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The current study aims at conceptualizing time-driven activity-based budgeting and cleaner production (CP) techniques and their integration in achieving sustainable competitive advantage by applying them at Kufa Cement Factory, an economic unit under the Iraqi Ministry of Industry. The research reached several crucial conclusions. Two techniques are integrated as a hybrid model based on time-driven activity budgeting with CP for the reciprocal relationship between contemporary management accounting techniques. This model gets rid of environmental problems, identifies idle energy as output from the time-driven activity-based budget, and uses it for increasing the production, sales, and profitability. The most important recommendation is that strategic thinking should be leveraged for economic unit management and competitive advantage as it is characterized by strong insights, environmental sensing, etc. It can analyze and interpret the information and has a comprehensive knowledge on various aspects of the economic unit and its requirements. The strategies must be defined to leverage the manpower and resources and translate the goals into victory.

Purpose: The study evaluates the effects of GVC participation on firm productivity and profitability. Hence this study aims to find evidence whether there is a clear difference between the productivity and profitability effects of simple and complex backward and forward participations for Turkish firms. Design/methodology/approach: The authors employ a firm level data from the Türkiye's both first and second top 500 industrial enterprises from 1993 to 2019. In addition, the authors calculate country-sector level both backward and forward GVC participation indices with their simple and complex sub-indices for each year from 1990 to 2015 from the Full Eora data of the Eora Global Supply Chain Database. The authors estimate the model with OLS and fixed effects. To understand the role of the 2008 global crisis, the authors also undertake estimations for the pre-crisis and post-crisis. The authors also divide the data by R&D intensity of sectors. Findings: While backward GVC participation lowers both labor productivity and profitability growth, forward GVC participation promotes both. Moreover, simple and complex backward participation have similarly negative effects on productivity and profitability growth, simple and complex forward participation have the completely opposite effects though. The authors then provide substantial evidence for the differing effects of participation on productivity and profitability growth between pre-crisis and post-crisis periods. Interestingly, backward participation has a negative impact for both hi-tech and low-tech firms while forward participation boosts the productivity growth only for low-tech firms, probably due to the relatively more upstream position of low-tech firms. Originality/value: To the best of the knowledge, no previous study has yet examined the profitability effects of GVC for firms. Second, in addition to overall backward and forward GVC participation rates, the authors also calculate and utilize simple and complex GVC measures in the estimations. Third, to reveal whether the global financial crisis leads to a shift in the productivity and profitability effects of GVCs, the authors separately run the regressions for the pre- and post-crisis periods. Fourth, the authors then investigate the argument that hi-tech sectors/firms could benefit more from joining GVCs compared to firms in low-tech technology sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the characteristics of Mexico's productive and commercial integration from 1995 to 2018. It offers a framework to understand how the sectors of the Mexican economy are integrated into global value chains (gvc). The methodology developed by Wang, Wei, Yu, and Zhu (2017a and 2017b) is applied to the interregional input-output matrices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (oecd). With this, two questions are answered: 1) What percentage of production factors used in Mexican sectors have been involved in activities of segmented production or gvc between countries? And 2) what percentage of final products produced by sectors in Mexico come from gvc activities? The results indicate that the sectors of the Mexican economy have higher participation indexes in backward linkages, which shows a higher share of imported intermediate inputs, compared to their respective participation indexes in forward linkages. The latter represents inputs from the country in exports and production of goods from third countries. Additionally, the results indicate that any policy design aimed at promoting specific activities should take into account the increasing integration of countries and their sectors gvc on a global scale, regardless of their level of development. This fact may limit the options for further integrating activities related to gvc with domestic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a multisector general equilibrium framework, we show that the sectoral elasticity of substitution plays the key role in the evolution of asymmetric tails of macroeconomic fluctuations and the establishment of robustness against productivity shocks. A non-unitary elasticity of substitution renders a nonlinear Domar aggregation, where normal sectoral productivity shocks translate into non-normal aggregated shocks with variable expected output growth. We empirically estimate 100 sectoral elasticities of substitution, using the time-series linked input-output tables for Japan and find that the production economy is elastic overall, relative to a Cobb-Douglas economy with unitary elasticity. In addition to the previous assessment of an inelastic production economy for the USA, the contrasting tail asymmetry of the distribution of aggregated shocks between the USA and Japan is explained. Moreover, the robustness of an economy is assessed by expected output growth, the level of which is led by the sectoral elasticities of substitution under zero-mean productivity shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the concept and methodology for assessing the market potential of local convenience shops in spatial terms. The methods concerned are based on spatial analyses using information derived from open data concerning local population density and competing establishments. The study focused on four main stages, including the estimation of shop density, population density, the compilation of a market potential map, and data reclassification to identify the potential for the location of new shops. The area under study comprised three cities: Łódź, Poznań, and Wrocław. The results of the study suggest that a high market potential does not concern the most populated areas but less populated ones, which is mainly due to much less competition. It was also indicated that the study may serve an important role in terms of sustainable urban development and an improvement in the inhabitants’ quality of life.

