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Under-coverage and nonresponse problems are jointly present in most socio-economic surveys. The purpose of this paper is to propose an estimation strategy that accounts for both problems by performing a two-step calibration. The first calibration exploits a set of auxiliary variables only available for the units in the sampled population to account for nonresponse. The second calibration exploits a different set of auxiliary variables available for the whole population, to account for under-coverage. The two calibrations are then unified in a double-calibration estimator. Mean and variance of the estimator are derived up to the first order of approximation. Conditions ensuring approximate unbiasedness are derived and discussed. The strategy is empirically checked by a simulation study performed on a set of artificial populations. A case study is derived from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey data. The strategy proposed is flexible and suitable in most situations in which both under-coverage and nonresponse are present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify dietary trends in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and whether inequities in dietary patterns are changing. We extracted data from the Household Economic Survey (HES), which was designed to provide information on impacts of policy-making in NZ, and performed descriptive analyses on food expenditures. Overall, total household food expenditure per capita increased by 0.38% annually over this period. Low-income households spent around three quarters of what high-income households spent on food per capita. High-income households experienced a greater increase in expenditure on nuts and seeds and a greater reduction in expenditure on processed meat. There was increased expenditure over time on fruit and vegetables nuts and seeds, and healthy foods in Māori (Indigenous) households with little variations in non-Māori households. But there was little change in processed meat expenditure for Māori households and expenditure on less healthy foods also increased over time. Routinely collected HES data were useful and cost-effective for understanding trends in food expenditure patterns to inform public health interventions, in the absence of nutrition survey data. Potentially positive expenditure trends for Māori were identified, however, food expenditure inequities in processed meat and less healthy foods by ethnicity and income continue to be substantial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous panel surveys around the world use multiple modes of data collection to recruit and interview respondents. Previous studies have shown that mixed-mode data collection can improve response rates, reduce nonresponse bias, and reduce survey costs. However, these advantages come at the expense of potential measurement differences between modes. A major challenge in survey research is disentangling measurement error biases from nonresponse biases in order to study how mixing modes affects the development of both error sources over time. In this article, we use linked administrative data to disentangle both nonresponse and measurement error biases in the long-running mixed-mode economic panel study "Labour Market and Social Security" (PASS). Through this study design we answer the question of whether mixing modes reduces nonresponse and measurement error biases compared to a single-mode design. In short, we find that mixing modes reduces nonresponse bias for most variables, particularly in later waves, with only small effects on measurement error bias. The total bias and mean-squared error are both reduced under the mixed-mode design compared to the counterfactual single-mode design, which is a reassuring finding for mixed-mode economic panel surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Owita agroecosystem is a unique peri-urban land-use system. Typically it is a narrow strip of land with vegetation located between lowland paddy fields and the uplands of the Wet zone in Sri Lanka. Despite its potential to develop as a sustainable agricultural ecosystem, it has largely been ignored, underutilized and lesser-known. The main objective of this study was to assess the present status of Owita agro-ecosystem, with a focus on its plant species diversity, socio-economic aspects and ecosystem services. The study identified and evaluated thirty-five Owita systems located in the Wet zone of Sri Lanka through conducting vegetation and socio-economic surveys. The study reported a total of 115 plant species belonging to 49 families and 99 genera, of which, the family Fabaceae was found to be the most dominant, with a total of 11 species. Field observations and farmer feedback revealed that Owita provides numerous environmental benefits in the peri-urban landscape, including flood control, biodiversity conservation, and temperature regulation in the surrounding areas. Apart from the ecosystem services, Owita opens up new business ventures for subsistence farmers in peri-urban areas, and products from the system possess high demand due to their freshness and minimal usage of agrochemicals. Although the traditional Owita agro-ecosystem is primarily an annual-based cropping system, findings of the present study indicate that, it has been gradually transformed into a perennial tree-based agroforestry-type cropping system where plant species are spatially arranged in three vertical layers. Thus, the Owita system can be considered as a promising and sustainable agroecosystem that provides numerous benefits to the subsistent farmers in peri-urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of flooding can be very serious, especially in developing countries, where rapid urbanization and socio-economic development increases risk. Reliable information is crucial to support decision-makers develop appropriate strategies to reduce flood risk. This article aims to develop a framework for assessing flood risk and adaptive capacity, based on a bottom-up approach, in Vietnam's Gianh River watershed. Flood risk was computed by combining hazard, exposure, and vulnerability using hydrodynamic modeling and the Analytic Hierarchy Process method. The adaptive capacity of the population was assessed via interviews with 298 inhabitants. The results show that flood risk is high in areas with high population and construction density. Both the ability to access resources and communities' flood-risk perceptions are important factors in improving the capacity to adapt. This study can provide an important theoretical framework complementing the existing literature and supporting studies related to flood-risk management in the context of climate change and urbanization in other regions. The study also fills a gap in the knowledge of the negative effects of flooding. From a methodological standpoint, this study underlines the importance of using hydraulic models and socio-economic surveys in flood-risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local forests and fruit trees in sub-Saharan Africa play an important role to improve food and nutrition security, health and incomes generation. The support and the economic value