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Limited resident's participation in the stock market has become a key constraint to the capital market development. Utilizing the 2019 China Household Financial Survey (CHFS) data, our paper designs probit models to examine the peer effects of residents' stock market participation and explore the intermediary mechanisms with a multiple intermediary model. We find that: (1) Resident involvement in stock market decision-making exhibits significant peer effects. (2) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that males and rural residents display more pronounced peer effects than females and urban residents. Additionally, middle-aged residents demonstrate more potent peer effects than their younger and older counterparts, with the intensity of peer effects correlating with education levels. (3)We observe that the peer effects of market participation operate by altering economic expectations and enhancing residents' financial literacy. (4) Further investigation establishes that individuals engaging in stock market investments manifest peer effects when deciding whether to diversify their stock portfolio. This study holds reference value for analyzing the impact of social interaction on financial behaviors and regulating individuals' financial conduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The extreme condition that we address in this special issue is how people adapt to rapid change, which in this case study is instigated by globalization and the process of market integration. Although market integration has been underway for centuries in some parts of the world, it often occurs precipitously in small‐scale societies, initiating an abrupt break with traditional ways of life and fostering a keen sense of uncertainty. Methods: Using cross sections from 30‐years of data collected in a Yucatec Maya subsistence farming community, we test the expectation that when payoffs to pursue new livelihood and reproductive options are uncertain, variance in social, economic, and reproductive traits will increase in the population. Our data span the transition from subsistence farming to a mixed economy, and bridge the transition from natural to contracepting fertility. Exposure to globalizing and market forces occurred when a paved road was built in the early 2000s. Results: We find that livelihood traits (a household's primary economic strategy, amount of land under cultivation, amount of maize and honey sold), become more variable as new, but uncertain options become available. Variance in levels of education and family size likewise immediately increase following the road, but show signs of settling back down a decade later. Rather than replacing one way of life with another, Maya farmers conservatively adopt some new elements (family planning, wage labor), until the tradeoffs to commit to smaller families and the labor market become clearer. Conclusion: Our findings highlight that in rapidly changing environments when the payoffs to assimilate new options are uncertain, some households and individuals intensify what they know best, while others adopt new opportunities, driving variance up in the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many modeling works that aim to explain people's behaviors that violate classical economic theories. However, these models often do not take into full account the multi-stage nature of real-life problems and people's tendency in solving complicated problems sequentially. In this work, we propose a descriptive decision-making model for multi-stage problems with perceived post-decision information. In the model, decisions are chosen based on an entity which we call the 'anticipated surprise'. The reference point is determined by the expected value of the possible outcomes, which we assume to be dynamically changing during the mental simulation of a sequence of events. We illustrate how our formalism can help us understand prominent economic paradoxes and gambling behaviors that involve multi-stage or sequential planning. We also discuss how neuroscience findings, like prediction error signals and introspective neuronal replay, as well as psychological theories like affective forecasting, are related to the features in our model. This provides hints for future experiments to investigate the role of these entities in decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we measured the uncertainty synchrony level of Chilean business economic perception and consumer economic perception, both affected by common external factors reflected in the Global Economy Perception Index (GEPI), unemployment, inflation, interest rate, Monthly Economic Activity (MEAI) and the Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPUI) indexes. We propose using the Composite Multiscale Partial Cross-Sample Entropy (CMPCSE), which quantifies the intrinsic similarity of both time series affected by a common external factor. Uncertainty is measured through the Business Confidence Index (BCI) and Consumer Perception Index (CPI). BCI time series provide useful information about industry, commerce, and the finance, mining, construction and agricultural sectors, the global economic and general business situation. CPI time series measure consumer perception regarding the state of the economy, with consumers evaluating their economic situation and expectations. Results showed a high level of synchronization between business and consumer perceptions in the indexes due to different factors. The most influential in the long term corresponded to unemployment, interest rates, and inflation, EPUI and MEAI, generating uncertainty over a longer period. In addition, the GEPI was found to have an immediate effect on synchronization and high dependence on global uncertainty. Therefore, results could be useful for decision-making related to public policies based on microeconomic indicators of the construction and natural resource sectors, for example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surfactants are amphiphilic molecules with the ability to modify the surface tension between two surfaces. They can be obtained by various methods, the main one being synthetic, from petroleum-based substrates. Their universal use in a wide range of fields has created a global market and, consequently, ecological, and economic expectations for their production. Biocatalyzed processes, involving enzymes, can address this objective with processes complying with the principles of green chemistry: energy saving, product selectivity, monodispersity, and reduction in the use of solvents, with energy eco-efficiency. For example, fatty-acid carbohydrate esters are biobased surfactants that can be synthesized by lipases. In this work, we were interested in the synthesis of D-glucose lauric ester, which presents interesting properties described in the literature, with Aspergillus niger lipase, rarely described with sugar substrates. We optimized the synthesis for different parameters and reaction media. This lipase appeared to be highly selective for 6-O-lauroyl-D-glucopyranose. However, the addition of DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) as a co-solvent displays a duality, increasing yields but leading to a loss of selectivity. In addition, DMSO generates more complex and energy-intensive purification and processing steps. Consequently, a bio-sourced alternative as co-solvent with 2MeTHF3one (2-methyltetrahydrofuran-3-one) is proposed to replace DMSO widely described in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigates economic expectations and socio-psychological factors influencing individuals' residential photovoltaic (RPV) adoption intentions in Thailand. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the diffusion of innovation theory provide a framework for our predictor selection. We obtained the data from a nationwide survey on electricity prosumer infrastructure. RPV non-users (N = 760) were asked to rate their RPV knowledge, attitudes, perceived behavioral controls (PBCs), norms, and innovativeness. They then read scenarios describing the current RPV installation cost and payback rate. They rated their adoption intention and specified their intended system capacity, affordable installation cost, and desirable payback period. The gaps between the actual and desired installation costs and the internal rate of return were calculated. These economic expectation gaps, attitudes based on financial benefits, PBC based on perceived financial barriers, social norms, and innovativeness significantly predicted the adoption intention. On the other hand, perceived knowledge, attitudes based on environmental and image benefits, and PBC based on anticipated troubles and inconveniences failed to predict intention. The implications of the TPB model for RPV adoption were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of artificial intelligence depends on whether it can penetrate the boundaries of evidence-based medicine, the lack of policies, and the resistance of medical professionals to its use. The failure of digital health to meet expectations requires rethinking some of the challenges faced. We discuss some of the most significant challenges faced by patients, physicians, payers, pharmaceutical companies, and health systems in the digital world. The goal of healthcare systems is to improve outcomes. Assisting in diagnosing, collecting data, and simplifying processes is a "nice to have" tool, but it is not essential. Many of these systems have yet to be shown to improve outcomes. Current outcome-based expectations and economic constraints make "nice to have," "assists," and "ease processes" insufficient. Complex biological systems are defined by their inherent disorder, bounded by dynamic boundaries, as described by the constrained disorder principle (CDP). It provides a platform for correcting systems' malfunctions by regulating their degree of variability. A CDP-based second-generation artificial intelligence system provides solutions to some challenges digital health faces. Therapeutic interventions are held to improve outcomes with these systems. In addition to improving clinically meaningful endpoints, CDP-based second-generation algorithms ensure patient and physician engagement and reduce the health system's costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review an extensive literature on economic expectations and analyze data from AARP's 2020 survey of public opinion about the future of Social Security to investigate why women are more pessimistic than men. Our empirical analysis suggests that the gender difference in pessimism about Social Security's future is not because of innate or dispositional differences, but can be largely explained by socioeconomic factors such as education and earnings differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborations established within the framework of energy can directly affect regional policies. TAPI Natural Gas Pipeline Project, which was created to transport Turkmenistan gas to South Asia via Afghanistan, was shaped in line with the economic and security expectations of the regional states. The maintenance of the TAPI project is fundamentally based on the stability of the economy and security. Since Afghanistan's security problems negatively affect the economic interests of the parties, this problem is no longer just Afghanistan's issue. This article, which uses a broader understanding of the concept of energy diplomacy, energy infrastructure, such as the TAPI project beyond the member states of interdependence can be used to promote discusses how increasing the number of stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper examines attribute substitution in terms of both heuristics and attribution theory in social psychology. Alternative 'old' approaches in psychology were special because they considered choice in terms that were similar to attributional inference in social psychology and anticipated limitations of the static heuristics and biases approach. Attribute substitution plays an important role in reflective reasoning as an independent entity relative to rationality and produces good decisions, even those are sub-optimal and may be influenced by primitive processes such as intuition and habits. The attribute-substitution research enhances our understanding of intense shifts in economic expectations. It makes possible the conceptual incorporation of substantive theoretical constructions, which are inherent in psychological propensities of alternative, and mainly, heterodox approaches in economics such as Post Keynesian, Institutional and Austrian economics. This research agenda paves the way for possible forms of synthesis of those theories with behavioural economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasting stock markets is an important challenge due to leptokurtic distributions with heavy tails due to uncertainties in markets, economies, and political fluctuations. To forecast the direction of stock markets, the inclusion of leading indicators to volatility models is highly important; however, such series are generally at different frequencies. The paper proposes the GARCH-MIDAS-LSTM model, a hybrid method that benefits from LSTM deep neural networks for forecast accuracy, and the GARCH-MIDAS model for the integration of effects of low-frequency variables in high-frequency stock market volatility modeling. The models are being tested for a forecast sample including the COVID-19 shut-down after the first official case period and the economic reopening period in in Borsa Istanbul stock market in Türkiye. For this sample, significant uncertainty existed regarding future economic expectations, and the period provided an interesting laboratory to test the forecast effectiveness of the proposed LSTM augmented model in addition to GARCH-MIDAS models, which included geopolitical risk, future economic expectations, trends, and cycle industrial production indices as low-frequency variables. The evidence suggests that stock market volatility is most effectively modeled with geopolitical risk, followed by industrial production, and a relatively lower performance is achieved by future economic expectations. These findings imply that increases in geopolitical risk enhance stock market volatility further, and that industrial production and future economic expectations work in the opposite direction. Most importantly, the forecast results suggest suitability of both the GARCH-MIDAS and GARCH-MIDAS-LSTM models, and with good forecasting capabilities. However, a comparison shows significant root mean squared error reduction with the novel GARCH-MIDAS-LSTM model over GARCH-MIDAS models. Percentage decline in root mean squared errors for forecasts are between 39% to 95% in LSTM augmented models depending on the type of economic indicator used. The proposed approach offers a key tool for investors and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose and scientific novelty of this work is to analyze the changes and features of economic agents' behavior when incorporating wage rigidity into a new Keynesian model under cognitive constraints of agents. The working hypothesis is the assumption that the forecasting of the output gap, inflation of prices and wages occurs with the help of fundamentalist and extrapolation rules. The first rule is based on forecasting the variables under study on the basis of their stationary values. The second rule is based on extrapolation of the latest available data on inflation and the output gap. The weight shares of agents applying these heuristic rules change endogenously, which is the source of endogenous waves of optimism and pessimism. An analysis of the impulse responses of interest rate and technology shocks suggests that a more flexible economy (an economy with flexible wages and rigid prices) is less prone to a spike in the economic cycle caused by waves of optimism and pessimism than a more rigid economy (an economy with rigid prices and wages) due to the inability of agents to respond immediately to exogenous disturbances in rigid