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The rise of deep learning in the financial field has led to the integration of artificial intelligence and investment, providing users with intelligent investment decisions. However, the data volume of financial market continues to expand, traditional data processing methods can no longer meet the needs of efficiency and accuracy. This article focuses on deep reinforcement learning algorithms and delves into key issues such as stock price prediction, investment portfolios, and algorithmic trading. By comparing and analyzing the experimental results, not only was the performance of the model evaluated, but also the actual effect of the algorithm output was deeply explored. At the same time, drawing on Kubernetes container orchestration and microservice technology, a high concurrency and high-performance distributed financial data analysis system was constructed. This system not only meets the needs of users for real-time data analysis and deep learning, but also provides more reasonable investment suggestions for users. The contribution of this article lies in introducing deep reinforcement learning to solve nonlinear data problems in the financial field, proposing intelligent asset management methods, and designing a feasible intelligent financial asset management system, providing new ideas and practical experience for the further development of financial data analysis platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cuban Residents Abroad (CRA) have the potential to significantly contribute to Cuba's economy through tourism and remittances. CRA constitute a large diaspora, with strong ties to Cuba. Their travel to the island, even if primarily to visit family, has a notable economic impact, especially on private and local economies. Remittances from CRA are also substantial, representing a top source of foreign earnings for Cuba, though recently limited by US restrictions. However, various obstacles still hinder CRA's full economic participation, including outdated policies, limited travel services catering to CRA, and complicated remittance channels. The Cuban government could boost CRA contributions by facilitating their travel, investment, and remittances through updated policies, expanded local initiatives, allowance of more private sector participation, and overall reintegration of CRA into economic life. Balancing CRA participation with equitable development remains a challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As with many Volunteer Programs, volunteerism at Filoli began in support of a fledgling organization in 1975. Initially a separate nonprofit, Friends of Filoli was created with the purpose of fundraising and other support, but was dissolved in 1989 as it was not self-sufficient. The leadership structure, however, remained and later merged with the Board of Directors, creating confusion and discontent. The program peaked at 1,500 volunteers, and was outsizing service needs, not aligned with Filoli's strategic direction, and a considerable investment of time and management. Volunteers were largely self-managed, but were not following industry best practices and were unsupportive of needed changes for the organization to be viable. As staff implemented best practices, volunteers responded negatively and publicly. Based on staff investment, diminished returns, and negative culture, the model was unsustainable, so the organization took action to assess the needs through a professional consultant to reframe volunteerism. In 2022 Filoli launched Service Learning, a new project-based program that provides an opportunity for learning and volunteerism. Now, Filoli has no dedicated volunteer coordinator, no docents, and no dedicated volunteer database. Yet there is still a robust program for volunteerism, with 650 participants and 2,400 service hours in 2023 alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many threatened species require ongoing management, which is often funded through short project cycles. Evaluating whether the management is effective in protecting a species is important to inform future management investments. For migratory species, management may affect only part of a species' annual cycle, and reversing a population decline is challenging to achieve and demonstrate. Here, we evaluate whether conservation management projects funded by the European LIFE programme to safeguard a migratory vulture population achieved their major objective of stabilizing the target breeding population. Between 2012 and 2022, an international alliance of conservation organizations implemented multiple actions to reduce poisoning, direct persecution, and electrocution and collision with power lines along the Eastern Mediterranean flyway. We monitored breeding territories of the Balkan population of the globally endangered Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus between 2006 and 2022, and tracked 60 young birds with GPS transmitters since 2010. We used these data to examine whether population growth rate and survival probability had increased since project implementation. The mean annual survival probability of adult territorial birds increased by 1.9% since 2014 from 0.937 to 0.955, and the monthly survival probability of wild juvenile birds increased by 9.7% from 0.833 to 0.914 since 2018. The population growth rate across the Balkans increased by 6.9% from 0.939 before 2018 to 1.005 since 2018. This indicates that the Egyptian Vulture population has remained stable for the past 5 years (2018–2022), but at a population size that is only half (105 adult territorial birds in 2022) than at the beginning of the time series (204 in 2006). We caution that ongoing management along the flyway and reinforcement are required to ensure that the Egyptian Vulture population on the Balkans can recover, but we show that flyway‐scale collaboration of direct conservation actions can have lasting benefits for migratory species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the archaeological record for water management in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, in relation to the Bonito Paleochannel cycle, ca. AD 1075–1150. We present evidence for a canal system at Pueblo Bonito that was destroyed by the entrenchment of the paleochannel. This canal system is associated with the peak of great house construction. Other water control features throughout the canyon were small and date to the period of paleochannel aggradation or afterward. We suggest that while the Pueblo Bonito canals represent some degree of corporate group investment, small features were managed at the household level. The limited archaeological evidence for formal water control infrastructure can be explained at least in part by the physical geography of Chaco Canyon, which we view as essentially a regional-scale water harvesting structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of text readability indicators and sentiment factors to asset pricing is practical in investment risk management yield pursuit. We analyzed the polarity of textual sentiment of Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) in 10-Ks for firms in the U.S. by constructing Sentiment Entropy, a new sentiment indicator based on L&M Dictionary, which captures the same characteristics of positive and negative emotions from the perspective of polarity. The empirical results show that the polarity of sentiments increases investment risk measured by return volatility, which differs from the traditional one-way emotion indicator. We found through a mediator effect test that emotional polarity significantly increases investment risk by stimulating large changes in trading volume, which is