Search

This study examines how markets affect personal culture in the context of postsocialist China. Drawing on several bodies of literature, I argue that China's transition to a market economy promotes materialist values via two causal pathways. First, market transition entails a process of economic liberalization, which accentuates economic incentives and exacerbates existential insecurity. Second, market transition also entails a process of commodification that, by immersing individuals in market relations, crowds out intrinsic motives and normalizes the pursuit of material self-interests. My empirical analysis uses repeated cross-sectional data from a large-scale national survey to demonstrate the effect of market transition through the lens of work values. Taking advantage of China's regional variations in the pace of institutional change, I show that, between 2005 and 2015, provinces where market transition had made greater progress tended to experience a sharper rise in materialist work values. Additional analyses reveal significant differences in work values between state-sector employees and workers in the market sector, and that the relationship between market transition and materialist values extends beyond the work domain. These findings contribute to the theoretical literature on the cultural consequences of markets and the empirical knowledge on cultural change in contemporary China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analytics services provided by marketplace platforms have become increasingly important for sellers seeking market insights. In this paper, we examine a scenario in which an analytics service plays a vital role in enhancing sellers' understanding of market size and improving their decision-making. Using a game-theoretic model, we analyze the pricing strategies of the platform and the adoption strategies of sellers for the analytics service. Our study identifies two distinct effects of analytics services: the competition effect and the accuracy effect. Specifically, the competition effect manifests in opposing ways across different market scenarios, with a competition-intensifying effect in lowdemand markets and a competition-weakening effect in high-demand markets. Consequently, sellers using an analytics service command lower prices in low-demand markets and higher prices in highdemand markets. More interestingly, our results reveal that offering an analytics service could potentially hurt the total market demand, subsequently impacting the platform's revenue from the marketplace service and potentially leaving the platform worse off. Additionally, driven by both the accuracy and competition effects, adopting an analytics service may adversely affect seller profitability and consumer surplus without necessarily improving overall welfare. Moreover, the transaction fee for the marketplace service plays a crucial role in the interplay between the analytics and marketplace services. Specifically, in low-demand (high-demand) markets, as the transaction fee increases, platforms should consider reducing (increasing) the subscription fee to encourage more (fewer) sellers to adopt the analytics service, thereby enhancing overall market demand and increasing revenue from the marketplace service. Our findings also suggest that platforms should refrain from offering analytics services in high-demand markets when the transaction fee is relatively high. Furthermore, policymakers (sellers) should be mindful of the potential negative consequences associated with the adoption of analytics services in high-demand (low-demand) markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms must allocate resources effectively to cope with uncertainty, which can manifest as a disruption and an opportunity. Although information technology (IT) is a means to cope with uncertainty, chief executive officers (CEOs) may not always support IT investments due to the risky nature of IT, especially when facing uncertain conditions. While prior research suggests that CEO long-term compensation positively incentivizes IT investments, little is known about how different loci of uncertainty impact this relationship. To address this research gap, we study how firm-specific uncertainty and competitive uncertainty shape the influence of CEO long-term compensation on a firm's IT capital investment. Drawing on agency theory and prospect theory, we develop two hypotheses. First, we hypothesize that firm-specific uncertainty and competitive uncertainty positively moderate the influence of CEO long-term compensation on firm IT capital investment. Second, we hypothesize that competitive uncertainty has a stronger positive moderating effect than firm-specific uncertainty on the influence of CEO long-term compensation on firm IT capital investment. Our analysis of secondary longitudinal data from 2000 to 2007 of 357 public firms in the United States supports our hypotheses. In exploratory analyses, we found that CEO long-term compensation results in a higher riskoriented dominant logic in the firm, particularly in conditions of firm-specific uncertainty and competitive uncertainty, with competitive uncertainty having a stronger positive moderating effect. These findings uncover risk-oriented dominant logic as a theoretical mechanism that explains how CEO long-term compensation positively influences firm IT capital investment in uncertain conditions. We also conducted exploratory analyses using a different secondary dataset of 286 U.S. public firms from 2004 to 2019 to consider firm investments in transformative IT applications and found support for our theory. This finding triangulates our results across different time periods and different types of IT investments. This study contributes to theory and practice by providing a nuanced understanding of boundary conditions surrounding CEO long-term compensation, and decisions CEOs make vis-à-vis IT capital investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugees' effect on domestic terrorism is conditioned by host-country social perception (attitude about living next-door to foreigners) and economic competition. These hypotheses are tested cross-nationally from 1995-2014 leveraging data from the World Values Survey. The results show social perception matters. When refugee flow to a country increases from the mean to 75th percentile, it does not statistically alter domestic terrorism risk. But when a host-country's preference to not live next-door to foreigners is accounted for and changes from the mean (20.9%) to 75th percentile (30.3%), the change in refugee flow increases the risk of domestic terrorism by 40%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The product market competition affects the non-neutrality of monetary policy. This paper quantitatively assesses its impact on the slope of the Phillips curve through the channels of nominal and real rigidity. We build a New Keynesian model using the Kimball aggregator and the Calvo staggered pricing scheme. We show that a more competitive market environment has opposite effects on the slope of the Phillips curve by increasing the real rigidity and lowering the nominal rigidity. We then estimated the model using regional data of China. The Bayesian estimation shows that the response of inflation-output trade-off is larger in the region with a high degree of