conditions. Thus, these shocks cause wave effects in the economy, i.e., cyclical movements, i.e., a rigid economy will be more prone to booms and busts caused by alternating optimism and pessimism than a flexible economy. The model with an imperfect labor market is characterized by an increased concentration of vital forces at the values of 0 and 1, as well as in the mid-distribution compared to the base model. This feature provides a key explanation for the abnormal dynamics of the evolution of variables in this model. It is concluded that the difference between the degree of optimism and pessimism in the base model and in the model with rigid wages and prices is the full trust of agents in the central bank in targeting wage inflation in the absence of the stabilization of this inflation by the bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ascribed and achieved characteristics influence individuals' positions in a social hierarchy. I explore how status characteristics and status ideologies influence expectations about economic opportunities in the United Arab Emirates, a wealthy, highly diverse, and internationally stratified society where beliefs in meritocracy are nationally supported. In Studies 1 and 2, participants reported the extent to which they perceived various characteristics to influence an individual's salary. Participants whose nationality placed them higher in the economic hierarchy expected achieved markers of status to play a larger role than ascribed markers in determining pay. Across groups, the more participants believed in meritocracy, the more they expected achieved markers to play a role. In Study 3, participants predicted the economic success of individuals who varied in ascribed and achieved characteristics. Across participant groups, both ascribed and achieved characteristics were expected to influence an individual's economic success. Taken together, results suggested that both ascribed and achieved characteristics are expected to influence an individual's position in the socioeconomic hierarchy, but only differences rooted in achieved characteristics are legitimized. Group differences and implications for system stability are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposes a strategy that estimates the maximum distributed generation (DG) capacity that can be connected to the electric distribution system (EDS), when EDS upgrading actions are implemented. The problem is viewed from the distribution system operator (DSO) perspective and is formulated as a multiobjective optimization model that maximizes the DG capacity and minimizes the upgrading cost. Upgrading options include allocation of voltage regulators (VRs) and conductor replacement, which are coordinated with the application of generation curtailment, DG reactive power support, and voltage control using VRs. The uncertainty and variability of demand and DG power production are accounted for resorting to a multi-period robust formulation. The problem solution generates a set of upgrading plans, from which the DSO can select the one that meets its economic expectation and provides the EDS with the necessary capacity to accommodate the expected new DG. A post-optimization analysis is proposed to evaluate the impact of EDS upgrading on the DSO profit. Simulations are performed on a 135-bus EDS, and results show that the proposed strategy reveals an upgrading plan that increases the DG capacity up to 64.39% with a gain in the DSO profit of 5.43%, compared to the case without EDS upgrading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will compare and contrast Visegrád and Southeast European mobility towards (and away from) the European Union (EU) ideal of cohesion, in the process investigating conflicting "core" and "peripheral" assertions of "Europeanness." Though the Visegrád states have exceeded economic expectations, they have to varying degrees stood in opposition to the values of the EU's self-professed "European identity," with Hungary and Poland in particular demonstrating increasing illiberalism. Meanwhile, in Southeast Europe, lacklustre economic performance has tended to contrast with increasingly liberal democratic rule and strong popular support for the EU "project." The EU's cohesion strategy has prioritized economic convergence and, ultimately, this has meant that budgetary considerations, and political rhetoric and scrutiny, have often favoured the rebellious but economically resurgent Visegrád states over the weaker economies of a more compliant Southeast Europe. The EU's integration strategy of constructing "identity hegemony" depends upon both economic and socio-political convergence. This paper questions the congruence of these focuses, given the discriminatory application of integration incentives and the persistence of Orientalism/Balkanism in West European rhetoric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Recession undoubtedly reduced the electoral prospects of incumbent parties, coherently with the expectations of the economic vote theory. Yet, the exceptionality of the period may have displaced other elements of that theory, such as, for instance, the moderating impact that globalization is supposed to have on the retrospective mechanism. By using an original dataset comparing 168 elections in 38 democratic countries in the period 2000–2015, we detail how the crisis modified and even reversed that conditional effect. Furthermore, we differentiate our results by separating the impact of economic openness from that of political globalization. In so doing, we improve our understanding of the mechanisms that trigger the conditional effect on the economic vote in normal and exceptional times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local governments’ economic expectations determine their economic behaviors and could further affect the local green development efficiency. Influenced by the promotion tournament and peer effects, local governments tend to set overestimated objectives for their economic growth. The pressure caused by the required high-speed economic growth rate is likely to result in local governments’ short-sighted behaviors and their green development inefficiency. This study used the super efficiency slack-based model (SBM) to analyze the green development efficiency of prefecture-level cities in China. To verify the analytical analysis, this study also empirically tested the relationship between the economic development objectives and the green development efficiency of 238 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2018. Moreover, the internal influence mechanism for the economic expectations of local governments to‑ wards green development efficiency was investigated. The results showed that: ① The local governments’ economic expectations significantly inhibited the improvement of the local green development efficiency. The excessively high economic growth objectives resulted in the relentless pursuit of rapid economic growth rather than maintaining green transformation. ② The local governments’ economic expectations affected their behaviors and constrained the increment of green development efficiency. This was shown by the fact that the local governments reduced science and technology expenditure and the investment in pollution control, disturbed the allocation factor in the market, and developed secondary industries with high pollution and high energy consumption. ③ Since 2014, the local governments’ economic expectations started to benefit instead of constraining the green development efficiency, which indicated that after the proposition of the ‘new normal’ and under the guidance of the green development concept, local governments’ preferences altered from pursuing high-speed economic growth to a coordinated development between economic growth and ecological protection. In addition, the economic expectations of the governments of the eastern region had a stronger inhibitory effect on green development efficiency com‑ pared with the central and western regions. Based on these, this study