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Blockchain technology, as an emerging information technology, has attracted much attention. Some luxury e-commerce platforms have focused on the adoption of blockchain technology to provide electronic certificates for consumers, which helps to increase consumers’ trust in luxury goods. However, due to the high authentication cost of blockchain technology, some platforms still adopt manual technology with lower authentication costs to provide paper certificates for consumers. So whether platforms choose to adopt manual technology or blockchain technology for authentication is a problem worthy of attention. In this article, we investigate the choice strategy of authentication technology for luxury e-commerce platform(s) in the monopoly and duopoly markets, respectively. The results show that the choice of authentication technology for platform(s) depends on the cost difference between manual technology authentication and blockchain technology authentication. When the cost difference is small (large), platform(s) should adopt blockchain (manual) technology. In particular, in the duopoly market, the competition between the two platforms will improve their motivation to adopt blockchain technology, but the two platforms may trap into a prisoner's dilemma when they both adopt blockchain technology. Moreover, in the monopoly and duopoly markets, adopting blockchain technology is likely to improve consumer surplus and social welfare at the same time.

Indonesia has been known to have abundant natural resources and culture-based creative industries. The country is therefore vulnerable to the practice of fraud of origin. One of many industrial sectors susceptible to that particular crime is the wooden furniture businesses. In many cases, it is apparent that natural products and raw materials of Indonesia are being exported without listing the country as the place of origin. The most common Indonesian material falls within this illegal practice are timber products. In the province of Central Java, Jepara has been a prominent center of timber industry producing high quality timber products and wooden raw materials. From a unique standpoint, the timber industry in Jepara is deeply rooted to the culture and identity of the natives, making the attempt to separate the discussion between timber industry and the people of Jepara not only imprudent but virtually impossible. By looking at the statistic in which Jepara’s public education level is assessed to be still below the national standard, and as well bearing to the general fact that the timber actors in Jepara are more focused on product sales rather than important technical aspects such as certification of origin, it should be projected that crimes such as fraud of origin could be easily committed in Jepara. This study is using a comparative advantage theory and theories or models of H-O to investigate how the practice of fraud of origin in Jepara occurs and how to resolve such problem.

Background Food access is an important aspect of health promotion for the elderly. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between distance to the nearest food store and diet variety in rural community-dwelling elderly Japanese. Methods This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 1,103 elderly participants surveyed by mail in rural areas of Japan. Diversity of food intake was assessed by diet variety score (DVS). Street network distance from home to food store was calculated and categorized by quartile using a geographic information system and analyzed in relation to diet by multivariable regression with the primary outcome as low DVS. Sub-analysis of the association with DVS was conducted for each food store category (convenience store, supermarket and small food store). The association between intake frequency of each food group and distance was also analyzed. Results Participants in the fourth quartile of distance to food store had significantly higher prevalence ratio (1.15, 95% CI, 1.01-1.32) for low DVS than those in the first quartile. There was a significant tendency between greater distance to food store and lower DVS (p for trend = 0.033). Supermarkets and convenience stores, in particular, showed significant associations. Greater distance was significantly associated with lower frequency of meat and fruit intake. Conclusions There was significant association between distance to nearest food store and diet variety in rural Japanese elderly. These findings suggest the importance of interventions for areas at high risk of low diet variety, such as places far away from food stores.

With the widespread application of intelligent systems in major industries, the traditional equipment manufacturing industry has gradually shifted to advanced equipment manufacturing. The innovation network of an industry directly affects the innovation capability of the industry, so the research of innovation network has always been the focus of attention. However, there are few researches on the innovation network of advanced equipment manufacturing industry, so this article has launched an in-depth study on it. First, it analyzes the basic geometric characteristics of the innovation network. Then, based on the small-world network model, an evolution model of the advanced equipment manufacturing innovation network was created, and simulation experiments were performed on the evolution model. The experimental results show that the clustering coefficient and the average distance showed different changes in different stages, but in the end they all gradually stabilized. The clustering coefficient was 0.484, the average distance was 1.854, and the degree of small cosmos was 0.497. This shows that the innovation network evolution model established in this study can reveal the evolution process of the innovation network of advanced equipment manufacturing through simulation experiments.

