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The paper focuses on how the environmental assets of old industrial regions were commodified and channelled in new productive processes , along with domesticating and distributing old and new negative externalities and risks unevenly in spatial and social terms. We adopted a political ecological approach to grasp how the emergence and dynamics of agency in such spaces are related to the mobilization of environmental resources, how peripheral industrialization is linked intimately to ecological exploitation jeopardizing the sustainability of old and new trajectories and how such processes are embedded in the ecological 'lock-in' position of OIRs. Our analysis rests on Hungarian case studies which produced empirical results and theoretical lessons beyond this context, for further studies in peripheral industrial regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the characteristics of low permeability, strong heterogeneity, small effective sand scale and poor connectivity of tight gas reservoir, well pattern infilling optimization is the main method to improve gas recovery. Taking Sulige gas field as an example, based on the study of sedimentary facies, effective sand-body distribution, combined with production performance and engineering parameters, the well control drainage was obtained. Meanwhile, the interwell connectivity and interference probability was qualitatively analyzed by interference well test, and the critical well spacing density was determined. In order to quantitatively reveal the gas grabbing degree at different well spacing density and determine whether the final cumulative gas production of gas wells with interference is economical and feasible, the evaluation index of "gas well production interference ratio (GWPIR)" was defined specifically, and the intersection plot of GWPIR relating to gas reserve abundance and well spacing density was draw. Different from the traditional method of well number interference probability, through the combination of GWPIR plot and economic evaluation, well pattern optimization from both two perspectives of pursuing higher economic benefits and recovery degree can be realized, providing technical support for improving gas recovery and long-term stable production of gas field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 outbreak was deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), and the associated travel restrictions led to an unprecedented fall in the UK economic growth including the construction sector. Nevertheless, few quantitative studies assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the UK construction sector have been conducted as of now. So, this research aims to quantitatively assess the COVID-19 pandemic's effects and causally evaluate its influence on the UK construction industry. We utilize panel data comprising financial information from listed UK construction firms spanning from 2015 to 2021. The findings reveal a substantial adverse impact of COVID-19 on business performance, with a notable improvement in performance in 2021 compared to 2020. It also proves that the supply chain disruption, labour shortage, and financial dilemma are the main reasons for the negative effect of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, and increased vaccination rate, domestic policy changes, and potential for construction development are the possible reasons for the 2021 recovery. Despite the gradual easing of the epidemic situation, the construction industry must enhance its resilience to sudden disasters to effectively facilitate a robust economic recovery. It is essential to further examine the economic fluctuations caused by the pandemic emergency and the mechanisms for its recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the economic resilience of British subregions before, during and after the 2008 financial crisis. We apply our economic resilience scorecard to employment, output and productivity to assess the resilience dimensions of resistance, recovery and renewal. Our resulting scorecard ranks the South Eastern subregions and the Bristol/Bath region as having the highest economic resilience following the 2008 crisis, with Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire having the lowest. Further policy measures are discussed to build regional resilience in recovery from multiple crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyse the world experience of retraining war veterans in order to restore the economy and consider possible ways of implementing the acquired knowledge and practices in the context of Ukraine. A study was conducted to identify the basic needs and challenges faced by veterans and examine the key aspects of the challenges that war veterans experience when entering the civilian labour market. The authors analyse effective approaches and programmes already applied in various countries, including the United States, in order to overcome these difficulties and promote veterans' integration into society and the economy. These include at the local level, or with the patronage of non-governmental organisations, educational programmes for retraining veterans in Ukraine. The authors offer specific recommendations for the development and implementation of specialised educational programmes for retraining veterans in Ukraine at the state level, mainly based on advanced world practice and existing local experience. Finally, particular attention is paid to the aspects of adaptation and implementation of these programmes in Ukrainian realities at the national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the recovery of domestic industries following the effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, which has implications for future trends in global economic recovery. We employ online firm recruitment data from a major Chinese online job listing website to reflect the recovery in employment and a regression discontinuity design. The results show that after the COVID-19 pandemic was effectively controlled in China from March 2020, the Chinese economy in terms of employment experienced an overall V-shaped recovery. From an industry perspective, some industries underwent the same rapid recovery, whereas others exhibited a U-shaped recovery path. In addition, we found that industries in the information technology industry were not negatively affected by COVID-19 and continued to perform well during the domestic epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the perceptions of domestic and foreign entrepreneurs (businesspeople and/or managers) operating in Greece towards the spatial diffusion of FDI effects caused by the privatization programme implemented by the Greek government after an