proposes that: ① The local governments should take diversified development into consideration while setting up their working targets. ② Reforming the promotion and assessment approaches for local governmental officials can encourage them to pay more attention to the quality of regional long-term development. ③ Further opening up to the outside world can enable local governments to make full use of the diffusion effect of green ecological techniques. This article provides important empirical evidence to the governments for improving green development efficiency and managing the economic expectations, which is of great practical significance for promoting the high-quality economic development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the limits of monetary policy from a theoretical perspective. The analysis parts from Keynes's theory presented in the General Theory in which the ideal of the liquidity trap is highlighted. Other limits faced by monetary authorities are also recognized, the analysis of uncertainty and expectations being fundamental. This is opposed to the concept of the zero lower bound (ZLB) which is used to indicate the current limits of monetary policy. The article concludes that the lack of current recognition of expectations prevents monetary policy from exceeding the limits it faces, rescuing the important role that fiscal policy plays as an alternative to influence the economic cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopts the method of the random matrix to conduct an in-depth study and analysis of the management of macroeconomic multivariate statistics and regionalization, and to design its management strategy based on a random matrix. A combination of theoretical and applied research, combined with the experience of other cities, is used to study regional economic management using literature analysis, comparative analysis, and deductive induction by summarizing the results achieved in community management, studying its experience, exploring the significance of community management in ETDZs for social development, analyzing the current obstacles and contradictions affecting community management in Suqian ETDZ, and proposing relevant countermeasures for the problems arising therein to enrich the relevant theories and thus promote the level of community management in ETDZs to a higher level. Macroeconomic uncertainty refers to the changes that cannot be accurately observed, analyzed, and foreseen, i.e., the deviation of the expected value of the economy from the actual value. Not all macroeconomic fluctuations belong to the category of macroeconomic uncertainty, only unpredictable economic fluctuations are uncertain. It can be seen from the above that there is a corresponding relationship between the financial income correlation matrix and the random correlation matrix, and both are affected by the same random factors. The importance of uncertainty for macroeconomic policy making is undeniable, and its quantification is a key step. In this paper, we propose an econometric model to eliminate expectations and compare the advantages and disadvantages of different measurement models; we measure a system of fourteen macroeconomic indicators to reflect macroeconomic uncertainty and provide quantitative measurement results for the correct understanding of macroeconomic uncertainty and economic policy making. Factor analysis is used to analyze these six comprehensive aspects to obtain the six-dimensional comprehensive scores of each province and city, and the scores are normalized and visualized. Based on a certain understanding of the economic equilibrium structure of each province and city in China, and a certain control of the overall development of each region itself at this stage, the future economic development trend is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: this article aims to help unravel if and how economic uncertainty interacts with the informational structure of sentiment. Methods: the empirical strategy is based on a non-linear and nonparametric causality test to investigate the interaction between variables as distributions. This article builds primarily on the literature on expectation formation. Results: it was found that uncertainty based on the media (ex-ante) precedes sentiment, at most, until the second moment of its distribution. In addition, sentiment helps predict the informational structure of fundamental uncertainty (ex-post) and higher order moments of ex-ante uncertainty. Conclusion: sentiment can be considered a channel for uncertainty through the tone of expectations and erroneous expectations. Ex-ante uncertainty measures can also help calibrate the rational cost-benefit calculation of attention by acting as a leading indicator of the increasing value of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does exposure to rebel rule affect citizens' political attitudes after armed conflicts end? We combine original survey data from Côte d'Ivoire with a natural experiment based on the arbitrary location of a ceasefire boundary to estimate the effects of exposure to rebel rule by the Forces Nouvelles (FN) on Ivorians' sense of democratic citizenship. Our findings show that individuals in communities ruled by the FN held more negative attitudes about local government institutions 7 years after the reunification of the country, held weaker commitments to civic obligations, and were more likely to condone extralegal actions. The effects of rebel rule are larger than the effects of extreme lived poverty and appear among both rebel coethnics and non-coethnics. Using qualitative and survey evidence, we propose three theoretical mechanisms to explain why exposure to rebel rule weakened citizen-state relations: disrupted norms of compliance with state-like authorities, the formation of local self-help institutions leading to negative assessments of the redeployed state, and resentment due to unmet expectations of economic recovery. Our study informs debates about the links between war, citizenship, and statebuilding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the factors that affect the career plans of university students, it is seen that family, social environment and economic expectations are effective. A survey prepared with a 5-point Likert scale was conducted among the students of Uşak University to look at the factors affecting their career plans. The survey consists of two scales. Family and career plan scales. In the light of the data obtained as a result of the survey conducted to all faculties, analyzes were made with the SPSS 25 version program. Accordingly, analyzes were made according to the aims under eight headings in career planning, gender, department of education and survey questions. Independent T-Test was applied for binary categorical variables. The hypotheses were evaluated according to the significance level. In the analysis according to the fields of education, the One Way ANOVA test was applied and the results were evaluated. Within the frame of these data, the study was concluded by analyzing the questions of the scales in the survey according to their purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores privacy in collapsed contexts of displacement. It makes a case against technocentric and universalizing definitions of privacy by exploring its relational and contextual dimensions, including cultural expectations and the political and economic conditions of seeking asylum. In particular, this paper discusses how displaced women seeking asylum in Germany employed the practice of hiding (e.g., physical movement and the use of digital devices) to engage with digital support networks. The women pushed for expanding and protecting their digital social relations, but this protection came at the cost of harassment and reinforced privacy norms, limiting their physical movement and digital communication. The paper highlights that those reinforced privacy norms are not just a reductive move to preserve collective values but should also be read as a protective response to