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Early papers found empirical support for a natural resource curse—the notion that exporting natural resources is detrimental to economic growth. Later papers, using reportedly improved econometric models and data, largely reversed these early findings by estimating that natural resources improve economic performance. However, this changing coefficient on natural resource dependence over time may not only be a function of model or data quality. Masked by this evolution in the economics literature is the possibility that the fundamental relationship between natural resources and economic performance has changed over the past several decades. This paper sheds a new perspective on the substantial resource curse literature by repeatedly estimating a single econometric model on data that evolve over time. The coefficient on natural resource dependence is estimated to steadily increases with the passage of time from a value that is negative and significant (for 1970, the basis for much of the early literature) to a positive and significant value a few decades later. Whatever natural resource estimated initially with data from 1970 seems to have evolved into a resource blessing over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As economic development continues to advance globally, countries are increasingly focused on the green transformation of their economies. This paper employs a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and entropy weighting methodology to construct and assess an indicator system for economic green transformation, taking into account environmental pollution. The analysis is based on panel data from 215 prefecture-level cities in China between 2015 and 2019. The two-way fixed effects model and moderating effect model are employed to investigate the influence of land finance on economic green transformation and to ascertain the moderating effect mechanism of local government debt. The study's conclusions are as follows: (1) Land finance impedes the transition to a green economy. (2) Local government debt is a major factor that restricts the influence of land finance on the transition to a green economy; as local government debt levels rise, land finance's role in impeding the transition to a green economy rises, and a positive moderating effect occurs. (3) Depending on the urban geographic location, the size of the economy and other factors, the impact of local government debt and land finance on the economic green transition varies. This empirical study demonstrates that the more local government debt there is in an eastern region or city with a bigger economic output scale, the more of an inhibitory influence land finance has on the economic transition to a green economy. In light of this, the paper suggests that the land finance policy be updated at the appropriate time, that the land market be regulated, that the government's reliance on land finance be gradually decreased, that the nature and amount of public debt be actively optimised, that the industrial infrastructure be enhanced to facilitate the transition towards a more environmentally sustainable economy, and that other suggestions be made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this conceptual paper is to provide the reader with a methodological toolkit for analysing China's transition to a new economic trajectory based on qualitative production factors such as research and development and innovation, as well as highly skilled human capital, etc., which thereby could help the country in escaping the middle-income trap. The nature of the proposed methodology is impact assessment, i.e., the paper discusses the ways and means of assessing and predicting the impact of policy measures on the economy. The use of a specific set of indicators and the application of the DEA-SBM and the PSM-DID models is proposed for quantitative analyses amended by the Markov Chain Model for predictions. The main contribution of this paper to the existing body of knowledge is the proposition of a comprehensive model for evaluating economic development in general. By exploring the role of economic policies, a deeper understanding can be obtained of how the economy should be reformed and developed. It is a valuable and practical approach to compare differences and solve problems at the macro, mezzo, and microeconomic levels that can be applied to other regions and countries facing similar challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is a growing concern across the globe due to climate change and demands for increased economic development. This paper analyses the relationship between economic development and freshwater abstraction in order to investigate its European impact. The analysis focuses on a total of 19 European countries, including 18 EU member states and one candidate, from 2007 to 2018. Using a panel dataset, the impact of a diverse selection of indicators of economic development (per capita GDP, the Human Development Index - HDI, water productivity and volume of international trade) on freshwater abstraction, our analysis finds that all explanatory variables are significant for cross-country variations except for international trade. To maintain scope, the analysis is limited to economic-development indicators themselves, excluding the effects of climate change and the availability of water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AGIs (agricultural geographical indicators) are effective quality signals that can improve market welfare, but few studies have investigated the impact of AGIs on economic development. To fill this gap, this paper explores the impact of AGIs on per capita GDP and its mechanisms, according to country-level data in China from 2000 to 2018. For every additional AGI in the country, GDP per capita increased by 0.2–0.4%. Our conclusion remained reliable after various robustness tests. These effects were more salient in western areas, the main grain-producing areas, and settled areas. AGIs related to aquatic environments, animal husbandry, and planting products promoted economic development most significantly. For these effects, encouraging an increase in agricultural value (improving the quantity and quality of products) and promoting the agglomeration of populations, capital, and enterprises in the agricultural sector were the main mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In each country, in the economy observed over long periods of time, usually we can find some developmental phases due to socioeconomic changes, globalization, political decisions, and unexpected events. The identification of such phases, their duration, turning points in the trends of macroeconomic indicators, and some other early signals comprise interesting goals for research. The aim of this paper is to find homogeneous phases in the economic development of Poland from 2007-2019. Eight monthly variables were used, including data on labour markets, salaries, inflation, manufacturing, retail sales, exports, and the overall business climate. This multidimentional time-series dataset was partitioned using cluster analysis methods, namely Ward's agglomerative method and k-means. Seven sub-periods have been found and they are illustrated by segmented trends and displayed as models and graphs. Economic interpretation of the developments in the phases is explained and interpreted below. Looking at the periods that have been found, one can consider the quality of economic and political decisions, both within the world in general and the European economic situation. This paper presents original periodisation of Poland's economy and is based on real monthly data with the use of a clustering approach to multidimensional time series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several issues related to designing and operating wastewater and sanitation systems have become more complex in emerging economies like the Philippines. The challenge of such sustainable wastewater management or a lack thereof is characterized by interrelated political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors where rapidly growing population and urbanization are exacerbating the challenges. The selection of the most appropriate technique to assess the system’s current state and design a resilient and sustainable wastewater system is deemed necessary. This