of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) from tropical forests in people life has been widely investigated but several tree species' uses and contribution to households' well-being are yet to deepen. Balanites aegyptiaca is a native multipurpose tree whose several parts/organs are widely used in diversified domains. To date, the permanent gap related to B. aegyptiaca is to link the species use diversity and its economical contribution with local climate conditions, and the assessment of endogenous strategies to promote its resource conservation. This study aimed to highlight the contribution of B. aegyptiaca NTFPs in the local economy and local strategies to promote its products for endogenous conservation practices. Hence, socio-economic surveys were conducted in 120 households, five markets and nine associations across two climatic zones. Use values, use domains, economic value and local strategies for the species conservation were assessed. Results showed the used organs, and the used intensity varies significantly across climatic zones (p = 0.03). Local manufactured products are mostly from leaves and fruit. Informants reported widely almonds processing (78%). The species NTFPs are more commercialized in the Sudano-Sahelian zone (85%) compared to the Sahelian zone (15%). Average value per tree was estimated at 154 ± 28 FCFA (0.27 USD) per season in the Sahelian zone and 426 ± 19 FCFA or (0.74 USD) in the Sudano-Sahelian zone based only on fruit collection. Given its importance in local people life, endogenous strategies are adopted to safeguard the resource and for sustainably the species products. The multipurpose uses of B. aegyptiaca reported, the NTFPs financial benefits and the high resilience of the species show a great necessity to promote its domestication and in-situ conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, data-driven approaches have been developed to analyze demographic and economic surveys on a large scale. Despite advances in multivariate techniques and learning methods, in practice the analysis and interpretations are often focused on a small portion of available data and limited to a single perspective. This paper aims to utilize a selected array of multivariate statistical learning methods in the analysis of income and expenditure patterns of households in the United States using the Public-Use Microdata from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE). The objective is to propose an effective data pipeline that provides visualizations and comprehensive interpretations for applications in governmental regulations and economic research, using thirty-five original survey variables covering the categories of demographics, income and expenditure. Details on feature extraction not only showcase CE as a unique publicly-shared big data resource with high potential for in-depth analysis, but also assist interested researchers with pre-processing. Challenges from missing values and categorical variables are treated in the exploratory analysis, while statistical learning methods are comprehensively employed to address multiple economic perspectives. Principal component analysis suggests that after-tax income, wage/salary income, and the quarterly expenditure in food, housing and overall as the five most important of the selected variables, while cluster analysis identifies and visualizes the implicit structure between variables. Based on this, canonical correlation analysis reveals high correlation between two selected groups of variables, one of income and the other of expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the aggregate effects of government income transfers shocks for a sample of EU countries. I construct a new measure of transfers shocks based on a dataset by public finance experts of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The identification strategy consists of a narrative analysis of policy actions in old age pensions reported in the ESCB dataset. I find that increases in old age pensions have a positive impact on aggregate expenditure components and employment consistent with a multiplier effect between 0 and 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiscal rules are argued to be important for sound and sustainable fiscal policies and have been increasingly adopted over the last 20 years. As increased fiscal pressure and fiscal risks urge countries to address the public debt legacy left by recent economic crises, fiscal rules come under greater scrutiny. To inform the debate on fiscal frameworks, this paper presents a comprehensive survey of the empirical literature on the impact of fiscal rules. In particular, we discuss the recent empirical literature that investigates the impact of fiscal rules on various elements related to fiscal performance and beyond. Our survey finds that fiscal rules are associated with improved fiscal performance as approximated by improved budget balances, lower debt and lower public spending volatility. Furthermore, empirical research finds that fiscal rules are related to more accurate budget forecasts and improved sovereign bond ratings. From a macroeconomic perspective, well-designed fiscal rules do not principally undermine public investment, do not increase pro-cyclicality in fiscal policy-making and can support fiscal consolidations. These results, however, also depend on the broader economic and institutional context. Moreover, there is emerging literature that links fiscal rules to macroeconomic and broader political outcomes, such as income inequality and political polarisation. We discuss methodological challenges related to identification and point to avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a novel approach to formulate efficient ratio estimator of the population variance using a transformed auxiliary variable. The impact of transformation on auxiliary information has also been discussed. It is observed that incorporating a transformed auxiliary variable result in a high gain in efficiency. Theoretical properties of the newly developed estimators have been derived. The empirical and simulation studies show that the suggested estimators outperformed the existing estimators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the determinants of digital music success in South Korea. We identified information sources and factors that may influence the consumption of digital music, including song and artist factors, record label and distributor influence factors, promotional media influence factors, and electronic word of mouth (e-WOM). The analysis was conducted using music download data and ranking chart data from a major music platform. First, we found that traditional promotional media, such as the number of television or radio exposures and appearances in an audition program, significantly affected the success of music. Second, regarding social promotional media factors, promotional videos on YouTube mainly affected short-term success, whereas Twitter mentions showed an increasing influence over time. Third, an artist with a long career positively affected a song's early success, while frequent song releases had a negative impact. Our results offer marketers insights into promoting digital music