competition. Counterfactual experiments demonstrate that nominal rigidity has a dominant role and accounts for the majority of the difference in the Phillips curve, while the contribution of real rigidity is relatively minor. Our results highlight the key role of nominal rigidity in determining the inflation-output dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a framework for attributing motivations to Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) investment by noting that there are two major subdivisions, those that argue that the investments are undertaken due to macroeconomic factors and those that argue there is a political element as well. The political literature is divided into three subcategories of domestic political considerations, geopolitical competition and economic diplomacy. The literature of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) does not include any discussion of economic diplomacy as a consideration, an omission this article seeks to rectify. Using a realist understanding of international political economy (IPE), the article explores the influence of elites, the nature of PIF investments in America, India, China and Russia, and collaboration with other SWFs on investment. The article concludes that economic diplomacy should be considered as one of a multitude of variables that determine how and where the PIF invests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of brain health in the workplace and its potential to improve overall well-being, economic competitiveness, and business success. It highlights the changing nature of the economy and workforce, with a shift towards intangible assets and an aging population. The declining health of the population, particularly among underemployed groups, has contributed to labor shortages and wage gaps. The article emphasizes the need to focus on brain health to address these challenges and offers insights from neuroscience to develop effective interventions and strategies. It also provides resources for employers to optimize cognitive health and improve workforce availability and diversity. [Extracted from the article]

In today's global business competition environment, the significant changes in the market environment make it very difficult for supply chain enterprises to gain a place in the fierce market only by their strength. This article will do the following research work to effectively play the role of supply chain management. First, the concepts, and characteristics, related applications of supply chain information sharing (IS) and genetic algorithm back propagation (GABP) neural networks, are expounded. Then, the feasibility of applying BP neural network (BPNN) to evaluate supply chain IS is analysed. Next, the assessment indicator system for IS is constructed from four aspects: IS infrastructure, IS member characteristics, IS content, and the quality of supply chain enterprises. Finally, the principle and algorithm of BPNN are analysed, the network model is constructed, the BPNN process based on GA is designed, and every step in the process is explained in detail. The sample input is provided for the network model by obtaining and sorting data. The supply chain IS assessment model based on the GABP neural network is constructed. The results show that the assessment model of supply chain IS based on the GABP neural network has high accuracy, and the highest network accuracy reaches 95.01%, which proves that the assessment model based on BPNN has certain advantages for the supply chain IS of the financial industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study of the policy diffusion process, scholars have found that states adopt policies to remain competitive with one another over economic resources. But the rapid spread of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies, which treat college athletes as professionals, is not readily explained by economic competition nor other diffusion mechanisms. The NIL phenomenon points to a new dimension of competition between the states, which is more closely tied to states protecting or enhancing their reputations than it is to directly accruing economic resources. To test if NIL spread as the result of athletic reputation competition, we model the adoption of NIL legislation as a function of internal characteristics (i.e. number, value, and ranking of college football programs) and interstate dynamics (i.e. actions of football, conference, and Power 5 competitors). We test the effect of these measures alongside traditional diffusion indicators, finding that both internal and interstate indicators of athletic competition drive states to adopt and implement NIL. NIL is important to study as it has changed the landscape of amateur sports, as well as our scholarly understanding of policy diffusion in the American federal system, specifically broadening our conceptualization of the competition mechanism and developing customized measures of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States have adopted a variety of policies to encourage universities to expand research production, with the hope of supporting economic growth and competitiveness. This paper considers whether a state-level initiative succeeded in influencing university-based research outputs among regional public universities. We test whether the Texas Research Incentive Program increased research production at a set of state universities as measured by total research spending, federally-funded research spending, the number of scholarly publications, and the share of publications published in high impact factor journals. Using a novel dataset and difference-in-differences analytic strategy, we found that TRIP adoption was associated with a 19%-25% increase in research expenditures at emerging research universities in Texas relative to a matched set of comparable universities. However, TRIP did not influence federally-funded research expenditures or journal publication outputs. We also show that federally-funded research expenditures influence publication outputs — both in amount and quality — and that number of full-time faculty influences both federal research expenditures and publication outputs. We discuss contributions to the literature on regional public universities, loose coupling, and research production, as well as implications for policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, large digital companies have been gobbling up hundreds of smaller highly innovative firms involved in the collection and the processing of data. Some regulators, academics and practitioners have expressed concerns that Big Tech might use the increased market power and the greater concentration of consumers' personal data stemming from data-driven mergers to harm consumers in the form of lower privacy protection. They wonder whether and to what extent the EU Commission and/or national competition authorities should take into account data protection considerations when reviewing transactions under the Merger Regulation and/or national merger control rules. The Commission's decisional practice points towards three possible routes for integrating privacy concerns into competition analysis. Given their respective shortcomings, we explore the possibility of using the German Federal Cartel Office's line of reasoning in its Facebook decision as a model for the incorporation