legal and sociocultural uncertainty related to displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how economic change after 1989 was perceived and rooted in society through cultural representations, specifically in the film production of Poland and Czechoslovakia (and later the Czech Republic and Slovakia). The starting premise of this investigation is that popular commercial films, alongside the media and discourse of politicians and other key actors of the systemic transformation, also informed ideas about the free market circulating in the public sphere. Filmmakers, faced with the new realities brought about initially by the gradual liberalization of the economy in the late 1980s and later the systemic change of the economic transformation in both countries, immediately turned to capturing and fictionalizing the changes surrounding them. They presented audiences with role models of what it means to be a capitalist, but also tales of warning. This article investigates the "transformation cinema" of the 1990s, focusing on the figure of the entrepreneur and private enterprise. It examines how filmmakers searched for a visual language to critique or affirm the new social order, but also continued to work with inherited modes from the late socialist era. The article asserts that while the economic expectations conveyed through cinema focused largely on structuring the imagination of a new middle class in Poland, Czech(oslovak) cinema adopted a more sceptical outlook, suggesting that the promises of the free market were not available to "ordinary" working people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In particular, economic expectations, technological developments and social changes directly affect the perspectives of generations, their mentality, and also the working life of individuals as in almost every field. The first starting point of the working life begins with job looking process and methods and choices used during this process can differ among the generations. This study which aims to determine the perspectives of the generations x, y and z on job search channels, which is the first step of working life and how they use job search channels, and the factors affecting this process respectively, has been realized with the individuals applying for jobs to İŞKUR Eskişehir Provincial Directorate. During the study a survey of 14 questions was conducted and the data gained have been analyzed by the IBM SPSS Statics 25 programme. As a result of the research, it has been determined that all three generations use job searching processes at different levels of effectiveness; generation Z use technology in job searching process more effectively; and the longer the job searching period gets, the more effectively and more efficiently the indivuals use job searching channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to research the sustainability of economic activities of the COVID19 pandemic, the economic policies implemented during the pandemic, and the differentiation in future economic expectations in relation to the monthly income levels of businesses. It can be said that the epidemic has affected the majority of businesses. The data has been obtained through face-to-face surveys with 384 businesses that are active in the district of Bucak in the province of Burdur. Following reliability, percentage, and frequency distributions, data has been tested through One Way ANOVA, which is one of the parametric tests. As the research outcome, 2 hypotheses out of 9 have been accepted, and 7 of them have been rejected. In general, it has been seen that the income levels of businesses do not cause differentiation in the sustainability of economic activities, the adequacy of economic policies, and future economic policy expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been many different agricultural support tools varying by countries. These agricultural support tools are determined according to different indicators such as the policies, expectations, regions, and economic levels of the countries and may differ from each other. One of these agricultural support tools is Less Favoured Area (LFAs) that has been applied for a long time. Turkey has many geographically different regions and many different agricultural support tools like those in the other counties However, considering the EU full membership process policies, a specified support tool for the LFAs, which are widely used in the EU, has not been implemented in Turkey. Mersin province is one of the areas where that is an issue and so was selected for this study. The province has a dual structure, with high mountains (Taurus) and wide plains. People in the mountainous areas make a living from animal production, especially goat breeding. The study framework was based on the logistic regression model, which was compared farmers' descriptive statistics and socio-economic features in villages in the mountainous/semi-mountainous areas and on the plains of Mersin province. Farmers’ intentions for land allocation and livestock and their migration tendencies were analysed in different scenarios. Age, experience, number of small ruminants, land size and credit usage were found to have a statistically significant effect on farmers’ decisions about continuing farming. Their decisions changed across the policy scenarios provided, and a policy that considers regional differences was found to be significant in their decisions. The paper shows agricultural support policies should consider regional differences to compensate for income losses due to physical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper's main objective is to investigate the differences in competitiveness among the EU member states. Each nation's competitiveness is determined by its government's management capabilities on the national, regional and local levels and thus poses substantial implications to economic growth. For this purpose, hierarchical clustering as the primary method of investigation was selected. The data mining process was based on extracting GCI score data about individual member states. Based on the GCI score evaluation, the cluster analysis showed two groups of EU member states, according to the 'traditional' division of old member states (OMS) and new member states (NMS). Results showed a statistically significant gap in GCI scores between the OMS and NMS. Furthermore, the within-class variability in the OMS cluster appears to be higher than in the NMS cluster, which underlines growing disparities among old member states. Most significant differences among both groups prevail in the field of institutions, ICT adoption, business dynamism and innovation. Finally, the link between achieved GCI score and average economic growth has been investigated. Contrary to expectations, more developed member states (OMS) showed, on average, relatively lower economic growth rates over the investigated period than the less developed member states (NMS). The results showed a moderately negative link between the GCI score and economic growth, which suggests that a higher GCI score does not mean achieving higher economic growth, whereas member states with lower total GCI scores could outpace the higher ones in terms of economic growth. In many aspects, the EU still resembles two rails in Europe, and a significant gap between OMS and NMS prevails. Relatively higher economic growth of NMS might help reduce the gap over time. However, it may prove a short-sighted, and significant lags in many crucial factors will stiff the competitiveness in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ways exploitative labour migration arrangements leading to 'failed migration' can extend discussions of transnationalism. Specifically, failed migration produces different sorts of engagements in transnational social fields to those commonly discussed in the literature and in relation to migrants who are considered successful. These departures allow for reflection on key assumptions about the practices of connection and engagement across borders