in this new era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building trust is a major challenge in digital crowdfunding environments. The existing information asymmetries between fund-seeking entrepreneurs and potential investors require the implementation of signaling strategies between both economic agents in order to generate trust and incentivize investment. This study performs a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to explore the interplay of visual content and social networks as information cues signaling trust. The data are sourced from Startupxplore, a Spanish equity crowdfunding platform. Configurational analysis reveals a certain degree of substitutability between traditional visual cues (images, videos) and reporting presence in social networks (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter). The results show different information disclosure strategies using traditional visual cues and social networks that lead to crowdfunding success and overfunding: substitute, mixed and unique strategies. The originality of this research lies in identifying such strategies using a configurational approach that addresses the causal complexity behind success and overfunding phenomena in equity crowdfunding, and in targeting visual cues and social networks presence as signals. This entails theoretical contributions to signaling theory in digital financial environments as well as managerial implications for entrepreneurial fundraising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To find out how carbon performance and disclosure practices affects corporate's financial performance, this study investigates its non-linear influence on financial performance by considering non-financial 100 businesses that are listed on National Stock Exchange 200 Index in India for the consecutive 12 years, i.e., from 2010 to 2021. It employs two indicators of environmental-related information like carbon performance which is measured in terms of greenhouse gas reduction, and disclosure practices which is measured in terms of environmental disclosure score. It uses the dynamic panel data regression analysis technique to estimate the parameters. The empirical outcomes show an obvious non-linear impact of carbon performance on corporate financial performance, which is proxied by Tobin's Q. This indicates that at the initial stage, carbon performance decreases financial performance, but later on, further increase in the carbon performance is found to improve corporates financial performance in the long duration. But, in case of disclosure practices it shows no effect on market-based economic performance, i.e., Tobin's Q. Therefore, the study recommends the investors to be courageous and patience because carbon performance will decrease financial performance at the lower level, but can give benefits in the long run. This paper also suggests the regulators to incorporate environmental standards, and introduce severe forfeits for ecological wrongdoers with the aim of enhancing companies' environmental disclosure activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart cities are rapidly gaining momentum around the world as new opportunities to shift towards a sustainable urban future. Despite their promising solutions, there is so far little evidence on how smart city initiatives can achieve urban sustainability. This study explores the impact of smartness on urban sustainability by introducing the concept of smart complementarity and investigating whether the systemic governance of smart complementarities has a positive impact on sustainability. To this end, we employ a panel vector autoregression model with panel data for 26 smart cities from 2009 to 2019 to test the complex dynamic relationships between smart city drivers and dimensions of sustainability. Such analysis seems crucial for smart city governance and whether the vision of a smart agenda is compatible with urban sustainability. The findings suggest that while smart city initiatives have improved economic sustainability, they have compromised environmental and social sustainability. This points to the need for a coordinated approach to address the complexity of urban systems and sustainability challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The educational outcomes of the descendants of migrants are important indicators of migrants' incorporation into host societies and an indicator of intergenerational social im/mobility. This paper examines this relationship using data from a survey that follows a cohort of young adults, born between 1988 and 1997, who grew up in Switzerland. It looks at the relationship between the educational output of respondents and their parental migratory background, with the theoretical consideration that the family's social capital is a starting point in the descendants' trajectories. The paper is based on secondary data and exploratory cross-sectional quantitative analyses. The results highlight first a correspondence between migrant parents' national origins and their socio-economic status—in other words, an 'ethno-class'. Second, they show differences in educational outcomes between migrants' descendants and native Swiss as well as between the migrants' descendants themselves—which indicates a segmented incorporation process for both the first and the second generation, in confirmation of previous research. Third, results show that parental background and language region of residence are statistically significant in determining the level of education achieved by the migrants' descendants, especially those with a low socio-economic status. Their social mobility is 'limited', and they remain mostly in vocational education. The paper concludes that the Swiss school system still fails to include the most unprivileged and that a glass ceiling remains for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fiscal policy's impact on the real exchange rates is highly controversial in theory and practice but noteworthy for macroeconomic policy. This issue is more pertinent in developing countries with an active fiscal policy or wider fiscal space but is explored less. To our knowledge, the fiscal policy impact on the real exchange rate in India is not documented. Against this backdrop, this study explores this in India involving disaggregated data of government consumption and investment spending and a few related variables like trade openness, private consumption spending, and money supply for the period 1996:1–2023:1. The results corroborate long-run associations of real exchange rate and some combinations of the selected other variables. The real exchange rate dynamics estimated through the cointegrated vector autoregressive model followed by an impulse response analysis have shown that government investment spending causes a real appreciation. In contrast, government and private consumption spending exert pressure to depreciate the real exchange rate. Trade openness is another potent predictor of the real exchange rate. On the other hand, no significant impact of the money supply on the real exchange rate is noticed. The results accentuate effective fiscal allocation may be a policy tool for stabilizing the Indian rupee. The unique findings on the Indian economy may also help understand the fiscal effect of real exchange rates in other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the understanding of sovereign credit default swap (CDS) markets by examining the response of CDS spreads to macroeconomic factors and exploring extreme value dependence and its relation to economic cycles. The study focuses on four emerging countries in the Asia–Pacific sovereign CDS markets from 2009 to 2023 and utilises a dynamic quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) approach to account for statistical stylized facts. The findings reveal significant relationships between economic growth, inflation, volatility index (VIX), interest rates and real effective exchange rate on CDS spreads, with varying effects across quantiles and countries. Additionally, the study explores the impact of economic expansion and contraction on CDS spreads, highlighting the significant negative effects of the expansion in certain countries and the positive impacts of contraction phases. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers in risk management and policy decision-making, emphasizing the need for policies that promote sustainable growth; manage market risks during volatile periods and consider the implications of interest rates, exchange rates and economic phases on financial stability. The empirical model used is evaluated for dynamic stability, and policy implications are discussed in light of the research outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regression discontinuity (RD) designs have gained significant popularity as a quasi-experimental device for evaluating education programs and policies. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of RD designs, focusing on the continuity-based framework, the most widely adopted RD framework. We first review the fundamental aspects of RD designs, drawing on potential outcomes and causal graphs. We then discuss the validity threats in RD designs, including manipulation, discreteness of the running variable, statistical power, and generalizability. Additionally, we provide an overview of the existing extensions to RD designs. To exemplify the application of RD methods, we analyze the effect of New Jersey's pre-kindergarten program on children's vocabulary test scores, using an educational dataset. Finally, we offer practical guidelines in the conclusion to promote the appropriate use of RD methods in educational research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we use the account of the “inhuman” that is developed in the work of the French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard to develop a critique of human-centred AI. We argue that Lyotard’s philosophy not only provides resources for a negative critique of human-centred AI discourse, but also contains inspiration for a more constructive account of how the discourse around human-centred AI can take a broader view of the human that includes key dimensions of Lyotard’s inhuman, namely performativity, vulnerability, and novelty. We link these dimensions to questions of epistemic injustice and social recognition. In this way, we hope to develop a proposal for what a richer and more meaningful understanding of human-centred AI might look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The middle-school years (Year 7 to Year 9) is a particular challenge for socially disadvantaged populations, with high proportions of children either repeating school years or dropping out of school. In Australia, a group of particular concern is First Nations children for whom there is a collective effort by all governments to improve education outcomes, although there have been few studies of their transition through the middle-school years. This retrospective study, using individual-level linked data, followed a cohort of 7881 First Nations students for 2 years after enrolment in Year 7 (Y7) in any Northern Territory (NT) government school in the years from 2008 to 2014 to quantify the transitional pathways through middle school and identify the factors associated with faltering progress. We used multinomial multilevel logistic regression to identify the factors associated with school dropout and repeating Y7 or Y8 (Y7/8). Two years after Y7 enrolment, eight in ten First Nations students progressed to Y9 (78.8%), more than one in ten students had dropped out of school (13.3%) before reaching Y9, and one in 12 (7.9%) repeated Y7/8. The likelihood of either dropping out of school or repeating years was higher among students who were enrolled in Y7 when aged less than 11.5 years, had a low Y7 school attendance rate, moved to either interstate or non-government schools and who lived in a remote area. Students who were not born in the NT and those with a record of substantiated child maltreatment during Y7 were more likely to repeat Y7/8. Planning interventions to improve school retention through the middle-school years should consider these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses four relevant climate actions in Indian agricultural sector through the lens of United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to understand how climate actions (SDG 13) are linked with other SDGs and their targets and what measures can be taken to scale up these actions. Four board categories of climate actions are considered for this exercise: shift to less-flooded paddy water management practices; minimizing overuse of nitrogen-based fertilizer, system of rice intensification and climate smart agricultural practices. A mixed method has been followed: first, scoping review of literature between 2010 and 2022 is undertaken to capture the growing body of literature and then a normalized weighted score is used to understand the net strength of the linkages. Scoping review helped in identifying 100 studies spanned across Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and the eastern part of Peninsular India. Findings from the scoring method suggest that these practices have linkages with 15 SDGs and as many as 43 SDG targets. Almost all linkages are positive (synergy) but there are a few negative linkages (trade-offs) as well. Trade-offs include exacerbating inequalities including gender, high upfront cost, requirement of skilled labor, lack of access to information and finance. This paper provides a detailed description of these trade-offs and suggests measures to tackle and minimize them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses changes in the speed of labour demand for new hires in response to the lockdowns that were repeatedly put in place to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. It tests whether the uncertainty-reducing effect of similar lockdowns occurring in quick succession increased the responsiveness of the labour market, thereby allowing for more rapid adjustment, both at the beginning and at the end of subsequent lockdowns. It uses high-frequency online job-posting data and applies an event study approach to the beginning of three national lockdowns and the subsequent reopening in Austria between 2020 and 2022. In view of the importance of progress in vaccination for labour market recovery, it also looks at vaccine roll-out