economic crisis. In particular, it investigates whether attracting foreign direct investors through the ongoing privatization programme could be a policy tool for the country's recovery from the prolonged 2008 global economic crisis. To that end, it presents the results of a multinomial logistic regression model based on survey data from a significant sample of domestic and foreign investors in Greece. The key finding of this study suggests that the positive effects of FDI on the recovery of Greece from the economic crisis are more likely to benefit the country's economy as a whole than only the local economy in which the FDI is located. This finding is stronger for entrepreneurs who are (moderately) optimistic about the role of the privatization programme in attracting the interest of foreign investors than others. Overall, there is evidence that FDI attraction policies can help all Greek regions to recover from an economic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic posed a significant impact on human society, resulting in substantial changes in night-time light (NTL). This study developed a novel NTL index to estimate the quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the county level in Beijing. This study aimed to investigate the economic recovery status in Beijing by establishing regression models of economic development before and after the pandemic. The estimated quarterly GDP at the county level was found to have a strong correlation with actual quarterly GDP statistics, with an average coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.790. The regression models of the economic development of Beijing county-level districts before and after the pandemic were established after seasonal decomposition of the quarterly GDP. Based on the economic recovery framework for the pandemic in Beijing, most districts in the city had exhibited low economic resilience in terms of resistance and recoverability before and after the pandemic. Although the economy of Beijing is recovering gradually, it has not yet restored to pre-pandemic normal levels. These findings imply that NTL data can help assess the impact of emergency events on the disturbance of economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article illuminates the potential contribution of Post-Keynesian Institutionalism (PKI), especially in its Kaleckian complexion, to the debate concerning Ukraine's post-war economic recovery. It explores how Ukraine can restore its productive capacity after having lost sixty percent of its industrial potential due to the Russo-Ukraine war, juxtaposes existing approaches to financing capital formation in the country, and questions the role of foreign capital, especially foreign direct investment, in this process. The article's first section exposes the dangers associated with adopting predatory and increasingly globalized structures of money manager capitalism for financing capital accumulation in vulnerable economies such as Ukraine. The second expands the Post-Keynesian Institutionalist approach to capital formation to include emerging and developing economies. Specifically, it brings under consideration the important contribution of Michal Kalecki (1899–1970) to the analysis of capital formation in less-advanced industrialized market economies, a category to which Ukraine belongs at present. To date, this part of Kalecki's legacy has not been considered in the Post-Keynesian Institutionalist argument. Drawing on the works of Kalecki and PKI scholars, the article sketches an alternative reconstruction strategy for Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Deep Blue" is a drama film that explores the dangers of land development on a small island surrounded by dying coral reefs. The film follows the story of a star-crossed love affair between an architect overseeing the development of a luxury hotel and a marine biologist who supports local environmentalists. The film highlights the negative impacts of deforestation, the construction of a golf course, and the vulnerability of the island to environmental disasters. It also emphasizes the importance of preserving the environment and the resistance against the hotel development led by the Rastafarian community. The film's low budget production showcases the challenges faced by filmmakers in disadvantaged societies. Overall, "Deep Blue" serves as a valuable contribution to the environmentalists' cause and raises awareness about similar issues faced by island nations. [Extracted from the article]

"Maximising Economic Recovery – A New Approach to Regulating the UK's Offshore Oil and Gas Industry" by Judith Aldersey-Williams and Valerie Allan provides an authoritative analysis of the UK's new upstream regulatory regime. The book explores the challenges faced by the industry and its lead regulator in balancing the objective of maximizing economic recovery with the energy transition. It has received high praise from experts in the field and offers valuable insights into the ongoing changes in the sector. The book remains relevant despite subsequent developments, such as the COP agreement and potential changes in government. [Extracted from the article]

This study investigates the causal relationships between international tourism development and the economic growth of a global city–state – Singapore – drilling into the temporal details of the tourism-economy nexus in small countries. Many studies have examined whether the tourism-led growth hypothesis or the economy driven-tourism growth hypothesis holds in large developed and emerging countries. Still, relatively few studies examine small countries' tourism-economy nexus, and the temporal details of the nexus have not been adequately examined. We examine the tourism-economy nexus in Singapore using quarterly data from 1991Q1 to 2020Q4 and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model, with the long- and short-run dynamics and the feedback loop of the nexus considered. Our statistical findings show that international tourism development leads economic growth by two quarters in Singapore. Also, there are both 'consistent' and 'contemporaneous' positive feedback loops between tourism development and economic growth, but those loops cannot last for more than a quarter. From the economic perspective, our study reveals that improving tourism activities may accelerate the post-Covid economic recovery of some small countries that rely on tourism. Yet, continuous input is required to sustain the tourism-economy synergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 shock resulted in a large number of people becoming newly poor in Bangladesh, for whom recovery was slow and difficult. In response, BRAC implemented a nationwide program – credit, business