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Increasing economic integration and global synchronization can be key for countries aiming to catch up in GDP per capita terms. Little attention has hitherto been placed in synchronization as determinant of convergence. In this paper we estimate the effect of economic globalization and synchronization on income convergence for a sample of 89 developed and developing countries in the period 1970-2015. We use a dynamic factor model and panel data techniques to undertake the objectives of the paper. We show that synchronized countries (those correlated with the factor) exhibit a higher response on GDP per capita growth with variations on the global business cycle. This implies that synchronization improves growth for that group in global expansionary phases, but also implies risks during global recessions. On the contrary, the effect on growth of an economic globalization index is less relevant for synchronized countries than for asynchronized countries. The latter result implies that asynchronized countries can benefit more increasing their levels of economic globalization., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Globally, entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) have gained attention as enablers of innovation and entrepreneurship. This paper explores entrepreneurial ecosystems in developed countries. Entrepreneurship is a globally important phenomenon for economic development and addressing socio-economic challenges such as unemployment, inequality, and poverty. Systematic literature review (SLR), with the aid of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach was used in the items selection process. A final sample of 28 primary articles was used. Additionally, bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer software to determine publication patterns and citation trends. More relevant and recent articles were incorporated into the bibliometric analysis to improve the results. Isenberg's six domains of entrepreneurial ecosystems framework, supported by the Dynamic capabilities (DC) theory underpinned the study. Results show that though entrepreneurial ecosystems are prevalent, they face many challenges. However, opportunities are also available but may be difficult to access. Globally, scholars agree that entrepreneurial ecosystems enhance economic development, and they help to solve socio-economic challenges such as unemployment, inequality, and poverty. This paper recommends that entrepreneurial ecosystems should be fostered in all regions to promote economic development and provide solutions to solve socio-economic problems. Local and global leaders should invest in the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems to promote economic development. The original value is based on exploring the dynamic nature of entrepreneurial ecosystems in the global environment using a developed country perspective. The findings provide important insights to policymakers and other stakeholders for developing strategies and interventions for enhancing economic growth through entrepreneurship. Plain Language Summary: How businesses collaborate in developed countries The purpose of the paper is to explore entrepreneurial ecosystems in developed countries. Entrepreneurship is a globally important phenomenon for economic development and addressing socio-economic challenges such as unemployment, inequality, and poverty. Systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis (using VOSviewer software) were used as research methods. Isenberg's six domains of entrepreneurial ecosystems framework, supported by the Dynamic capabilities (DC) theory underpinned the study. Results show that though entrepreneurial ecosystems are prevalent, they face many challenges, but opportunities are available. Entrepreneurial ecosystems should be fostered in all regions to promote economic development and provide solutions to solve socio-economic problems. The findings provide important insights to policymakers and other stakeholders for developing strategies and interventions for enhancing economic growth through entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the size of the digital economy in 38 countries between 2005 and 2018 and conducts an empirical study on this foundation. The results show that the digital economy has a significant role in promoting highquality economic development, primarily through industrial digitalizaion. Further research shows regional heterogeneity in the impact of the digital economy, which is greater in developed countries. Analysis of the underlying mechanisms shows that the digital economy promotes high-quality economic development in both developed and developing countries by improving technological efficiency and technological progress. However, the effect of technological progress in developing countries is clearly weaker than that in developed countries. In addition, scale efficiency in developing countries are not strengthened by the digital economy. Therefore, high-quality economic development requires the digital transformation of traditional industries and promoting their integration with digital technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The word poverty had been and is still one of the most familiar and serious problems facing different economies of the world. While the developed countries try to minimize this menace to some extent, other underdeveloped countries wallow in its dominance with impunity. Poverty has been identified to be more associated with rural country side, and linked with some known barriers for its reduction such as government failures, deprivation, inflation and diseases. In Nigeria, although several poverty alleviation policies and programmes have been implemented the problem still persists, it is against this background that this paper examines whether poverty alleviation policies could be a catalyst to the development of the economies of the south-Saharan region that is mostly affected. This paper finds out whether it is lack of democratization, inability to tap the abundance of human and natural resources in Nigeria that could be the bane for the persistent increases in the poverty status of the populace. The paper also suggests positive and attitudinal changes that could properly implement the numerous policies and programmes, to reduce poverty to the bearrest minimum, towards the development of the Nigerian economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of global concern for the environment and considering the observation that very few manufacturing companies have taken a more proactive position on sustainability, it has been suggested that the stakeholder approach can contribute to the study of sustainability management. Hence, this paper analyzes the relationship between a set of individual stakeholders pressures (STP) from different groups and the adoption and implementation of some specific sets of sustainability practices (SP) in manufacturing: internal and external monitoring and external collaborative. It also contributes to the open debate around the "monolithic" versus differentiated reaction to perceived STP, showing that companies respond selectively to the different stakeholder groups. Finally, this research also considers the possible influence of different country