ideas in his writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mediterranean Sea is a hotspot for the introduction of non-indigenous species. Among them, invasive alien species can seriously affect the areas they colonize, not only by altering the marine food webs and community structure, but also by harming certain economic activities, such as fishing, tourism, aquaculture and marine infrastructure. Rugulopteryx okamurae is a brown macroalga considered the fourth most harmful species among the 10 most invasive species reported in the Mediterranean; in fact, it has recently been included in the list of invasive alien species of Union concern due to its serious impact on biodiversity and socioeconomic implications. This species was reported for the first time in the Mediterranean in 2002 in Thau Lagoon (France), introduced by the aquaculture of the Japanese oyster Magallana gigas. Since then, this species has spread in both the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean with a strong invasive behavior, particularly along the Strait of Gibraltar. Rugulopteryx okamurae was also recently reported for the first time in Italian waters, in the Gulf of Palermo (Sicily). In this study, we report a record of this species further to the east, in the Ionian Sea, where it has not previously been recorded, and provide possible explanations of the spreading and arrival routes in this area. The rapid expansion of R. okamurae is raising concerns; thus, in order to safeguard native communities, it is crucial to keep monitoring this invasive species so that it is possible to regularly update its distribution and follow up on its spread dynamics in the Mediterranean basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in the foreign population in municipalities with smaller populations of the Region of Valencia occurred after an intense migratory flow prior to the real estate and financial crisis. This process harbored the hope of stopping the demographic regression suffered in rural areas. After a period of population loss, in recent years a demographic recovery has been taking place in certain medium-sized and small municipalities. The objective of this article is to establish an analogy between the increase in the population of foreigners and economic diversification in these destination municipalities to promote population growth. Based on the use of a database of population and employment by sectors of activity at the municipal level, indicators have been found such as evolutionary rates, the Gibbs-Martin Index and different scatter plots to achieve the objectives established. The research shows that a further increase in the foreign population is taking place in medium-sized municipalities of between 2,000 and 10,000 inhabitants and that, unlike in the period prior to the crisis, their distribution coincides with the diversification of economic activity and the local labor market and not productive specialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selection of fruit and fruit breeds of each zone is one of the most efficient means of increasing the yields of varieties in meeting the population's demand for food crops, including fruit and fruit crops. Each zone of our republic with rich fruit varieties requires ways to increase fruit production, lower crop yields, use land more efficiently, and improve labour productivity and other economic activities. Because of its importance within dandelion fruit plants, the greengage plant is one of the special places. For quick productivity, yielding every year, tolerance to diseases and pests opens up plenty of opportunities for cultivating the greengage in various fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractChild labor has majorly been analyzed through the socio-economic lens, because the deterministic cultural factors have not received much attention. This study attempts to understand the cultural influences on children’s involvement in traditional economic activities. Applying a cultural sociological approach, an intrinsic case study was conducted on the nomadic Nat tribe in India that generates its livelihood through children’s involvement in acrobatics. Findings suggest that the cultural existence of the tribe significantly determines children’s involvement in socio-economic exchanges. Policy attempts toward child upliftment must consider the cultural aspects essential for the tribe’s survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the research in the macroeconomic theory points to the fact that the most important economic aggregates at the level of the economy are: the gross domestic product, the level (rate) of unemployment and the inflation rate. The gross domestic product represents the most synthetic indicator of the total economic activities of a country, i.e. of the reached level of its economic development. This paper presents the methods for calculating GDP: the production, income and expenditure method. Also, in the focus of analysis of this paper are the classical models of economic growth, Keynesian models of economic growth, neoclassical models of economic growth and new models of economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to research the financial determinants of bankruptcies for firms belonging exclusively to the economic activity 'hotels and similar accommodation'. The study adopts the stance, that estimations and models focused on specific sectors can be a more precise assessment of firm failure in contrast to generic models that sample firms from broader sectors. The dataset covers the years 2010-2020 and uses available financial and bankruptcy information from two credible data sources for over 5,500 hotels which includes 13 bankruptcy events. A multi-period logistic regression model with clustered robust standard errors is applied, a very competent econometric methodology not applied before in hotel failure studies in this exact form. This type of setting is considered a close-to-reality econometric experiment examining the whole economic activity. A stepwise procedure led to three influential financial ratios with the main results revealing that the likelihood of hotel bankruptcy is positively related to leverage and size in terms of the natural logarithm of total assets and negatively related to EBITDA