planning support, and mentoring – targeting the economic recovery of the new poor. This paper estimates its impact using a mixed method and finds that the program had a significant positive effect on employment, income, and assets, indicating a faster economic recovery of program participants. The learnings from this program can have major policy implications for future disaster responses targeting livelihood recovery, specifically during the time-sensitive transitory phase from relief to long-term development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the link between value chain importance and economic growth for the EU24 regions between 2008 and 2018. It finds that relying more on GVCs worsened regional growth during the financial crisis, but led to higher growth in the long run. The results contribute to the literature on regional resilience and the public debate on the impact of shocks and the desirability of GVCs. Furthermore, by separately analyzing the importance of global and regional value chains it contributes to the discussion on the effect of regionalization and provides insights on how the re-configuring of value chains may affect regional growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how the relationship between life course and mobility of owner-occupants is affected by periods of economic and housing market downturn and recovery. The impact of 'period effects' are largely unknown. Using Dutch register data, we compare the probabilities of moving in view of partnership, children and employment status for 2012–2014 and 2014–2016. We find that the downturn period is associated with lower mobility, yet the association is different for various household situations. Mobility to ownership in the crisis was particularly constrained for stable couples, employed owners and households with children. Moves to the rental sector were less period sensitive. Only owners who became unemployed were more likely to move into rental during crisis. 'Delayed mobility' has been found for moving in together, separation, households who had children, and job change. So, periods of crisis and recovery structure how home-owners adapt to life-course changes. Our findings imply that period effects should be accounted for in residential mobility studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID 19 pandemic has exposed businesses to high uncertainty through a number of channels. While the magnitude of this economic disruption is much larger than the 2008–2009 global financial crisis, there are pertinent learnings from the latter which can accelerate the recovery envisaged after the current crisis. To identify that, in this paper, we analyse the determinants of firms' ability to maintain positive performance during an unexpected downturn. We do this by using a multinomial logit analysis on Italian automotive industry firm-level data covering the years before and after the 2008 financial crisis. The most significant results are that innovation and intangible assets play a key role in shaping the degree of firm ability to face external shocks. Our findings provide insights into solutions that have practical importance for companies pertaining to a mature industry like automotive. Learning from the economic downturn faced in 2008–2009, which we highlight in this study, can act as the first step into a green and sustainable recovery desired in the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the German government embraced a major shift towards a grants-based EU recovery fund relying on common European debt. How can we explain this impetus, especially in view of the reticent German fiscal stance in previous years and in the early stages of the pandemic? To elucidate this question, this paper provides a qualitative inquiry into German preference formation during the spring of 2020. Theoretically, it reconciles liberal intergovernmentalist and discursive accounts of preference formation in the context of EU politics stressing the intertwined nature and simultaneousness of preference formation in the national and European arenas. We hypothesise that, along with material self-interests, the construction and framing of the pandemic as a certain type of crisis was key. Examining the stances taken by the federal government, commercial groups and key EU actors such as France and the European Commission, our findings point to a rapid preference realignment in German political and economic circles. Overall, the analysis suggests that especially in times of crisis, assumed national preferences are subject to reconfiguration thus allowing for contingent political responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Research Note explores how the major Southeast Asian countries were hit with negative growth rates due to the pandemic in 2020. National income was markedly reduced to a lower level and, even with present growth rates back at pre-pandemic levels, there will be permanent effects. The level trajectory for GDP will necessarily be lower compared to a non-COVID scenario with positive economic growth. Exponential smoothing is applied to GDP data for 2000–2019 with the purpose of estimating incomes for a non-COVID case and the deviation from the actual GDP in order to measure the loss of incomes. For the pandemic years, the negative impacts are most severe for countries with relatively large service sectors (Malaysia, Thailand) and less so for countries with a diversified economy or a large agricultural sector (Vietnam, Laos). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past two decades, two global events highlighted the importance of household savings to economies and individuals, and their relation to economic activity and growth. First, the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 reminded the world that household savings are essential for economic recovery and sustainable economic development. Second, the recent COVID-19 pandemic showed how vulnerable household savings are to various external shocks. This paper investigates the relationship between household savings rates and real GDP in the four countries of the Visegrád Group, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, for the period 1996–2021. Our empirical analyses indicate short-run Granger causality from real GDP to household savings rates, and from household savings rates to real GDP, in both the Czech Republic and Hungary. Additionally, we also report significant long-run relationships between household savings rates and real GDP, particularly in Hungary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) authorises the European Commission to borrow up to €672.5 billion to aid member states' economic recovery from COVID-19. Some scholars see such funding as unprecedented. Others