of privacy considerations into EU data-driven merger analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platform power poses a number of challenges for competition authorities. One concern is that big tech companies may harm competition through the acquisition of emerging companies with a high competitive potential. Such acquisitions may escape ex ante merger control if they do not reach the turnover threshold for mandatory notification. The Commission sought to bridge this enforcement gap with its Article 22 guidance and the Digital Markets Act. This paper evaluates the steps taken by the Commission to increase scrutiny of such mergers. Building on this discussion, the paper examines the AG opinion in Towercast and analyses the residual gap-closing function of Article 102 TFEU. The aim of this paper is to bring the new developments surrounding digital merger control together and assess whether they represent an adequate response to the challenges posed by the digital economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several theoretical propositions suggest that changes in economic activity can explain the decision to form a cartel. The majority of the propositions claim that cartel formation is more likely in expansionary and less likely in contractionary phases of the business cycle. The propositions are re-examined theoretically and by using data on detected cartels for the European Union. In both cases, the results cannot confirm that more cartels are formed in any of the business cycle phases and that correlated economic growth rates create higher incentives to collude. Furthermore, it cannot be confirmed that more cartels form shortly after respectively the trough or the peak in the business cycle. The conclusion is that cartel formation is unaffected by changes in the business cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competitiveness is a key requirement for modern companies to survive. Effective corporate governance practices are also fast emerging as a fundamental obligation owed to shareholders and other stakeholders. The connection between competition and good corporate governance is derived from the product market competition hypothesis (PMCH) that projects the idea that operating in competitive markets would increase x-efficiency and decrease agency costs in companies, leading to superior corporate governance. Although a significant amount of work, both theoretical and empirical has been carried out on the efficacy of the PMCH, none of the research has been conclusive. Moreover, there has been no concentrated effort into determining the impact of the PMCH on the specific types of agency problems that are endemic to companies with largely concentrated shareholding structures like India. The paper highlights that a part of the reason behind the waning and unconvincing research on the PMCH (specially in India) has been the focus on competitiveness as an abstract concept or empirical construct, rather than on the regulatory aspect of competition, that is, competition law. This paper examines the connection between competition law and corporate governance, specifically the utility of competition regulation in being used to improve corporate governance in companies. It also considers the effectiveness of competition law in dispelling some of the pervasive Indian corporate governance problems such as tunneling and inefficient related party transactions. Some of the methods that are considered which would have such an impact and thus are recommended by the researcher, are a redefinition of 'dominant position' in the competition law discourse, to include within it pyramidical groups of companies as well as viewing tunneling practices as having an 'appreciable adverse effect' on competition. Doing so would result in numerous efficiencies as competition law could be used to kill two birds with one stone: increasing both competitiveness and good corporate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic libraries are experiencing drastic changes due to unprecedented advancements in technology. This advancement has caused changes in users' information-seeking behavior, increased information competitors, and easy access and availability to free information on the internet. It is unfortunate that all this is happening amidst the dwindling financial support libraries receive from their parent organization. These variations, such as the digital shift and remote access, changing user expectations, open access movement, the need for data management and preservation models are causing havoc and disruption to academic libraries; therefore, academic libraries need to justify their position and relevancy. This paper discusses the conundrum academic libraries face and suggests why and how they should adopt entrepreneurial practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift towards digitalization is fundamentally transforming societies and changing lives. Meanwhile, many African countries are lagging behind on the dividends of accelerated digital technologies to address their developmental challenges. This is partly because of the dearth of evidence demonstrating how technological integration impacts on economic growth and poverty reduction. By relying on panel data for the period 2011–2021, this study empirically estimates the degree to which ICT adoption contributes to South Africa's economic competitiveness along four indicators: boosting productivity, accelerating business growth, increasing government operational efficiency, and creating opportunities for people. The data were analyzed using multivariate regression analysis. The findings indicated a strong positive correlation between the application of digital technologies and the improvement of business operations welfare improvement, and GDP growth. The findings suggest to policymakers the need to prioritize interventions that drive investment in digital infrastructure. Given the net positive effects of ICT innovations, it is also recommended that policymakers focus on building the ICT skills of South Africans, while ensuring a business-friendly environment that enables fast digital penetration in the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past few years, hydrogen use has come to be considered as an alternative energy carrier in a future decarbonized world. Many developed nations are undergoing a shift towards low-carbon energy sources, driven by the excessive reliance on fossil fuels and the detrimental effects of climate change. This study aims to investigate the potential for hydrogen deployment in the Greek energy market during the next few decades. In this context, green hydrogen's potential application in the Greek market is being assessed, employing an integrated techno-economic model grounded in worldwide trends and localized expenses. The forthcoming years will see an analysis of both the challenges and opportunities surrounding the integration and implementation of hydrogen in new and existing processes within Greece. Many alternative ways to produce hydrogen in Greece are investigated, contemplating different production paths. We evaluate how fluctuations in hydrogen, oil, and carbon prices affect the economics of green hydrogen adoption in oil refining, as is detailed in the draft of the European Union delegated act published in May 