to total liabilities. By extending the bankruptcy horizon further by one and two years, information content appears fairly robust and all variables retain their sign, as leverage remains stable across all horizons, EBITDA to liabilities remain significant for the one additional period, while sizes' statistical significance becomes intermittent. Comparisons are performed also in terms of sensitivity and variable relevance with two earlier Greek studies for the whole economy and the hotel sector, and in both cases sensitivity is reduced and some variables are rendered not relevant. Implications stemming from the empirical results, suggest that leverage is the most influential factor increasing the probability of bankruptcy, so liabilities should be continuously controlled. Size in terms of asset acquisition should be mitigated too, as the 'too big to fail' principle seems not to hold. Also, a balance of liabilities coverage is recommended. The comparisons in terms of sensitivity, variable relevance and the opposite sign for size implies that bankruptcy modeling per economic activity is more appropriate, stressing the need for an ad hoc variable selection that includes size also, as a predefined set of variables may not always be the most optimal set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the role of networks in the spatial diffusion of local economic shocks in Africa. We show that geographic connectivity, along with road and ethnic connectivity, are important for diffusing economic spillovers over longer distances. We then determine the key players, that is, which districts are key in propagating local economic shocks across Africa. Using these results, we conduct counterfactual policy exercises to evaluate the potential gains from policies that increase economic activity in specific districts or improve road connectivity between districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How will climate change affect risks to economic activity? Research on climate impacts has tended to focus on effects on the average level of economic growth. I examine whether climate change may make severe contractions in economic activity more likely using quantile regressions linking growth to temperature. The effects of temperature on downside risks to economic growth are large and robust across specifications. These results suggest the growth at risk from climate change is large—climate change may make economic contractions more likely and severe and thereby significantly impact economic and financial stability and welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autocrats use preventive repression to deter opposition mobilization. I show that repression can be more intense and arbitrary under constraints that prevent the use of other policy tools, like patronage. Building on a conceptual distinction between targeted repression (against regime opponents) and indiscriminate repression (against civilians broadly), my framework demonstrates that autocrats may benefit from using both types of repression together to deter opposition to the regime. Targeted and indiscriminate repression have distinct effects on civilians' incentives to support an opposition. Targeted repression reduces benefits of challenging the regime, activating civilians' security concerns. Indiscriminate repression affects individuals' material well-being, leading to a net improvement in economic opportunities. These participation and material well-being mechanisms make targeted and indiscriminate repression jointly optimal for the autocrat. Further, targeted and indiscriminate repression may be complements, meaning the regime prevents the emergence of opposition groups most effectively by employing more of both types of repression simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contaduría y Administración is the property of Facultad de Contaduria y Administracion-Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Estudios Empresariales Segunda Época is the property of Editorial de la Universidad de Jaen and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Estudios Empresariales Segunda Época is the property of Editorial de la Universidad de Jaen and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aerial gravity data of Lafia and Akiri areas were interpreted qualitatively and quantitatively to map surface and deep earth structures responsible for the gravity anomalies within the study area. This entails using grids on which the anomalous values obtained at different stations are plotted and contours drawn at appropriate intervals using Oasis Montaj software. The Bouguer anomaly obtained from the study varies from -66.0 mGal to 28.4 mGal while the residual Bouguer anomaly is from -30.5 mGal to 27.7 mGal. The Bouguer gravity data was subjected to forward and inverse modeling analysis using PotentQ 3D software. The results obtained from the forward and inverse modeling of the airborne gravity data shows the density values as: 2.550, 2.630 and 0.074 g/cm³ for the modeled profiles 1 - 3 respectively, with respective depths of - 2943, -1156 and 25 m. The highest depth of -2943 m obtained within the south-eastern part (Akiri) of the study area exhibits thick sediment able to hold more solid mineral than Lafia area with the lowest depth. This study serves as a guide to the mining industries to determine the area with high concentration of solid minerals for economic and sustainable development of the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 introduced sweeping changes to individual and corporate taxation. We summarize the major provisions, trace the origins of the Act, and compare it to previous tax changes. We also examine the effects on the government budget, economic activity, and distribution of resources. Based on evidence through 2019, we find that the TCJA clearly raised federal debt and increased after-tax incomes, disproportionately increasing incomes for the most affluent. Its effects on GDP and median wages seem modest at best, although clear counterfactuals are difficult to identify. The impact on investment is less certain, and research is only recently emerging that addresses this question. Empirical analysis of longer-term effects may prove difficult due to the disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]