Durable goods often come bundled with limited-time and sometimes generous factory/base warranties. Yet, for many durable goods, customers purchase extended warranties against which they rarely make claims. This study offers a reference-dependent-preferences-based theoretical explanation for why consumers purchase extended warranties even if their purchased good is already covered by a base warranty. The authors show that consumers treat base warranties as a reference point, thereby creating a qualitative difference in the valuation of an extended warranty on the purchased product. The proposed theory model is validated using observational data from the automobile industry and shows how the reference-dependent-preferences-based effect varies with vehicle quality and macroeconomic conditions. The analyses reveal auto buyers’ elevated loss-aversion motivations and higher price sensitivity during weaker macroeconomic conditions than during more robust macroeconomic conditions. Finally, the authors use the empirical model to identify opportunities for auto dealers to engage in targeted price promotions as a function of prevailing macroeconomic conditions. These findings have important implications for marketing managers, as they provide valuable guidance on when an extended warranty should be promoted, to whom it should be promoted, and which extended warranty should be marketed.

This study aimed to review the scientific literature on the quality and safety of beef sold in retail, methodologies used for quality evaluation, and proposed interventions for the sector. Bibliographical research was performed in order to identify scientific articles using the electronic databases Ovid, PubMed, Scielo, LILACS, Scopus and Embase. Thirty-three articles were included in the review. Given the different dimensions of the studies, the results were organized into three categories, according to the following approaches: food, environment and handlers; consumers and selection criteria; and intervention strategies for the segment. The applied methodological strategies revealed inadequate conditions and neglect in several processing and operation stages that are fundamental to the maintenance of quality standards. The results confirm a worrying scenario and the presence of risks to consumers. Based on the studies evaluated, it is necessary to emphasize the consumer concern about the importance of the integrated information chain - all stages involved in the production process and meat distribution for retail meat stores. The reported conditions on different studies indicate the need for interventions, with a view to prevention of health risks, continued training of food handlers and transformation of evidenced realities. In this context, it is possible to point out the predominance of diagnostic studies, in contrast with interventional studies focused on the training / qualification of food handlers.

The traditional paradigm for pharmaceutical manufacturing is focused primarily upon centralized facilities that enable mass production and distribution. While this system reliably maintains high product quality and reproducibility, its rigidity imposes limitations upon new manufacturing innovations that could improve efficiency and support supply chain resiliency. Agile manufacturing methodologies, which leverage flexibility through portability and decentralization, allow manufacturers to respond to patient needs on demand and present a potential solution to enable timely access to critical medicines. Agile approaches are particularly applicable to the production of small-batch, personalized therapies, which must be customized for each individual patient close to the point-of-care. However, despite significant progress in the advancement of agile-enabling technologies across several different industries, there are substantial global regulatory challenges that encumber the adoption of agile manufacturing techniques in the pharmaceutical industry. This review provides an overview of regulatory barriers as well as emerging opportunities to facilitate the use of agile manufacturing for the production of pharmaceutical products. Future-oriented approaches for incorporating agile methodologies within the global regulatory framework are also proposed. Collaboration between regulators and manufacturers to cohesively navigate the regulatory waters is ultimately needed to best serve patients in the rapidly-changing healthcare environment.

Post Tender Negotiation (PTN) procedure is part of the tendering process in procurement of goods and services. The procedure could be triggered if the initial tendering activity does not result in the selection of a supplier. This could be due to a lack of clear Value for Money (VfM) bidder. The PTN procedure is sparingly applied in the UK public sector procurement and the reasons adduced for this are based on ethical considerations. The UK Office of Government Procurement (OGP), formerly known as the Office for Government Commerce (OGC) and the European Union (EU) are the chief proponents of restricting the use of PTN to exceptional cases. The premise of their argument is that the buyer could unethically tilt her/his actions in the process of applying the PTN procedure to favor certain suppliers. It is the argument of this paper that buyers from the public sector in UK are being deprived of the procedure’s benefit and therefore, the restrictions should be relaxed. Evidence from this study suggests that the procedure could offer the opportunity for further clarifications of supplier’s bid. The study also identifies that, for PTN to be successful, factors ensuring success in negotiations including cooperation should be present.