see a tight link with earlier borrowing instruments. By comparing the EU's pandemic facility to eleven such instruments created between 1952 and 2021, this article shows that the RRF is familiar in some respects but novel in others. Viewed through a historical institutionalist lens, the RRF shows signs of layering, but limited evidence of displacement or path dependence. Over the last seven decades, member states have added to earlier instruments, we show through process tracing, but they have rarely been locked into institutional choices. The RRF's strict time limit is consistent with this finding. The RRF will not become permanent, our analysis suggests, but borrowing is now part of the EU's toolkit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When facing volatility spillovers in energy markets, all players require risk mitigation strategies to insulate themselves from the same. To prevent energy markets from being strongly crashed by volatility spillovers, which even trigger financial crises, in this paper, we use network analysis as an aid to identify spillovers among the main nine energy markets. Specifically, we first measure the volatility spillovers among the main energy markets through a BEKK model. Based on this, influential markets are identified by using network analysis. The coal, wind and water energy markets should be paid close attention as they occupy vital roles in the volatility spillover network. Even though clean energy markets contribute more in terms of market stability, traditional energy markets are still important to ensure energy supply when experiencing extreme crashes caused by COVID-19. In this paper, we make the contributions to analysing volatility spillovers in multiple energy markets and identifying crucial energy markets in volatility spillover networks, then provide more market information that helps the government and policymakers effectively manage systemic risks caused by volatility spillovers. The effective risk management of crucial energy markets enhances economic recovery and stability, especially in the post-COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's COVID programme has created a great deal of controversy. One of the primary aspects is whether China needs to implement a strict and harsh mass control strategy to stop the spreading virus. Based on prior research on China's perceptions of its COVID policy, this article examines how China intends to contain the COVID by using content analysis of Chinese-language literature on the policy. It identifies four major suggestions to execute China's COVID policy: governance coordination, public control, propaganda operation, and economic recovery. When debating how to carry out China's COVID policy, it is discovered that governance coordination is the most popular method, followed by the idea of building a local community-engaged public control system to deal with COVID. Despite the top-down command to maintain a strict approach to COVID, this article argues that the diverse (and sometimes contradictory) domestic views on China's COVID strategy and execution have made it difficult to predict China's future policy and how long it will remain in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the viability of the fiscal policy in the reconstruction of the Syrian economy. We use the Structural VAR estimation technique to assess the response of real GDP to shocks in government expenditures and exchange rates in the parallel market. We also control for other variables including money supply and oil prices. We find that government spending is an effective tool for economic recovery in particular under a quasi-fixed exchange rate regime. We also employ the nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) model to detect the existence of asymmetrical effects of government spending on real GDP. The NARDL results show that negative changes in government expenditure have more impact on economic growth compared to positive changes. Additionally, the NARDL model reveals that the post-conflict period was characterized by large government spending' inefficiencies. Finally, we study three alternative government spending' rebuilding scenarios. We document that reaching the pre-conflict GDP level is possible under two of the scenarios we investigate. Hence, our results provide strong policy implications according to which fiscal policy can, under specific exchange rate regimes, reverse the adverse effects of civil wars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mis-/disinformation has increasingly become a global threat to democratic societies, creating distrust in institutions, fomenting deep societal divisions, and disrupting democratic elections. To complement earlier studies on the Philippines, this paper develops a case study approach to analyze one specific false narrative that went "viral" prior to and during the Philippine Presidential elections in 2022. Specifically, this paper examines the Tallano gold myth, using an empirical analysis of an extensive social media dataset of almost 24,000 social media posts compiled using CrowdTangle. Three key sets of messages appear central to the myth: (1) Marcos gold is critical for economic revival; (2) Marcos' wealth is legitimate; and (3) the opposition wants to steal the gold. This paper finds evidence that the Tallano gold myth spread across partisan groups prior to the 2022 Presidential elections, proving difficult to overcome with mere fact-checking efforts. A final section concludes by briefly reviewing various country responses to fake news, and outlining possible policy responses with an eye to their possible timing in the virality pattern. Lessons from this case study emphasize the need to catch fake news in time to stop them from reaching virality and generating large adverse impacts on society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democracies are expected to implement expansionary fiscal policies to accelerate economic recovery in crisis times. However, as experienced in the 2008 global financial crisis, democratic countries sometimes tend to adopt austerity measures during crises. This paper examines the relationship between democracy and fiscal support during the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical findings confirm the positive impact of democracy on fiscal support. As we unbundle the effects, democracy has a significant effect for the non-health sector, but the effect is insignificant for the health sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the outlook of government expenditure through public and private financing for the green economic revitalization after COVID-19 in Canada. The various econometric estimations are used to measure the impact of government expenditure