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Despite the rapid growth of the sector, academic research on microcredit programs is still limited. In the economic development literature, the prevailing thesis is that the inadequate regulatory context is the main factor that explains the untapped potential of microfinance industry in developed economies. In this context, this paper proposes the use of microcredit not only in order to achieve social inclusion, but also above all to promote the socioeconomic development of a territory, according to sustainable development principles. Thus, the study meets the need to rebalance a territory through a stable programming approach. This research uses a multi-objective programming model, as it allows better representation of decision problems, describing the impacts on the pursued objectives, and finding a solution for reaching the best possible compromise among them. The paper sets out to examine the economic benefits of a microcredit proposal in relation to a specific project for the development of the female entrepreneurship in an Italian region. The findings reveal that multi-objective methods allow evaluating the impacts on the objectives associated to the chosen solution, to compare them with those associable to different solutions, and, finally, to reach the best compromise possible among the pursued objectives, according to external and internal constraints established by policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles (EVs) have received significant global attention due to the high energy efficiency and low pollutant emissions. In recent years, the Chinese government has allocated considerable funding and taken a number of legislative and regulatory steps for promoting the deployment of EVs. However, the increasing trend of EV adoption is not satisfying. In this paper, we investigate the factors that influence the diffusion of EVs in China from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Considering that decision makers' evaluation information is often imprecise and there can be significant dependence and feedback among influencing factors, a three-phase framework based on 2-tuple linguistic method and decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) is proposed. First, a set of specific influencing factors is identified through a literature review and expert interviews. Second, direct relations of the influencing factors are evaluated using the 2-tuple linguistic method. Third, the critical factors influencing the diffusion of EVs in China are determined via the DEMATEL technique. According to the results of an empirical case study, ‘technological level’, ‘policies and regulations’, ‘consumer acceptance and expectation’, ‘price and models’, and ‘market structure and competition’ are critical factors influencing the diffusion of EVs in the Chinese market, which should be emphasized by the government and automakers for the benefits of EV development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies commercial sectors suitable for a shift to electric mobility in Denmark and Germany by analysing daily driving distance. The paper concludes that construction, human health and other service sectors are the most suitable sectors for electric mobility because many vehicles are registered in these sectors and daily mileage is reasonably low. They should be primary target groups of specific policy measures to promote the use of electric vehicles. Both Denmark and Germany have incentives to promote the use of electric vehicles. Nevertheless, electric vehicles do generally not show economic benefits unless travel distance is high. However, today the travel range of large vans is an important barrier for electrification due to battery weight and the limitation of 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight for driving with a normal driving licence. The rule needs amendments for electric vehicles, as has been done in Germany. The paper recommends EU countries follow the German rule allowing EVs up to 4.25 tonnes to be driven with a class B licence, thereby potentially creating a market for big vans with long travel range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do parties offer environmental policies in their political programs? While a number of papers examine the determinants of citizens’ pro-environmental behaviour, we know little about the extent to which political parties adjust their platform towards environmentalism. We investigate this process through data provided by the Manifesto Project Dataset (CMP) for 20 European countries over the period 1970-2008. Following the literature on public concern towards environment, we examine economic, environmental and political determinants. Our findings provide evidence that political parties’ environmental concern is strongly correlated with their political ideology and with country-level economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stakeholder's strategies in encouraging wide-scale market penetration depend on their perceptions. This study focuses on perceptions of Danish practitioners in policy-making organizations regarding the perceived challenges, opportunities and policy initiatives for the majority-market adoption of electric commercial vehicles (ECVs) in commercial sector in Denmark. We propose a new four-step expert-based technique, named COPE-SMARTER, for evaluating the market diffusion of environmental friendly technologies by combining SWOT analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques. We focus on the perceptions regarding: (i) the potential promotional strength of motivators for ECV market penetration, (ii) the severity of the technological, financial, physical and operational challenges, (iii) the efficiency of policy initiatives in encouraging the market diffusion of ECVs, (iv) the expected market penetration rates for ECVs by target year. The results show the strength of the COPE-SMARTER approach in generating a clear, coherent, and tractable evaluation. Severe challenges are financial, operational and technological, with high purchase prices being by far the most severe. The opportunities are financial and environmental, with overall savings in the long-term as the opportunity with the highest promotional strength. Effective policy initiatives are low registration fee for ECVs, state subsidies for the purchase or use of ECVs, and emission-based taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governance and rural development programmes such as the European Union's LEADER programme are claimed in the policy literature to mobilise the involvement of the third sector in local development decision-making. Tracing the emergence of the third sector from the collapse of the socialist regime in the late 1980s to the aftermath of Poland's EU LEADER programme, this paper presents nation-wide data relating to the changing profile of the third sector in Poland's rural areas over time. Our analysis suggests that the implementation of the Polish LEADER + Pilot Programme (2004–2006) and the LEADER 4th Axis in Rural Development Programme (2007–2013) resulted in a significant increase in the number of third sector organisations. Using secondary data to examine the factors attributed to this increase, we found that the financial support offered by the LEADER programme incentivised the formal registration of third sector organisations. However, an analysis of primary data found that third sector organisations' dependence on acquiring funding constrained how they identified and achieved their own objectives. Nonetheless, we found that active involvement of the third sector in LAGs had a positive impact on the latter's engagement with local inhabitants in activities such as formulating local development strategies. We conclude that now, over a decade since the initiation of the Polish LEADER programme, the third sector has grown exponentially but its institutional character remains in flux. The presence of the third sector, its resources, and its power in rural governance is patchy. A greater period of time and targeted policy supports are required for the third sector to have a more defined and powerful presence in inter-sectoral partnerships and in rural areas more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the existing cross-regional diversity of delivery models in the sector of suburban passenger transportation in Russia by building a formal model of endogenous organisational choice. We develop a conceptual game-theoretic framework that allows for the trusting partnership to have become equilibrium in a regulatory bargaining game with delegation. The monopoly service provider initiates a more cooperative relationship with regional authorities by offering a share in the joint venture. The latter being benevolent welfare maximiser either accepts or rejects the offer taking into account transportation market characteristics, local budget constraints, information structure, as well as socio-economic and political factors. Once the partnership is formed the private information of the parties is revealed and information rent is eliminated creating the room for welfare improvement. However, ex ante rational organisational choice to form a trusting partnership may not lead to welfare improvement ex post. In the extended model we consider how concessionary passengers and fare-dodgers affect the bargaining outcomes. Our results can be generalized to characterize the diversity of organizational choices in the public sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]