between migrants and non‐migrants that typify the operation of transnational social fields, including the ways constructions of gender shape these practices. The paper draws on a case study of Bangladeshi low‐waged, transient migrant workers in Singapore. I examine three registers of diluted connection, namely: protecting the family from anxiety; distress for migrants through imposition of censure and suspicion; and the shame associated with exploitation. Moral–cultural frames that inscribe particular economic and social expectations on migrants and, in this case, values associated with 'being a man' transferred from home provide a lens through which to understand the reconfiguration of transnational social fields in the context of failed migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prices of oil and other commodities have fluctuated wildly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is crucial to explore the causes of price fluctuations and understand the source and path of risk contagion to better mitigate systemic risk and maintain economic stability. The paper adopts the method of network topology to examine the path of risk contagion between China's and foreign commodities, focusing on the dynamic evolution and transmission mechanism of risk contagion during the pandemic. This research found that among China's commodities, energy, grain, and textiles are net recipients of risk contagion, while chemical products and metals are net risk exporters. Among international commodities, industries have positive risk spillover effects on metals and textiles. During the first phase of the pandemic, China's commodities were the main exporters of risk contagion. However, international industries and metals became the main risk exporters and exerted risk spillover on China's commodities in the second phase of the pandemic. Moreover, based on total volatility spillover index of commodities, the risk contagion among the commodities follows three paths: "interest rate → commodities → money supply", "China's economic expectation → commodities → foreign economic expectation", and "commodities → consumer confidence". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A development imperative emphasising the economic benefits of mineral extraction has led researchers to speculate about whether minerals inflate citizens' economic expectations and, due to an upward shift in aspirations, cause a degree of dissatisfaction. Using survey data from 18 Latin American countries, this study finds evidence of the 'euphoric effect' of minerals materialising among household expectations concerning future changes in the economic situation of their country. Similarly, it also finds a positive and significant relationship with expectations concerning future changes in respondents' personal economic situation. However, it does not detect a significant relationship between minerals and citizens' life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the cross-border mergers and acquisitions ( M &As) implemented by China' s A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2018 as a sample, the ensemble empirical mode decomposition ( EEMD) model is used to examine the relationship between the macroeconomic environment and cross-border M &As from two time scales: short-term and long-term. The results show that in recent years, the sustained and high-speed development of China' s macro-economy is the main reason for the long-term fluctuations in cross-border M &As, and the rising uncertainty of domestic economic policies will also promote it. Short-term fluctuations in the stock market and economic policy adjustments are important factors driving short-term fluctuations in cross-border M &As. Regardless of the long-term and short-term scales, economic expectations have a negative inhibitory effect on the fluctuation of cross-border M &As. When the domestic stock market index is at a high level and future economic expectations deteriorate or economic policy uncertainty rises, it is more likely for Chinese companies to conduct cross-border M &As. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suboptimal asthma control and medication non-adherence are common and associated with adverse disease outcomes. This study aimed to assess the medication adherence, level of asthma control, and determine factors associated with asthma control among asthmatic outpatients. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 asthmatic patients aged 12 visiting the Asthma Management Clinic at a tertiary hospital in Vietnam from April to June 2019. Data, including demographics, medication treatment and adherence, and asthma control, were collected through structured interviews and prescription review. Asthma control and medication adherence were measured using the Asthma Control Test (ACT) questionnaire and the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale 8- items (MMAS-8), respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the associated factors with asthma control. The mean age of the study participants was 59.1 years and the majority were women (67.2%). All patients were using inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing controller therapy. The proportion of patients highly adhering to prescribed medications was 34.4%. Well-controlled asthma was observed in 64.4% of patients. Age group of 60 (aOR=3.43, 95%CI 1.21-9.68), low medication adherence (aOR=2.97, 95%CI 1.40-6.30), and using medium or high dose of ICS (aOR=3.38, 95%CI 1.64-6.97; aOR=4.28, 95%CI 1.90-9.65, respectively) were associated with poorly-controlled asthma. Poorly controlled asthma was still prevalent. Patient's age, medication adherence, and ICS dosage are some factors which healthcare providers should consider when asthma control was under expectation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies highlight that economic expectations are a crucial determinant of citizens' satisfaction with democracy (SWD). This article relies on a cross-sectional analysis of European survey data collected in the aftermath of COVID-19 disease to investigate the relationship between citizens' expectations about future economic prospects and their SWD. Our findings support the idea that citizens' expectations about future economic prospects are correlated with SWD. Furthermore, they reveal that perceived conditions of material wellbeing moderate this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies highlight that economic expectations are a crucial determinant of citizens' satisfaction with democracy (SWD). This article relies on a cross-sectional analysis of European survey data collected in the aftermath of COVID-19 disease to investigate the relationship between citizens' expectations about future economic prospects and their SWD. Our findings support the idea that citizens' expectations about future economic prospects are correlated with SWD. Furthermore, they reveal that perceived conditions of material wellbeing moderate this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies highlight that economic expectations are a crucial determinant of citizens' satisfaction with democracy (SWD). This article relies on a cross-sectional analysis of European survey data collected in the aftermath of COVID-19 disease to investigate the relationship between citizens' expectations about future economic prospects and their SWD. Our findings support the idea that citizens' expectations about future economic prospects are correlated with SWD. Furthermore, they reveal that perceived conditions of material wellbeing moderate this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic hydrogenation provides an effective alternative way for the synthesis of industrial chemicals to meet the economic and environment expectations. Especially, over the past few years, metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs), featured with tunable structure, porosity, and crystallinity, have been significantly developed as many high‐performance catalysts in the field of photocatalysis. In this review, the background