as an additional COVID-19 containment measure, with 2021 as the main roll-out period. The results indicate very different responses to the three lockdowns, with a decline in job-posting activity of between 47 and 50% during the first lockdown and of between 29 and 31% during the second; but an increase of 23% to 28% during the last lockdown. Moreover, responses to the first lockdown were sluggish, with a slow decline at the beginning and a very slow recovery after it was lifted; but over subsequent lockdowns the responses were more rapid and more symmetrical. Responses to the various events differed by occupation and industry: the strongest responses were to be observed in the highly skilled and more-teleworkable occupations of technicians, and managers and professionals, who were badly affected during the first lockdown; the leisure and hospitality industry, which was the hardest hit on account of the mandatory closures and the widespread travel restrictions and bans, and which recovered only very slowly; and the IT, internet and telecommunications industry, where posting activity developed in a direction opposite to that seen in the other industries. Finally, there is little robust evidence of a differentiated effect of vaccinations during lockdowns, suggesting that vaccination roll-out did not have an additional demand-generating effect, over and above the lockdowns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the importance of fostering individual taxpayers' (hereafter taxpayers) trust in government to encourage tax compliance is widely acknowledged, how policy actions can increase trust in government remains unclear. Thus, the main purpose of our research is to see whether policy actions that signal government benevolence during a crisis can quickly increase trust in government, and its positive implications for tax compliance intentions. Another goal of our research is to see whether such a quick change of trust is driven by emotions. To test this, we use the British COVID-19 Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (hereafter SEISS) as a natural experiment. Right after the SEISS was launched to the British public, we recruited a sample of 500 British self-employed taxpayers via Prolific. Our results suggest that receiving (vs. not receiving) government support increases trust in government and enhances tax compliance intentions. In addition, trust in government mediates the positive impact of receiving (vs. not receiving) government support on tax compliance intentions. More important, our results suggest that policy actions that signal government benevolence during a crisis can increase trust in government quickly because it is driven by taxpayers' emotions such as gratitude. These results have important implications for governments to efficiently deal with the sharp rise in public debts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous variables are involved in determining the market capitalization and price of cryptocurrencies. So, It is impossible to ignore the feedback of each variable on the other ones. Also, Bitcoin management is challenging due to inter-dependencies and feedback between economic and social drivers. To better understand the dynamics that different variables have on Bitcoin, a system dynamics approach has been developed to investigate the complex interactions between factors related to Bitcoin and paper money and how these factors may affect the stability of Bitcoin. This paper aims to examine the impact of government support for Bitcoin in the future, news and sentiments effect on Bitcoin market price, and the future orientation of Bitcoin. For this purpose, a simulation period is considered from 2017 to 4500 days later. Moreover, In this study, policies have been designed to check the impact of policies on variables in the long term by keeping other variables constant. The results show that if governments support Bitcoin as an official trading currency in the future, the market price of Bitcoin and its trading volume will grow upward and fluctuate so that its market price will go up to about 90 thousand dollars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that OECD's Pillar Two may increase employment and investment in low-tax countries due to the Substance-based Income Exclusion (SBIE). The SBIE allows to tax-deduct payroll costs and user costs of tangible assets twice from the tax base of the top-up tax owed by subsidiaries in low-tax countries. Consequently, it implies that a 15% minimum corporate tax for low-taxed subsidiaries is not achieved if the SBIE is positive. We show that Pillar Two dampens tax-motivated transfer pricing, but changes the employment, investment and import incentives, and that for a sufficiently large cost share of labor and/or capital, the SBIE is equivalent to a production subsidy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, migration and migrated distance significantly affects people's mood and satisfaction, and this idea has been recently incorporated in literature. The objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between migrated distance and job satisfaction in Ecuador distinguishing between formal and informal workers. We use a repeated cross-section data from the National Survey of Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment from the period 2014–2017, and ordered probit models with random parameters to meet our objective. Our results suggest that there is a negative and heterogeneous relationship between distance on migration and job satisfaction. Moreover, we found that formal workers should be compensated at $ 0.51 USD and informal workers should be compensated at $ 0.59 USD per kilometer migrated to mitigate the negative impact of migration. These results have important policy implications, for instance, the need to promote labor policies that promote labor well-being and offset the negative effects of long-distance migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the determinants of life satisfaction in two social identity profiles according to whether the individual favors or is against state intervention for reducing income inequality. The data originated from field research conducted in the Greek society during the years 2019, 2020, and 2022. Our findings suggest that individuals who are against state intervention to reduce income inequality are closer to the utilitarian view of life assessment. Their life satisfaction is shaped by happiness, the ability to borrow money, and the negative impact of social distrust. Alternatively, individuals favoring state intervention to reduce income inequality have a sophisticated background of traits, social values, and exogenous characteristics influencing their life satisfaction, such as happiness, religiosity, equitability, cultural change, the ability to borrow money, and state of health. Thus, microeconomic attitudes decisively establish macroeconomic policies through financial decisions and expectations about a resilient state's obligations to its citizens. In this context, policy remarks suggest that state intervention promotes life satisfaction when it does not restrict individual freedom and well-being. The study's novelty lies in providing a concise behavioral framework, without abandoning economic analysis, for the assessment of social preferences for economic organization and life satisfaction, which is at the center of efficient policymaking aimed to improve social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As members of the Distinguished Reviewers Board of I Scientometrics i and/or as recipients of the Derek de Solla Price Medal, we wish to express our disagreement with the retraction of the paper "Predatory publishing in Scopus: evidence on cross-country differences" co-authored by Vít Machácek and Martin Srholec (Machácek & Srholec, [1]). The retraction note does not demonstrate the alleged unreliability of the paper by Machácek and Srholec and therefore does not provide a sound justification for the retraction. Nicolas Robinson-Garcia has collaborated with Machácek and Srholec, and is Associate Editor of I Scientometrics i . [Extracted from the article]