consistent with conventional wisdom. Challenging conventional findings, we find that positive and negative emotions in disclosures may have homogenous effects on the market, providing inspirations for understanding the role of textual sentiment on investor behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sri Lanka holds a pivotal position in the Indian Ocean, fostering significant economic ties with South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. This study examines the financial linkages and stock market behavior between Sri Lanka and key Asian economies (India, China, Pakistan, and Japan) from 2015 to 2021. Using daily stock prices from Bloomberg.com, the analysis employs the EGARCH (1,1) model to assess return and volatility spillovers. Results reveal negative return spillovers from India to Sri Lanka and cross-volatility spillovers from India, China, Pakistan, and Japan to Sri Lanka. Conversely, Sri Lanka exhibits negative return spillovers to India and Pakistan and cross-volatility spillovers to China and Japan. Sub-analysis identifies structural breaks in December 2019, indicating shifts in spillover dynamics pre- and post-Covid-19. These findings offer insights for investors, policymakers, fund managers, and governments to optimize investment strategies, formulate stable policies, and enhance portfolio diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the growing body of scholarship related to the impact of imprisonment on families, from the particular perspective of parents, siblings and other close relatives of people serving a life sentence. We argue that those family members are often overlooked in research and service provision, while bearing the burden of the association with the offender. This is particularly problematic for relatives of life sentenced prisoners, having to cope with the seriousness of the offence, and the uncertainty of the perspectives of release. Based on 17 interviews conducted in Western Australia, we discuss family members' confrontation with and experiences throughout the criminal justice system. We report on how they manage to "live with life" and which coping mechanisms they developed. Our findings call for more investment into the matter, to generate a scholarship for a better understanding of and supporting initiatives for those close relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As the world's largest emerging market, the evidence of momentum effect in China is also mixed. Meanwhile, prior studies mainly examined individual stock momentum in China, with little concern for industry momentum and its relationship with trading volume. The motivation of this study is to investigate industry momentum in China and examine whether trading volume can enhance its profitability. Design/methodology/approach: Firstly, the authors test the existence of industry momentum in China; secondly, the authors test the correlation between trading volume and momentum returns using the double ranking method; finally, the authors test whether trading volume enhances the momentum returns using Fama–French five-factor model. Findings: The authors find that there is a significant industry momentum effect in China, and the momentum returns jointly come from winner and loser portfolios. The intervals between the formation and holding periods have an impact on the performance of momentum portfolios. In terms of trading volume, the authors find that high-volume industries have industry momentum effects while low-volume industries do not. The industry momentum strategies achieve higher excess returns in high-volume industries. Practical implications: Prior literature found higher momentum returns in low-volume stocks in China, but the research in this study suggests that implementing an industry momentum strategy in low-volume industries will miss out on higher returns or even bring losses, and instead the investors should invest in high-volume industries to get the best performance. Originality/value: This study extends existing research by focusing on industry momentum and its relationship with trading volume in the Chinese stock market and finds an interesting relationship between industry momentum returns and trading volume, which is different from related studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Constant Leverage covering strategy for the equity momentum portfolio (CLvg) developed in this project cannot mask its shortcomings by increasing leverage. It has to successfully forecast and avoid more losses than profits to perform better than the momentum portfolio. This approach is different from other covering strategies available in the literature that focus on increasing the right tail of the momentum returns distribution at a faster rate than they increase the left tail. The CLvg strategy only depends on past information and uses the daily volatility of the loser portfolio to determine episodes of high and low volatility. The daily volatility of the loser portfolio has a stronger relationship with large negative momentum returns than the daily volatility of the momentum portfolio. The daily volatility of the loser portfolio also has a weaker relationship with larger positive monthly returns, and it is more predictable because it has a higher volatility persistence. The negative effects of transaction costs on the CLvg strategy are measured using bid and ask prices reported by CRSP from 1992 to 2021. During this period, the stock market presented an average excess return of 9.19% and a Sharpe ratio of 0.61, and 9.74% of its returns were crashes, which is a better performance than the momentum portfolio. The CLvg adjusted by transaction costs presented excess returns of 16.93% and a Sharpe ratio of 0.84, and only 8.31% of its returns were crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the association among management fees, ESG scores, and investment performance of ESG funds in China. It explores the significance of comprehending the cost–benefit analysis and long-term yields associated with sustainable investing. The investigation specifically concentrates on China's open-end equity funds and uncovers some noteworthy discoveries. Initially, funds with higher management fees tend to yield greater returns, suggesting a potential validation for these fees. Nevertheless, when taking risk-adjusted metrics into account, these funds do not exhibit superior performance, indicating that the elevated fees may not necessarily result in enhanced performance after factoring in risk. Furthermore, the analysis discloses an adverse influence of ESG factors on fund performance. In general, the findings indicate that ESG funds in China do not impose higher management fees and do not ensure better returns but often produce superior risk-adjusted investment performance if their ESG scores are moderately higher. Exceptionally high ESG scores can end up with the worst risk-adjusted investment performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study develops a novel periodic regime-switching model (the PRS model) to improve the forecasting of stock market volatility by accounting for the information from non-trading and trading periods, including regular trading and after-hour trading. Empirical analysis of the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) demonstrates the significant improvements of the PRS model in both in-sample and out-of-sample periods. Our results also show that the introduction of after-hour trading sessions has provided valuable information for volatility forecasting in subsequent regular trading sessions, emphasizing the importance of considering diverse information flows across different trading and non-trading times. The PRS model effectively captures