2022. The Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) for different scenarios is calculated for the time frame up until 2050. A sensitivity analysis reveals that investment costs, electricity prices, electrolyzer efficiency, and carbon taxes significantly influence the LCOH, ultimately impacting the economic competitiveness of hydrogen production. These findings underscore the importance of aligning public–private partnership agendas in hydrogen production to create optimal conditions for investment attraction and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive wheat production, which produces high yields through the excessive use of chemical inputs and non-renewable energy, is unsustainable in the long term. Innovative cultivation methods such as intercropping can address emerging challenges. This kind of plant association offers the possibility of achieving a balanced yield with the use of a natural nitrogen source. An experiment was conducted for three growing seasons (2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023) with a combination of three winter wheat varieties (GK Szilárd, Cellule, GK Csillag) and a winter pea variety (Aviron) in three sowing densities to determine the species interaction and the economics of mixed plots. The intercropping systems were evaluated in terms of the land equivalent ratio (LER), aggressivity (A), competitive ratio CR), actual yield loss (AYL), monetary advantage index (MAI), and intercropping advantage (IA). In almost all mixtures, the values of partial A, CR, and AYL indicated that wheat was more competitive than peas due to the overconcentration of mixtures. For MAI, the mixture Cellule/Aviron 75:50 was more profitable than the others in the first two years. Our results draw attention to the influence of the seeding rate, which can contribute to new directions for current research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon transformation of the economy is the inevitable orientation of socialism with Chinese characteristics to high-quality development in the new era, while the Chinese decentralized development model determines that the competition of local governments in China is an important factor influencing the green technological innovation on low-carbon transformation of the economy. How to achieve coordinated economic growth and ecological environment has become a problem for local governments. Data from a Chinese provincial panel covering the years 2007–2019 is used to investigate the effects of heterogeneous local government competition (Comp), namely, economic, ecological and service competitions on economic low-carbon transition, and moderating effects of heterogeneous government competition and green technology innovation (GTECH) on the low-carbon economic transition (LCT). The results reveal that there are substantial disparities in the consequences of heterogeneous government competition on low-carbon economic transition (LCT). Among them, economic competition significantly dampens economic low-carbon transition (LCT), and ecological competition and service competition significantly boost economic low-carbon transition (LCT). After performing robustness checks, these results continue to be strongly convincing. The study of moderating effects shows that economic competition can dampen the positive influence of green technology innovation (GTECH) to the economic low-carbon transition (LCT). However, ecological competition and service competition facilitate the promoting effect of green technology innovation on economic low-carbon transition (LCT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to assess the short- and long-run effects of the interaction between institutional quality and financial development (FD) on the competitiveness of the WAEMU economy over the period 2007–2018. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology consisted of cross-referencing a synthetic indicator of FD with indicators of institutional quality and then estimating an auto regressive distributed lag model. Findings: The results of the pooled mean group and dynamic fixed effect estimation show a positive and significant impact of this interaction on the competitiveness of the economy in the long run. In the short run, the results are quite similar to those in the long run for the direct effects but different for the crosses. Also, the analysis of country specificity shows that the results are similar to those in the short run since the interaction between FD and institutional quality (political stability and government effectiveness) negatively affects the competitiveness of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Mali, and positively affects the competitiveness of Benin and Senegal. Social implications: These results suggest the need for effective policies to improve the quality of institutions to enhance the mobilization of financial resources through FD to ensure the competitiveness of economies. Improving the quality of the political and institutional environment is a prerequisite for economic competitiveness. Originality/value: The paper is in line with the New Institutional Economics that developed in the 1970s. This referential framework is a heterogeneous body of work that encompasses works whose common point is the determination of the role of institutions in economic coordination. Unlike previous studies, which have focused on the contribution of the interaction between institutional quality variables and FD on economic growth, this paper analyzes the effects of this interaction on economic competitiveness. It, therefore, constitutes a contribution to this literature and aims primarily to fill this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to shed light on the experience of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in balancing three main pillars: the environmental criteria, the reduction of CO2 emissions and the economic growth. Based on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework, it will assess the causal relationship between economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, trade openness and energy use and environmental indicators such as CO2 emissions. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis relies on a period of 40 years (1981–2020) where data is extracted from the World Bank database. This study uses the unit root test for time series stationarity, the optimal lag length test, the "Johansen" test for co-integration and the vector error correction model. Findings: The paper concludes to two major findings. On a short-term basis, CO2 emissions and economic indicators are negatively correlated, whereas on a long-term basis, there is no association between CO2 emissions and economic indicators in the UAE. Research limitations/implications: The research ends with important recommendations. It illustrates the importance of rationalizing the use of primary resources and the necessity to embrace successful and efficient policies in the energy production. Practical implications: More specifically, UAE is urged to address the problem of CO2 emissions in the electricity sector and increase awareness of the use of environmentally friendly processes in the transport and industrial sectors. While setting their economic agendas, UAE are encouraged to meet environmental criteria and invest in renewable energy projects such as "Shams 1", the