Scholars have given enormous attention to the roles of energy use and trade in economic growth strategies; however, recent international trade literature suggests that not merely the volume of trade but the diversification of goods may have a potential effect on economic growth. Thus, this paper uses the diversification of export goods and diversification of import goods as explanatory variables along with energy consumption and assessed the role of these important variables in economic development. The empirical results from Westerlund's (J Appl Econom 23:193–233, 2008) and Westerlund's (Oxf Bull Econ Stat 69:709–748, 2007) tests disclosed the existence of cointegration. The long-run estimations obtained from the CUP-FM technique revealed that both import and export product diversifications positively influence economic growth. This presents a vital opportunity for emerging nations to expand growth by diversifying export and import products. Likewise, energy use, labor, and capital contribute to increasing economic growth. The estimates from the causality test illustrated bidirectional causality between export diversification and economic growth and unidirectional causality from energy to export diversification. Finally, policy suggestions to expand economic progress are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in global interaction between nations, which has positive and negative impacts on environmental health. To better understand the effects of globalization on carbon emissions in Indonesia, the study adopted auto-regressive distributed lag approach to analyze the long-term and short-term relationships among variables and the vector error correction method to find the causal interaction among variables from 1990 to 2020. The study revealed that economic globalization positively impacts on CO2 emissions, while social globalization mitigates environmental degradation. However, political globalization and human capital does not appear to affect CO2 emissions significantly. Furthermore, we found that energy consumption and economic growth contribute to increased emissions. The study also observed the environmental Kuznet curve decreases environmental deterioration and increases environmental sustainability in the region. Therefore, our results suggest that Indonesia should carefully regulate trade openness and foreign direct investment to minimize its negative environmental impact. Additionally, we recommend encouraging the social aspects of globalization to help mitigate CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change threatens African countries' economic development and affects agriculture and food security. Ethiopia is especially vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change because its economy is dependent on climate-sensitive livelihoods that have limited potential for adaptation. Emerging evidence indicates that climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change and increase agricultural productivity, thereby enhancing household income and food security. In the study area, different CSA practices have been adopted to mitigate the negative effects of climate change and improve agricultural productivity, income, and food security. Therefore, this study examines the impact of CSA practices on household income and food security in southern Ethiopia. A total of 385 households were selected using multistage sampling. Primary and secondary data were used, and propensity score matching with different types of matching algorithms, such as nearest neighbor, kernel, and radius matching, was employed to quantify the conditional impacts of CSA intervention on farm income and food security. In comparison with non adopters farmers that have adopted CSA practices had a higher food consumption score between 6.27 and 8.15, which was statistically significant at the 1% level. Overall, 34.55% of interviewed households had acceptable food consumption scores, 44.68% had borderline, and 20.77% had poor food consumption scores. Furthermore, households that adopted CSA practices had a 20.30% higher average annual farm income per hectare than non-adopters. The study suggests that effective extension services, accurate climate information, and sound policy support are required to promote and scale up CSA measures in the study area to improve farmers' adaptive capacity, farm income, and food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between credit constraints encountered by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their propensity to engage in pollution prevention and control practices in developing and transition countries. Using data from the Enterprise Surveys conducted in 2018–2020 and applying a Poisson model, we find that credit rationing is negatively associated with SMEs' environmental performance. However, family ownership, human capital, and political networks seem to mitigate this negative relationship. Therefore, credit rationing appears particularly detrimental for the environmental footprint of those firms, which are less likely to pursue nonfinancial goals, and have a lower capability to seize green investment opportunities by successfully accessing and using alternative means of financing. Our study provides insights for policy makers to promote policy aimed at encouraging national and international financial institutions to provide SMEs funds for green practices. Moreover, governments should support training programs to improve SMEs employees' skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of climate change is devastating in developing countries where flood protection and insurance schemes are limited. Certain parts of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam are under the constant threat of inundation due to sea-level rise. We integrate the hedonic property model in a difference-in-differences framework and spatial econometric analysis into a single analytical framework to estimate the economic effect of pluvial flooding. We find prices for affected houses were discounted by 9% after a large flood event on 30 September 2017. This research contributes to the existing literature as follows. First, we study the economic impact of pluvial floods, which has received less attention in existing studies where large and irregular floods are their