the dynamics of non-trading and trading sessions and the influence of unusual news arrivals and jumps on market volatility, contributing to investment and risk management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In general, Indonesian people still do not understand waqf management in Islam correctly and thoroughly. If Muslims examine the benefits of waqf more deeply, it can be ascertained that the benefits can be reaped in this world and the hereafter. The discourse of productive waqf and cash waqf is echoed in Indonesia by several Indonesian figures, thinkers, and scholars so if the main obstacles to waqf are not addressed, it will have an impact on misuse and fraud in waqf. The Indonesian Waqf Board (BWI) should cooperate with the DSN-MUI to issue this waqf fatwa. This article aims to review and analyze the benefits of waqf insurance and investment benefits in Sharia life insurance based on DSN-MUI Fatwa No. 106 of 2016. This research uses a qualitative method with a literature study approach. The results of this study indicate that the principle of this fatwa uses the legal basis of the Qur'an and Hadith by using the istislahi pattern, which is the consideration of benefits based on general nash. In this pattern, general verses are collected to give birth to several general rules that are used to protect or bring certain benefits. They are based on Maqashid Sharia, so that they can help optimize the waqf program in Indonesia. The issuance of the fatwa on waqf insurance benefits and investment benefits in Sharia life insurance is due to a request from an Islamic financial institution, namely Sun Life Financial Syariah and Al-Azhar Waqf Institution, which applied for the determination of the Sharia aspects of life insurance investment benefits for waqf products and waqf insurance policies. For this reason, this DSN-MUI fatwa can be said to be in accordance with the general principle that fatwas are responsive, proactive and anticipatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explore the negative impact of upstreamness on suppliers' investment quality and management earnings' forecast accuracy and investigate whether a shared auditor engaged by both a supplier and its major customers could mitigate these effects. Using a comprehensive dataset of multitier supply chains, we find that suppliers located further upstream tend to have lower investment efficiency and exhibit less accurate management earnings forecasts. However, our results also show that the presence of a shared auditor in the supplier-customer pair could alleviate these adverse impacts by enhancing the quality of information in the supply chain. Our findings shed light on the implications of upstreamness in the supply chain, such as reduced investment efficiency and increased management forecast errors and suggest a role for information quality in mitigating these consequences. Data Availability: All data are available from public sources mentioned in the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previous discussion with Dr. Amy Hubble exploring asset allocation decisions in different historical economic and interest-rate environments generated quite a few comments and questions. This column is a follow-up discussion with Dr. Hubble on how discipline can serve as a financial service professional's value proposition during highly volatile periods. In this interview, Dr. Hubble illustrates the importance of maintaining discipline in bull and bear markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy sources (RES) will play a key role in the transition to clean energy. Financial and socio-economic benefits determine the investment management in these energy sources. This article aims to indicate current energy policy goals, present socio-economic benefits resulting from renewable energy investments, and review further development directions in Poland. The research was carried out using desk research, case studies, and literature review methods to provide a broader economic context for RES investments. The scope of the research included both the Polish and the European Union contexts. The authors examined the Polish objectives of investment in renewable energy contained in strategic, planning, and other legal documents compared to EU targets, reviewed possible investments in renewable energy, and indicated wind farms and photovoltaic investments as the most effective ones from the point of view of further development which aims to meet the EU's goals by 2030. The authors also demonstrated a wide range of socio-economic benefits based on literature reviews, analysis of policy documents, and regulations regarding the energy sector, and examined a specific example of investment implementation and identified the ecosystem of beneficiaries and their benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delves into the role of digital transformation in bolstering economic security within investment processes, emphasizing the integration of environmental sustainability. It discusses theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches that illuminate how digital technologies can enhance investment practices while ensuring environmental responsibility. The authors emphasize that leveraging digital transformation can not only mitigate risks and vulnerabilities but also bolster efficiency and transparency in investment decisionmaking while promoting sustainable practices. Through a review of pertinent literature, the article scrutinizes the advantages of digitalization in realms such as data analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence, highlighting the dual benefits of economic security and environmental stewardship. The findings enrich the existing knowledge base on economic security and underscore the significance of embracing digital transformation infused with environmental sustainability in the investment arena. This article furnishes valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers navigating the evolving landscape of investment processes in an increasingly digitized and environmentally conscious world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to study the concept and features of investment certificates of a mutual investment fund as a type of securities of collective investment schemes in Ukraine. The study is based on the current legislation of Ukraine, as well as scientific works in this area. The main method of the study is the method of analysis and synthesis, which allows, on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of numerous regulatory legal acts of Ukraine in the field of collective investment, to identify the features of investment certificates of a mutual investment fund. In addition, the rights of holders of this type of securities under Ukrainian legislation are structured using the method of systematization. As a result of the study, the author provides a comprehensive definition of investment certificates of a mutual investment fund which contains all the features of this type of securities. In addition, the rights of holders of investment certificates of a mutual fund are systematized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Budget investments are a necessary prerequisite for investment development of the state. In the EU member countries, budgetary investment contributes to the implementation of profitable or non-profitable, but socially significant projects, which enable the activation of investment processes, both at the macro and micro levels. The need to use budget investments as a stimulus for economic growth determines the need for an in-depth study of the theoretical and applied principles of their implementation, as well as substantiation of the prospects