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This study examines the role of Social Financial Grants (SFGs) in poverty reduction in South Africa, focusing on their impact on economic stability and income inequality. Using a structured model, it explores both the direct and mediated effects of SFGs on poverty alleviation. Results indicate that SFGs significantly reduce poverty by decreasing income inequality and enhancing economic stability, key factors in a highly unequal society. Effective administration and expansion of SFGs could further benefit vulnerable populations. The study notes limitations, such as the need for longitudinal data to assess sustainability and attention to regional disparities. Recommendations include integrating SFGs with job training, improving distribution, and reducing stigma. Implications extend beyond South Africa, offering insights for other developing nations. Future research should investigate additional mediators and conduct comparative regional studies to optimise social grant programmes globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the labour market impacts of the largest livelihoods programs in the world, India’s Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). A key aspect of this program is to mobilize rural women into self-help groups (SHGs). We combine administrative data on SHG membership across districts in India with survey micro-data on labour force and employment outcomes of rural women between 2011 and 2019. Using a generalized difference-in-differences approach, we find that SHG membership is positively associated with labour force participation and employment of rural women. We also find evidence that SHG membership is associated with a shift towards self-employment and a crowd-out of casual work among the employed. Our supplementary analysis based on large primary survey data from Maharashtra allows us to examine the relationship between SHG membership and economic activity at the individual level. The results confirm our main result of a positive association between SHG membership and economic activity. Further, we show that longer duration of SHG membership is associated with higher participation rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of rapid technological progress, the influence of dizitalization on different aspects of international economic activity can’t be overstated. The aim of this article is to conduct a comprehensive comparative study of digitalization’s impact on global goods and services markets, with a specific focus on advanced and developing economies using multiple linear regression. The research methodology involved comprehensive data collection for 35-38 advanced economies and 52-66 developing economies depending on the availability of data. The analysis included depended variables (18 export and import goods sectors and 18 export and import services), independent variables (digitalization, consisting of ICT deployment, ICT export and import, ICT investment variables), control variables such as GDP growth, CPI, trade openness, exchange rate and political stability. The findings demonstrate the ICT infrastructure and ICT exports positive impact on export of technology-intensive goods, such as ores and metals, machinery and equipment, and tools and devices in advanced economies. Digitalization’s positive impact on trade in goods appeared weaker in developing economies, potentially due to lower levels of ICT adoption or differing export focuses. ICT export has positive impact on financial services imports, indicating a reliance on imported financial services while exporting ICT capabilities. The model shows a high success rate depending on variables. The study highlights digitalization’s varied impact on advanced and developing economies, emphasizing its importance for trade, competitiveness and policymakers in the global market.

This article provides an overview of the macroeconomic challenges facing the 10 countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It discusses various macroeconomic indicators and the importance of achieving high levels of economic growth. The article also explores ASEAN's participation in Regional Value Chains (RVCs) and Global Value Chains (GVCs), particularly in the automotive and electronics industries. It examines the adoption of inflation targeting frameworks by ASEAN countries and evaluates their macroeconomic performance. The text further analyzes the fiscal sustainability of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, providing policy recommendations to enhance revenue collection and reduce subsidies. It also discusses the challenges faced by Vietnam's economy and suggests policy measures to overcome them. The article touches on economic issues in Cambodia and Laos, including technology spillovers, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) implementation, and financial system reform. The perspectives presented offer insights into these countries' economic situations and potential policy measures. [Extracted from the article]