paper aims to provide a PRISMA-guided systematic review to synthesize and analyse the existing literature on the application of planning models to wastewater management systems. A comprehensive search of relevant databases, such as Scopus and Google Scholar, is applied to identify initially relevant studies. A total of 3178 studies were identified from the search for the last 15 years (2007-2022) using the keywords “planning model” AND "wastewater management systems" OR “planning models” AND “wastewater management” OR “waste_water management.” The result of the systematic review shows limited planning methodologies that could address uncertainty in the design of wastewater management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When sulfur is left in fuel, it has a tendency to be oxidized during combustion and cause problems to engines and harm when released into the atmosphere. One way to reduce sulfur content is by adsorptive desulfurization, which makes use of solid materials as adsorbents to adsorb sulfur from fuel selectively. This process is gaining interest from researchers as it can produce a high sulfur yield at mild temperatures and pressure, and the use of effective and regenerative adsorbents can lower the cost of the process. Clay adsorbents, like kaolinite, bentonite, and montmorillonite, are being studied as their availability and low cost make them good candidates. The objective of this paper is to review studies making use of bentonite as a desulfurization adsorbent and determine future research topics in this scope. It also aims to gain insight into the performance of bentonite and its mechanism in adsorbing different sulfur compounds. Several studies have made use of bentonite as an adsorbent for different compounds, specifically dibenzothiophene, dibenzothiophene sulfone, benzothiophene sulfone, dimethyl sulfide, propyl-mercaptan, and thiophene. Though these studies showed the wide range of effectiveness of bentonite to adsorb sulfur, modification to the adsorbent generally increases its effectiveness as it encourages chemisorption between the adsorbent and target molecule. It also aids in improving the physical properties of the adsorbent, like the surface area available for adsorption. The review showed that modifications to bentonite improved its performance in adsorbing sulfur, presenting the potential for industrial use with further research. For future studies, other modifications of bentonite can be investigated, such as activation and impregnation of other ions for adsorption of other sulfur compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The release of sulfur-containing compounds into the atmosphere has been a widespread environmental issue throughout the world. In producing fuel oils, oxidative desulfurization (ODS) has been a widely studied alternative method to hydrodesulfurization, as it requires lower operating parameters. Mixing-assisted oxidative desulfurization (MAOD) is a modification of the ODS process that employs high-shear mixing to enhance fluid/fluid interfacial area between an oxidant and a fuel. Since MAOD is a relatively new field, not all common ODS oxidants and catalysts have been applied to the process. This paper reviews common oxidant-catalysts used in the MAOD process, namely, H2O2 and Fe(VI) oxidants, along with heteropoly acids (HPA) and acetic acid catalysts. The majority of MAOD studies have shown that H2O2 is commonly preferred as it is cheap, easily available, and environmentally friendly. HPA consists of polyoxometalate anions that create intermediate products in reaction with H2O2 to enhance oxidation. A highly effective HPA in MAOD studies is phosphotungstic acid (HPW). Optimization studies that used the H2O2-HPW oxidant/catalyst system reported sulfur conversions ranging from 82 % and above. The highest sulfur removal of 100 % was achieved at 40 °C operating temperature, 10,000 rpm agitation speed, and 1:1 PTA to catalyst ratio for this system. In addition, the incorporation of activated carbon to HPW was reported to enhance the desulfurization performance, with the AC acting as a catalyst and an adsorbent. On the other hand, Fe(VI) has a high redox potential among commonly utilized oxidants in ODS. Fe(VI) is usually paired with an acetic acid catalyst as the high redox potential is achieved at acidic conditions. However, the separation and recycling of acetic acid after desulfurization has been seen as a potential challenge. With this, ODS studies have paired Fe(VI) with solid superacid, such as SO42−/γ-Al2O3, for their highly acidic strength, and environmental friendliness. An optimization study reported sulfur removal of 91.3 % using a Fe (VI)-SO42−/γ-Al2O3 system and 100 % using H2O2/UIO-66(Zr) system. These systems can be subjected to MAOD for a potential increase in sulfur conversion. Applying further optimization to lower economic and environmental implications may be advantageous for possible scale-up applications of the MAOD process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been a crucial trade and development initiative, offering preferential access to qualified Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to the United States market since its enactment in 2000. This paper presents a comprehensive review of scholarly articles and policy reports that analyze the impact of AGOA on the economic performance of SSA countries. Employing various econometric methods and data analysis techniques, researchers have investigated the effects of AGOA on trade flows, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, employment, economic growth, and poverty levels. The findings reveal that AGOA has positively affected the region's trade, particularly in apparel, textiles, and agriculture. However, its influence on promoting export diversification and attracting FDI is nuanced, with substantial heterogeneity among the beneficiary countries and industries within each country. While some SSA countries have experienced substantial export growth and FDI inflows, others have not fully leveraged the benefits of AGOA due to absorptive capacity constraints and governance challenges. AGOA's effectiveness in promoting broad-based employment, GDP growth, and poverty reduction remains an active area of inquiry, necessitating further research to understand the policy's sustained impact and inform future trade policy designs for SSA countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of key financial indicators influencing the operational efficiency of banks in Jordan over the period 2006 to 2021. The study, focusing on fifteen commercial banks, employs seven regression models to assess the impact of selected variables on bank operating efficiency. Our findings reveal novel insights with substantial contributions to banking practice. We identify a statistically significant influence of both bank-specific factors and temporal effects, demonstrating the nuanced dynamics shaping the operational efficiency of Jordanian banks. Notably, a positive and significant correlation is established between the operating efficiency ratio and return on assets, bank size, and the ratio of loan loss provisions to net interest income, providing valuable strategic guidance for effective management. Conversely, a significant negative relationship is observed between the operating efficiency ratio and the total expense ratio, underscoring the critical importance of careful cost management. No significant associations are found between the operating efficiency ratio and credit risk, the equity-to-asset ratio, the deposit-to-liability ratio, and the equity-to-liability ratio. This study makes a unique contribution by shedding light on these previously unexplored correlations, offering actionable insights for enhancing operational efficiency in the banking sector. Additionally, our research advocates for the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) to persist in adaptive policy measures, which are crucial for ongoing banking reforms and improved monitoring practices. Based on our empirical findings, these recommendations aim to fortify the resilience and adaptability of Jordan's banking sector, contributing both academically and practically. Importantly, they reinforce the symbiotic link between a stable banking sector and sustained economic development in Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines a paradigmatic example of post-conflict economic development of Vukovar, Croatia. It represents a pertinent case study for localities encountering analogous challenges, most notably urban areas in Ukraine in the near future. The war that broke out in 1991 brought significant human casualties, population displacement, and extensive destruction of residential, social, and economic infrastructure. The completion of the peaceful reintegration of Vukovar into Croatia's legal system in 1998 marked the beginning of the socio-economic revitalization process. The research scrutinizes the primary impediments and prospects for Vukovar's economic growth, probing why substantial investments in reconstructing housing, transport, communal infrastructure, and fiscal incentives for businesses have not paralleled its economic performance. It concentrates on the local business climate and influential factors as potential explanations for this discrepancy. The topic was designed as a case study and was covered by document analysis, survey method, and semi-structured interviews. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the study collates perspectives from entrepreneurs and business support institutions. The results confirmed that reconstruction of housing and social infrastructure is necessary, but more conditions are needed for successful post-conflict economic development, and that the business climate in lagging local units highly depends on state- and locally designed business-support measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the conditions of the modern global economy, tax policy is a direct tool of management that influences the economic development of the country. This paper dwells on the assessment of the interconnection between tax policy and economic development of the Kyrgyz Republic. The paper considers the issue of adapting the country’s tax policy to the conditions of the world economy, as well as to domestic needs and possibilities. This research focuses on the specific features of Kyrgyzstan's tax system, including the structure and recent changes in the legislation and their influence on fiscal policy and economic indicators. The authors emphasize that to achieve sustainable economic growth and raise the population’s well-being, it is important to create a tax system that would adequately react to the changes in the world economy. This paper contains a detailed analysis of macroeconomic factors and key economic indicators that is aimed at determining the current trends and potential opportunities for the optimisation of the tax burden. Special attention is paid to the development of tax tools that facilitate the formation of a favourable environment for sustainable economic development and prosperity of the national economy. This research is a complete overview of the tax system of the Kyrgyz Republic, with an analysis of the recent changes in the context of their impact on fiscal policy and economic indicators. Summing up, this paper distinguishes the strategic significance of effective tax policy for the stimulation of sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a correlation between economic growth and the increase in living standards, economic theory is evident in the purpose of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measurement. GDP measures only the production capacity and economic growth, not the nation's development, as often claimed by policymakers. Furthermore, as several studies show, by focusing on economic growth and neglecting the other two crucial systems, the ecosystem, and the social system, we will not be able to achieve economic growth in the future. Since the GDP was developed in 1937, it has faced criticism not only for its limitation related to its construction. Also, the concept of economic growth is currently being challenged and being replaced by the pursuit of sustainable development. Therefore, the role of GDP, as an economic growth indicator, in our economy needs to be clarified and re-assessed. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of the GDP in the era of sustainable development. To achieve this, we investigated the historical development of various measures of economic growth, as well as the historical development of the GDP as an economic growth metric. Furthermore, we argue that the future of GDP should be in the multi-dimensional indicators, which are used to measure the sustainable development of a country, as opposed to a self-standing single-dimensional measure of economic growth. As a case study, we also construct two measures, based on Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) using the free online software 'SuperDecisions: our Simple three-dimensional index of the nation's growth and the enhanced holistic three-dimensional index - Holistic Nation's Growth Index. Using the AHP method, we showcase the difference between the countries' rankings if we consider only economic growth and if we focus on the country's development more holistically. Our comparative study reveals that it is not enough to look only at three main systems, the economic, social, and ecosystem while assessing the countries' development. It is necessary to also investigate and try to capture the relationships between those three main systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What determines the differences in economic performance across European regions? In addressing this question, this paper takes inspiration from two different approaches. One approach highlights the role of capability-building, of a technological or social nature, while another perspective emphasizes the potential advantages of proximity and, hence, a relatively diversified economic structure, for regional economic performance. The paper argues that the impacts of capability-building and diversification on regional economic development need to be assessed jointly. Using information for 261 regions at NUTS2 level in 27 European countries in the 2000s, novel data sources are exploited to construct measures of technological and social capabilities, which are combined with indicators of related and unrelated variety in the analysis of regional economic dynamics. The results suggest that capability-building play a key role in regional economic development while the results for diversification are more mixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economy has shifted from the stage of high-speed growth to the stage of high-quality development. This paper selects panel data of 30 provinces, municipalities directly under the Central Government and autonomous regions (except Tibet) in mainland China with the time dimension of 2006–2016, selects indicators from five dimensions of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and sharing, uses principal component analysis to construct a system of indicators of high-quality economic development, and uses the spatial Durbin model to empirically the impact of government investment behavior in the three industries on the regional economic high-quality development was studied. The results show that: first, there is a significant positive spatial correlation between China's economic quality development. Second, government investment in different industries has different effects on the quality development of the economy. Investment in the tertiary industry can boost employment, raise income level, promote economic quality development, and enhance sharing, coordination and innovation; investment in the secondary industry can enhance innovation, but because of the "crowding-out effect", it will reduce openness and sharing, and is not conducive to promoting economic quality development; investment in the primary industry can Investment in the primary industry can significantly improve coordination, but it will reduce innovation, greenness, openness and sharing, which will also have a negative impact on the overall high-quality economic development. Third, there is a significant spatial spillover effect of government investment behavior on regional economic quality development, and the economic quality development of this region will have an impact on neighboring regions. Finally, based on the research results, this paper puts forward countermeasure suggestions for promoting high-quality economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the capital market and the evolution of Romania's economic