for reforming the management of budget investments in Ukraine in the context of international experience. Based on the analysis of domestic experience and the generalization of foreign practice, the components and key principles of budget investment management are defined, which emphasize the need for cooperation at all levels of government in the context of coordination, facilitation, and institutionalization. A set of measures to reform the management of budgetary investments in Ukraine is proposed, based on the use of an information model, which, in contrast to the known ones, provides for the improvement of planning (through the development of a national strategy and/or plan of budgetary investments, the use of medium-term fiscal frameworks, the introduction of budgeting based on results, the introduction of preliminary assessment of budgetary investments and the introduction of their independent expertise), distribution (for the implementation of the strategic goals of post-war infrastructure restoration, the development of the green and digital economy and ensuring social and economic stability) and use (on the basis of the introduction of repeated technical and economic substantiation, the introduction of accrual accounting, timely and full financing and control of implementation) of budget investments, which enables the implementation of only the most high-priority state investment projects that have clear technical characteristics, have undergone a thorough approval and selection procedure, are financially accessible and to a large extent ensure economic growth and public welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oman is actively reducing its dependence on non-renewable energy sources as the rest of the world transitions towards renewable energy. Oman's renewable energy sector has great promise, particularly in solar power, with several large-scale solar PV projects underway. Rooftop solar is the optimal method for Oman to attain its goals and address its current energy crisis. In this study, a solar PV grid-connected energy generation system was built and simulated using the PVSyst software. The solar photovoltaic system's technical, financial, and annual performance is also shown. The technical analysis evaluates the system's ability to perform, its effectiveness, and the anticipated amount of energy it will generate. The economic analysis encompasses the initial capital outlay, ongoing expenses, and the time required to recoup the investment. The proposed solar photovoltaic (PV) plant model produces a total power output of 4.41 kilowatts peak (KWp) in the Ibra area in the North Al-Sharqiyah region of Oman. This generated power contributes to decreased electricity expenses for both residential and business use. Furthermore, renewable solar energy is a form of environmentally friendly and sustainable energy, as it releases small amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This proposed concept aims to promote the expansion of rooftop systems in Oman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the impact of green investment on the quality of green economic development in 85 constituent entities of Russia during the period 2010–2021. The research findings indicate that the development of green economic practices in these entities is not random but has interrelationships with neighbouring entities. Green investment is an important factor in promoting the quality of green economic development, not only within a single entity but also spilling over to neighbouring entities. Furthermore, the authors also discovered that green investment not only directly affects the quality of green economic development but also indirectly enhances it by reducing environmental pollution. In terms of policy implications, the spillover effects in green investment, CO2 emissions, and green economic development in the constituent entities of Russia highlight the importance of cooperation among entities in jointly advancing green economic development. Careful consideration should also be given to environmental impacts in the formulation of development policies, as they can affect neighbouring entities. Given the limited participation of entities and financial resources for green investment, the Russian government needs to design a clear roadmap for transitioning to a green economy, particularly through policy tools such as taxes and subsidies for green companies and projects, while also encouraging financial institutions to participate in the provision of green financial instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: A strong and effective health management workforce (HMW) is essential to underpin the comprehensive health care services provided by health care organizations. The fast-growing nature of healthcare systems suggests the required competencies for HMW continue to evolve. Hence, an up to date understanding of management competency requirements is important to the productivity and sustainability of the healthcare system. Before any investment in management competency development, understanding the current health service management workforce development strategies is one of the key steps. There has been no integrated review on the development efforts for HMW in the Asia Pacific region. The objective of this scoping review is to identify and confirm the key strategies that have been used in developing the health management workforce in the Asia Pacific region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A scoping review of the literature was conducted between May and August 2022 using the following databases: Medline, Ovid Emcare, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science, to retrieve original research articles demonstrating development efforts for HMW in the Asia Pacific regions. The review was guided by the PRISMA-ScR (2018) checklist [23]. RESULTS: The scoping review identified four different development strategies for HMW in Asia Pacific region: i) Organisational informal professional development programs, ii) Competency assessment and identification of gaps in knowledge and skills of HMW, iii) Confirming competencies and developing competency framework and iv) Formal education and training. Among these four development strategies, organisational informal professional development programs and competency assessment and the identification of gaps in knowledge and skills of HMW were the main strategies implemented for HMW in the Asia Pacific region. The review also highlighted a relatively low level of government or system level development strategies for HMW in the Asia Pacific region. CONCLUSION: The review concluded that the existing development strategies and efforts for HMW are not evenly implemented within the Asia Pacific region. Political will and policy direction are important and plays a vital role in the competency development of HMW. It is also critical to provide multilevel commitment from system and organisational level together with identifying and addressing the bottlenecks in the development strategies by considering organisation types, management levels and positions, practical training methods, motivation of participants, and other contextual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Given a liability structure, the bank portfolio optimization determines an asset allocation that maximizes profit, subject to restrictions on Basel III ratios and credit, liquidity, and market risks. Bank allocation models have not been tested using historical data. Using an optimization model based on turnover constraints, we develop such tests, which document the superior performance of optimization strategies compared to heuristic rules, resulting in an average