development contexts (developed vs. emerging countries), which may be very informative in the context of the growing globalization of operations. Using a large, worldwide, multicountry, and multi‐informant sample of manufacturing plants from three industry sectors located in 15 emerging and developed countries, this study shows that the different stakeholders play different roles in the adoption and implementation of different sustainability practices, thus contributing to the open debate around a suitable balance of stakeholder pressures. This research further contributes to the debate around the convergence and divergence perspectives by supporting the "universal" adoption of sustainability practices (convergence perspective) as no statistical differences are found in stakeholder pressures in different country development contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial planning has become an important measure for countries and regions to promote sustainable development. However, there remains a lack of systematic and quantitative research on spatial planning worldwide. In this study, CiteSpace was used to perform bibliometric analysis and visualization research on the Web of Science core collection and China National Knowledge Infrastructure database. It was found that: (1) The number of papers published in global spatial planning research shows an increasing trend, especially after 2018, with China showing an obvious increasing trend. (2) Globally, the United States has the largest number of relevant research results, and Italy has the most cooperation with other countries. The highest research output is from developed countries, while that of developing countries is relatively weak. (3) There is some intersection among countries, disciplines, and authors but it is not strong, indicating that cooperation should be strengthened. (4) Through keyword cluster, timeline, and time zone analysis, global development can be roughly divided into three stages: the first stage is characterized by the study of spatial planning system theory, the second stage is characterized by building green infrastructure and providing ecological services, and the third stage is characterized by an emphasis on public participation and the establishment of justice mechanisms. China's development corresponds to three stages: the theory and experience learning stage, the spatial planning system focused on economic development stage, and the integration of multiple plans and the sustainable development exploration stage. (5) There are differences in burst words between the world and China, indicating that there are great differences in research hotspots in different countries' periods and conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the authors aim to analyze the impact of pension asset investments on the economic growth of selected non-OECD countries, taking into account the controlling effect of gross fixed capital formation, domestic credit to the private sector, inflation, public debt and population. To conduct the econometric analysis in this study, the authors relied on secondary data published in the annual reports of the OECD, the World Bank and the IMF. Based on the econometric results of this study, the authors conclude that the investment of pension fund assets has positively impacted the economic growth of selected non-OECD countries (2002--2018). This study is of scientific importance because it provides detailed empirical evidence regarding the investment of pension funds in international financial markets and the effects of these investments on the economic growth of non-OECD countries. Moreover, the authors of this study through this scientific paper provide new scientific evidence to governments and policymakers in these countries on how to design appropriate strategic investment policies so that pension funds invest their pension assets at a safe rate of return from investments to ensure economic growth and efficiency in the capital markets. Given that most non-OECD countries are emerging and transition economies, the importance of this study lies in the fact that the authors, through empirical findings, highlight the importance of pension fund investments in global financial markets and the effects of these investments on the economic growth of these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of global value chains (gvcs) has allowed countries to specialise in the production of specific inputs (intermediate goods and final goods), which has a direct implication for productivity. This paper explores the impact of gvcs on the economic upgrading of developing economies. Specifically, our analysis relates to the effect of foreign value added in gross exports (gvcs) on domestic value-added content of gross exports (economic upgrading), which includes the added value that emanates from all the industries of the exporting country to their trading partners. The sample covers 50 countries (22 developing and 28 advanced countries) over the period 2005-2015. We employ both a pooled ols and a system gmm method. We contribute to the literature by differentiating between trade flows from developing economies (South-South) and developed economies (South-North). The results indicate a positive effect between gvcs participation and economic upgrading, with the effect being stronger in the case of South-North integration. Further, the results support the view that infrastructure development can play a key role in supporting the economic development of developing economies. gdp per capita, innovation, and institutional quality can all promote economic upgrading even though their effects vary across trade flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is still a significant gap between most high-tech fields in China and developed countries, and the relationship between the economic resilience of innovation systems and the innovation capability of the high-tech industry has received attention. Using data from 30 provinces in China, this study adopts the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis approach to analyze the relationship between economic resilience and high-tech industry innovation capability, and the findings are as follows: (1) Technological talents and economic development are necessary conditions for explaining the high innovation capability of high-tech industries. (2) The combination of economic resilience and different factors constitutes the equivalent configuration of two high innovation capabilities and four low innovation capabilities. (3) Under high-intensity technological competition between governments, the increased agglomeration of technological talents, and high-quality economic development, the strengthening of economic resilience is conducive to enhancing the innovation capability of high-tech industries. (4) Under low-intensity technological competition between governments, a well-developed technology market, and increased agglomeration of technological talents, the strengthening of economic resilience is adverse to enhancing the innovation capability of high-tech industries. The main contribution of this study is to clarify the configuration mechanism of economic resilience that acts on the innovation capability of the high-tech industry and reveal the complex interaction between economic resilience