This paper analyzes partnerships between foreign and domestic firms as a source of signaling advantages, considering the case of virtual codesharing in aviation. Virtual codesharing is an important type of cooperative agreement between airlines that does not change any real product attributes and hence provides the opportunity to identify this signaling effect. Roughly 75% of the flights in trans-Atlantic and Pacific markets involves codesharing. Typically, the consumer buys the ticket with the domestic airline, while a foreign airline operates the flight. Analyzing individual-level choice data from a representative sample of Australian air travelers, we find that the average consumer is willing to a pay a premium between 4 and 5.5% of the ticket price when a flight by a foreign carrier is codeshared with the national carrier Qantas. When flying to a less familiar destination, risk averse consumers are willing to pay a premium about two times higher than non-risk averse consumers, suggesting that partnerships have a strong impact on consumer valuation through reducing perceived risks and uncertainties associated with alien carriers. By this mechanism, home country bias may spillover to foreign partners of domestic firms.

The Covid-19 pandemic that has occurred since 2020 entered Indonesia and has almost occurred in all parts of the world has resulted in the world being stopped due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, all its effects have been felt by all circles, one of which is business actors. Indonesia is one of the countries affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic, one of which is the Indonesian economy which is in the MSME business sector, especially the Micro sector, such as the perfume business, clothes distro, shoe shop, medium-scale traders. small down another. They are most affected by this Pandemic because since the implementation of the large social scale (PSBB) which has automatically reduced their sales turnover. Because consumers no longer come to them. Therefore, the authors created a website-based system to assist MSMEs in making sales. Which is where the buyer no longer has to come to the seller. The author hopes this website can help return to their sales turnover.

Background/aim: The Covid-19 pandemic is one of those rare events that affects everyone on earth and changes our lives. The pandemic, which has killed over four million people worldwide, is putting unprecedented pressure on governments to maintain essential health and social services, as well as keep their economies running, even as the virus threatens people's daily life on every level. Thus, the purpose of this study is to discuss the short-term economic impact of the pandemic by assessing its costs using official economic data for both the world and Turkey. Furthermore, this research highlights possible economic, social, and political pathways for a postpandemic new world. Materials and methods: This study is a review article that overviews and tracks the economic development of the Covid-19 pandemic from the start, synthesizes and compares current data of reliable institutions, and provides an overall assessment. Results: The pandemic has certainly caused short-term and long-term damage to economies and living standards for many people. Although there are estimates on what this damage is, the exact degree of the damage is still unknown. However, it seems that the recovery will be gradual, long-lasting, and unpredictable due to the unprecedented uncertainty characteristic of the pandemic. Conclusion: Early economic growth projections show that there will be no ordinary recovery for the world economy since short-term countries' recovery paths are different. It is likely to remain uneven and depend on the effectiveness of the vaccination process, fiscal policy support, public health management, and hard-hit sectors' growth size in economies. Due to the uncertainty and lack of confidence, governments should ensure an equal and sustainable economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic by conducting flexible monetary and fiscal policies. However, without structural reforms, economies can not boost either in the short-term and long-term.

Buying and selling or trading in the term fiqh are called al-Ba'i which, according to etymology, means selling or replacing. The word al-Ba'i in Arabic is sometimes used for the understanding of his opponent, namely the word al-Syira (buy). Thus, the word al-Ba'i means selling, but also means buying. In terminology, buying and selling is an agreement to exchange objects or goods that have a good value between the two parties, one receives objects and the other receives them in accordance with an agreement or provision that has been justified and agreed upon. In the Qur'an, there are many statements that describe the life of the Arabs, including trade problems. Islam is very concerned about the problem of trade in this Arab nation by setting for them what they need. Many of the Prophet's hadith mention the legal issues of buying and selling, monopoly, accounts payable, profits, etc. Jahiliyah Arabs have a market as a center of trade. Usury is one type of economic transaction that is actually carried out and developed in Arab society. In Islam, buying and selling if it contains usury, illicit goods, reduces scales, and by force.