growth, examining the correlation between the main indicators of the two economic and financial mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial development and economic growth in the period 2000-2020, using indicators for the development of the stock market sector and the macroeconomic environment. Most of the existing studies on this topic address the markets of developed economies, but we believe that the degree of correlation may differ in the case of less developed countries. This paper tries to bring its contribution to the specialized literature by studying the indicators in the case of Romania, during the period when this developing market aspires to the status of an emerging market and in the context in which this promotion took place in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the connection between measures of a U.S. metropolitan area's new urban crisis (i.e., unaffordable housing, economic inequality, and residential segregation) and its year-over-year employment change in the period immediately before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that measures of the new urban crisis did not generally have a statistically significant association with year-over-year employment change between January and September of 2020, which captures the period before COVID-19 and the beginning of the pandemic (e.g., shutdown). The severity of a region's economic segregation and inequality, however, are associated with higher rates of employment decline in the early recovery months of October to December of 2020. These findings suggest that places that rate worse for indicators of the new urban crisis were less able to recover from the negative economic shocks related to COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, several studies using various methods for analysis have tried to evaluate factors affecting knowledge creation activity, but few analyses quantitatively account for the impact that economic determinants have on them. This paper introduces a non-parametric method to structurally analyze changes in information and communication technology (ICT) patenting trends as representative outcomes of knowledge creation activity with economic indicators. For this, the authors established a symmetric model that enables several economic contributors to be decomposed through the perspective of ICTs' research and development (R&D) performance, industrial change, and overall manufacturing growth. Additionally, an empirical analysis of some countries from 2001 to 2009 was conducted through this model. This paper found that all countries except the United States experienced an increase of 10.5-267.4% in ICT patent applications, despite fluctuations in the time series. It is interesting that the changes in ICT patenting of each country generally have a negative relationship with the intensity of each country's patent protection system. Positive determinants include ICT R&D productivity and overall manufacturing growth, while ICT industrial change is a negative determinant in almost all countries. This paper emphasizes that each country needs to design strategic plans for effective ICT innovation. In particular, ICT innovation activities need to be promoted by increasing ICT R&D investment and developing the ICT industry, since ICT R&D intensity and ICT industrial change generally have a low contribution to ICT patenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key preoccupation and focus of the analytical attention of this paper is the consideration of the causative and consequential relations between the political and economic dimension of social life, that is, passing the boundary line between economy and politics. The major debate in this paper is: what is the causal relationship between democracy and economic development? When we are debating the Democracy-Development Nexus, the key finding of the analysis is reflected in the fact that, in spite of what the evidence in the scholarly literature is mixed and inconclusive, there is little disagreement that over time democracy and development are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Although a strong positive link between the GDP per capita (key indicator of economic development) and the degree of development of the democratic structure in the case of selected transition economies has been confirmed, democracy, however, does not exclusively depend on the state of the economy, and economic weakness does not translate directly into the impossibility of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the pedestrian pavement application of the green building material rubber concrete. As the majority of worn-out tyres are discarded in landfills in large masses, the looming threat over the environment is becoming more tangible. The "black pollution" waste tire rubber is mixed into the concrete, which not only solves the problem of black pollution, but also provides a new concrete material that is more resistant to cracking than the current concrete pavement for road construction. In order to study the applicability of rubber concrete pedestrian pavement, this paper uses the axial compressive strength test to measure the rubber content of rubber concrete suitable for use in pedestrian pavement. The rubber content is to replace 20 % of the volume of fine aggregate with rubber particles, and then the rubber with this mix ratio is used. Concrete flexural experiments were carried out to explore the mechanical properties of rubberized concrete. The results show that the mechanical properties of rubberized concrete meet the requirements of pavement construction, and the flexural strength is about 20 % higher than that of ordinary concrete of the same strength. In addition, the incorporation of rubber particles improves the cracking resistance of concrete as measured by early and long-term crack resistance experiments. The number of short-term cracking cracks is much smaller than that of ordinary concrete, and the long-term drying shrinkage rate is about 1/2 of that of conventional concrete. It can be seen that rubberized concrete not only meets the requirements of sustainable development, but also satisfied the mechanical and service performance of pavement construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The priority areas for the development of different purposes ceramics technology are the energy-saving technologies creation and the reduction of production energy costs. The main efforts should be directed to the implementation of energy-saving reserves at the firing stage of products as the most energy-intensive technological operation. The necessity of temperature reduction and the firing time shortening requires special attention to the ceramic masses and glazes prescripts, designed to ensure high-quality products under energy)saving firing conditions. This paper considers the new approach for low-temperature masses and frit-free glaze development and presents an algorithm for composition designing in the production of building, technical and household ceramics. Examples of the original and low-cost method used for the energy-saving reserves implementation in porcelain slabs, electrical, sanitary and tableware porcelain production are given. The effectiveness of the proposed method was experimentally confirmed. Its use made it possible to reduce the firing temperature of products by 100-150 °C, significantly shorten the production cycle and, as a result, reduce energy costs by 15-20 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical engineering is a complicated combination of skills that depends on the curricula, teachers, and teaching environment and it requires huge resources to prepare skilled personnel for chemical and related industries. Chemical plant specialists face new challenges as digital and energy transition, new products and processes, circularity paradigm, etc. All these need awareness of new trends and the capability to solve related industrial problems. This paper presents a computer-aided process engineering-based (CAPE-based) curricula development that supports continuous improvements of chemical plants and speeds up the application of up)to-date knowledge directly to industrial practice. The approach is based on the interplay of engineers, plant managers and university professors in solving the real industrial problem. The procedure is supported by a cloud-based CAPE environment