on green economic recovery. The implementation of public investment is explicitly associated with private funding. The results suggest that the government policy incentives and non-government financing influence fossil fuel energy sources proportions on non-government investment, which is additional than the feed-in tariffs. According to fixed effects results, the distribution of fossil fuel energy sources is an essential obstacle in solar energy investment. In contrast, the presence of varied types of renewable energy encourages non-government climate investment. Throughout the study period after the breakout of the pandemic phase, neither fossil fuel energy sources nor economic policy is marginally efficient. The different macroeconomic programs in green economic recovery might be ideal for attaining the needed impact. The critical policy conclusion of the results of this research is that an influential role of the public and private investment may be part of an optimal firm innovation plan for green economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic simultaneously affected most economic sectors and has already caused severe worldwide social and economic damage. In response, authorities introduced social distancing measures, with an adverse impact on economic activity. If policymakers were aware of the existing vulnerabilities, including those derived from the positioning on the business cycle, resilience could have been increased. The aim of this article is to describe various methods of dating business cycles in several Central and Eastern European (C.E.E.) countries, namely Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Furthermore, a Probit model regarding the probability of a recession is estimated, confirming the adverse effects of the pandemic, in contrast with a brightening outlook given vaccination campaigns and the E.U. recovery package. However, in case of the Romanian economy, an in-sample estimation showed a high probability of negative growth rates even in a pre-pandemic world, due to the high macroeconomic imbalances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effects that mobility restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have had on different types of co-presence, which the existing literature considers to be central for science and innovation. Drawing on a regional analysis of COVID-19 restrictions in Germany, it links specific mobility restrictions to concrete impacts on co-presence, differentiating between co-presence in organizations, dynamic temporary co-presence, and the local 'buzz'. It highlights that co-presence at workplaces and conferences was resilient to restrictions but that the detrimental effects on the 'local buzz' may have been substantial and long-lasting. In conclusion, it cautions against the severe effects of placing restrictions on the education system. Subsequently, the discussion links the reported disruptions of co-presence to the potential effects of the pandemic on preconditions for innovative processes and economic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early stages of recovery from the recession induced by the COVID-19 pandemic were accompanied by a marked increase in inflation in the US and elsewhere. Much has been made of this outcome, and the economic distress associated with it, in popular discussion of the economy. This paper provides a Kaleckian conflicting-claims analysis of inflation during the post-COVID recovery, that distinguishes between rising wages, pandemic-related supply shocks, and corporate price-setting behavior as sources of inflationary pressure. A key conclusion that arises from the co-determination of inflation and distributional outcomes in the Kaleckian framework is that distributional developments that have further disadvantaged working households, rather than inflation per se, are the chief source of recent economic distress – and should be the chief cause for concern among policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is an important recovery strategy for Micro and small Enterprises (SMEs), which are expected to play an important role in the economic recovery and redevelopment in the post-epidemic era. We empirically explore how industry associations impact SMEs' innovation decisions using China Micro and Small Enterprise Survey data. We find that industry associations' information sharing support is possibly weakly dominant in promoting SMEs' innovation decisions in general. The information-sharing support and institutional support are almost equally important for hard product or technical innovation, while industry associations' information-sharing support weakly dominates institutional support for soft innovation. The most important channel for soft innovation in organization, services, marketing or culture is likely to introduce potential customers. We provide policy suggestions on how to guide industry associations to effectively help SMEs' innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. senators are increasingly turning to Twitter to stoke partisan divisions, and it's not just what they say, but rather how they say it. Senators spent the Spring of 2020 responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the tone and framing used to engage a digital constituency was largely dependent on partisan alignment with President Trump. We use senators' Twitter activity during the outbreak to offer new insight into the mechanisms of lawmakers' party polarizing trends in congressional communication. We show that divisions stemmed from senators' sentiment and framing—with Republicans more likely to incorporate positivity into forward-looking steps for economic recovery and Democrats preferring a negative tone to address government failings and inadequate response by President Trump. This article extends the literature on polarizing rhetoric in the Senate by using the pandemic response to illustrate how the dynamics of senators' digital rhetoric, even during a moment of shared crisis, continue to fuel partisanship and polarizing narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the interplay of development, militarization and culture of impunity in Balochistan. It contends that the State's pursuit of large-scale infrastructure projects is intensifying the conflict. Balochistan has increasingly been positioned as the potential fulcrum of Pakistan's economic revival due to its vast, untapped resources and significant Chinese investments. While this vision seems promising, it has heightened Baloch anxieties and resistance. Large development initiatives bring about socio-economic disruptions, fuelling existing anti-State sentiment. The article argues that the imperative to protect expanding economic assets has enabled the region's