largest solar power plant outside of Spain and the USA. Originality/value: The current study is significant in its research on the environmental impact of economic development, trade openness and energy use policies in the UAE. It uses CO2 emissions as an environmental proxy and evaluates the environmental policies adopted in the UAE to reduce its impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the intensification of global economic competition, innovation has become one of the core elements of vigorous development in various regions. Improving the innovation ability of cross-regional central cities is the main factor influencing whether a region can achieve economic and social development. In this paper, an innovation primacy index system is designed according to the links of the innovation value chain, and the innovation advantages and empirical effects are comprehensively analyzed by using the point-to-point method, entropy weight method, gravity model and two-way fixed effect model. Based on the data of 8 cities in the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone from 2010 to 2020 in China, Xuzhou's innovation primacy ranks first in the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone, which accords with its status as the central city of the region. Its index has been rising, and its development trend is also good. However, the overall innovation ability of the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone is unbalanced; the overall economic foundation is not solid enough. In terms of knowledge innovation, R&D innovation and industrial innovation, the industrialization level, around the activation of Xuzhou city vitality, enhances the Xuzhou innovation radiation drive, leading to a decrease in the Huaihai Economic Zone. Finally, some corresponding suggestions on innovation primacy have been proposed for the city of the Huaihai Economic Zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the space economy and its profound geopolitical implications. Artificial intelligence is increasingly powering space missions, satellite networks and resource utilization, thereby reshaping the global landscape of the space industry. AI-driven advances are fueling economic opportunities and competition among nations in space-related sectors and the resulting geopolitical effects. From satellite services to lunar and Martian exploration, AI is poised to become a driving force in shaping the balance of power in the space arena, making it a critical topic for policymakers, strategists and industry leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital strategic posture (DSP) is defined as a firm's overall strategic stance toward investing in information technology (IT) initiatives relative to that of rival firms. This study examines how a firm's DSP affects firm performance. Drawing on the competitive dynamics perspective and contingency view, we demonstrate that DSP influences competitive actions through dual pathways. First, DSP enables firms to take competitive actions that are more appropriate given the level of environmental uncertainty (captured by industry dynamism). In particular, our findings suggest that a proactive DSP enables relatively more innovation-oriented actions in dynamic industries while enabling relatively more operations-oriented actions in less dynamic industries. Second, DSP plays a facilitating role in firms' execution of competitive actions such that a firm's value from its proactive DSP is enhanced when there is a fit between the type of the firm's competitive actions and its level of environmental uncertainty. Specifically, we find that firms with a more proactive DSP achieve superior firm performance from innovation-oriented actions in dynamic industries and from operations-oriented actions in less dynamic industries. Taken together, our findings suggest that a proactive DSP not only allows firms to take appropriate competitive actions that fit their environmental conditions but also contributes to firms' performance by facilitating the execution of these appropriate actions, thus enhancing their efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some studies suggest that resource-rich countries tend to allocate talent and investment toward the resource sector and away from manufacturing or agriculture reducing the competitiveness of these other sectors. Because mining overwhelmingly employs men, when other sectors shrink so do employment opportunities for women (Ross, 2008). This could significantly affect core social structures. Using plausibly exogenous variation in natural resource wealth due to giant oil discoveries and an event study design, this paper finds that giant oil discoveries are associated with relatively worse female outcomes as measured by higher male/female population ratios, higher teen birth rates, and lower educational attendance of tertiary education among women relative to men. However, the impact on health outcomes tapers off within 8 years. Additionally, during periods of increasing oil prices, there is no significant evidence of such effects possibly due to an income effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Towards the end of the Cold War, the vocabulary of global power, space and economy received a qualitative update. Amongst the terms rapidly gaining prominence since the early 1990s has been the notion of geoeconomics, the coining of which has frequently been attributed to the strategist Edward N. Luttwak. In his interpretation, it signified a transition away from Cold War ideological and military geopolitical competition towards commerce and market‐based geo‐power. Over the past three decades, a 'geoeconomics boom' set in, characterised by think tanks and a varied body of politico‐economic literature making extensive use of the term. Conventionally treated as a neologism, the provenance and earlier iterations of geoeconomics, some dating back more than a century, have been largely ignored by both celebratory and critical accounts. In this paper, we trace and contextualise these earlier instances, leading us to the Geopolitik era in Germany and references to geoeconomics in the United States in the decades after WWII. We thereby offer a critical genealogy of geoeconomics, conceptualised as an object of definitional struggle. Proponents of the term sought to position it variously as a tool of national economic cohesion and competition or as a way of understanding and harnessing shifting global power relations, whilst others sought to subsume geoeconomics to geopolitics. These past struggles track forward into ongoing dialectical tensions between geoeconomics and geopolitics as competing but related geostrategic visions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In preparation for the era of Society 5.0, economic digitization has brought drastic changes that have triggered the evolution of the accounting profession. The Society 5.0 zone is seen as an area that encourages interaction between humans, technology and robots to improve the quality of life. Economic digitalization is a global phenomenon that is driving structural changes in the business and financial sectors. In the modern informatics era, technological advances have had a significant impact on accounting practices and strategic decision making by organizations. This research aims to track the development of economic digitalization and provide an overview of the important role of accountants in the context of Society 5.0. The results of this research show that the role of advanced accountants must be broad and flexible in order to participate in the digital revolution that is taking place. Competent and responsive accounting professionals will play a vital role in promoting national economic stability and competitiveness, as the country advances towards Society 5.