for teaching, training, and producing the project results. The industrial problems are identified by the plant personnel and appropriate engineers are assigned by managers. The specific structure of the curricula presumes face-to-face, online and hybrid training and consulting in a triangle engineer, plant supervisor, and professor to solve a problem in the chemical and petrochemical industry. The pool of university professors is adjusted to cover all necessary tasks, provide up-to-date knowledge, and give a new paradigm to engineering thinking. The fellows improve in machine learning, data science, communication skills, presentation skills, economic assessment, etc., to increase the importance of the company. As the real results of one of the case studies, the steam consumption of the petrochemical plant was reduced by 64 % and the yield of the production unit was increased. Eleven case studies were solved covering energy and resource efficiency, wastewater treatment, by-product recycling, new product development and other issues. As the final project results the mechanical specification of the equipment, new plant layout and economic efficiency were assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of renewable energy sources as a solution to the energy dependency on fossil fuels requires innovative solutions to the issue of energy storage. Among the solutions suggested in the literature, electrothermal energy storage comprised of a heat pump and a heat engine using transcritical CO2 cycles, water as a thermal energy storage (TES) fluid to store sensible heat and ice as a cold storage medium to store latent heat, appears promising. In this paper, a steady state mathematical model of the system is developed using Aspen Plus V11, validated and compared against results available in the literature. The validated model’s performance is then studied utilizing parametric sensitivity analysis by exploring the effect of different parameters on multiple efficiency metrics, with the best case achieving improvement on the round-trip efficiency (ηR-T) of 7.64 %. The hydraulic turbine inlet temperature and the heat engine minimum pressure are found to contribute the most to the ηR-T improvement, with the minimum pressure being the one that can be further decreased by using cold TES mediums with lower freezing points. Finally, the effect of alternative cold TES mediums (with lower freezing temperature than ice) on the performance of the system is evaluated. It was concluded, that the ηR-T of the model decreases as the freezing temperature declines, from 46.90 % at 0 °C to 44.90 % at -20.19 °C. As a result, no benefit related to the ηR-T of the model can be deduced by choosing cold TES mediums with lower freezing p than ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the presented in this paper research is to give the physicochemical and morphological characterization of one of the most popular among Kazakhstani people peloid of Moiyldy lake. The results could lead to a more complex use of their potential as a self-healing source of biologically active components of natural origin as an environmentally safe material. A review of the available studies of natural mud in Kazakhstan has shown the absence of systematic studies of the composition and structure of peloids in the North-Eastern part of the country. For the first time, a comparative analysis of the data obtained with previous studies of peloids of other Kazakhstan regions was carried out. The results indicate that the studied samples of therapeutic mud have a medium mineralized, slightly alkaline continental origin with an insignificant content of humic carbon (3.861 %). It is characterized by an increased concentration of ammonium (253,849 mg kg-1 ), which is the biologically active component that has anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects. Based on the elemental content, it is concluded that elements whose gross concentrations exceed the accepted values are bismuth (41.4 times), tantalum (10.6 times), and cesium (8.0 times). The mineralogical and elemental analysis results demonstrate diverse composition that allows biologically active elements synergistically empower their effect and expand the scope of the therapeutic application of peloid in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cement manufacturing is an energy-intensive industry and is the third largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter accounting for 8 % of the world’s total emissions. There are mitigations to limit its carbon footprint through process optimization and using alternatives to fossil-derived fuels. Another technological option to meet the higher carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction target is carbon capture. The post-combustion process is considered the most straightforward and widely studied among carbon capture technologies (CCTs) in advanced stages of development for industrial application. However, the progress of CCTs on an industrial scale has been hindered by low profitability due to the high capital necessary to upscale the technology and retrofit industrial plants. Sales from utilizing the captured CO2 and carbon taxing and trading benefit the application of these technologies. This paper proposes a methodology built from the P-graph and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to aid in the planning of retrofitting cement plants with post-CCTs in a cap-and-trade environment utilizing an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Three alternative post-combustion technologies were considered, namely monoethanolamine (MEA) absorption technology, chilled ammonia process (CAP), and membrane-assisted liquefaction (MEM). The criteria used to prioritize alternatives are the net CO2 avoided, profitability, and the retrofitability of the technology to an existing plant. The results suggest that CAP is the most profitable based on P-graph calculation. However, MEA is the most optimal network considering the importance of net CO2 avoided and the level of retrofitability. Further sensitivity analysis of the model shows that CAP is the most applicable technology once the profitability score exceeds 0.8341. CAP and MEA will have an equal ranking at a retrofitability score of 0.0632. More than this score, the latter outranked the other two technologies. Finally, MEM surpassed CAP and MEA at a minimum net CO2 avoided score of 0.7079. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater is a limited and irreversible resource that is essential for human existence. Freshwater conservation is one of the critical components for sustainable development, socioeconomic development, a healthy ecosystem and social survival. Pinch Analysis, a tool in process integration, can be used to conserve freshwater resources in water conservation networks (WCNs). In many WCNs, multiple freshwater resources exist; the primary objective is cost-effectively conserving freshwater. Typically, WCN problems with up to two freshwater resources are efficiently solved using the existing methodologies in Pinch Analysis. In WCNs with three or more freshwater resources, replacing some freshwater resources with a combination of other freshwater is possible and may lead to a cost-optimal solution. This replacement strategy will be demonstrated for the first time in this paper. This paper aims to develop an algorithm based on Pinch Analysis to identify the replacement criteria for freshwater resources. The proposed algorithm is graphically represented with the help of a cost vs. concentration sensitivity diagram. The proposed algorithm is explained through a numerical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement of an economic indicator or phenomenon starts by defining it first and determining its components. Tax evasion as a component of the underground economy is a phenomenon that is hard to be observed and estimated because of its hidden nature. To be able to compare the figures for tax evasion from different countries, there is the need for a definition internationally accepted. This paper aims to make a literature review on the phenomenon and to find a definition that is widely accepted. In this area, not only the literature review is important but also the legislation from different countries. We will look closely at the definition of tax evasion given by the legislation of different countries from