Traditional cost systems are no longer able to provide the appropriate information in line with the developments and changes of the contemporary and competitive business environments. However, with a vibrant change in the functioning of businesses today, such cost system features have also been replaced to meet the dynamic business environments. If these two techniques are applied in coalition, it is possible for the economic units to manage their time and costs easily, which acts as a competitive advantage for those units. The current research study aims at studying the complementary relationships of these two techniques by applying them in one of the laboratories of General Company for Textile Industries in Hilla, which represents the men’s clothing factory in Najaf. Based on the analytical results, the researchers arrived at several conclusions, while the most important conclusion was the identification of the absence of features to apply the target costing and time-driven activity-based budgeting techniques. The most important recommendation made to the men’s clothing factory in Najaf is the need to pay adequate attention for the application of two techniques to achieve their goals.

This paper examines upstream propagations of the US–China tariff war in 2018–2019 through the lens of exports from 32 countries to China. Building an industry-country specific measure of input–output linkages with China, we obtain new empirical evidence that the US tariffs on Chinese imports had a significant adverse effect on third countries by dampening Chinese demand for foreign inputs. A one standard deviation rise in this upstream shock leads to a decline in the growth rate of exports to China by 2.6 percentage points. A quantification exercise shows that the upstream propagation of US tariffs has incurred an average GDP loss of 0.05 percent for these countries. Taiwan and Korea, key suppliers to China, were most severely hurt by this vertical effect. Firm-level analysis using a panel of Korean manufacturers lends further support to the importance of this vertical linkage channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to study the inter-sectoral linkages in the Egyptian economy, to increase the efficiency of allocating L.E 100bn fiscal stimulus package (FSP) to tackle the economic fallout from COVID-19 based on the strength of the backward and forward linkages of various sectors, and the values of both employment and value-added multipliers. The paper also measures the impact of the new FSP on the capability of various sectors in creating job opportunities and increasing economic growth. Design/methodology/approach – The paper studies the intersectoral linkages by calculating backward and forward linkages index based on the latest input and output tables available for the Egyptian economy published in 2018. It also depends on a bivariate optimization model to distribute new investments allocated through the FSP based on the values of both employment and value-added multiplier for those sectors. The paper calculated both employment and value-added coefficients to measure the impact of the FSP on creating job opportunities and increasing growth rates. Findings – Based on the results of the empirical analysis, both key sectors (with strong backward and forward linkages) and sectors with strong backward linkages have the highest impact on creating job opportunities and increasing growth rates in the Egyptian economy, which means that allocating FSPs in a way which targets those sectors, especially during economic crisis, could help in increasing the positive impacts of those packages. Originality/value – The paper is based on the unbalanced growth theory of Hirschman and uses the empirical analysis to study the intersectoral linkages and allocate new investments through FSP through different sectors. The main policy implication of the empirical results of this paper suggests targeting the key sectors and the sectors with strong backward linkages during tough economic times related to COVID-19, to increase the positive impact of the package on the whole economy.

The relative importance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms is a recurrent topic in the small business economics literature. This paper presents a real and financial social accounting matrix (FSAM) capable of distinguishing the direct and indirect effects that are transferred from micro-, small, medium, and large firms to the rest of the economy. We use the hypothetical extraction method (HEM) to explore the sequence of reactions associated with shocks that arise from the COVID-19 lockdown. Using a structural model for the Spanish economy, we identify the role of different firm size categories in the aggregate gross domestic product (GDP). Our results allow us to reconcile the mixed narrative that accompanies the evaluation of the role played by these categories in economic activity by revealing that both SMEs and large firms are important for supporting economic activity. In particular, SMEs help explain 43% of the income and two-thirds of the unemployment decline caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings also show the importance of conditioning SME industrial policy to sectoral analysis. Plain English summary: The effects of the macroeconomic lockdown and its transmission to the rest of the economy differ by firm size and across sectors. Using the Spanish context for micro-, small, medium, and large firms, we distinguish the direct and indirect effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The main implications are the following: (1) Research: results emphasize that SMEs and large firms are both important to support economic activity but, in order to account for the relative effects on SMEs, it is crucial to consider the specific sector that receives the disruption. 2) Policy: SMEs are an important focus of business support policies within the EU. According to our estimations, disruptions in SMEs produce larger reductions in demand. These results could support credit policies for SMEs with a strong impact on the aggregate economy due to their greater productive and financial linkages with the domestic economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the evolution of the import content of production and exports in Turkey for the 2002–2018 period. Based on 2002 and 2012 input-output tables and a large data set of production and foreign trade, we estimate the production and imported input use for 20 sectors, mainly from the manufacturing industry. We calculate import requirement ratios, comprising both direct and indirect effects, for each sector using the Leontief inverse matrix. Our findings indicate that import dependency increases for exports, but stays relatively stable for production over time. In general, the import content of production is lower than that of exports. This difference is mainly attributable to the services sector, which has low import dependency, yet a large share in production. Sectors with the highest import requirements are those with higher capital and technology intensity, such as petroleum products, basic metals, and motor vehicles. Agriculture, forestry and fishery; services and mining sectors have the lowest import requirements.