Vietnam's long‐term economic growth comparisons with ASEAN nations have been striking since its 1986's economic reforms. Such key factors as economic liberalization, a young population and low‐cost labor, knowledge diffusion, and the manufacturing sector have driven Vietnam's growth. Until 2023, Vietnam has the potential to capitalize on several favorable circumstances, including the diversion of trade and investment from China, the growth of the middle class, and the global digital transformation. Nevertheless, Vietnam's economic growth will confront various obstacles and a declining trajectory that predates the COVID pandemic. To circumvent the risk of falling into the middle‐income trap, this paper proposes "active" economic integration, labor productivity, innovation and research and development, the services sector, and green growth as new growth drivers for Vietnam till 2030. Considering the many policy ideas put forth by the Vietnamese government and the World Bank, this paper presents several distinct recommendations on institution reform and human capital accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of agriculture-led versus non-agriculture-led development strategies under climate-induced economic uncertainty. Utilizing Malawi as a case study, we introduce the application of Stochastic Dominance (SD) analysis, a tool from decision analysis theory, and compare the two strategies in the context of weather/climate-associated economic uncertainty. Our findings suggest that an agriculture-led development strategy consistently surpasses its non-agriculture-led antagonist in poverty and undernourishment outcomes across almost all possible weather/climate scenarios. This underscores that, despite increasing exposure of the entire economy to weather/climate uncertainty, agriculture-led development remains the optimal strategy for Malawi to reduce poverty and undernourishment. The study also endorses the broader use of SD analysis in policy planning studies, promoting its potential to integrate risk and uncertainty into policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistent racial inequality in socioeconomic status within urban areas has been a significant concern in both the US and European countries. Differences across racial groups in intergenerational mobility (IM) have been identified as a key source of this persistence. However, efforts to understand racial inequality in IM have rarely considered the role of urban sprawl. This article argues that urban sprawl affects differences in IM between racial groups directly and indirectly through racial segregation, racial bias, and social capital. We analyze data from 874 metropolitan counties in the US using structural equation models to test these direct and indirect effects of sprawl on racial inequality in IM. We found that urban sprawl was negatively associated with racial inequality in IM. The direct effect, which we partially attribute to higher racial disparities in social capital in more compact counties, was statistically significant. For the indirect effects, racial segregation had the largest mediating effects between urban sprawl and racial inequality in IM, followed by economic connectedness (EC) and racial bias. The net indirect effect of sprawl on racial inequality in IM was negative because negative indirect effects through racial segregation and EC outweigh positive indirect effects through racial bias. Our findings demonstrate the significant role of urban form in racial inequality in IM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided important lessons in determining future development strategies for countries whose economies are largely dependent on natural resources. The following study was conducted to analyze the potential for tourism to contribute to economic growth and sustainability of economic development in countries rich in natural resources during the post-resource period. Using data from the Republic of Azerbaijan, a co-integrated regression model was used in the analyses. Findings showed that (1) tourism has a positive effect on economic growth and can play a role in ensuring its sustainability; (2) a decrease in revenues from tourism carries more risk for the economy than revenues from oil (coefficient of variation); (3) if an oil and gas country chooses a tourism-based development path in the post-oil and gas era, it may face very serious challenges (due to the fact that tourism sector is highly vulnerable to direct and indirect events); (4) dominance of the tourism sector in the economy carries more risk than dominance of the oil and gas sector.

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the possibilities of higher-level development policy involvement of the financial intermediary institutional system, with particular regard to regional development. The investigation was primarily based on the analysis of the Hungarian financial intermediary system of refundable subsidies from the European Union that operated from 2007 through 2013. The reason for this is that, in terms of the diversity of the institutional system, both concerning the preceding and the 2014-2020 development cycle, this period had the highest diversity of institutions mediating subsidies, which plays a crucial role in the development of solutions that are more precisely suited to the financing needs of the final beneficiaries. After reviewing the available literature and development policy documents, I applied a research method based on a Delphi analysis. The investigation revealed a new finding: the market experience of the institutions' experts was the key factor in the successful placement of intermediary institutions' resources. This aspect had not been previously highlighted in evaluations or literature findings. In addition, the research pointed out, among other things, that for more optimal use of financial instruments for cohesion purposes, an integrated policy mix should be created at a higher level, including primarily the social and financial sectors, as well as the territorial development policy. All this would enable the introduction of combined support products at the implementation level, linking financial instruments with other non-financial types of support. For example, loan or guarantee products could be supplemented with consultancy, education, or mentoring support (especially concerning management, organization development, and strategic planning).

The aim of the paper is to find out what marketing tools are used by development companies operating in Poland to attract customers and whether the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on marketing can be observed. The secondary aim of the paper is to determine whether developers building investments in the area of the restricted use area (O.O.U.) use more marketing tools to convince potential customers to buy. For this purpose, a secret client survey was used and the research sample consists of four development companies and four of their investments in Kraków. The research conducted led to the disclosure of marketing tools used by developers. The survey shows that some elements of home branding, storytelling and banner ads, social media ads, ads on websites and portals and information brochures are being used. Through the use of virtual walks, housing visualization and the use of social media in advertising, the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on marketing in the industry can be seen. The analysis shows that companies creating developments in the restricted use area are not using more tricks to attract customers. All developers selected for the study use a similar number of marketing tools.

