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This study examines the well-being and social value of playing different forms of soccer for men and women by employing the compensating variation approach to survey data from eight European countries. Framed by the desired objective of Title IX, this research assesses possible gender differences in the social benefits of sport. Social values are higher than the well-being derived from playing soccer, with the values of both being greater for women. Less formal forms of soccer yield generally higher monetary values than the competitive 11-a-side format. As the marginal returns are greater, investment should promote women's engagement and more informal playing opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the impact of less conventional monetary policy tools on the personal and functional distribution of income. We focus on the issuance of central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a comparative perspective, using a stock-flow consistent model of the eurozone economy. We consider two kinds of policies: helicopter money policies such as Quantitative Easing and the issuance of a CBDC; and scenarios not based on balance sheet expansions, such as an interest rate policy following the Pasinetti Rule, or a sterilized issuance of CBDC. Monetary policies using CBDCs tend to increase the wage share at the expense of financial rents. The targeted issuance of CBDCs to firms might produce an increase in GDP, corporate profits, and the wage share. The Pasinetti Rule reduces personal income inequality the most, but if applied mechanically, its impact on growth is also the least desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite being a Muslim-dominated country, Bangladesh has widely embraced traditional microfinance since its inception in the mid-1970s. However, Islamic microfinance, which has a lot to offer to the poor, is still in its infancy and has yet to gain momentum in the country. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the importance of Islamic microfinance and propose alternative Shariah-compliant microfinance models in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on the desk research method, which relies on existing literature to collect secondary data on key concerns of traditional microfinance programs. In addition, institutional-level secondary data were also collected from the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) of Bangladesh. Guided by the Maqasid-al-Shariah, this study then proposes several Islamic microfinance models to overcome selected challenges faced by the microfinance industry in Bangladesh. Findings: This study suggested three composite Shariah-compliant microfinance models, which are likely to help the underprivileged and thus ensure the achievement of the sustainable development goals in Bangladesh. The first model explained how the operational strategy of incumbent microfinance institutions (MFIs) could be restructured, while the second proposed the organizational strategies for establishing a new MFI. The third model used the notion of Sadaqah (charity) to address the multiple borrowing issues of the industry. Meanwhile, the successful transformation of the conventional microfinance industry to an Islamic one is dependent on the effective collaboration between the regulatory authorities, practitioners and MFIs. Originality/value: Albeit the paucity of literature on the topic, the findings of this study will guide policymakers/practitioners in designing relevant microfinance models to help transform conventional microfinance into Islamic microfinance in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children represent the largest indirect beneficiaries of the U.S. social welfare system. Yet, many questions remain about the direct benefits of cash aid to children. The current understanding of the impacts of cash aid in the U.S. is drawn primarily from studies of in-kind benefits, tax credits, and conditional cash aid programs. A corresponding economics literature focuses on the role of income and the labor supply responses of parents, parenting skills, and early education as family investment mechanisms that reduce socioeconomic inequality in children's well-being. In contrast to the U.S., dozens of low- to middle-income nations use direct cash aid—conditional or unconditional—as a central policy strategy, with demonstrated positive effects across a host of economic and health measures and selected aspects of children's health and schooling. This paper reviews the economic research on U.S. safety net programs and cash aid to families with children and discusses what existing studies reveal about the impacts of cash aid on family investment mechanisms and children's outcomes. We specifically highlight gaps in understanding the impacts of unconditional cash aid on children. We then review nine contemporary unconditional cash transfer programs and discuss their promise and limitations in filling the U.S.-based economic evidence gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the phenomenon of poverty-trap regimes in Mexico, that is, self-reinforcing mechanisms in which municipalities which start poor remain poor. We develop a coordination game of poverty traps driven by strategic interactions of economic agents: people choose to complete or not their education levels since it might be excessively costly and unprofitable. A one-shot game is constructed and then converted into a system of differential equations in which strategies that perform relatively better become more abundant in the population. Applying evolutionary games and symbolic-regimes dynamics (nonparametric and nonlinear techniques), we show that Mexican regions are in poverty-trap regimes (stable and dynamically evolving low-level equilibria) characterized by incomplete education and low income since initial conditions (education and income per capita) are such (very precarious) that poverty is the stable steady-state situation. We examine scenarios to show that to overcome the high-poverty regime by the year 2030, it is necessary to reduce incomplete education by 10% in the 5-year periods 2020–2025 and 2025–2030 and increase per-capita income by 10% in both periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper delves into the concept of Society 5.0, which envisions a future society integrating advanced technologies with human-centred values to address current social challenges. It emphasizes the importance of aligning advanced technologies with human-centred values and social preferences to ensure the success and sustainability of Society 5.0. We offer comprehensive insights into the complex interplay between social welfare preferences and societal progress, emphasizing the significance of understanding and addressing societal preferences to foster inclusive, sustainable, and efficient societies aligned with the objectives of Society 5.0. The findings provide valuable guidance for policymakers and stakeholders in developing targeted interventions and policies that address critical societal challenges and foster progress across various well-being dimensions. The study emphasizes the importance of considering social preferences in the development of Society 5.0 and highlights the need for a holistic approach that integrates social preferences into the development framework. The study unveils that economic success does not guarantee societal advancement, as the array of social preferences reflecting the diversity of SWP impacts a country’s trajectory towards Society 5.0. By combining theoretical and empirical methodologies, we offer robust qualitative and quantitative insights for crafting optimal policies across different scenarios of individual SWPs and their effects on achieving social progress