Business models that focus on providing access to assets rather than on transferring ownership of goods have become an important industry trend, representing a challenge for incumbent firms. This paper analyzes the interaction of a peer-to-peer (P2P) rental market and an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Our analysis highlights the important role of consumer heterogeneity in usage rates as a driving factor of the mechanisms that explain the different market outcomes. Indeed, both the OEM and consumers can benefit from P2P rental markets for intermediate ranges of consumer heterogeneity in usage rates, but both can be worse-off when the heterogeneity is too low or too high. Further, P2P rental markets have an equalizing effect on the heterogeneous consumer population, as low-usage consumers earn relatively more from P2P rentals than the high-usage consumers. We investigate alternative market structures for the OEM, and show that under intermediate levels of consumer heterogeneity in usage rates, it is best for the OEM to operate in the presence of a P2P rental platform. If heterogeneity in usage rates is too low, the OEM prefers to operate as a monopoly, offering sales only, whereas if heterogeneity is too high, the OEM prefers to offer sales and rentals directly to consumers. In addition, if the incumbent firm manages the P2P platform, it would choose to charge a transaction fee equal to zero for P2P rentals. Thus, contrary to what could be expected, the OEM has an incentive to facilitate P2P rentals in a large variety of cases.

Ethnographic fieldwork in underground settings is quite challenging, especially when the study subjects are extremely hidden and involved in illegal activities. Issues of access and approach are particularly demanding in doing research in the black markets. In this chapter, I describe how I gained access to 33 kidney sellers during my yearlong fieldwork in the organ bazaar of Bangladesh. When all my avenues to locate kidney sellers seemed exhausted, I made an organ broker as my key informant and a kidney seller as my research assistant, and with their inevitable support, I successfully contacted and interviewed the kidney vendors from various parts of Bangladesh. As my collaboration with an organ broker could be ethically problematic, especially when he was involved in illicit activities and potentially exploiting others, I upheld a fine balance between efficacy and ethics and established that such a key informant technique could be beneficial in gaining access to hidden populations. I embodied that ethical integrity, methodological novelties, and professional responsibilities are imperative for building rapports with research subjects, retaining their friendship and accessing their hidden life in order to gather rich, reliable, and retrospect narratives from the field.

This chapter explores the advent of blockchain technology which is the basis for almost all of the many types and formats of virtual currencies. We review the types, uses, and the many ways in which blockchain is transforming the world of business as well as society. Among them are management tools, financial services, tourism, legal and accounting services, and the innumerable other uses due to blockchain’s impenetrability to hacking, its protection of privacy, and many other advantages afforded.

Children nowadays are overwhelming with luxurious things and have only little or even no money concepts where most of the kids just reach out to their parents for buying anything they want. This could be an issue for parents, hence kids should be taught the value of money and knowing that save their own money is important to purchase anything they desired. This project proposed an innovative way to inculcate saving behaviours in children using an IoT Piggy Bank. This goal-directed approach allows children to set their saving goals (values of their desired items) and form a saving habit slowly through their saving routines toward their saving goals. Every saving made by the children will be tracked in a mobile app and a buzzer will be triggered as a reinforcer to alert children when they do not save regularly. The user acceptance testing (UAT) of the proposed prototype has shown the majority of the parents (90%) agreed that the proposed IoT piggy bank is very suitable for children to instil saving habit. Most of the children have reacted positively where they were having lots of fun when trying on the IoT piggy bank and expressed that they would continue to use it for saving in the future.

Beringkit Animal Market is one of the large traditional animal markets in Bali which is famous for selling superior cows. In addition to selling superior cows, Beringkit Animal Market also sells dogs and various types of poultry such as chickens, ducks and roosters. However, in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, traditional markets are considered as the main cluster for the spread of COVID-19 due to the large number of interactions between buyers and traders. The implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) has resulted in a lack of income for traders at the Beringkit Animal Market. This study aims to design an Android-based online animal auction application as a medium for buying and selling animals to minimize physical interaction between buyers and traders, the online auction transaction process is chosen because the auction transaction process can bring together traders and buyers in the same online media and make offers up to reach the highest agreed price. The research method applied is the DSRM method or Design Security Research Method, application development uses Android Studio to develop mobile applications, and uses Visual Studio Code to develop web-based systems. Data storage and web server management in this study using MySQL and Laravel. The results of this study are in the form of an Android-based animal auction application that can be used as a medium for transactions between buyers and traders who have gone through the blackbox testing process with the test results as expected.