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of complex technologies and economic competition in recent decades has led to the increasing importance of decisions about the future of organizations. Most of the former methods require a combination with the criterion weighting methods, which increases the complexity of the calculations. On the other hand, the importance of a criterion changes over time. Therefore, the provided weights must be proportional to the changes expected in the future. In this way, making future decisions based on past knowledge may not guarantee the best choice, but it can guide decision makers in the right direction. In this study, an innovative technique for simultaneously ranking options, and weighting criteria based on historical data is presented. In this method, it is possible that the reference weight is affected by other weighting methods and more accurate weights are assigned to the criteria. In addition, all the records are considered to evaluate the alternatives in relation to the criteria. After calculating the deviation and the starting point changes, a nonlinear mathematical model determines the coefficients of the reference weight (that is, the weight with the smallest difference from the values of the coefficients) and the final score of the options. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed method (PSWCA) is obtained on four real case studies, and the results are compared with other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pharmaceutical industry has traditionally employed batch processing as a means of synthesizing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) on a commercial scale. Batch manufacturing enables API synthesis in large quantities in order to meet regulations. Yet, this strategy remains cumbersome, is labor‐intensive, and creates complex logistical networks. In recent decades, batch API processing has gradually eroded American economic competitiveness and has led to the offshoring of API manufacturing from the United States. Today it is estimated that +80% of APIs are manufactured overseas.[1] Meanwhile, disruptions from the Coronavirus Disease (SARS‐CoV‐2) have exacerbated weaknesses in the global supply chain, culminating with widespread shortages of critical life‐saving drugs.[2] These shortages have emphasized the importance of reshoring drug manufacturing to the U.S. and fostered a regulatory landscape that seeks advanced methods of API manufacturing in order to bolster America's supply chain resiliency.[3] Recently, increased attention has been directed towards continuous drug manufacturing to enable nonstop API production within modular stand‐alone flow systems. Continuous manufacturing (CM) facilitates modular automation, offers new avenues towards process intensification, and even enables in‐line analytical monitoring from raw materials to packaged products. This strategy offers better conversion, increased safety, reduced waste, and overall cost savings versus traditional batch‐style processing. The rise of advanced API manufacturing, coupled with the current regulatory landscape, offers a rare window of opportunity to convert traditional batch pharmaceutical processes into continuous, streamlined production systems to on‐shore API manufacturing and eliminate drug shortages. This review will outline the current state‐of‐the‐art in the CM of APIs and will highlight the translation of chemistry and unit operations from batch processes to modular CM systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier which can be produced from variety of feedstocks, stored and transported in various forms for multi-functional end-uses in transportation, energy and manufacturing sectors. Several regional, national and supra-national climate policy frameworks emphasize the need, value and importance of Fuel cell and Hydrogen (FCH) technologies for deep and sector-wide decarbonization. Despite these multi-faceted advantages, familiar and proven FCH technologies such as alkaline electrolysis and proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) often face economic, technical and societal barriers to mass-market adoption. There is no single, unified, standardized, and globally harmonized normative definition of costs. Nevertheless, the discussion and debates surrounding plausible candidates and/or constituents integral for assessing the economics and value proposition of status-quo as well as developmental FCH technologies are steadily increasing—Life Cycle Costing (LCC) being one of them, if not the most important outcome of such exercises. To that end, this review article seeks to improve our collective understanding of LCC of FCH technologies by scrutinizing close to a few hundred publications drawn from representative databases—SCOPUS and Web of Science encompassing several tens of technologies for production and select transportation, storage and end-user utilization cases. This comprehensive review forms part of and serves as the basis for the Clean Hydrogen Partnership funded SH2E project, whose ultimate goal is the methodical development a formal set of principles and guardrails for evaluating the economic, environmental and social impacts of FCH technologies. Additionally, the SH2E projects will also facilitate the proper comparison of different FCH technologies whilst reconciling range of technologies, methodologies, modelling assumptions, and parameterization found in existing literature. • Literature review with 141 publications on LCC of FCH technologies was carried out. • The number of relevant publications has been increasing since 2011. • Production and utilization of hydrogen were most frequently analysed (>60%). • 33 different tools and 32 different databases were used in LCC of FCH technologies. • The Levelized Cost method was mostly used in the reviewed publications (>40%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of important trends in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) for 2024. It highlights key topics such as the need for alternate metrics of benefit and harm in health economics, patient preference research, the use of real-world evidence in healthcare decision-making, equity in healthcare distribution, challenges in low- and middle-income countries, the economics of prevention, and the evaluation of medications for rare conditions. The article emphasizes the need for research and innovation to address these trends and improve healthcare outcomes globally. The text also discusses the uncertainty surrounding the cost-effectiveness of orphan drugs and explores outcomes-based contracting as a potential approach to pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement. It provides insights into what makes a high-quality HEOR paper, including the importance of clinical context and the challenges of securing useful peer review. The authors of the text are experts in the field of HEOR with extensive experience and knowledge in their respective areas of expertise. [Extracted from the article]