annual out‐of‐sample outperformance of 15.1% in terms of return on equity using our data set. This outperformance is remarkable and contrasts with the reported underperformance of several portfolio optimization methods in the case of investment management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, thought leaders positioned Building Information Modeling (BIM) as a driver to change the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. However, instances of unexpected BIM use have surfaced, with projects often shifting from BIM to hybrid or even solely 2D practices midway. What technology use conditions cause these practice-based rejections of BIM use and how these happen have not been fully explored and make BIM cannot fully play its role in a project. To fill this gap, we use structuration theory as a theoretical lens to analyze the interactions between BIM and project teams and explore how three technology use conditions, (interpretive, technological, and institutional), impact the interactions, which finally shape technology use practices. Specifically, a case study method has been selected. The research team attended a project for two years, collected meeting observations, and conducted surveys and interviews to track the emergent and situated BIM use practice in an integrated project setting with technology use conditions that changed over the course of the project. We analyzed how the three technology use conditions impacted the interactions between BIM and project teams in different ways and how these impacted change in different project phases. We conclude that the sustained use of BIM requires the alignment of project organizations with BIM features and alignment with both top-down and bottom-up investment in practice change, which includes motivation for senior management investment in a sustained project team, in individual capability training, and in early planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The outcome of this study has the potential to open a new direction to optimise the success of asset management and of financial markets in general. The new focus is not algorithms, but the non-conscious mind in humans. In the world of finance, considerable attention is given to improving machine learning techniques to predict the future of stock markets. However, for obvious reasons, this turns out to be an unsolvable mission, most likely because the real world is not driven by algorithms but by human beings. In response to this, the present study has its focus on raw affective responses in actual asset managers during their decision making regarding controlled financial scenarios. Nineteen asset managers were invited and asked to make sell/buy decisions related to visual presentations of three different price developments of different assets. The three scenarios were "crash", "stable" and "gain". Parallel to their decision making, startle reflex modulation (SRM) was used to measure non-conscious affective responses without demanding any respective explicit responses (no conscious language processing involved). Interestingly, two further factors were introduced. First, all participants had to make their decisions once while being informed that 0% prior investments (low exposure) have been made into the presented assets, and once being informed that a large investment consisting of 25% of ones' overall portfolio has been made prior to making the decision (high exposure). Second, the factor experience was included dividing all participants into two groups, one with low experience and the other with high experience. First, across both these extra factors, it was found that "crash" scenarios resulted in the most negative affective responses. The most positive affective responses were found for "gain" scenarios, while the "stable" condition was in between. Interestingly, the factor of prior investment (i.e., exposure) had an effect. Non-conscious affective responses during decision making related to the "stable" condition varied as a function of "exposure". In the low exposure condition, affective responses to decision making during the "stable" scenario were most negative, even more negative than in "crash" scenarios. The factor experience also had an effect, but due to the small sample size, no significant interaction occurred. However, t-tests revealed the same significant effects in the experienced group as found in the 0% prior investment condition. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical investigation measuring non-conscious affective responses during decision making in the context of asset management. Thus, this study might form an interesting basis for new strategies to explore non-conscious human brain functions instead of inventing new algorithms to make asset management more successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We hypothesize that the demand for auditing in the registered investment management industry arises from the auditor's ability to act as a solvent indemnifier when outside parties incur losses because of financial misrepresentations. Consistent with this insurance demand, we find that, relative to financial companies, registered investment companies are more likely to retain Big 4 auditors. Restricting the sample to the registered investment management industry, we construct three direct tests of the insurance demand hypothesis. We find that (a) the market share of a Big 4 firm is positively associated with the firm's wealth, (b) changes in audit fees are positively associated with changes in the audit firms' wealth, and (c) net fund flows increase when clients switch from non‐Big 4 to Big 4 auditors. Our results highlight an unusually high demand for Big 4 auditors in the registered investment industry, which we attribute to the insurance demand for auditing services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deepening of international integration and the expansion of economic cooperation leads to the strengthening of the influence of external factors on the socio-economic development of individual countries, among which investments occupy a special place. The inflow of foreign capital facilitates the solution of many problems faced by the country-importer of capital, therefore the attraction and effective inclusion of foreign investments in the system of factors of economic growth is the most important strategic and tactical task of any European country. The article aims to assess the investment attractiveness of Northern European countries and the degree of connection between its main dimensions, identifying internal and external factors for this. External factors are characterized by the country's ability to attract new resources. In this context, the openness of the economy, FDI and the number of foreign tourists are taken into account. Internal dimensions include five groups of indicators: socio-economic, infrastructural, innovative and research, energy resources and agricultural. On the basis of entropy methods, an approach was developed to assess the degree of connection between the main dimensions of investment attractiveness. The countries that were the subjects of the study for the period 2000–2021 were Finland, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The analyzed data were obtained from the World Data Bank. The conclusions showed that the highest degree of connection of integrated investment attractiveness in 2010–2021 was the most attractive for investment in Latvia and Estonia. In 2020, Ukraine and Norway had the lowest integrated score due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Countries that today have fairly high economic indicators and political stability (Finland and Norway) are not IPs due to the