E-commerce is a boom in the modern business. E-commerce means electronic commerce. E- commerce (Electronic commerce) involves buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic network, predominantly the Internet. E-commerce (Electronic commerce) is a paradigm shift influencing both marketers and the customers. Rather e-commerce is more than just another way to boost the existing business practices. It is leading a complete change in traditional way of doing business. This significant change in business model is witnessing a tremendous growth around the globe and India is not an exception. A massive internet penetration has added to growth of E-commerce and more particularly start-ups have been increasingly using this option as a differentiating business model. Moreover, E-Commerce has significant influences on the environment. Although the model is highly used in current business scenario but the option has not been explored at its fullest. The current research has been undertaken to describe the scenario of E-Commerce, analyze the trends of E-Commerce. The study further examines the key variables imperative for the success of E-commerce business models. Keywords: E-Commerce, Internet, Self-service, Technology, Internet banking.

In order to explore the impact of different decision-making methods on the profits of various entities in the supply chain of the community e-commerce platform, this paper adopts the method of the Stackelberg game. For the community e-commerce platform supply chain composed of suppliers, community e-commerce platforms, and grid station service providers, considering the degree of supplier value cocreation efforts, this paper studies the optimal decisions under centralized decision-making, supplier-led decentralized decision-making, and community e-commerce platform-led decentralized decision-making, respectively. The results show that the supply chain obtains the highest profit in centralized decision-making; under decentralized decision-making, the dominant party will get higher profits; and the supplier value cocreation sensitivity coefficient is positively correlated with sales price, value cocreation effort level, and total supply chain value. The results are helpful to improve the competitiveness of the community e-commerce platform supply chain in the market and are of great significance to the long-term development of the community e-commerce industry.

In this paper the relationship between price and rent dynamics in the Italian housing market is studied. The aim is reached through the implementation of a multivariate autoregressive model (VAR), that makes it possible to explain the interdependencies of multiple time series. The analysis considers a series of macroeconomic variables in the model that in the deductive interpretation of the phenomenon and on the basis of other experiences in current literature, were evaluated as potential keys to understanding the relationship between prices and rents. The variables selected, along with residential realestate prices and real residential rents, were: the real short term interest rate, the time series of the annual differences between the actual and the expected Gross Domestic Product, real investments in housing. The data series cover the period from 1980 to 2008. The results obtained show some peculiarities of the Italian real estate market.

El objetivo es describir el software disponible en la web 4.0 para la creación de recursos didácticos en las instituciones de educación superior en Venezuela durante la pandemia del Covid-19. La investigación se tipificó descriptiva apoyada en el método cualitativo. Desde la perspectiva de las fuentes el diseño es documental. Como instrumento se aplicó una matriz de análisis de contenido en una muestra teórica (50) de artículos. Los resultados indican que en la actualidad existe una diversidad de software, para que los docentes puedan elaborar materiales didácticos innovadores en el contexto universitario, la flexibilidad de estos materiales, se extiende a su uso por parte de los estudiantes, ya que pueden reconfigurarlos, modificarlos y compartirlos. Como conclusión se tiene que el docente, debe innovar constantemente haciendo uso de las múltiples herramientas disponibles en la web 4.0, para promover aprendizajes significativos en los estudiantes en pregrado.

Most of the banks and financial institutions of Nepal have been moving towards the e-Banking system as all of them want to increase customer satisfaction and relationship (especially in terms of time), scope, and transaction facilities. The scope of this study is to analyze different Internet banking services and their parameters provided by commercial of Nepal. The study used a questionnaire by using Google Form, which was provided to the respondents in their email addresses for primary data collection. A sample of four respondent’s banks, from 27 banks(Nepal Rasta Bank 2021) and different 18 attributes were taken to analyze their performance. The comparative study is done by analyzing different Internet banking services and their parameters provided by commercial banks such as Transaction-Intra and Interbank, Merchant tie-up, Wallet Support, Utility payment, Transaction cost, Transaction Limit, and IPS connectivity by using bar charts analysis. The study shows that there are no single parameters that can be used to compare the services. Thus, the model of study proposed here is helpful for the comparison of services of financial institutions. Further, the model can be implemented to compare any kind of services in any service-oriented organizations.

