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Investments in Industry 4.0 are making a significant impact on various sectors by integrating advanced digital technologies. The chances of financial losses for organisations' investments due to new technologies are high, and there is a low possibility of recovering the investments. Reduced spending on long-term costs by organisations due to low investments and consumer demand for durable goods has resulted in sluggish global trade in advanced and emerging markets. Challenges have arisen for companies in securing loans for investments due to past economic slowdowns, resulting in increased corporate borrowing expenses. The literature acknowledges Supply Chain Finance (SCF) as a vital approach to optimising efficiency. Industry leaders are turning to SCF as high costs persist during the transformation process for manufacturers. SCF can unlock substantial working capital by improving cash flow, which can be used to back essential business initiatives. This evolving environment presents opportunities and requires a deeper investigation of possibilities and challenges in advancing SCF to support Industry 4.0 efforts. Given this, the Special Issue released in the International Journal of Production Research pushes forward this crucial research focus. Nine articles accepted in this Special Issue used different methodologies, theories, and contexts to address research needs and offer valuable insights on supply chain finance and industry 4.0 investment challenges. This Editorial summarises these studies, emphasising possibilities for future research pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using proprietary data from AngelList Talent, we study how startup job seekers' search and application behavior changed during the COVID-19 downturn. We find that workers shifted their searches and applications away from less-established startups and toward more-established ones, even within the same individual over time. At the firm level, this shift was not offset by an influx of new job seekers. Less-established startups experienced a relative decline in the quantity and quality of applications, ultimately affecting their hiring. Our findings uncover a flight-to-safety channel in the labor market that may amplify the procyclical nature of entrepreneurial activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consistent with the empirical properties of the consumption data, I develop a model in which consumption and dividend growth follow regime-switching dynamics. I show that regime-shift risk is priced in the model. Regime-shift risk exhibits dominant influence on asset prices: It generates a high equity premium and also induces time-varying risk premiums. The model explains major business cycle-dependent asset market phenomena and, in particular, the stronger predictability of stock returns during recessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have mostly investigated the fall of dictatorships during the Arab Uprisings through the lens of contentious politics, uncovering new information about the protest dynamics and how they spread both within countries and throughout the wider region. However, the longer structural vulnerabilities within regimes have received little attention; yet such factors internal to states and their regimes proved paramount to the social revolutions investigated by Theda Skocpol. Focusing on the case of Tunisia, the author shows how the economic downturn and a succession crisis contributed to the decay of the Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali regime starting in the 2000s. Importantly, they heightened internecine conflicts within the regime and, in particular, within the longtime ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally. It is through this backdrop that the events of the 2010–2011 Tunisian revolution must be understood: far from supporting the regime in times of crisis, members of Ben Ali's ruling party engaged in contentious activities against him, thus crucially weakening the regime from within. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Household economic adversity during adolescence is hypothesized to be a risk factor for poor mental health later in life. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a quasi-experimental analysis of an economic shock, the Great Recession of 2007–2009. We tested if going through adolescence during the Great Recession was associated with increased risk of major depressive episodes (MDE) and mental health treatment in young adulthood with potential moderation by household poverty to explore differences by economic adversity. Methods: We analyzed data on young adults age 18–29 years from the 2005–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 145,394). We compared participants who were adolescents during the recession to those followed-up prior to the recession. Regression analysis tested effect modification by household poverty status. Results: Adolescent exposure to the Great Recession was associated with higher likelihood of MDE during young adulthood (aOR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.23, 1.37); there was no relationship with mental health treatment. Effects on MDE were stronger among those in households with higher incomes compared to those living in poverty. Conclusion: Findings support the hypothesis that exposure to the Great Recession during adolescence may have increased risk for MDE, but raise questions about whether the mechanism of this association is economic distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates six commonly used detrending methods and discuss how detrending may change the timing of events, the identification of lead-lag relations between GDP and employment, and the identification of cycle periods. The detrending methods examined includes linear detrending, polynomial detrending, the first-order differencing, locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOESS), Hodrick–Prescott filter, and the Hamilton filter. We apply the detrending methods to the United States and United Kingdom gross domestic product (GDP) from 