oversaturation of the capital market. For Ukraine, the most destabilizing indicators of investment attractiveness were the introduction of innovations and the conducting of scientific research. Thus, the number of scientists from 2010 to 2021 decreased by three times, and the amount of research and development expenditures in relation to GDP doubled. The results of the paired and integrated assessment of coordination and the relationship between the main dimensions of investment attractiveness allowed to reveal both positive and negative trends of its change, justifying the state policy of increasing investment attractiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Social enterprises are embedded in ecosystems with multiple actors interested in the field's growth. One way to enhance social enterprises is through public policies and developing countries like Brazil included this in the public agenda. After an important mobilization of private organizations and public managers, the Brazilian federal government implemented in 2017 the National Impact Investment and Business Strategy (ENIMPACTO) renamed in 2023 to National Impact Economy Strategy with the same abbreviation. Since its creation, ENIMPACTO saw significant modifications leading to a decree in 2023 extending its mandate, amplifying membership and changing its name to the National Impact Economy Strategy while maintaining the same acronym. This experience leads us to the following question: How was ENIMPACTO created and developed? Design/methodology/approach: We used institutional arrangements and advocacy coalition theory to analyze the key elements that contributed to ENIMPACTO's creation and its evolution through time. A qualitative, single-case study on the Brazilian experience implementing ENIMPACTO was conducted through semi-structured interviews with national strategy members, participant observation, document and data analysis. Findings: We argue that advocacy coalition and institutional arrangements frameworks combined are needed to understand Enimpacto's complexity. The strategy presented an extensive multiple-actor articulation involving shared beliefs that were also important to gather support on recreating and expanding Enimpacto when external events threatened its continuity. Yet, it presented important challenges on how to achieve consensus and alignment regarding important concepts and regulation strategy among the actors and manage the public policy governance and activities implementation. Originality/value: We combine institutional arrangements and advocacy coalition frameworks and apply them to analyze a public policy composed of actors of multiple sectors that play an active advocacy coalition role. We also present empirical evidence that elements of the advocacy coalition framework add analytical elements to institutional arrangements literature and how they affect each other. We point to two important elements of the institutional arrangements framework (territoriality and subsidiarity) that were not initially considered by ENIMPACTO and were later incorporated because of tensions in the field. We provide empirical evidence of the incipient role that public administration can play in promoting social enterprises' agenda that might base similar strategies to boost social enterprises in other locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge in portfolio optimization lies in creating a collection of assets that attains a target expected return while mitigating risk. This problem is often framed as an optimization task, specifically Mean Variance Optimization (MVO). MVO involves formulating an objective function, typically quadratic, that is contingent on the composition of the portfolio, and linear constraints that represents the portfolio's asset allocation restriction. Several improvements have been proposed, such as adding constraints to MVO or using alternative risk measures. As a result, even though MVO model remains the most widely studied type of portfolio optimization, different types of portfolio optimization models, risk/return measurements and constraints have been suggested and used since its invention. In this work, we delve into the various risk and return measures, constraints, and mathematical models commonly used in portfolio optimization. We discuss the key risk measures employed in portfolio optimization, including the Sharpe ratio, beta, maximum drawdown and others, We explore the constraints commonly applied in portfolio optimization. Furthermore, we delve into the mathematical models utilized in portfolio optimization. Then, we emphasize the interplay between risk and return measures, constraints, and mathematical models in portfolio optimization. By providing a comprehensive overview of risk and return measures, constraints, and mathematical models, this work aims to enhance the understanding of portfolio optimization techniques and facilitate informed decision-making in the field of investment management. To illustrate different knowledge and models, several experiments were conducted on well-known real data portfolios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the global concept of sustainable development gaining popularity, the three factors of environmental (E), social (S) and governance (G) are gradually increasing in the status of investment decisions. As an effective tool for evaluating the non-financial performance of a company, the ESG rating has been widely used in investment, risk management, corporate governance, and sustainable development. Investors, consumers, and regulators increasingly rely on ESG ratings to assess the sustainability of companies. Visualization techniques play a crucial role in showing ESG ratings and their differences more intuitively. With the help of visualization technology, investors can quickly grasp the ESG performance of companies, gain insight into the root causes of rating divergence, and make more informed investment decisions. At the same time, companies can use visualization technology to demonstrate their strengths and efforts in ESG and enhance public trust. Research shows that as data science and artificial intelligence technologies continue to advance, the visualization of ESG ratings will become more accurate, efficient, and personalized. This will help further promote the popularization and practice of the concept of sustainable development and contribute to the realization of global green development and corporate social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the financial management of construction companies in the Czech Republic during 2014-2021, i.e., an 8-year period. Since the data collection also provided information on the years of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the paper focuses on the financial management of construction companies during this period. Financial management means the management of companies' assets, i.e., fixed and current assets and the management of financial resources that cover these assets. Financial resources are divided into own and external resources. Liquidity is also related to the issue of financial management where current liquidity including all current assets to cover short-term liabilities is taken into account. The paper is divided into two parts: the former analyses the period until the COVID-19 pandemic crisis i.e., 2017-2019, and the latter analyses the period during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis i.e., 2020-2021. The aggregate data for the entire period under study is also recorded. An important outcome of the paper is highlighting the possible differences in the financial management of construction companies before and after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The