the EU and the USA. In the literature, there are several methods to estimate the underground economy. There are direct methods (questionnaire), indirect methods (indicator methods), and statistical methods (MIMIC), but all of them have their shortcomings. In the paper, all the shortcomings of each method used in the present are discussed to estimate the underground economy. As a conclusion, we can state that at the present moment there is not a definition internationally accepted for the underground economy, making it hard to estimate and to compare the results from different countries. In addition, the methods used to estimate the phenomenon have advantages and disadvantages. None of the methods is better than the other. When estimating the underground economy, it is advised to use more than one method. At this moment it is safe to say that the link between theory and empirical estimation is still unsatisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adequate level of basic financial knowledge of the population contributes to achieving individual well-being, ensuring the stability of financial markets, and proper functioning of the economy. This paper aims to identify Romania's position on financial literacy indicators, compared to other European countries, and to investigate the link between financial literacy, economic development, and financial development at a cross-country level. The findings reveal that Romania has the lowest level of financial literacy, although its income per capita is not the lowest in the European Union (EU). The low financial inclusion in Romania is strongly linked to inadequate financial education. Moreover, the population underestimates the benefits of long-term savings. These results challenge Romanian policymakers to develop effective financial education tools and programs, aimed at increasing financial awareness and financial literacy of population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

he purpose of this paper is to analyze whether Kosovo is benefiting from being partof the eurozone or should start thinking on leaving eurozone by starting to issue its own currency.As a new country with a developing economy we know that staying within the eurozone conditions a reduction in inflation and all this affects the slowdown the rapidity of economic development. This has led it us to analyse whether staying in the eurozone is beneficial for Kosovo. The data collected in this paper are primary data obtained from the basic literature analysis, as well as the secondary data analyzed according to the descriptive analysis by observing and analyzing the macroeconomic and financial indicators in Kosovo. The findings of the study show that in the current situation, both politically and economically, there are more benefits of using euro than its own currency for Kosovo.Because of being part of eurozone, Kosovo has benefited from loans with lower interest rates than other neighboring countries for the sole reason that Kosovo is in the eurozone and they are not, by ranking us in a safer place for investors and a more stable place as a result of euro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to determine the pace and directions of changes (understood as: improvement or deterioration) occurring in selected areas of sustainable development of EU Member States. The paper analyzes dynamics of changes in selected areas of sustainable development monitored on the basis of headline indicators published by Eurostat from 2008 to 2015. In the paper, three variants of reference points of synthetic measure of development were considered. On the basis of the obtained results, the countries in which the improvement in the sustainable development and its deterioration can be observed were identified. The results have confirmed the existence of significant developmental disparities between EU Member States in this field, but it should be noted that the obtained results depend on the methodological approach both to the selection of features and the adoption of a specific standardization formula, as well as the considered variants of reference points. The results obtained can be utilized in subsequent years to examine the directions of change observed both from the point of view of European Union as one organization, and the individual EU Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development of rural areas is one of the European Union's objectives. LEADER program contributes to its fulfillment by offering financial support to disadvantaged rural areas. The purpose of this paper is to assess the LEADER program's economic impact in the Romanian rural communities. Econometric methods of impact assessment were used to analyze the evolution of economic indicators in the beneficiary communities. Propensity Score Matching and Difference in Differences were the methods applied in order to meet the objectives of the paper: analysis of the spatial distribution of projects submitted and funds allocated to LAGs (1), and of the economic evolution of LAG and non-LAG communities, before and after LEADER funding (2). The results indicate a stronger economic growth for the beneficiary rural communities, confirming in all cases the initial hypothesis. LEADER seems to have acted in these directions: the creation of new jobs and increasing the local businesses performance. However, the contribution made was minimal and insignificant. Conclusions of the study highlight that the contribution of the LEADER program to the economic development of rural communities can be at most one of supporting the current level of development, but not of reaching a much higher level. LEADER can be considered, from a quantitative point of view, only an instrument with a positive effect on rural areas, but not an instrument of impact. This is because LEADER did not bring significant changes and didn't ensure that critical mass that could trigger the economic development of rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the effects of environmental sources and health statistics on economic growth and other development indicators of interest. With population growth, urbanization, and industrialization of economies, the built environment for human health has emerged as an important and growing driver in interdisciplinary research and evidence-based policy development, improving a country's growth prospects and the standard of living. A compressed structural Panel Vector Autoregression is used to address these issues. Methodologically, a hierarchical semiparametric Bayesian approach is involved to reduce the dimensionality, overtake variable selection problems, and model stochastic volatility. Policy-relevant strategies are also addressed to investigate causal relationships between sustainability indicators and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we determine the potential economic growth in Romania using three statistical univariate filters. The techniques used are Hodrick-Prescott (HP), Christiano-Fitzgerald (CF) and Baxter-King (BK) filters. According to our calculations, HP outperforms the other two filters for the pre-crisis period but offers poor end-sample estimates as expected. During the economic crisis, all models indicate a slowdown of the potential growth in Romania. The most reliable estimate for 2011 is offered by CF band-pass filter. BK filter performs poorly in the sample period with the exception of the estimate for 2008 and does not provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an overview of this issue in relation to the periodical's twentieth anniversary. The author discusses the organization of a anniversary panel in London, England to mark the occasion, and to review articles from the history of the periodical focusing on economic-policy development during these 20 years. The article also provides an introduction to other articles presented in this issue, including one concerning the evolution of exchange-rate management, the effects of government debts on interest rates, and higher education reform in Europe.