Trademark law exists to promote competition. If consumers know which companies make which products, they can more easily find the products they actually want to purchase. Trademark law has long treated "source significance"--the fact that a particular trademark is identified with a particular producer--as both necessary and sufficient for establishing a valid trademark. That is, trademark law has traditionally viewed source significance as the only necessary precondition for a trademark being pro-competitive. In this Article, we argue that this equation of source significance and pro-competitiveness is misguided. Some marks use words that are so closely connected with the product being branded that giving just one firm a monopoly over those words provides that firm with a meaningful competitive advantage--an artificial advantage granted by the state. This problem becomes worse as the number of firms producing (and branding) a type of product increases. The more words cordoned off by trademark law, the more trouble a new entrant will have in describing or attracting attention to its product. Trademark law is thus being hijacked by strategic firms for anticompetitive purposes. Traditional doctrinal tools are inadequate to address this problem because the goal should be to limit the number of such trademarks rather than eliminate them completely. However, costly screens could be used to impose a form of congestion pricing on trademarks, eliminating them in all but the most worthwhile cases. In this Article, we develop a theory of the anticompetitive nature of certain trademark rules. We then propose a series of overlapping doctrinal rules and costly screens to address the problem of rampant anticompetitive trademarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competition between social units has long been central to sociological theories of change. Understanding it has become particularly important in the sociology of religion with the theory of religious economies, a market model of religious change. Existing empirical tests of the theory are limited by (1) ambiguity regarding which religious groups are expected to compete with which other groups, and/or (2) a neglect of the local level (competition among congregations). Using an original compilation of the life histories of religious congregations in Manhattan from 1949 to 1999, I conduct event-history analyses that avoid those limitations. The chief results are the following: (1) the more congregations there were near a given congregation that were theologically dissimilar to that congregation, the less likely that congregation was to advertise; (2) when there was an increase over time in the number of nearby congregations that were theologically similar to the focal congregation, that congregation became more likely to advertise; and (3) when there was an increase over time in the number of nearby congregations that were theologically dissimilar to the focal congregation, that congregation became less likely to advertise. Implications for the study of religion include modifications of religious-economies theory; broader implications speak to understanding the social units that compete and what drives competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen (H 2) is considered as a renewable energy source which has the potential to replace the fossil fuel-based economy. When it comes to achieve H 2 production in a sustainable manner, biological methods are preferred among all other technologies. Out of the biological processes, microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) and dark fermentation (DF) have attracted significant attention for H 2 production because the energy requirement is significantly reduced and a wide range of organic matter can be used as substrate. However, the underlying biochemical reactions and generated energy molecule(s)/products associated with DF or MEC, can benefit in achieving higher H 2 production when coupled together. The DF can provide better substrate with high conductivity to overcome charge transfer challenges associated with MEC, and thereby it can further help to improve energy recovery. Thus, this review provides insights into the technological, microbiological, and economic competitiveness of coupling DF-MEC while it also identifies limitations and potential solutions. [Display omitted] • Comprehensive evidences gathered for linking DF and MEC. • DF and MEC exhibit synergies leading to a higher H 2 yield. • Insights into technological and economical challenges. • Biological components in MEC are poorly studied. • Prospective for future research and economic competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modernization, efficiency, and decarbonization of the energy supply systems are among the new challenges to be faced in the coming decades to achieve the targets and objectives dictated by European strategic policies. Despite the countless benefits related to renewable energy sources (RES) integration, this brings key challenges to the power system, such as the risk of imbalance between energy generation and demand, sudden changes in flows in transmission lines with a need for expensive and time-consuming upgrades, and the withdrawal of conventional generation systems with consequent demands for new solutions and innovation to support grid services. A potential solution to limit the huge intermittence and fluctuation in power generation from RES is Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology integrated with thermal energy storage. The aim of this paper is to discuss the potential benefits related to the use of CSP technology by presenting innovative industrial solutions developed in the Italian SOLARGRID Project, namely the hybridization of CSP–PV systems and the solar thermo-electric system developed by MAGALDI, the parabolic trough collector of Eni, and the new linear Fresnel reflector configuration of IDEA S.r.l. These plant and component solutions are developed for improving the technical performance of CSP technology and reducing the levelized cost of electricity, thereby fostering an effective and massive deployment and encouraging the creation of new business models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English-architecture company law describes the distinct and diverse group of company or corporate law used in more than sixty jurisdictions worldwide. English-architecture company law provides a robust platform for innovation and development due to its permissive structure, opportunity for choice of law in an entity's internal governance, and scalability permitting variation for small and large entities. It is the dominant form among International Financial Centers (IFCs), many of which have legal systems with a British connection. This body of law responds to competition and maintains dynamism by engaging its practice community through "learning by doing" and "frictioneering." An architectural approach permits a broader review of developments in company law that more closely captures the reality of global law practice. The IFC experience of climbing the value chain from tax arbitrage to provide solutions for entities or structures left out in the corporate law of larger jurisdictions provides a