further militarization, engendering an environment wherein the security-intelligence apparatus employs force inordinately and arbitrarily with impunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU post-pandemic recovery plan 'NextGeneration EU' is set to mobilise close to 750 billion of investments over the next 4 years. Beyond economic recovery, its ambition is to transform Europe's development model and to align it with the objectives of the European Green Deal. This article provides an overview of the role that European cities have so far played in the design and implementation of such plan. In particular, it describes the actions taken by cities to gain a relevant role in the respective National Recovery and Resilience Plans. The article presents survey data that illustrate the marginal role given so far to cities by national governments. On this basis, it raises questions on the ability of the EU recovery plan to address major implementation challenges and to become a driver for urban transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 adversely affected all market mechanisms, shocked economies, halted business operations, and disrupted supply chains. This study examines macroeconomic instability by assessing the commodities market in highly traded regimes using descriptive statistical analysis, the Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) Index, and Markov Regime Swapping (MRS) for data covering February 26 to November 30, 2020. The findings indicate that most commodities respond to stock values in both high and low-volatility regimes of supply and demand. Additionally, commodity prices are still in a low volatility regime due to COVID-19-related market uncertainty. The returns for oil, corn, gold, copper, natural gas, silver, and soybeans adapt to low macroeconomic uncertainty and variable rankings for COVID-19. In contrast, changes in COVID-19 deaths had no impact on natural gas or oil under any regime. As agricultural commodities and valuable metals have less negative feedback to exogenous variables than any other commodities, this model is useful for regulators and stockholders. The results suggest that in a global pandemic, portfolio managers and other stakeholders should use priceless metals like gold as a short-term hedge against systemic market risks to achieve macroeconomic stability and facilitate a rapid recovery in the green economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pre-employment card program, a training voucher policy initiated by Indonesian government in the beginning of 2020 emerged as an alternative instrument in economic recovery, including for youth affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the multinomial logit and Lee's selection-biased corrections, the objectives of the study then are to see the effect of the program on (1) employment status and (2) income of youth during the pandemic. The data used are sourced from the 2020 National Labor Force Survey. The results show that the participation of youth in the program increases participation in the labor market, especially in the informal sector. However, the results show that there is still no significant effect of the program on income in all employment status, suggesting a potential lagged income effect of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper introduces financial intermediation into the New Keynesian model with rare disasters, analyzes the impacts of rare disaster shock on the macro economy, and compares the effects of different economic recovery policies. Based on the numerical analysis, this study finds that: (1) rare disaster risk shock retains a negative relationship with consumption levels, and banks increase their leverage ratios to cause risk accumulation; (2) refinance policy and consumer coupon policy can alleviate economic fluctuations caused by disaster risks from various channels; (3) the consumer coupon policy is conducive to reducing the average social welfare loss caused by disaster risks. It is believed that the establishment of a sustainable economic stimulus mechanism to fundamentally reduce the impact of catastrophic events on the macro economy and achieve economic recovery in a short period are essential issues that should be urgently addressed by countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ireland is beginning to emerge from an extended period of austerity following the global economic collapse of 2008. In this time, private sector investment in historic urban cores all but halted, and state funding for heritage was dramatically cut. However, both the state and civil society have placed a new emphasis on the potential of built heritage to act as a driver of economic recovery, reflected in both local and national policies and strategies relating to the conservation and regeneration of historic urban cores. Through a discourse analysis of local documentary material, and of semi-structured interviews with a range of key factors involved in the management of two historic urban cores in Ireland (Limerick and Waterford), the paper explores how conservation policy has been fashioned to suit its deployment as an instrument of local and national economic recovery within the context of entrenched entrepreneurial urbanism, and how local stakeholders have responded. The paper concludes on the implications for both conservation policy—specifically tensions between traditional conservation approaches and more flexible instruments utilised in heritage-led regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Overpayments; Universal credit; fettering discretion; mandatory reconsideration EN Overpayments Universal credit fettering discretion mandatory reconsideration 184 187 4 06/26/23 20230601 NES 230601 I R v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions i [2023] EWHC 233 (Admin) calls into question at least three aspects of the long-established practice of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The claimant asked the DWP in three separate applications to exercise its discretion to waive repayments, and the DWP refused at every point. The present procedure requires claimants to ask first for Mandatory Reconsideration, before appeal to a tribunal is even possible. [Extracted from the article]