The article analyzes the problems of introducing electric vehicles, as well as their difference from cars with internal combustion engines. This type of transport has long been included in our everyday life. Today, in the era of the heyday of technology, a person understands that cars with an internal combustion engine (ICE) are almost on the edge of their existence. At present, the development of the production of electric vehicles should be considered as a promising direction of the Iranian automobile industry. At the moment, this market in Iran is not yet occupied by foreign companies, and therefore national companies have a chance to use the strategy of “growth together with the market”.

With the development of computer technology and network technology, the era of digital economy has arrived, the Internet platform economy has flourished, and a number of Internet enterprises with certain influence have emerged at home and abroad. Among them, the large Internet enterprises use their own platform's advantageous position in data, traffic and algorithms to interdepend on and influence each other, thus leading to the price of commodities not only determined by market supply and demand but more influenced by the oligarchs through some tangible or intangible ways of price leadership. Internet platform vendors take a cut from both the supply and demand side, capturing excess profits in the hands of the platform to the detriment of the majority. Internet platforms are not a place outside the law and the platform economy should operate under good market rules and market competition, while the state should also amend its anti-monopoly laws in due course to meet the needs of the market at this stage.

Distribution channels are undergoing a radical change. The success of the online channel and digitalization driven by a few leading companies in recent years has dramatically changed the way people live and change their purchasing patterns. New technologies have multiplied the points of contact; broadband connection has increased the number of always-on consumers and, at the same time, has developed online shopping (Pentina & Hasty, 2009). What are the implications of digital technological innovations? Will the physical store continue to play a key role? Will online shopping be able to offer an engaging and exciting consumer experience? For example, showrooming is becoming a common practice. It consists in obtaining all relevant information about a product at the point of sale and finally, buying it online. This practice is often used in order to save money since online prices are known to be lower than in retail shops. It is also driven by the customer's need to touch a product before buying it. More and more retailers are dealing with this phenomenon of being a storefront, providing information, letting people touch products and eventually making fewer sales.

The problem of Smoking is widespread among different age groups of the population both in individual countries and in the world as a whole. According to official statistics, the number of regular tobacco users in the world reaches a billion. The harm of tobacco is caused by the content of toxic substances in the inhaled smoke, which have a negative impact on organs and systems, leading to the emergence of diseases or exacerbation of existing ones. Deaths due to diseases associated with tobacco use are not uncommon. Given the high mortality and morbidity from nosological forms, the risk of which is Smoking, prevention and methods of combating addiction are an important topic in modern medicine. This article presents the experience of using the auditory psycho-correction program “NO SMOKE” in the fight against tobacco dependence among employees of the coal Company.

Este estudo busca identificar as características dos passivos e contingências dos 20 clubes das séries A e B do Campeonato Brasileiro de 2017 que apresentaram as demonstrações contábeis de 2010 a 2018. Foi verificado que dos 180 balanços analisados, 79 apresentaram passivo a descoberto denotando problemas efetivos de inviabilidade econômico-financeira embora nenhum clube tenha quebrado efetivamente. Os achados demonstram que os clubes não conseguem se sustentar com recursos próprios e necessitam, eventualmente, captar recursos com terceiros. O estudo se diferencia de pesquisas anteriores porque identifica as características das obrigações presentes e futuras dos clubes de futebol brasileiros. This study aims to identify the characteristics of liabilities and contingencies of 20 clubs participating in the First and Second Division of the Brazilian Championship of 2017 that presented all financial statements from 2010 to 2018. It was found that 79 of 180 balance sheets analyzed presented uncovered liabilities and denoting effective problems of economic and financial unviability although no clubs broke effectively. The findings demonstrate that clubs cannot support themselves and eventually need to raise third-party resources. The study differs from previous research because it identifies the characteristics of liabilities, and provisions as present and future obligations for Brazilian football clubs. Thus, this research contributes by providing an overview of the indebtedness of Brazilian football clubs. Este estudio busca identificar las características de los pasivos y contingencias de los 20 clubes de las series A y B del Campeonato Brasileño 2017 que presentaron los estados financieros de 2010 a 2018. Se encontró que, de los 180 balances analizados, 79 tenían pasivos no garantizados que denotan problemas reales de inviabilidad económica y financiera, aunque ningún club se ha derrumbado efectivamente. Los hallazgos demuestran que los clubes no pueden mantenerse a sí mismos con sus propios recursos y necesitan recaudar fondos de terceros. El estudio se diferencia de investigaciones anteriores porque identifica las características de las obligaciones presentes y futuras de los clubes de fútbol brasileños.