and development of photocatalytic hydrogenation are systemically summarized. In particular, the comparison between photocatalysis and thermal catalysis, and the fundamental understanding of photohydrogenation, including reaction pathways, reducing species, regulation of selectivity, and critical parameters of light, are proposed. Moreover, this review highlights the advantages of MOFs‐based photocatalysts in the area of photohydrogenation. Typical effective strategies for modifying MOFs‐based composites to produce their advantages are concluded. The recent progress in the application of various types of MOFs‐based photocatalysts for photohydrogenation of unsaturated organic chemicals and carbon dioxide (CO2) is summarized and discussed in detail. Finally, a brief conclusion and personal perspective on current challenges and future developments of photocatalytic hydrogenation processes and MOFs‐based photocatalysts are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of uncertainty shocks arising from economic and political developments in the global economy on real macroeconomic activity in the Turkish economy. To this end, the interactions between global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU) and basic macroeconomic variables such as investment, consumption, employment, and GDP in the Turkish economy are examined using the Vector Autoregression (VAR) model for the period 1999q1-2020q4. Empirical evidence shows that GEPU shocks have contractionary effects on macroeconomic activity in the short and/or medium term and that the investment variable is the variable that is most responsive to these shocks. These results suggest that, on the one hand, the Turkish economy still maintains its fragile structure, and on the other hand, investment decisions are more sensitive to changes in future expectations compared to other economic decisions, such as consumption, and accordingly, the impact of uncertainty on the economy is mainly through the investment channel. The study also conducts a Granger causality test, which leads to the conclusion that there is a unilateral causality running from GEPU to macroeconomic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drivers of battery electric vehicles, especially along motorways, require fast-charging services and expect maximum charging power to overcome long servicing times. However, charging park operators cannot always meet customer expectations due to economic and technical restrictions. According to the expectation-disconfirmation theory, the resulting expectation-performance gap increases the dissatisfaction of vehicle drivers regarding the servicing time in a non-linear manner. Therefore, we present an optimization model with a utilitarian welfare function grounded in social choice theory. Besides a current real-world case based on a fast-charging park in Germany, we analyze further (technical) developments of electric mobility with four future cases. Compared to a uniform power allocation, our results display a reduced absolute average gap of up to 4 min (i.e., 13.3%) between expected and actual servicing time in the real-world case, thus, improving welfare by 22.9%. With an increased average gap reduction of up to 5.2 min, our future cases show the importance of addressing the expectations of battery electric vehicle drivers. Without a smart power allocation, the gap and simultaneously the dissatisfaction of vehicle drivers regarding the servicing time can increase, and potentially more hardware upgrades may be necessary. • Addressing customer satisfaction regarding fast-charging service expectation. • Developing an optimization model to reduce the expectation-performance gap. • Application of the model in a real-world case and four future cases. • Increased welfare and improved customer satisfaction by a gap reduction. • Rising importance with further expansion of battery electric vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue explores why the globalization backlash is roiling rich industrialized countries. But why is the backlash less salient in developing ones? In this piece, we challenge scholars to consider why the backlash has not diffused widely to the developing world. We argue support for globalization depends on citizens' expectations of future economic mobility. This is high in the early phases of globalization which encapsulates many developing economies. Since information about globalization's effects is limited, observed mobility of some sustains optimism that the new economic order will allow everyone to prosper. Over time, unrealized expectations of mobility for less-skilled workers puncture this optimism. Such workers in rich countries are long past the honeymoon phase of globalization and confronting realities of stagnant incomes and job precarity. Barring visionary policies unlikely to emerge from today's polarized politics, their discontent will soon be shared by their developing country counterparts, dooming future globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine the expectations of the economic outlook, fear of the future, and behavioural change during the first Covid-19 wave, for three European countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy) that have been severely hit. We use a novel dataset that we collected to monitor the three countries during the crisis. As outcome variables, we used expectations (e.g., economic outlook, labour market situation, recovery), fear (e.g., scenario of new outburst, economic depression, restriction to individual rights and freedom), and behavioural change across the following dimensions: savings, cultural consumption, social capital, and risky behaviour. We provide descriptive evidence that is representative of the population of interest, and we estimate the impact of exposure to shock occurred during the crisis on the same outcome variables, using matching techniques. Our main findings are the following: we detected systematically negative expectations regarding the future and the recovery, majoritarian fears of an economic depression, a new outbreak, and a permanent restriction on freedom, a reduction in saving and in social capital. Exposure to shocks decreased expected job prospects, increased withdrawal from accumulated savings, and reduced contacts with the network relevant to job advancement, whereas it had inconclusive effects over fears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, technological innovations are one of the most important factors in achieving sustainable economic growth for countries in the long term. In order for technological innovations to be produced competitively, countries need to develop and strengthen their innovation climate and innovation capabilities. The main purpose of this study is to analyse the macroeconomic determinants of innovation capability for the 141 countries around the world for the 2019 data. In the study, according to the estimated model results, all explanatory variables in the model affect the dependent variable in the same direction. The signs of the coefficients of the explanatory variables are in line with the economic expectation. According to the empirical results, explanatory variables - business dynamism, financial system, research development and commercialization - contribute to the development of the innovation ability of countries. According to these results, it is of great importance to implement policies that will improve the innovation climate in order to develop innovations, which are the main source of economic development and sustainable economic growth. Countries must effectively design all phases of the science, technology and innovation value chain. Countries should develop their innovation policies and strategies to provide high added value. The continuity of innovation production should be ensured by establishing an effective innovation ecosystem with the actors and factors affecting the innovation production capability of countries. Countries should strengthen the allocation of resources to research and development to strengthen