This paper seeks to provide new empirical evidence that demonstrates the importance of digital technologies in promoting economic growth, drawing on the literature on advances in growth and leveraging a broader and more robust country-level panel dataset. In particular, this paper estimates the long-run economic impact of digital technologies using mobile phone penetration and internet usage as broad indicators. The empirical results suggest that, between 2004 and 2014, the diffusion of digital technologies significantly improved economic output in Australia and abroad, contributing to steady-state gross domestic product per capita growth of approximately 5.8 per cent on average. These findings could serve as the starting-point for predictions about the likely impact of future technologies, providing a better understanding for policy-makers in prioritising initiatives that will continue to lift living standards in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the essence and features of the formation of personal income tax gaps. The object of the paper is 1795 publications indexed in the Scopus database on the tax gaps in the national economy. The time horizon of the study was in 1935—2021. On the basis of bibliometric analysis, the main directions of the study of tax gaps are determine, the trend of changing the number of publications on this issue is analyzed. It is concluded that the theory of tax gap management is quite young and is currently only in its infancy. By the VOSViewer tools, five patterns of frequency of use of keywords in scientific works devoted to the issues of forming tax gaps have been identified, their connection with other economic categories have been determined. The analysis of the publications indexed in the Scopus database on a geographical basis is carried out. Clustering international research networks based on bibliometric analysis of scientific papers on the theory of tax gaps management by geographical location have been done. The article identifies the top Scientific Journals indexed by the Scopus database in which the issues of tax gap management were published most often. According to the Scopus database the most popular theories within this problem are: social theories, inequality and tax morality, management and motivation theories, sustainable development theory, production theory, concepts of fiscal policy implementation. A methodical approach to the assessment of tax gaps for personal income tax is proposed. The personal income tax gaps for Ukraine and European Union countries has been estimated. An average volume of personal income tax gaps within 7—28 %, and there is no positive dynamics in its reducing. The countries with the highest volume of personal income tax gaps include Greece, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Turkey, with the lowest — Germany, Belgium, Latvia, Luxembourg. Based on the Multiple regressions test, the hypothesis about the significant impact of tax gaps on personal income tax on the country’s economic development indicators was tested. Graphical interpretation of the link between the personal income tax gap and GDP for Ukraine and European Union countries indicates a negative correlation between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reassesses the long-debated relationship between the financial system development and economic growth. We use not only indicators for financial access, efficiency, stability and depth of the bank-oriented financial sector, but we also consider Eurozone membership, corruption perception and competitiveness of countries to examine the determinants of economic growth. We apply a panel data approach to 27 European countries over the 2004--2017 period. By splitting the time span, we examine whether the effect of financial system development, Eurozone membership, corruption perception and competitiveness on economic growth is affected by the occurrence of financial and debt crises. Our results indicate that loans to private sector do not always support economic growth. Our research also reveals that corruption perception has a negative impact on economic growth, and so does membership in Eurozone during a crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of culture in economic development is still not fully recognized. However, institutional economists have been known for playing an active part in the inquiries into identifying the culture-embedded factors influencing economic performance. Somewhat surprisingly, certain recent theories by the influential new institutional economists recognize culture as an exogenous variable, denying its importance for coining prosperity. By taking Acemoglu and Robinson's theory, presented in Why Nations Fail and elaborated on in their earlier papers, as a representative example, we bring to light the limitations of such an approach. Firstly, we demonstrate how the eradication of culture leads to an internal inconsistency in Acemoglu and Robinson's theorizing on economic performance. Their strong rejection of the culture hypothesis is impossible to reconcile with their concept of institutional changes outlined in Paths to Inclusive Political Institutions and The Narrow Corridor. Secondly, we also point to certain cases in which culture was an ontologically important factor affecting economic performance. Our claim is illustrated by some examples of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries' paths of economic development. We conclude that neglecting culture diminishes the explanatory power of such theories of economic development and significantly undermines their practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the circular economy is emerging as a strategy for sustainable development. What is important in promoting the circular economy is to assess its current level and take measures for assessment. This paper discusses some methodological issues in comparing and assessing the efforts for the circular economy at the international level. To this end, the authors explain the theoretical premise related to the assessment of efforts for the circular economy, establish an indicator system for assessing the efforts for the circular economy, and suggest a method for comprehensively assessing the efforts for the circular economy by country. The conclusions are that (a) the comparative evaluation of activities related to the circular economy by country requires a unified standard or category that can cover these activities, including all factors that meet sustainable development; the outcome, process, and guarantee of the circular economy, and this can be the circular economy effort and (b) the circular economy effort of a given country must synthetically be assessed by using the indicators capable of showing all aspects. These conclusions may contribute to establishing a new theoretical foundation that can include various aspects of the circular economy activities and to setting a practical and methodological foundation for evaluating each country's various activities related to the circular economy at the international level and can serve as a policy basis for identifying the weak and strong aspects of circular economy activities at the domestic or international level and establishing technological and economic measures to strengthen the weak aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociological scholarship, economic theory, and empirical studies all indicate that interpersonal relationships are valuable productive assets and deserve to be formally incorporated into the study of human development. This paper employs the India Human Development Survey to examine, using OLS and logistic regressions, the impact of different dimensions of social capital on multiple proxies for household welfare. Social capital in the form of memberships in local community organizations and social network connections has a statistically and economically significant association with household consumption expenditures, physical asset ownership, and the probability of a household living in poverty. Households that are members of any formal community organization are expected to have higher monthly per capita consumption expenditures than households without any memberships. Estimates of a similar magnitude are observed when modeling a household's stock of physical assets, a longer-term indicator of economic welfare. These indicators of social capital are also significantly associated with lower odds of a household living below the poverty line. Organizational memberships and social networks are also associated with considerably higher odds of a household assessing its own economic situation positively. Overall, social capital is a catalyst for increasing household welfare along