1977 to 2020. We find that for the GDP series the first-order differencing score best on all three criteria, however, it also shows more false recessions than the other detrending methods. A linear, a polynomial, and a LOESS trend all scored well. The three methods miss-specified the timing of the recessions with less than one quarter and all three gave results that would comply with stylized facts in macroeconomics. The Hodrick–Prescott (HP) filter and Hamilton filter did not achieve high scores on one or two of the criteria and scored worst on average performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I document a substantial rise in the proportion of job seekers who are classified as out of the labour force in the United States since 1980. I propose an adjusted unemployment rate to account for these searchers; the adjustment increases the unemployment rate by 5.2 percentage points, rids the unemployment rate of its downward trend and decreases volatility by 50%. I also construct a measure of total search effort in the economy, including employed job seekers. Finally, estimates of the Phillips curve using the adjusted unemployment rate or total searcher rate show no sign of a flattening output-inflation relationship in the post-2008 recession period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government–business relations have been central to general discussions on policymaking in democratic states. This study analyzes government–business relations in policymaking during economic booms and crises in New Order Indonesia (March 1966–May 1998). The analysis is based on pluralist, state autonomy, and capacity theories, and critical discourse analysis is applied to textual sources to reveal the historical dimensions of policymaking during the economic booms and downturns under the New Order Indonesia. The findings show that policymaking during these periods was characterized by complex, dialectical, and dynamic relations between the government and businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the practices of investigative journalism in China in changing times. It does so by focusing on the case study of Southern Metropolitan Daily (SMD), a well-known newspaper in China which built its name on investigative journalism. The aim is to understand how the changing social conditions have shaped investigative journalism and transformed the role performance of investigative journalists. Drawing on data from multiple sources, including archival research, in-depth interviews, and news content analysis, the study found that under a trio of pressures: technological disruption, economic downturn and most importantly tightened political control, the media have been repositioning and reorienting themselves in relation to power. Investigative journalism, although it still retains the name, has shifted to trumpeting the value of constructiveness rather than criticism. This study contributes to the ongoing debates on journalistic role performance by showing how the watchdog and facilitator roles are combined in the practice of Chinese investigative journalists in changing times. It reaffirms the complex cooccurrence of journalistic roles and adds insights into the possibility of roles overlapping, not only across different dimensions but within the same dimension of power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the key topic of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) survival during an economic downturn by focusing on the role of family governance. We argue that family SMEs typically show higher levels of organizational inertia that may particularly harm their performance during an environmental jolt, while other idiosyncrasies, including greater survivability capital and owners' transgenerational sustainability intentions, enhance their odds of survival. However, we also contend that family firms are a heterogeneous group, and draw attention to the level of ownership concentration and collaborative intensity as factors likely to enhance these firms' survival. Conversely, we posit that family businesses with lower ownership concentration will benefit more from high collaborative intensity, thus suggesting the need to examine the joint survival effects of these two factors. We performed Cox survival analyses on a sample of 259 SMEs tracked from 2005 to 2019. The results offer important implications for scholars, managers, and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically examines the heterogeneous impacts of sudden stops in international capital flows on economic growth. We identified 24 sudden stop episodes since 1990 and employed a counterfactual method with cross‐economy panel data to evaluate the impact of each episode on economic growth. The results indicate that 14 sudden stop episodes triggered significant economic decline, with varying magnitudes; 9 episodes were accompanied by insignificant economic downturn, and 1 episode was followed by economic growth. We further utilize the treatment effect derived from the counterfactual analysis to investigate the causes of these heterogeneous impacts of sudden stops on economic growth. Results obtained from the panel data model suggest that external debt, financial development, and real investment return are the main driving forces contributing to the observed heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children in developing countries are vulnerable to shocks and adversities and child labor is often seen as a direct consequence of poverty and economic downturns. While such univocal causality may appear obvious, its empirical basis has not been systematically evaluated. To understand the linkages between shocks, changes in the economic situation of families and child labor, we therefore conduct a systematic literature review on the impact of income‐related shocks on child labor. We evaluate empirical studies of weather events and natural disasters, agricultural shocks such as crop failures, family shocks like parental illness, price shocks and transnational shocks through trade, migration, and remittances. Focusing on the literature that identifies causal effects, we find that the relationship between shocks and child labor is far from univocal. While in most cases adverse shocks increase child labor, we find that favorable shocks that improve earning opportunities may also cause more child labor. Policies to tackle child labor should therefore develop safety nets that minimize the probability of children being used as buffers in adverse economic downturns, but also consider the risk that positive economic shocks may attract children into labor due to changes to the value of children's time spent working. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We trace the long‐term performance of the UK art market across a broad set of crises: world wars, economic recessions, financial crises, inflationary periods, and changes in monetary policy. By means of digitalized historical auction archives, we construct art price indices from the early twentieth century onwards and disclose that annual art auction value grew, in real terms, more than seven‐fold over this period. The arithmetic annual real return and risk amount to 3.6 per cent and 20.1 per cent, respectively. Art returns plummeted at the onset of wars, but turned positive in the second half of wars when they outperformed stocks, suggesting that art was seen as a safe haven in times of political turmoil. During wars, smaller – and thus more transportable – paintings obtained higher returns. Art returns are sensitive to economic and financial crises, with the largest slumps occurring during the Great Depression, oil crisis, recessions of the early 1980s and early 1990s, and the Great Recession. We also document changes in art preferences for paintings' sizes, schools, liquid art, and artists' nationalities across crises. Art enters a broad optimal asset portfolio both in non‐crisis periods and during war times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In economically vulnerable situations such as the pandemic, private‐label products generate bigger appeal. The behavior of online private‐label consumers has remained understudied thus far, despite several studies suggesting that different channels lead to different consumer behaviors. This study aims to develop and test a theoretical model that elucidates the factors influencing the online purchase intention of private‐label products in a post‐pandemic scenario. We assess the role of attitude in the relationship between value consciousness, convenience, perceived quality, awareness, price consciousness, private‐label image, retailer reputation, and functional risk, in relation to purchase intention. The study is based on a sample of 318 respondents and employs variance‐based partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) for data analysis using Smart PLS 3. This study is one of the first to delve into post‐pandemic research on online private‐label products during an economic downturn. This study explores the purchase intention toward online private‐label products by drawing on the theory of planned behavior, attribution theory, and cue utilization theory. Our results reveal that retailer reputation influences private‐label image, which affects purchase intention. Additionally, perceived quality, private‐label image, and attitude positively influence the purchase intention of private‐label products. Retailer reputation also affects private‐label image and value consciousness. Furthermore, convenience has a positive effect on attitudes toward the online purchase of private labels. Interestingly, price consciousness did not affect the purchase intention of online private labels. These findings have significant implications for private‐label online retailers and policymakers. This article extends the current private‐label theory and holds promise for future application in an omnichannel private‐label context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a method of forecasting US recessions beginning with data displays that contain the last 12 quarters of seven US expansions. These end‐of‐expansion displays allow observers to see for themselves what is different about the last year before recessions compared with the two earlier years. Using a statistical model that treats this historical data as draws from a 12‐dimensional multivariate normal distribution, the most recent data are probabilistically inserted into these images where the recent data are most like the historical data. This is a recession forecast based not on presumed patterns but on patterns revealed by the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of smart technology, endorsed by government institutions and recognised for its societal benefits and potential for urban management, has carved a niche for smart eldercare. However, discourses around smart care vary among stakeholders, leading to a constant (re)production of it. This paper investigates three overlapping and sometimes converging stakeholders' (governments, corporations and capital investors) discourses in defining ‘smart eldercare’, arguing that these discourses significantly influence the promotion, implementation and acceptance of smart eldercare in urban Chinese communities. Government entities view smart eldercare as an efficient tool for facilitating community‐based population governance and providing a social safety net. In contrast, eldercare corporations view smart eldercare as a powerful narrative to attract investment and secure government funding, while also serving as a means of surveilling in‐home care labour. For capital investors, eldercare stands out as a burgeoning and resilient sector, encompassing latent values that warrant careful consideration, especially during periods of economic downturn. Through the lens of discourse analysis, this study underscores the tensions between different discourses and the ways it produces ‘smartness’ in urban China. This paper advocates for understanding ‘smartness’ as a complex, multifaceted concept shaped by diverse stakeholder discourses and socio‐economic‐political contexts, necessitating flexible, context‐sensitive interpretations through discourse analysis. To advance ongoing debates in