Background: Starting from the limitations of different single-method approaches to measuring the organizational efficiency, the paper is focused on covering both the financial and non-financial factors of this concept by combining two methods, namely the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA).

This study examines the input and output of the incentive mechanism of the knowledge in knowledge alliances (KAs). Through the mathematical model and the empirical analysis, the results show that the input-output ratio of knowledge has a positive influence on the incentives in KAs, while the input scale and output scale of knowledge have no significant influence. This study explores the influencing factors of the incentives in KAs from the input-output perspective using multiple methods and provides guidelines for the optimal benefit allocation in KAs. Further, the research results apply to other fields, providing a theoretical basis for strengthening the interaction between alliance members and how members of KAs can obtain the maximum knowledge output with limited knowledge input and how to motivate alliance members’ knowledge input.

Carbon taxes and fossil fuel subsidy reforms have been recognized as an efficient means to mobilize substantive domestic resources for sustainable development. Yet, despite their advantages compared to other taxes, concerns about potential adverse impacts on poverty and inequality have discouraged many countries from such fiscal reforms. This paper estimates which absolute and relative equity effects a comprehensive carbon pricing reform would have on households within and between income groups in Nigeria. We further analyze the distributional effects of revenues being recycled into basic infrastructure development and social safety nets. We assess the expected consumption effects of six policy packages across rural and urban income groups, combining environmental-extended input-output data with detailed household survey data. Our results suggest that, relative to their income, lower-income households would bear a smaller consumption burden from carbon pricing than high-income households, while enjoying greater gains from uniform cash transfers or access to improved water, sanitation, electricity, or telecommunication infrastructure. Additionally, if spent efficiently, such investments could disproportionally benefit the overall poorer rural population due to larger initial access gaps.

In this study, a village input–output table (VIOT) is built from household survey data from a rural village in a developing country to capture the interdependency between households through their transactions in 2016. This VIOT is a simple, but useful tool for understanding the economic transactions among villagers. The main findings of this work are that lower- and middle-income households mainly depend on commodities supplied by non-poor counterparts, especially by four higher-income households, who are not only producers, but also traders of commodities in the village and play key roles in the village economy, and that the IO interdependency among non-poor households is stronger than that among poor households. Additionally, this paper describes a first trial application of the VIOT method to develop economic policies with goals such as poverty reduction and trade expansion in the village. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the COVID-19 health crisis, the French government has imposed drastic lockdown measures for a period of 55 days. This paper provides a quantitative assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of these measures in the short and long term. We use a Computable General Equilibrium model designed to assess environmental and energy policies impacts at the macroeconomic and sectoral levels. We find that the lockdown has led to a significant decrease in economic output of 5% of GDP, but a positive environmental impact with a 6.6% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2020. Both decreases are temporary: economic and environmental indicators return to their baseline trajectory after a few years. CO2 emissions even end up significantly higher after the COVID-19 crisis when we account for persistently low oil prices. We then investigate whether implementing carbon pricing can still yield positive macroeconomic dividends in the post-COVID recovery. We find that implementing ambitious carbon pricing speeds up economic recovery while significantly reducing CO2 emissions. By maintaining high fossil fuel prices, carbon taxation reduces the imports of fossil energy and stimulates energy efficiency investments while the full redistribution of tax proceeds does not hamper the recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When ranking big data observations such as colleges in the United States, diverse consumers reveal heterogeneous preferences. The objective of this paper is to sort out a linear ordering for these observations and to recommend strategies to improve their relative positions in the ranking. A properly sorted solution could help consumers make the right choices, and governments make wise policy decisions. Previous researchers have applied exogenous weighting or multivariate regression approaches to sort big data objects, ignoring their variety and variability. By recognizing the diversity and heterogeneity among both the observations and the consumers, we instead apply endogenous weighting to these contradictory revealed preferences. The outcome is a consistent steady-state solution to the counterbalance equilibrium within these contradictions. The solution takes into consideration the spillover effects of multiple-step interactions among the observations. When information from data is efficiently revealed in preferences, the revealed preferences greatly reduce the volume of the required data in the sorting process. The employed approach can be applied in many other areas, such as sports team ranking, academic journal ranking, voting, and real effective exchange rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]