How local governments respond to the COVID-19 pandemic has received much scholarly attention. The existing literature mainly focuses on epidemic prevention, while the contradictory policy goals of pandemic control and economic recovery are less investigated. How do local governments respond to such tasks with tension? This article approaches the question by analysing the policy divergence between central and local governments under the influence of the conflicting goals. Utilising an original dataset of policy divergence in work and production resumption policies between central and 244 municipal governments in China, this study finds that pandemic control is the priority of local governments, and the rationality-based logic rather than the capacity-based logic is followed by local leaders when formulating policy responses. The results extend the theoretical understanding of local governments' policy response under pandemic conditions and provide a theoretical basis for better management of the pandemic in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has exerted significant downward pressure on economic activity. In this paper, we examine the extent of the epidemic shock and recovery effects on economic growth by province in China since 2020. We find that the extent of the epidemic shock on economic growth in China has been gradually weakening. Still, the economy has not yet fully recovered from the shock. Also, there is some heterogeneity across provinces in the extent to the economic growth shocked by epidemic and the recovery effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea farming communities in Laos are faced with COVID-19 impacts, while simultaneously having difficulties in access to Fairtrade. This paper examines community issues on how tea farmers perceived Fairtrade as an economic recovery from COVID-19. Taking a case study from five tea farming communities in the Phongsali district of Laos, this paper reveals pivotal role Fairtrade plays in supporting tea farmers' community development to enhance their income and livelihoods. It suggests communities' mixed perceptions of Fairtrade in contributing to economic recovery under the COVID-19 impacts over the long term. We argue that Fairtrade can be deployed as an ad-hoc economic recovery measure in the face of the COVID-19 impacts to sustain tea farmers' trading, income, food security, and community development in Phongsali. This paper suggests how Fairtrade would serve as a safety net for enhancing local community development while the COVID-19 pandemic remains a huge challenge to local economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed the rapid decline in homeownership across a number of developed societies and the growth of an increasingly unaffordable and insecure private rental sector. While a growing literature examines the conditions shaping this transformation, less attention has focused on the extent and nature of the precarities experienced by 'Generation Rent.' To address this gap, this paper connects debates within the generation rent literature with more recent work on housing precarity, or the uncertainty arising from the experience of insecure, unaffordable and poor-quality housing. The article develops and applies a Housing Precarity Index (HPI) to data on private renters in Ireland to provide a nuanced account of the extent and severity of precarities in the Irish rental sector among differing sub-groups during a housing market crash and dubious 'recovery' period (2008 − 2016). The article identifies the key drivers of housing precarity and assesses their contribution to further declining living standards among renters into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the nature, origins and expression of place leadership in communities undergoing large-scale economic transformation. It examines where people look for leadership in the management of the places where they live, and how their perspectives are affected by an adverse event. It documents community attitudes on the influence those who occupy positions of authority have been able to exert on this transition, drawing on perceptions from places affected by the shutdown of the Australian automotive industry in the second decade of the twenty-first century. It seeks to understand which individuals and roles were seen to be influential in leading this process of change. This article gains insights into how leaders have an impact, and where this ability to effect change comes from. It does so with reference to the structural conditions embedded within Australian political life and the way leadership finds expression in periods of uncertainty and transformation. The paper finds communities are acutely aware of where the power to lead change resides, but concerns with the efficacy of that leadership have contributed to discontent. A greater focus on further empowering local leadership while delivering on long term expectations would have resulted in more positive perceptions. MAD statement This paper answers the question, how can local leaders manage large-scale, disruptive change such as the closure of a major employer or the shutdown of an entire industry? The paper makes clear that different types of leaders need to respond in varied ways, depending on their source of authority, their degree of connection to the affected community and the nature of the shock experienced by the local economy. Senior government leaders need to map out and deliver a roadmap for economic recovery, social service providers need to be responsive to local needs and those leaders living in the community must continue to strengthen social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the problem of sparse recovery in the context of compressed sensing. This is to minimize the sensing error of linear measurements by sparse vectors with at most s non-zero entries. We develop the so-called critical point theory for sparse recovery. This is done by introducing nondegenerate M-stationary points which adequately describe the global structure of this non-convex optimization problem. We show that all M-stationary points are generically nondegenerate. In particular, the sparsity constraint is active at all local minimizers of a generic sparse recovery problem. Additionally, the equivalence of strong stability and nondegeneracy for M-stationary points is shown. We claim that the appearance of saddle points – these are M-stationary points with exactly s−1 non-zero entries – cannot be neglected. For this purpose, we derive a so-called Morse relation, which gives a lower bound on the number of saddle points in terms of the number of local minimizers. The relatively involved structure of saddle points can be seen as a source of well-known difficulty by solving the problem of sparse recovery to global optimality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the end of 2013, the Republic of Ireland had exited the bailout and was entering a period of economic recovery. Yet by 2015 the largest collective protest since independence emerged, challenging the proposed introduction of water charges. Since water, multiple successful social movements organising primarily on the terrain of social reproduction have developed. In this article, I argue that this