methods used in the research described in the article are closely related to those used in financial analysis, in particular the basic vertical analysis method and the ratio indicator method, where the current ratio is taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research have two purposes: 1. to learn and explain the quality analysis of licensing management through the Online Single Submission Risk Based Approach (OSS-RBA) system at Dinas Penanaman Modal dan Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu Kabupaten Maluku Tengah and 2. to know and explain what the supportive and impeding factors in the management of licences through the Online Single Submission Risk Based Approach (OSS - RBA) at Dinas Penanaman Modal dan Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu Kabupaten Maluku Tengah. The method used in this research is qualitative with a descriptive approach, using five dimensions of quality according to Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. In this research, there were 22 respondents, consisting of 7 (seven) officers at Dinas Penanaman Modal dan Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu Kabupaten Maluku Tengah and 15 entrepreneurs (14 UMK and 1 non-UMK). In this research, data collection techniques are carried out with observations, structured interviews, and documentation. Based on the results of the quality analysis of licensing management through the Online Single Submission Risk Based Approach (OSS-RBA) system at Dinas Penanaman Modal dan Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu Kabupaten Maluku Tengah. The researcher concluded the following categories of results: 1. tangibles with a good category; 2. reliability with a good category; 3. responsiveness with an excellent category; 4. assurance with an excellent category; and 5. empathy with an excellent category. In addition, there are factors that support the process of licensing management through this OSS-RBA system: ease of requirements, accessibility, rapidity of handling time, and fee/cost setting. While the factors that hinder the process of licensing management through this OSS-RBA system are: network and system connections, compliance with requirements, has not made changes to the AHU for the enterprise/AHU blocked, the entrepreneur forgot their OSS access rights, incorrectly entered KBLI, still exists the brokering practice, Identity Card Number (NIK) and Taxpayer Identification Number (NPWP) having problems and invalid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to examine the impact of various behavioral biases such are overconfidence, representativeness, availability, anchoring and herding, and their effects on individual investment decisions in the case-developed country context of China. To achieve this, data was meticulously gathered from 362 participants active in the Shanghai stock market. Employing advanced analytical tools, particularly the Smart PLS 3.3.2 software and structural equation modelling (SEM), this study rigorously scrutinized the intricate relationships between behavioral biases and investment decisions. The findings of this study notably reveal that all examined behavioral biases exert a significant positive impact on investment decisions within the Anxin, Haitong, Shanxi, and China Galaxy stock markets. Remarkably, no substantial disparities in the effects of these biases on stock market trading were observed among these markets. Importantly, these findings bear exceptional significance within the context of a developed country like China. The implications extend to a wide spectrum of stakeholders, including government entities, regulatory bodies, practitioners, the academic community, industry professionals, and researchers. Regulatory authorities can leverage these insights to refine their strategies, practitioners can fine-tune their investment advisory approaches, and academia and researchers can build upon these findings to deepen the understanding of behavioral finance in the realm of stock market investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studyholism (SH) is a new potential clinical condition introduced in 2017 by Loscalzo and Giannini to refer to problematic overstudying, specifying that it might be associated with either high or low Study Engagement (SE). We aimed to analyze SH and SE's predictive role on academic resilience. We gathered 609 Indonesian youths, and we performed a path analysis model. Among the main findings, SH predicts a lack of academic resilience, while SE predicts higher academic resilience. However, SH and SE do not predict time spent studying, and GPA is negatively (although weakly) predicted by SH only. Hence, we provided support for the critical role of SH and SE in predicting students' academic success and for implementing preventive and clinical interventions to reduce SH and foster SE, given their impact on academic resilience, which, in turn, influences students' well-being and academic success. Finally, we recommend future research on Studyholism in non-Western countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the mechanisms of tax incentives and R&D investments on employment absorption, constructs a panel data model with a sample of 4,255 Chinese technology-based SMEs, and adopts a random effect model for empirical evidence after various tests. The research results show that tax incentives and R&D investments of technology-based SMEs positively affect their employment absorption. The positive effect not only exists in the current period but also remains valid in the next period. R&D investment, operating profit margin, and remuneration have more significant positive impacts on employment absorption, while we should pay attention to control and reduce overhead costs. Finally, this paper gives corresponding suggestions and countermeasures from three levels: government, enterprises, and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imperfect external capital market and internal soft budget constraints are important reasons for the issue of enterprise financing constraints. This paper studies the impact of financing constraints and influencing factors of financing constraints in municipal infrastructure investment and construction for local governments by using the panel data from 2003 to 2018 in China. The results show that, first, there are great financing constraints in municipal infrastructure investment and construction for local government in China. Second, the increase of self-financing capacity and external financing capacity can reduce the level and uncertainty of financing constraints, thus improving the efficiency of municipal infrastructure investment and construction. Third, the expansion of the city scale may reduce the uncertainty of financing constraints, but improve the level of financing constraints thus reducing the efficiency of municipal infrastructure investment and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the financial condition of most individuals has taken the toll during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aims to analyze varied risk perceptions owing to dynamic behavioral aspects ingrained in individuals. The study primarily incorporates the impact of COVID-19 induced risk perceptions on psychological bias and its aftermath on perceived investment performance, with gender differences being moderators in the aforesaid relationship. A mix of probability and non-probability sampling has been used to collect data from 1,133 respondents through a structured questionnaire. The partial least square structured equation modeling (PLS-SEM) has been employed as an estimation technique. The findings highlight that risk perception has been significant