The concept of the creative economy in the modern global world is filled with new meanings and acquires many qualitatively new features and properties. The article describes the development of creative economy models. A comparative analysis of the characteristics of the creative economy in EU countries and Ukraine was carried out. Through statistical analysis of creative activities in the economy of Ukraine, we determined the list of growth parameters. Using analysis of the studies on the creative economy in Ukraine, we determined the peculiarities and problems of its formation to formulate the principles and priorities of the state policy for the development of the creative economy in Ukraine. The modern model of the creative economy of Ukraine is proposed to be supplemented by the development of creative human potential.

Despite commonalities, the development of a broad range of approaches to rural development has sometimes produced hermetic language and values which is exacerbated by siloed scientific orientations. In this article, we provide a critical analysis of three popular approaches to rural development among Global North rural researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers: the community-based approach, the place-based approach, and the territorial approach. By locating the disciplinary origins and pragmatic boundaries of each approach as well as the interfaces between them, we argue that working across a potential conceptual nexus could foster collaboration among policy-makers, practitioners, and researchers alike. Our analysis points to shared interests in issues of governance, actors agency and geographical embeddedness; it highlights a shared emphasis on rural defined interests. We conclude future rural development research and practice could be rejuvenated by working at the nexus of these interfaces to achieve the goals of contemporary rural development initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to conclude on the up-to-date state of the organisational ecology theory concerning relations between organisational ageing and organisational ecology, enhanced by social and ecological systems and ecological management. The applied method included analytical and reflective concluding, based on the synthesis of findings from a critical literature review. It was concluded that: (i) organisational ageing generates some of the most important consequences in organisational ecology; however, there is still no consensus on what kind of consequences prevail; (ii) at population level, the adaptation of organisational structures occurs with the replacement of old organisations that fail to adapt by the new ones; (iii) under the prevalent backdrop of radical structural and strategic changes, individual organisations are subject to inertial forces and thus are confronted with limitations to their success; (iv) ageing has positive consequences for innovative activities of older companies; and (v) the higher the density and concentration of industry, the higher the rates of founding firms and the lower the rates of mortality.

The question of whether developing countries should pursue specialization or diversification in export as a driver of sustainable economic growth has been a subject of an intense debate in economic literature. At present, one understanding of the debate, as postulated by Imbs and Wacziarg (2003), is that economies grow through two stages of diversification and concentration as income grows: they initially diversify but re-specialize once a (relatively) high level of income per capita is attained. A U-shaped curve best explains the notion. With Nigeria as a reference country, we employed ARDL procedure and examined the aforementioned exposition over the period 1960-2019. Specifically, the non-monotonic relationship between diversification and growth is examined. In furtherance, we examined the impact of diversification on the effect of non-oil exports on growth. Employing an augmented production-function framework and two distinct measures of diversification, we find, contrary to the Imbs-Wacziarg notion, a monotonic (increasing) relationship between diversification and growth, suggesting that diversification, rather than specialization, continues with growth. Applying a similar framework and five different measures of non-oil exports, we find that the impact of diversification on the effects of agricultural and industrial sectors on growth is higher, as compared to building and construction, wholesale and retail, services sectors.

This paper presents a new spectrum and recommendations the Indonesian Government might find highly useful in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) through electricity and water availability, Human Development Index (HDI), and COVID-19 pandemic evidence. Our study depends on cross-sectional data from 34 provinces and the time-series data from 2009 to 2020. We carry out the causality test (Dumitrescu-Hurlin) to check whether our research model is good enough to provide strategic options nationally. Furthermore, we employ the pooled ordinary least squared (POLS), fixed effect model (FEM), and random effect model (REM). The three models have so-called static panel data. Based on the Chow's and Hausman's test, we also find that the random effect is the best model to explain our empirical research. Our findings indicate that the electricity, water, HDI, and COVID-19 pandemic significantly contribute to the FDI. Our research also contributes to the literature on the predictors of FDI. This research is expected to help the Indonesian Government to make decisions on electricity, water, and human capital policy. Moreover, it highlights the direction a government or policymaker can take to attract the FDI.

Most economics research have concentrated on testing the quality–quantity (QQ) model through the relationship between family size and children's schooling. Much less effort has been given to comparing the child quality and child quantity income elasticities. Using the Thai household socioeconomic panel surveys, this paper examines the trade‐off between the quality and quantity of children by comparing the child quality and child quantity income elasticities. According to the theoretical prediction, the results showed that quality income elasticity was evidently higher than quantity income elasticity. Moreover, quality income elasticity was higher than quantity income elasticity even if permanent income was also controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]