Tens of millions of people in the world are incarcerated, which may negatively affect them and their families. Visitation may mitigate the negative consequences, but there is little causally identified evidence on its efficacy. To generate plausibly causal estimates, we utilize the fact that incarcerated persons in Denmark are assigned to the prison with open capacity that is closest to their home. The distance-driven variation in visitation coupled with Danish registry data allow us to measure the effects of visitation on incarcerated persons and their families. We find little evidence that visitation affects incarcerated individuals or their family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To ensure sustainable development and public welfare, the complex impact of demographic factors on macroeconomic dynamics should be investigated properly. Moreover, a few of the Sustainable Development Goals are interconnected robustly with demographic issues. There are some trends (e.g., substantial increase in longevity, rapidly lowered fertility, etc.) common for most advanced and emerging market economies. We examined the impact of selected socio-demographic factors on the real GDP per capita growth rates in a sample of the Baltic states and the Central European countries that have experienced economic transformations in the 1990s and either entered or declared their intentions to join the European Union in the future. We investigated general demographic dynamics in the region from 1960 to 2021. Due to the data availability, our special attention was focused primarily on the highlighted countries’ socio-demographic and macroeconomic variables from 2000 to 2021. We suggested that there was a certain interdependence between the working age population stratum specific weight, the elderly demographic dependency ratio, public healthcare spending, gross capital formation, and the real GDP per capita growth rates. In addition, we propose the main priorities for social and demographic policy in the field of well-being improvement. The potential ways to enhance the model – regarding healthcare, education, and the general profile of fiscal policy – have been disclosed as well.

The study aims to investigate the relationship between financial well-being and financial stress while examining the moderating role of gender. The study uses a survey method, and data were collected in Kashmir Province of Jammu and Kashmir, northern India, from 168 respondents selected on a convenience sampling basis. The results strongly supported the hypothesised model and have put forth evidence that financial well-being has a negative impact on financial stress and that this relationship is moderated by gender. The study has important implications for academia, future researchers, governments, and policymakers aiming at improving their citizens’ quality of life, health, and well-being, a key sustainable development goal, and the ultimate goal of the Transformative Consumer Research Agenda.

Urbanization has been argued to be having an impact on several other development challenges. To this end, this paper aims to contribute to the empirical literature by exploring the effect of urbanization and its' magnitude on poverty, both in the short run and long run in Nigeria. The macroeconomic analysis was conducted using data from 1982 to 2017 which was obtained from the World Bank. Bound Test and autoregressive distributed-lag (ARDL) estimation techniques were used to test the existence of a cointegration relationship and to estimate the short and long-run effect of urbanization and other variables on poverty reduction. Results from the study and an economic standpoint, provide strong evidence that urbanization remains an important factor in poverty reduction in Nigeria. The analysis further shows that while international remittances have a positive and significant effect, foreign aid and government expenditure have significant negative effects on poverty reduction in the long-term period. While findings from this study suggest that urbanization remains a valid tool in the fight against poverty, the need for sustainable urbanization policies and efforts by the Nigerian government is highly imperative.