the science, technology and innovation value chain. The number of researchers in the research sector should be supported. Cooperation between university and industry is strengthened. Innovation and entrepreneurship need to be supported. Technology and innovation-based transformation of the country's economy is important for sustainable economic growth. In this process, it is especially important to develop individual entrepreneurship and innovation culture. At the enterprise level, it is necessary to support the transformation of enterprises into an innovative structure. The development of technological innovations should be integrated as an important strategy at the center of development and industrialization policies. Increasing the sustainability and global competitiveness of the country's economy with macroeconomic policies that support innovation is important for increasing social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for the associated production of a Higgs boson with a top quark–antiquark pair with the CMS detector will be presented. Candidate events are selected with criteria enhancing respectively the dileptonic, semileptonic and fully hadronic decay channels of the system and the decay of the Higgs boson into a bottom quark–antiquark pair (). In order to increase the sensitivity of the search, selected events are split into several categories with different expected signal and background rates. A combined fit of multivariate discriminant templates across all categories and decay channels is performed to extract the result. Results for Run II data will be shown. Prospects for improvements towards Run III will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suboptimal cataract surgery outcomes remain a challenge in most developing countries. In Ghana, about 2 million people have been reported to be blind due to cataract with about 20% new cases being recorded yearly. The aim of this study was to evaluate postoperative correction of refractive errors after cataract surgery in a selected eye hospital in Ashanti Region, Ghana. This was a retrospective study where medical records of patients (aged 40–100) who reported to an eye hospital in Ghana from 2013–2018 were reviewed. Included in the study were patients aged ≥40 years and patients with complete records. Data on patient demographics, type of surgery, intra-ocular lens (PCIOL) power, availability of biometry, postoperative refraction outcomes, pre- and postoperative visual acuity were analyzed. Data of two hundred and thirteen eyes of 190 patients who met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. Descriptive analysis and Chi-square test were carried out to determine the mean, median, standard deviation and relevant associations. The mean ± SD age was 67.21±12.2 years (51.2% were females). Small Incision Cataract Surgery (99.5%) with 100% IOL implants was the main cataract surgery procedure in this study. Pre-operative biometry was performed for 38.9% of all patients on their first eye surgery and 41.5% for second eye surgeries. About 71% eyes in this study were blind (presenting VA<3/60) before surgery; 40.4% had post-operative VA <3/60. Pre-existing ocular comorbidities discovered post- surgery, attributed to suboptimal visual outcomes. More than half (55.3%) of patients did not undergo postoperative refraction due to loss to follow-up. Year of surgery (p =.017), follow up visits< 2months (p <.0001) and discovered comorbidity post-surgery (p =.035) were the factors significantly associated with postoperative refraction. Myopia and compound myopic astigmatism were the dominant refractive error outcomes. The timing of post-operative refraction had a significant effect on postoperative refraction done. These findings indicate a clinically meaningful significance between completion of postoperative care and postoperative refraction done. Consequently, with settings in most developing countries, where less biometry is done, it is appropriate that post-operative refractive services are encouraged and done earlier to enhance the patients' expectations while increasing cataract surgery patronage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inflation expectations of economic agents are one of the most important variables for central banks and monetary policy conduct, but such expectations are not directly observable. Consumers' expectations are examined in qualitative surveys. The key task is to transform consumers' survey responses into quantitative proxies of expectations. In this examination, we investigate an alternative method to quantify consumers' inflation expectations using fuzzy rule-based systems. In order to generate rules in the learning phase, we compare two methods: the Wang-Mendel method based on space partition and the subtractive clustering method. The learning data are information about past inflation and consumers' opinions as expressed in surveys. The system is built and tested on data from January 2002 to June 2019 for non-euro member states of the EU. The fuzzy rules-based system returns results that outperform a benchmark—the standard quantification procedure—in terms of correlation with a raw approximation of consumer expectations, which is survey balance statistics. The results are robust regarding the benchmark choice. We find the method more promising for economies with lower stability, as it gives more room for the training phase of the algorithm application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remittances have moral dimensions that, albeit implicitly addressed in migration literature, have not yet been the focus of explicit attention and analysis by social scientists. Building on recent developments in the anthropology of ethics and morality, this article proposes theoretical and analytical pathways to address this important but often neglected aspect of remittances. It does so mainly via a critical analysis of existing scholarship on remittances, and ethnographic data drawn from research among Cuban migrants in Cuba and Spain. The reflexive scrutiny of scholars' moral assumptions about remittances opens the way for the study of the moral dilemmas and ethical demands articulated by remittance senders and recipients. Family roles and obligations, and the uses of the money sent by migrants, are identified as key areas of moral difficulty. Their analysis shows how remittances inform moral reassessments of family relations, individual responsibility, economic practice, and development. The notion of 'moral remittances' is proposed as a heuristic comparative tool that serves to illuminate the moral aspects of remittances. This notion is put into perspective to complement and reconsider more metaphorical takes on remittances, notably the concept of 'social remittances', of which it helps reveal some epistemological limitations while opening future research avenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Corona crisis is an unprecedented challenge for societies. Lockdowns and physical distancing orders have generated economic, social and health-related consequences in many countries. In this regard, we evaluate how information about positive economic expectations during the crisis affects citizens' attitudes. Using a real-world survey experiment, our analyses indicate that information about a positive economic outlook and governmental support to mitigate the crisis actually promote people's subjective feelings of disadvantage rather than reducing them. Interestingly, it seems that information about economic recovery that opens up opportunities may backfire due to increased upward comparisons and perceived competition. Structural equation analyses suggest that this relationship is mediated by critical views about democratic institutions during the crisis. Citizens lose confidence in their governments and democratic decision-makers to uphold principles of fairness after the crisis ends. Our results have important implications on how to communicate measures that aim to deal with the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]