focus. Second, the inclusion of legal status as a control variable accounts for the unique character of the Vietnamese housing market. Third, we also identify the recovery of house prices after the flood event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically tests housing market efficiency in the spatial dimension by using the spatial autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (ARCH) and spatial quantile regression models. The tests were conducted in terms of both housing returns and squared returns (volatility). The sale price data used is from Cook County residential MLS for the years 2010–2016. The main findings are that housing returns are not spatially correlated but squared returns are spatially correlated, and the spatial dependence of squared returns seems to be stronger for higher squared return quantiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a nonlinear duopoly model in which the heuristic expectation formation and learning behavior of two boundedly rational firms may engender complex dynamics. Most importantly, we assume that the firms employ different forecasting models to predict the behavior of their opponent. Moreover, the firms learn by leaning more strongly on forecasting models that yield more precise predictions. An eight-dimensional nonlinear map drives the dynamics of our approach. We analytically derive the conditions under which its unique steady state is locally stable and numerically study its out-of-equilibrium behavior. In doing so, we detect multiple scenarios with coexisting attractors at which the firms' behavior yields distinctively different market outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability in cotton production is inevitable because producing more cotton means more employment, economic acceleration, and industrial expansion. India, China, the United States, Brazil, and Pakistan contribute 74% of worldwide cotton production. Pakistan is contributing only 5%, despite the high potential of cotton. The average yield of cotton in Pakistan is stagnant at 570.99 kg hm−2, whereas it entails the highest cost of production among all other crops. The yield obtained in Pakistan is less than the potential, profitability is drastically lessening, and farmers are abandoning cotton for alternative kharif crops. Some traditional quantitative studies have unveiled different factors that affect cotton production. However, an in-depth qualitative study has never been conducted in Pakistan to explore the root causes of growing cotton crop failure. Following Moustakas's traditional phenomenological guidelines, this phenomenological study was conducted in the district of Rahim Yar Khan in the core cotton zone of Punjab province. A total of 10 interviews were conducted with purposively selected cotton growers based on a criterion: (i) having more than 10 years of cotton growing experience, (ii) being a cotton grower, and (iii) having at least 10 years of formal schooling. Interviews were conducted face to face on an interview guide. One interview lasted 45–50 min, and responses were recorded and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. A total of 6 themes emerged from the collected data, including (i) climate change, (ii) varietal problems, (iii) pesticide usage, (iv) sense of institutional services, (v) attitude of farmers and (vi) soil health and environment. These six merging themes contributed to cotton crop failure and yield decline. The deep exploration further summarized that researchers, extensionists, and farmers need to seriously consider variety, sowing time, and the environment to revive cotton crops. The detailed recommendations and policy guidelines are presented in this paper, highlighting the cotton sector's research, development and investment areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the budget deficit–inflation relationship, considering financial sector development and broad money supply as moderating and mediating variables. For this purpose, a panel data set ranging from polled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect estimation techniques are employed. Hence, the pooled mean group estimation result reveals that the budget deficit is inflationary. In addition, GDP per capita, the effective exchange rate, financial sector development, regulatory quality, and the interaction term of the budget deficit and financial sector development are significant determinants of inflation. The study further examines the role of the broad money supply as a mediating variable in the budget deficit–inflation relationship. The structural equation model results and the mediation effect tests confirmed a partial mediation effect of the broad money supply on the budget deficit–inflation relationship. Based on the findings, it is recommended to strengthen regulatory quality, reduce broad money supply, and improve financial sector development. By doing so, we can create a more stable and efficient economy that benefits everyone in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the potential association between a firm's cost behavior, characterized as cost stickiness or anti-stickiness, and working capital management (WCM), as measured by the working capital to total assets ratio and the trade cycle measures net trade cycle and cash conversion cycle. We measure cost stickiness using four widely accepted models and a sample of non-financial firms sourced from Compustat. Our findings highlight the significant influence of WCM on cost behavior. Specifically, we observe an inverse relationship between a firm's WCM aggressiveness and both its cost stickiness and degree of cost adjustment. These relationships are consistent for both operating costs and the costs of goods sold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers' interest in studying the relationship between age and entrepreneurship has mushroomed in the last decade. While over a hundred articles are published and indexed in the Scopus database alone with varying and fragmented results, there has been a lack of effort in reviewing, integrating, and classifying the literature. This article offers a framework-based systematic review of 174 articles to comprehend the relationship and influencing factors related to an individual's age and entrepreneurship. Bibliographic coupling is used to identify the prominent clusters in the literature on this topic and the most influential articles. Also, the TCCM review framework is adopted to provide a comprehensive insight into dominant theories applied, contexts (geographic regions and industries) incorporated, characteristics (antecedents, consequences, mediating and moderating variables, and their relationships) investigated, and research methods employed in age and entrepreneurship research over the last fifteen (2007–2022). Though the literature covers an array of industries, to better understand the age-entrepreneurship correlation, we need to investigate the new-age technologically driven business sectors further to expand our knowledge. Furthermore, we detect that the Theory of Planned Behavior mostly dominates the literature, with other theories trivially employed. Finally, we apply the TCCM framework to suggest fertile areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research contributes to the state of knowledge on gender aspects of entrepreneurship and SME-promoting policies from the perspective of the United Kingdom. In this paper, we draw upon the largest public policy intervention aimed explicitly at fostering new business start-ups, the Start-Up Loan (SUL) scheme. Since its inception in 2012 until the present day, question whether female start-up entrepreneurs were over-represented in terms of scheme participation, which would be the case if the barriers they face when seeking to start a new business are greater than their male peers. First, the study exploits available secondary data from the Eurostat and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor to determine the participation of females in entrepreneurship during the last decades. Second, we exploit the administrative data of the participants of the SUL scheme between 2012 and 2022 (N = 98,026). Methodologically, the study relies on summary statistical tools and estimation of the Cox proportional hazard models, predicting the loan default rates of the supported individuals across genders. With an average female representation of 40% over the last decade on the SUL scheme, which is significantly higher than in the UK business population, a very positive and unintended consequence of the scheme is that tens of thousands of female entrepreneurs were given the support that, in its absence, may have prevented or discouraged them from starting their new business. Furthermore, females participating in the SUL scheme have lower hazard rates than males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resource-based view, signaling, and behavioral perspectives focus on different theoretical mechanisms through which human capital and the behavioral characteristics of nascent entrepreneurs, in combination with insider and outsider financing, may influence the emergence of new ventures. This work tests the relative explanatory power of these different theoretical perspectives. We estimate a mediation model to disentangle the direct effect of nascent entrepreneur personal characteristics on new firm creation from their indirect effects, mediated by the amount of insider financing committed to new ventures and access to greater outsider financing. Our empirical results are based on data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED II) and improve our understanding of the drivers of new firm creation and their underlying mechanisms. Our findings support the resource-based view and the behavioral perspective in our sample of nascent entrepreneurs, but do not provide evidence of the signaling perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from existing theories of immigrant entrepreneurship, I model the determinants of trust in innovation, entrepreneurial innovation, and collaborative networks of immigrant and nonimmigrant entrepreneurs. In addition, I analyze how the entrepreneurial decisions of first- and second-generation immigrants differ throughout the stages of the entrepreneurial process. Evidence from 70 countries suggests that business internationalization is essential for immigrant entrepreneurs to develop innovative products or services and establish business networks. Furthermore, immigrants may be more confident in innovation and establish more business relationships as early-stage entrepreneurs than non-immigrants. However, immigrants who export generally do not exhibit a greater propensity for job creation or business innovation than non-immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on understanding the features that identify and characterise knowledge spillovers in Business Intelligence (BI) organisations from a strategic entrepreneurial perspective. Thus, we carried out exploratory qualitative research through recourse to case studies involving twenty professionals holding leadership roles in BI organisations. The results enable the identification of six dimensions that characterise knowledge spillovers in an organisational environment: Organisational dynamics, Internal flows, Maintenance and responsibility, Learning and training, Teams, and Critical points. This study sought to counter the gaps in understanding how knowledge flows within organisations and thereby provide a more detailed vision of interactions within BI organisational environments. We conclude that professionals are concerned over internal processes capable of maintaining, fostering and sharing the knowledge captured by the organisation and the importance of specific channels for such processes. In addition, preparing and training teams represent engaging professionals and promoting and disseminating the knowledge captured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IS literature has identified various economic, performance, and environmental factors affecting cybersecurity investment decisions. However, economic modeling approaches dominate, and research on cybersecurity performance as an antecedent to investments has taken a backseat. Neglecting the role of performance indicators ignores real-world concerns driving actual cybersecurity investment decision-making. We investigate two critical aspects of cybersecurity performance: breach costs and breach identification source, as antecedents to cybersecurity investment decisions. We use organizational learning to theorize how performance feedback from these two aspects of cybersecurity breaches influences subsequent investment decisions. Using firm-level data on 722 firms in the UK, we find that higher breach costs are more likely to elicit increases in cybersecurity investments. This relationship is further strengthened if a third party identifies the breach instead of the focal firm. We contribute to the literature on cybersecurity investments and incident response. The findings stress the need for firms to analyze aspects of their cybersecurity performance and use them as feedback for investment decisions, making these decisions data-driven and based on firm-specific needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entertainment products such as movies are risky investments but contribute to societal welfare through their cultural and economic value. Therefore, movie production receives financial support from both private investors and public institutions, in the form of subsidies. Noting the ongoing debate about the actual impact of such funding, in research and practice, this study reviews a large sample of 1984 movies (co-) produced in Germany and released to cinemas over a 10-year period. The findings demonstrate the positive impact of public funding on movie success: indirectly by attracting private funding, and directly by increasing local and global box office revenues. However, public funding does not directly improve movie quality, which contradicts one of the aims of public funding. The analyses reveal different correlations and interaction effects with regard to financing and quality signals generated by the cast, directors, and producers of movies. Public funding emerges not only as relevant for the economic success of movies but also as a factor that supports their cultural contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]