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The problem of economic inequality, manifesting itself in various forms such as uneven distribution of income or wealth, is one of the most important and contradictory problems facing modern scientists in the 21st century. The purpose of this study is to examine the correlation between the level of inclusive development and indicators of inequality in development across the world. VOSviewer was used to conduct bibliometric analysis in the Scopus base, enabling visualization of data on inclusive development. Correlation and regression analysis were employed to assess the relationship between the level of inclusive development and various inequality and discrimination indicators, with all statistical data sourced from the World Bank's collection. It was investigated that in developed countries, there is an inverse relationship between the IDI and Gini index, whereas a direct correlation between the IDI and QLI, HPI, and HDI is observed. Additionally, a direct correlation between the inclusivity of society and the gender neutrality of countries is seen, with the correlation being more pronounced in developed countries. To reduce economic inequality and promote inclusive development, measures should be taken to increase access to educational and training opportunities for disadvantaged groups, as well as to invest in infrastructure and public services in disadvantaged areas.

This article considers how cost-benefit analyses of farm animal policy would be altered if animal interests were to be directly included in the computations. Currently, animals lack standing, their preferences for improved living conditions are not considered in the calculation of costs or benefits of farm policies. While animal welfare receives consideration to the extent that humans value it, human preferences are not fully revealed due to incomplete information and the public good nature of animal welfare. Uncertainty associated with the proper role of farm animal standing in cost-benefit analysis validates the avoidance of policies that would be undesirable if animals possessed standing in cost-benefit analyses.

Both home-grown school feeding (HGSF) and short food supply chain (SFSC) emphasize on proximity and aim to strengthen the competitiveness of local smallholder farmers. From a theoretical perspective, HGSF implemented as a type of SFSC could help deliver synergies. A pivotal question is how HGSF can be combined with SFSC and the benefits and drawbacks of such combination. Using an HGSF program which was implemented as an integral part of a free preschool lunch pilot in South Central China, this paper shows that HGSF and SFSC (in its full term) could be combined through one structured demand intervention. This study uses both qualitative and quantitative materials. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions with government and preschool staff, parents or caregivers, cooks, World Food Programme representatives and other stakeholders involved in the pilot program. The quantitative part used both small panel data and cross-sectional data from 106 smallholders. This study analyzes the design, implementation, good practices, benefits and constraints of the HGSF-SFSC model. We find that direct purchase from smallholder farmers was linked with higher income and production and dietary diversity. Moreover, this study identifies several constraints of the current HGSF-SFSC model. The policy implications for sustaining and scaling up the current pilot are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries, taxation is perceived as a brake on economic growth. Indeed, taxes in most of these countries are not sufficiently adapted to the specificity of the taxpayer and often do not consider the weak administrative capacity of the countries in the region. In this context, reforms have been initiated over the last decade to create tax environments that encourage savings, investment, entrepreneurship, and social innovation. This study provides an overview of research on the effects of taxation on social innovation and the corresponding implications for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries, taking three approaches: thematic, chronological, and methodological. Most studies agree that high taxes in business undermine social innovation and thus the achievement of SDGs, as social innovation is known to be a driver of most SDGs and business the vehicle. The majority of the selected studies used primary data collected from samples whose representativeness with respect to the population concerned (notably businesses) is still not explicitly justified.

This article explores the role of long-term relatedness between countries, captured by an index of genetic distance, in driving worldwide differences in income inequality. The main hypothesis is that genetic distance gives rise to barriers to the international diffusion of redistributive policies and measures, and institutions, leading to greater income disparities. Using cross-country data, I consistently find that countries that are genetically distant to Denmark—the world frontier of egalitarian income distribution—tend to suffer from higher inequality, ceteris paribus. I also demonstrate that genetic distance is associated with greater bilateral differences in income inequality between countries. Employing data from the European Social Survey, I document that second-generation Europeans descending from countries with greater genetic distance to Denmark are less likely to exhibit positive attitudes towards equality. Further evidence suggests that effective fiscal redistribution is a key mechanism through which genetic distance to Denmark transmits to greater income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social spending in Croatia is mainly based on social protection, public healthcare and education policies. There are two forms of investing in children through the social spending provided by central and local governments: cash and in-kind transfers. This paper describes the impacts of such social spending on households with children in Croatia and its capital, Zagreb. Making use of a microsimulation model, the income distribution of cash and in-kind transfers and their impacts on poverty and inequality are assessed. Compared to cash transfers, in-kind transfers, including local government subsidies, are relatively evenly distributed, income independent, and thus roughly equally important for the entire population. Their value greatly exceeds that of monetary transfers. Results demonstrate the progressive effect of transfers in kind on income distribution by reducing income inequality and poverty. This research seeks to emphasise the importance of using augmented income in the analysis of income inequality and poverty, instead of solely monetary disposable income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]