period of reproductive unrest sharpened inherent contradictions in the way that capital accumulation, social reproduction and the Irish state are articulated to one another. Moreover, these contradictions are not unique to Ireland, but rather emblematic of neoliberal states more broadly. The article intervenes into debates on neoliberal crisis management since the 2007 Global Financial Crisis, as well as demonstrates the value of using social struggles as a lens through which to understand potential fractures in the global political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies the concept of identity – typically associated with individuals and self-definition – to the study of a degree program, a collective educational enterprise. Faculty members and senior administrators at a community college in Canada with ties to the development of a hospitality degree program were interviewed. This paper examines identity within a different empirical and scalar context (a degree program rather than individuals) and in a manner that is different conceptually (addressing the idea that identity has both enduring and changing features). The competitive academic marketplace has shaped the identity of the hospitality degree program at Niagara College Canada. Commercial pressures, themselves fixed and in flux, have driven the formation of an identity that has attributes that are fixed and in flux. The notion of identity is interwoven with business imperatives and may offer guidance to hospitality degree programs in the context of a post-pandemic economic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disasters are a primary influence in the global development landscape given their unequal impacts across society and calls for transformative change in their aftermath. Recovering from disasters is one component of development that is coming under scrutiny. This is especially so in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, whose scale, scope, and cascading effects mean that the uncertain prospects for recovery will be complicated and endure long term. COVID-19 has forced a reappraisal of what recovery encompasses, who it is for, and how it can better enable preparedness for future disasters. Drawing upon interviews with a global community of experts specializing in different areas of disaster governance, this paper focuses on the lessons emerging for recovery-related theory and practice deriving from the pandemic. We elaborate a multi-dimensional framework to support those working on local recovery planning within communities and operating across different sectors. The framework captures the interconnected issues across six principal domains—communities, economic, infrastructure, environment, health, and governance—representing key impact areas around which strategies and multifaceted actions can be developed. We suggest a three-step process using a systems approach to develop a recovery strategy that operationalizes the framework and addresses the complexity of long-term recovery for development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquakes will significantly impact the economic development of earthquake-affected areas and the regional post-earthquake economic recovery trajectory. We presented an explorative analysis of disaster resilience and introduced a quantitative framework to model recovery patterns of earthquake disasters. Four resilience metrics, namely instant disturbance, recovery rate, recovery time, and accumulated loss, were calculated to measure resilience as a dynamic process. Furthermore, we applied random forests to explore the potential factors influencing recovery patterns. The selected factors fell into three categories: 1) disaster factors, 2) environmental factors, and 3) socioeconomic factors. The framework's utility was demonstrated in a retrospective study of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, which uncovered the differences in the long-term recovery trajectory of earthquake-affected areas and their influencing factors. The county-level analyses indicated a substantial spatial and temporal variation in the recovery patterns. Earthquake disaster resilience was related to socioeconomic factors and had an association with environmental and disaster factors. Our study not only helped to enrich the understanding of earthquake disaster resilience but also provided a basis for disaster mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While most immigrant-receiving countries have restricted immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada has taken a very different approach, increasing its immigration targets over the next three years. With this move, Canada has made it clear that immigrants are expected to play a lead role in the post-pandemic economic recovery. Most of these immigrants will be admitted through Express Entry, a hybrid system introduced in 2015 that combines elements of both supply- and demand-driven selection. In this article, we examine whether Canada's hybrid selection system meets its current and future labor market needs in a post-pandemic world. Using a mixed methods approach, we combine analysis of an administrative dataset with data from qualitative interviews with employers and experts in the immigration sector. We find that while Express Entry is a flexible and responsive tool for selecting immigrants, it narrows the occupational profiles of newcomers. The system also does not fully address the labor shortages and skills gaps described by Canadian employers. We argue that Canada's post-pandemic labor market will require a wider range of skills, and that Express Entry's adaptability should be carefully monitored and adjusted to broaden the skill mix of immigrants and facilitate skills match between immigrants and employers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the demand of public transport systems. Nevertheless, the global decrease and recovery of users has been uneven both in time and space. It is important to understand the extent of the unequal resilience of service areas with different characteristics. The objective of this study is to map the patterns of variations in the use of public bus at different scales, urban and regional. The data used were collected by an Automated Fare Collection system based on the use of smart travel cards in the Camp de Tarragona region (Southern Catalonia, Spain). Our approach has the potential to be applied in multiscale studies in other areas with similar data sources. This study also illustrates the potential that data generated by Automated Fare Collection systems have for a better understanding of uneven spatial and temporal patterns of public bus ridership during crises such as a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]