in affecting the heuristics and prospects. However, it is insignificant in directly impacting the perceived investment performance. However, psychological biases, proxied by heuristics and prospects, were found to mediate the relationship between risk perception and perceived investment performance. Practical implications suggest a judicious combination of risk, return, and behavioral portfolio to stimulate, and upscale investments thereby enhancing the investment momentum to reach pre-covid levels. At the same time, the relevance for society lies in the fact that they need to re-consider their investment portfolio to adjust for uncertainties like COVID-19. Future studies can embark on cross country research to investigate varied risk perception-investment performance relationships prevalent in respective economic settings. Also, studies can explore the variation in findings with respect to different classes of investors that is, experiences, first timers, institutional, influencers and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many deep learning works on financial time-series forecasting focus on predicting future prices/returns of individual assets with numerical price-related information for trading, and hence propose models designed for univariate, single-task, and/or unimodal settings. Forecasting for investment and risk management involves multiple tasks in multivariate settings: forecasts of expected returns and risks of assets in portfolios, and correlations between these assets. As different sources/types of time-series influence future returns, risks, and correlations of assets in different ways, it is also important to capture time-series from different modalities. Hence, this article addresses financial time-series forecasting for investment and risk management in a multivariate, multitask, and multimodal setting. Financial time-series forecasting, however, is challenging due to the low signal-to-noise ratios typical in financial time-series, and as intra-series and inter-series relationships of assets evolve across time. To address these challenges, our proposed Temporal Implicit Multimodal Network (TIME) model learns implicit inter-series relationship networks between assets from multimodal financial time-series at multiple time-steps adaptively. TIME then uses dynamic network and temporal encoding modules to jointly capture such evolving relationships, multimodal financial time-series, and temporal representations. Our experiments show that TIME outperforms other state-of-the-art models on multiple forecasting tasks and investment and risk management applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research seeks to demonstrate the impact of government spending on the productive capacity of the Iraqi economy, as the continuous increase in the volume of public spending and the adoption of the planned deficit method in the budgets of various years must reflect positively on the productive capacity of the country, so the relationship between the two variables was estimated according to the autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) as it shows the relationship in the short and long terms and for the period 2004-2022, and among the results obtained is that current spending has a negative impact on the productive capacity index. This means that current spending is unproductive within its vicious circle, that is, money leaks out without generating economic returns for the country. Investment spending has a positive impact on the productive capacity index, as the average investment spending during the research period amounted to approximately (20%) of government spending, which is a very low percentage that was reflected in the weakness of the investment-based structures of the Iraqi economy, and this is what made the productive capacity index of the Iraqi economy It records a low percentage, reaching its best levels (35%), and this is consistent with the weak allocation of financial resources in investment aspects. What supports the analysis is the relationship test, which shows us that investment spending has a positive and significant effect on production capacity, but its parameter reached (0.07), which is a very low percentage. It has almost no effect. However, if a large percentage of financial resources were directed towards investment areas, this would develop projects, increase their ability to produce and productivity, and achieve high rates of GDP growth. Therefore, the research recommends the necessity of directing government spending towards productive sectors in order to improve production capabilities and achieve sustainable development comparable to developed countries, as well as periodically monitoring and evaluating the extent of the productivity of public spending in various economic sectors in order to make it more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investment decisions of managers of investment funds (especially equity investment funds) have an impression on the returns of individuals who have deposited their capital in these funds. Therefore, the issue of evaluating the performance of investment funds and their managers is imperative for investors. The research aims to investigate the effect of cross-sectional alpha dispersion on investors' evaluation of the performance of investment funds. We extract data regarding 31 equity investment funds from 2012 till 2022 and calculate the interquartile ratio of Jensen's alpha called "IQR" and "Performance-Flow Sensitivity" along with control variables. Then, the hypothesis test model was fitted using the multivariate regression analysis using the Generalized Least Squares method. Empirical findings show a negative and significant connection between the alpha dispersion of investment funds and performance-flow sensitivity. Based on the results, one credit increase in the standard deviation of alpha dispersion leads to a decrease of about 0.4% in the ratio of performance-flow sensitivity. Environments with high alpha dispersion of investment funds will targeted by unskilled managers to introduce themselves as successful and skilled managers to investors and mislead them. Therefore, when the alpha of investment funds has a higher dispersion, the type I error possibility investors will face increases. Individuals may consider an inefficient manager to be competent and skilled. We will provide some suggestions in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main concepts in finance is portfolio diversification and optimization. Typically, investors use the risk and return approach to diversify their portfolios. However, risk spillovers and market connectivity should also be considered when making investment decisions, especially during times of crisis. The TVP-VAR approach is used in this study to analyze risk spillovers and connectivity between the S&P 500 index, green bond, real estate, oil market, and dollar index in the USA from 2016 to July 2022. The TVP-VAR model is a time-varying model that may consider current political and economic circumstances. As a result, investors can choose wisely when it comes to their portfolios. According to comparisons with other markets, the S&P 500 index and the real estate market are the two most significant sources of volatility in the system. In fact, they not only transmit greater volatility, but they also take it in more. After 2020, there will likely be a significant increase in the volatility of the real estate market and the S&P 500 index due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Additionally, as anticipated, other markets have an impact on the green bond market. It does not, however, transmit them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]