useful global governance model to maintain normative, jurisprudential, and regulatory coherence even as it responds to more specialized and unanticipated needs. This Article explores what makes English-architecture company law so successful and how IFCs use it to compete in the global law market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which factors drive support of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for trade liberalisation? The literature suggests that economic factors, ideology, and politicization shape MEP voting behaviour. Drawing on a new dataset encompassing all trade-related MEP votes (2009-2019), this study offers a quantitative assessment of the determinants of MEP support for trade liberalisation. It finds that ideological factors have the strongest and most persistent effect on MEP support for trade liberalisation. The economic competitiveness of MEPs' home regions, in turn, has only a limited effect. Politicization, lastly, has an unclear effect on its own and mostly influences MEP voting behaviour through interactions with ideological and economic factors. The study offers the first comprehensive assessment of the determinants of MEP voting on trade liberalisation and contributes to political economy research on electoral institutions and trade, the European Parliament's role in trade policy and the effects of politicization on policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime industry clustering has in recent years gained attention as a tool for strategic global and regional economic competitiveness policies, owing to their co-location synergies and agglomeration economies. The Nigerian maritime sector is known to have a large industry, which comprises shipping and logistics firms, shipyards, ship consultants and a suite of other firms, institutions and associations with maritime functions. However, nothing is known about the structural characteristics and environmental dynamics of this significant cluster. This article, capitalising on a critical and meta-analytic review of studies and conceptual modelling, explores for the first time the Nigerian maritime industry from a cluster perspective, underpinned by the foundational competitiveness of Nigerian microeconomic performance. It further evaluates broadly the quality of the Nigerian business environment, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for strategic foresight in decision-making. Targeted recommendations predicated on cluster-specific characteristics are provided to improve cluster competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into various sectors is crucial for economic development and social progress. Even though AI brings many advantages, it still entails numerous challenges and concerns regarding its use and the consequences of such use. First and foremost, this concerns a fundamental change in the labour market, all labour relations, and the rights of employees and employers. This study aims to examine the implications of AI adoption in labour practices and the adaptability of European countries' legal systems to it. The study provides insights into effective approaches to regulating AI and protecting labour rights by analysing the experiences of Germany, Finland, and Poland. The findings indicate that Germany and Finland adopt proactive approaches to AI regulation, prioritising stakeholder engagement and balanced frameworks. Conversely, Poland's emphasis on upskilling workers and Ukraine's commitment to aligning with EU standards underscore the significance of addressing labour rights and economic competitiveness in the context of AI integration. The study highlights the significance of proactive legislation, stakeholder engagement, and skill development initiatives in addressing the challenges and maximising the benefits of AI in the labour sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is not only the largest sector in the world economy, but also one of the fastest growing emerging industries in the world. Unlike other economic sectors that transport products to consumers, tourism enables people to migrate to places where tourism resources are concentrated. These resources are consumed somewhere. With the development of social economy, tourism has increasingly shown its important position in the national economy. After years of development, Kazakhstan's tourism industry has made significant contributions to the national economic development. At the same time, the industry has also accumulated many problems and contradictions in the long-term development process. From a macro level, the development situation of Kazakhstan's tourism industry is good, with total tourism revenue and tourist numbers rising rapidly. From a micro level, tourism enterprises are small in scale, have poor operations, and have low overall competitiveness. From the industrial level analysis, the main problems and contradictions of Kazakhstan's tourism industry are related to its market structure characteristics. Structural issues are core issues in the development of tourism in Kazakhstan. Using structural ideas and methods to study the tourism industry in Kazakhstan can guide the sustainable development of the tourism industry and provide a basis for decision-making by the government. Based on the literature review of the tourism market structure, the authors analyze the optimization path based on the Kazakhstan tourism market structure and effectively promotes the tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order aimed at promoting competition in the adult beverage industry. As mandated by the executive order, the Department of the Treasury—with the assistance of the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)—released a report detailing anticompetitive practices in the American markets for beer, wine, and spirits. The report concluded that several winemaking practice regulations inflicted an unjustified regulatory burden on producers. Therefore, the Treasury ordered the TTB to evaluate its regulations and eliminate any obstacles to competition. This Note first discusses the regulatory frameworks of prominent wine regions across the world, then examines the underlying policy of wine legislation. This Note argues that the TTB should modernize wine regulations and adopt more stringent standards in further rulemaking to comply with federal antitrust law in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study examine the logic of gang-related mass shootings in Chicago between 2010 and 2020. I argue that gangs utilize mass shootings to win market share when demand for illegal drugs spikes. I also test two established theories of indiscriminate violence: 'desperation on the battlefield' and the 'ethnic security dilemma'. To do so I construct an original dataset mainly using Freedom of Information Act responses. Using opioid overdose data to proxy for demand in drug markets, I find support for my theory in a series of linear fixed effects models. The 'ethnic security dilemma' also finds support. However, the two variables meant to proxy for 'desperation', search warrants and arrests of gang members for shootings , reduce gang-related mass shootings—the opposite of the predicted outcome. I conclude by discussing contributions to the existing literature, limitations and pathways for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]