and multiple factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small States (SS) are economies whose population barely exceeds 1.5 million. Their small population size, small land size and location, mostly on coastal or Islands may act as a disadvantage to their rapid economic growth and makes them susceptible to the effects of external economic issues. Notwithstanding the disadvantages, some of them have enjoyed rapid growth over time and are classified as developed nations. This study examines the effect of aid, foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic investment (DI) on economic growth in SS. Among SS, aid hurts the economic progress in underdeveloped countries. However, DI and FDI have a favourable impact on economic growth. In developed SS, aid, DI and FDI independently do not positively influence economic growth, however, aid with FDI, aid with trade openness and aid with domestic investment and FDI promoted growth. In the total sample (developed and developing SS), aid discourages economic growth, but FDI and DI enhance economic growth. Also, aid together with FDI positively affects economic growth. Policies should therefore be directed at moving from accepting 'consumption aid' to 'productive aid', increasing the amount of net FDI and increase in DI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were global and led to an economic decline in most countries of the EU. The development and values of economic indicators varied from country to country and showed significant regional differences. The study evaluates the coverage of selected economic indicators in the Member States of the EU in the period 2010–2020. The analytical part is based on empirical statistical data. As a methodological procedure for testing the convergence of the EU, we compared the results of the coefficient of variation of GDP per capita in PPP and the unemployment rate. The findings of this study confirm the predicted development trends. The pandemic has reversed major convergence trends. Divergence within the EU was affected by a lower decline in GDP in the developed countries of the EU. The tendencies of social disparities in the unemployment rate were different from the development of the coefficient of variation of GDP per capita. The first year of the pandemic marked a decline in disparities between the countries of the EU. For future research, we recommend monitoring the development of convergence in the next pandemic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the distribution of income in Luxembourg by integrating two aspects that have been previously neglected: indirect taxation and in-kind transfers. The integration of the latter is essential in Luxembourg, the country with the highest public expenditure per capita in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These issues have been understudied because of some methodological challenges, including the lack of data containing all the necessary information for this type of analysis. However, with the EUROMOD microsimulation model, different data sources, and imputation methods, we are able to obtain a more complete view of the income distribution in Luxembourg. We find that, as in many developed countries, indirect taxes are regressive. On the other hand, in-kind transfers play an important role in reducing income inequality, in particular through education and health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxes have extraordinary roles in any country's economic development and policymaking. This study extends prior studies by investigating the impact of direct and indirect taxes on the economic development of 47 developed and 90 developing countries. All data about the variables involved in the study are accessed from the World Bank, covering from 2000 to 2020. Three equation models are developed to examine the impacts of tax structures on economic growth, which are gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC), foreign direct investment (FDI), and unemployment (UE). The study employed fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) of Generalized Least Square regression in testing the relationship between taxes structure (direct and indirect) and economic development (GDPPC, FDI, and UE). In addition, the cross-sectional dependence (CD) test is used to identify the presence of spatial dependence for FE and RE estimators. Overall, direct and indirect taxes have a significant negative relationship with economic development based on the GDPPC of developing countries. These results indicated that the tax structure in developing countries does not enhance the countries' economic growth. By contrast, for developed countries, a significant positive relationship exists between direct taxes and economic development. Economics and Development; Economics; Public Finance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lower socioeconomic status (SES) harms psychological well-being, an effect responsible for widespread human suffering. This effect has long been assumed to weaken as nations develop economically. Recent evidence, however, has contradicted this fundamental assumption, finding instead that the psychological burden of lower SES is even greater in developed nations than in developing ones. That evidence has elicited consternation because it suggests that economic development is no cure for the psychological burden of lower SES. So, why is that burden greatest in developed nations? Here, we test whether national religiosity can explain this puzzle. National religiosity is particularly low in developed nations. Consequently, developed nations lack religious norms that may ease the burden of lower SES. Drawing on three different data sets of 1,567,204, 1,493,207, and 274,393 people across 156, 85, and 92 nations, we show that low levels of national religiosity can account for the greater burden of lower SES in developed nations. This finding suggests that, as national religiosity continues to decline, lower SES will become increasingly harmful for well-being--a societal change that is socially consequential and demands political attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous essay (Part 1), we examined the economic arguments for development policies that placed certain groups at the vanguard of development policy, making note of the place of the poor in these arguments. In this essay (Part 2), we look at the case for making the poor the central focus of development policy, following the principle in Catholic social thought of the "preferential option for the poor." That principle recommends evaluation of policies and outcomes first and foremost on how they affect the poor. In looking at the U.N. development agenda, from the first development decade to the millennium development goals and sustainable development goals, we can see a tension between economic growth and eradication of poverty. Over time, a shift in focus has occurred towards placing the poor at the center of development policy. By focusing on the poor and poverty eradication, development policy becomes more about human flourishing, which, ironically, produces higher levels of growth in developing countries. It does, however, lower the growth rate of developed countries, as it reduces their privileged position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]