The quality of higher education has always been a complex issue in Latin America, but although there has been progress, it seems isolated and distant from other regions. Situation deepened with COVID-19, because between improvisation and reactive actions, it is questioned that it has maintained the parameters of demand, and therefore of quality. This motivated the objective of the work, to know the state of the art of quality in higher education in Latin America. The method used was the systematic review of primary studies between the years 2020-2021. The search was carried out in multiple databases: Scielo, Redalyc, Education Resouces Information Center, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar, using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Starting from 10,755 articles, a systematic filtering was carried out, resulting in the analysis of 22 scientific articles. It is obtained as a result that, the research works presented in the various groups and those independent, show a process of construction and / or configuration of the quality assurance system for the region, still in process and with great expectations towards the region. future. The conclusions reveal the interest on the subject in the region, with a series of subtopics that focus on tools, models, methodologies and indicators, evaluation, standards, accreditation and external mechanisms, among others. And although it is not a new topic, the one referring to the virtual environment is being promoted. © 2021, Universidad del Zulia. All rights reserved.

This paper investigates the how government outsourcing affects efficiency and expenditures by considering how outsourcing decisions are determined along two dimensions: (i) cost differences between private firms and government suppliers of public goods and (ii) dynamics arising from cost complementarities and capacity constraints. I formulate and estimate a dynamic model of government outsourcing using project-level data from the dredging industry. Model estimates indicate substantial cost savings due to outsourcing but also that government presence in the market yields cost reduction. A counterfactual policy featuring direct competition between government and private sector firms finds a total expenditure reduction of 15.7 percent. (JEL D44, H41, H57, L84)

Background Multiple survey reports suggest that alcohol use has increased in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, less is known about how per capita alcohol sales, which predict population-level alcohol use, have changed and whether changes in alcohol sales differ from changes in sales of other products due to pandemic factors. Methods We obtained monthly retail sales data by industry from Statistics Canada, for the six largest provinces in Canada (containing 93% of the national population), between January 2010 and November 2020, representing time before and 9 months after the start of the pandemic in Canada. We used an interrupted time series analysis to estimate pandemic impacts on the dollar value of monthly per capita (per individuals 15+ years) alcohol, essential and non-essential retail sales. We adjusted our analyses for pre-pandemic sales trends, inflation, seasonality and changing population demographics over time. Results During the first 9 months of the pandemic, the values of per capita alcohol, essential and non-essential sales were, respectively, 13.2% higher, 3.6% higher and 13.1% lower than the average values during the same period in the prior 3 years. Interrupted time series models showed significant level change for the value of monthly per capita alcohol sales (+$4.86, 95% CIs: 2.88, 6.83), essential sales (−$59.80, 95% CIs: − 78.47, − 41.03) and non-essential sales (−$308.70, 95% CIs: − $326.60, − 290.79) during the pandemic. Alcohol sales were consistently elevated during the pandemic, and the pre- and post-pandemic slopes were comparable. In contrast, essential and non-essential retail sales declined in the early months of the pandemic before returning to regular spending levels. Conclusion During the first 9 months of the pandemic, per capita alcohol sales were moderately elevated in Canada. In contrast, non-essential sales were lower than prior years, driven by large decreases during the initial months of the pandemic. These findings suggest that the pandemic was associated with increased population-level alcohol consumption, which may lead to increased alcohol-related harms. Ongoing research is needed to examine how factors, including pandemic-related stressors and specific alcohol sales-related policies, may have influenced changes in alcohol use and harms.

E-commerce has emerged to be one of the most successful business models that have provided numerous benefits to businesses in the contemporary environment. This study focuses on assessing the impact of E-commerce on business performance. Some imperative impacts have been the international marketplace, no time constraints, better relationship building with customers, lesser fixed costs, and some more.