multiple dimensions, and, therefore, a critical area of focus for economists, sociologists, development practitioners, and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exports are a crucial driving force of China's economic growth; however, researchers have yet to verify whether they can effectively improve the high-quality economic development. Based on interprovincial panel data from 2000 to 2019, in this study, we constructed a high-quality economic development indicator system through the entropy weight method, and we adopted the linear regression model and dynamic panel threshold model to empirically test the export trade effect on the high-quality economic development as well as its mechanism. We also probed the impact of the heterogeneous absorptive capacity on the high-quality economic development. According to our research findings, China's export trade has substantially promoted the high-quality economic development level by, from the viewpoint of the action path, positively influencing the economic, open, and coordination subsystems. The influence of the export trade on the high-quality economic development has a substantial single-threshold effect on the heterogeneous absorptive capacity; that is, when the threshold variables that represent the regional absorptive capacity (the economic level, R&D intensity, and technological gap) are all higher than the threshold value, the export trade has a substantial positive impact on the high-quality economic development level. The research conclusions of this paper provide new ideas for the development of high-quality economic systems as well as a useful reference for China in its formulation of more targeted foreign trade policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's official real GDP growth has held surprisingly stable in recent years. As national GDP figures influence both policy analysis and political decisions, the GDP growth rate of the massive Chinese economy has also great international implications. Taking the nominal GDP growth and price index data as given and experimenting with alternative deflators, this paper attempts to track missing fluctuations in real GDP growth in recent years. Based on the constructed growth series, real GDP growth decreased during 2015-2016 and picked up in 2017. Growth has been again decelerating this year. Furthermore, the constructed growth rate seems to be well below the recent official figures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Recent years have witnessed major changes in the global location of economic activity, with the emerging economies assuming greater shares relative to the advanced economies. These developments have led many authors to refer to the idea of the global factory. But little attention has been given to who has control over the geographically dispersed activities--or, to put it another way, about the governance of the global factory. Have the changes in the global location of economic activity come about primarily through the growth of locally owned firms in the emerging economies, or through increased FDI by MNEs from the advanced economies, or through the proliferation of outsourcing arrangements coordinated by firms in the advanced economies? These control/governance issues have profound implications for the capture of the profits/rents earned in global value chains, and hence for the global distribution of income. This paper explores these issues, and considers who has benefited most from the contemporary phase of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined finance-growth nexus in the finance industry and the influencing factors of economic indicators which deliberate on the performance of the Solow Growth model to prove the actuality of financial development (FD) inside the economic growth (EG) model, based on the regional data from 1980 to 2017 in Africa. We applied the econometric method of GMM style panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) and panel quantile regression (PQR). With the optimal finance-growth outcome, the review shows that the economic indicators influence the finance-growth nexus. The quantile results show that high economic indicators help to strengthen the finance-growth nexus, whereas low economic indicators hinder it. The GMM style PVAR results present a mixed effect in terms of the connection and marginal significance, indicating that FD has a varied impact on economic growth. Last, the granger causality results show a two-way causal association amid finance-growth in Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern African economies and a unidirectional causal link of finance-growth in Northern Africa. The policy conclusion is that to gain the long-term economic benefits of FD, African countries should strive for low and steady economic stability. To attain the required economic stability, it may be important to use suitable fiscal and monetary policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigate the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on local economy is of great importance and interest to policy makers and scholars. Though there is a big body of literature in this area, the estimates of such impact are inconsistent or even contradictory. The empirical evidence remains problematic for several reasons: endogenous route placement; omitted variable bias; heterogeneity across different regions; various confounding factors. In this paper, we assess this impact by constructing the appropriate counterfactual in the absence of HSR services with similar GDP level and GDP trend before the debut of HSR services. The control group forms a good fit for the treatment group, and the economic performance of the control group was even slightly stronger than that of the treatment group before 2007. Using the DID method, we find the HSR network promoted local GDP by approximately 3.3 percentage points. The introduction of HSR service helped cities attract more industrial enterprises and achieve more industrial output, but its effect on the service sector was not pronounced. Our results are robust to different sample selection procedures, to the dynamic analyses, to different empirical strategies. Our study thus provides new and solid empirical support to the argument that HSR benefits local economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is often pointed out that African countries have large government cabinets that underpin economic performance, lesser is known about the factors behind the size of government cabinets in Africa. Using an original database of the number of ministerial appointments in government offices in 35 African states, this paper establishes a robust negative relationship between the size of the government cabinet and the exclusion based on ethnicity. This result suggests that the governments that are more inclusive tend to be the largest, independent to the number of ethnic groups present in the country, namely, the state of the ethno-linguistic fractionalization. However, the results also show that this inclusion is in favor of powerless positions, suggesting that inclusion might be less about power-sharing than it is about resource-sharing, since the incumbent controls the key positions, while the included ethnic groups have peripheral positions with, however, an access to public rents. The results are robust to various sensitivity analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between foreign aid and economic growth has been the subject of much controversy. A recent theme suggesting that aid promotes growth, but only in a good policy environment has ratchet up that debate. In this paper, we assess the importance of policy and aid in generating growth when the aid, policy, and growth relationship is nonlinear. This allows us to examine the varying effects of aid and policy in different data segments, which we do without imposing any particular structure on the underlying relationship. We find that policy is an important determinant of growth. We also find partial corroboration of the view that aid is growth enhancing in a good policy environment, and some evidence of diminishing returns to aid. These findings suggest that nonlinearities if not appropriately addressed fail to capture the detailed underlying dynamics and thereby mask some key features of the aid-policy-growth relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]