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo identificar las acciones que las 50 empresas más importantes en México han implementado para afrontar la pandemia COVID-19, para lo cual se utilizó un análisis de contenido que servirá para la identificación de ideas expresadas en estructuras de información escritas. Se pudo identificar que algunas de las acciones más socorridas por las empresas para cumplir con las medidas de confinamiento y distanciamiento social que el gobierno de México estableció son cierres temporales de sucursales, reducción de empleados, establecer nuevos medios y canales de ventas, implementación de protocolos de higiene, trabajo remoto desde casa, así como donaciones económicas y en especie, siendo las acciones de orden social las más implementadas representando el 35.19% y sectores como el Holding, Alimentos y servicios financieros fueron los que más acciones instauraron. Al final, estas acciones llegan a tener un impacto económico negativo, ya que el Producto Interno Bruto del país para el año 2020 disminuyo en 8.3% en relación al año anterior.

With the rapid development of science and technology in recent years, and the strong support of the Chinese government, the world’s most extensive Internet area has been formed. In recent years, my country’s E-commerce has developed very rapidly, which has promoted the development of rural E-commerce. The development of rural E-commerce has promoted the development of the rural economy, especially in the current country’s rural revitalization strategy. The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stated: “Insist on focusing on the construction of national infrastructure and social development in rural areas, deepen the construction of new rural areas and poverty alleviation development, comprehensively improve rural production and living conditions, strive to increase farmers’ income, and maintain a sustained and rapid income of farmers. increase”. Rural E-commerce is a key link in the realization of the strategic goals of rural revitalization. Although my country’s rural E-commerce development has made some outstanding achievements at this stage, in terms of the time period of rural E-commerce development, it is only in its infancy. There are bound to be many problems to be solved, and some problems in the treatment of the juvenile industry may make this industry disappear. This article is based on the rural revitalization strategy. This article explores the current problems in the development of rural E-commerce in my country, and proposes specific development paths to contribute to the further development of rural E-commerce.

Agriculture is one of the areas where blockchain technology could bring a revolution by solving the existing problem of Agri-product fraud, its traceability, price manipulation, and lack of customer trust in the product. This paper aims to demonstrate the potential application of blockchain technology in the agriculture industry and how it could address the existing issues by surveying the existing paper and following case studies of the blockchain start-up companies. Blockchain technology shows a promising approach to fostering a safer, better, more sustainable, and dependable agri-foods system in the future. While the application of blockchain in agriculture is in the initial phase and faces various issues like cost of implementation, privacy, security scalability, performance, and infancy, it can bring a revolution in the agriculture industry.

According to the United Nations, aquatic pollution affects at least 800 species worldwide, with plastic responsible for up to 80% of the waste. Every minute, up to 13 million metric tonnes of plastic is expected to end up in the ocean, the equivalent of a trash or garbage truck load. Plastic is a design failure; it was never intended to end up in animals' stomachs or at the bottom of the food chain in humans. The fashion industry is a massive contributor to the plastic waste found in the oceans and so it becomes necessary for corporations to take sustainable steps in the direction of reducing Ocean Plastic Pollution. One of the ways to do so would be by recycling ocean plastic into clothes. Our study focuses on analysing global collaborations and suggesting a series of steps for recycling ocean plastic. Keywords: Marine Plastic, Recycling, Supply Chain, Plastic Pollution, Polymers

Online shopping has become an increasingly common way of shopping in recent years. The main goal of the paper was to evaluate and compare the development of online shopping in the Visegrad Four countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary). The paper outlines the theoretical basis of online shopping concept, describes the current situation of online shopping in the EU market and the main types of goods and services purchased through the Internet. Based on data from the Eurostat database, the paper outlines the development of online shopping in the years 2011 to 2019, the share of online purchases in the EU market and online purchases of goods and services within the V4 countries for the given years. We found that in all countries, an increasing trend of online shopping was recorded over the period under review, with the largest increase in the Czech Republic. There was also a growing share of online purchases from retailers in other EU countries, with the largest increase recorded in Hungary. With regard to online purchases of services, year-on-year decline over the period of two years has been recorded in Slovakia.