geography on smart care, smart cities and ageing, this paper reveals how these stakeholder discourses co‐produce the notion of ‘smartness’ in urban eldercare, while highlighting the socio‐political dynamics underlying technology‐driven governance in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid increase of high-speed train driving automation, the human-computer interaction of high-speed train driving is changing. It is a major dilemma to maintain a well-interactive process between the driver and the driving system for the intelligent train operation. Nevertheless, the enhancement of the driver's situation awareness (SA) is an effective way to promote the process of driver-driving system interaction. To achieve this purpose, we proposed an enhanced SA model based on the perceptual cycle model (PCM). The model helps to identify the high-speed train DMI interface elements that affect the different SA level of drivers and provides theoretical support for describing the SA change pattern of driving tasks. We proposed a new display mode (ESA mode) for enhancing driver SA according to this model, and conducted driving simulator experiments to explore the differences of SA change patterns between the ESA mode and the normal mode (NSA mode) for 16 subjects. The experimental results showed that the ESA mode successfully overcame the subjects' SA recession in the NSA mode. The interaction with enhanced SA can help the driver remain vigilant and further improve the general driving performance during monotonous process of automated high-speed train driving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most national programmes of opioid agonist therapy (OAT) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are at a critical juncture for building their sustainability due to decreasing support from the Global Fund and other international HIV funders. Therefore, it is timely to identify the status, trends, opportunities and risk factors of OAT preparedness in the face of donor transition. Methods: The study assessed the OAT sustainability progress in 4 countries: Belarus, the Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine. The study used a comparative country case study design with qualitative methods and two data points in 2020 and 2022–2023. In total, 363 sources were reviewed and used, 83 interviews with key informants and 13 focus groups were conducted with clients, using a joint methodology and a defined Framework with three dimensions: 'Policy & Governance'; 'Finance & Resources'; and, 'Services'. Results: All four countries have made improvements to increase OAT sustainability, though it varied. In 2022, Ukraine had a substantial degree of sustainability, followed by Belarus and Moldova with a moderate degree, while Tajikistan's sustainability was at moderate-to-high risk. No country achieved a high degree of OAT sustainability in any of the three dimensions measured. However, a high degree of sustainability was reported for at least one indicator in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine: 'Medicines'; 'Financial resources'; 'Evidence and information systems'; 'Service Accessibility'; or, 'Service integration & quality'. On average, the greatest improvement between 2020 and 2022 was seen for 'Availability & coverage'; 'Financial resources'; 'Service quality & integration'; and, 'Service accessibility'. The highest risks across the countries, notably in Belarus and Tajikistan, were recorded for the indicator, 'Availability and coverage'. Of concern is that the least progress, or even a decline, was found in 'Human resources'. Conclusions: OAT sustainability in the 4 analysed countries remains at risk, despite progress in all countries. Managing HIV donor transition can have positive effects in addressing financial sustainability, especially inspired by Ukraine's continued progress despite economic contraction and Russia's invasion. More attention is needed to non-financial aspects of OAT sustainability in donor transition planning. The directions that could have multifaceted positive influence for OAT long-term resilience and scale up for impact on drug problems include decentralisation outside of health settings and broader drug treatment financial and management transformation, together with drug policy reforms. Thus far, viable solutions for sustainability of OAT in conflict areas appear unlikely. Building OAT resilience should remain high on the agenda of national stakeholders, technical partners and donors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periods of economic downturn are of keen interest to the law. The legal literature primarily focuses on how laws and legal markets affect – by contributing to or abating – economic downturns. This focus has left a sizeable gap in the literature analyzing the converse: how economic downturns affect law practice. The conventional wisdom is that economic downturns harm legal markets overall, and transaction practices in particular, but supporting data are not well studied. This paper helps fill the empirical gap by surveying and interviewing Bay Area attorneys from various law firms on their perception of the effects of economic downturns on legal markets. We find evidence to support the conventional wisdom at a high level of generality, but the granularity of our data lead to findings that significantly complicate the general picture. We find, for example, that personal-injury litigation is negatively affected by economic downturns, investment-management law is resilient, and healthcare transactional work can be positively affected. Our study reveals a highly complex picture of the effects of economic downturns on legal markets, effects that are dependent upon a constellation of factors. Overall, our study offers a more nuanced understanding of economic downturns and the legal profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current economic downturn, consumers are showing increased price sensitivity. With mobile technology enabling anytime connection, understanding daily price sensitivity fluctuations is crucial. This study analyzes transaction data from two companies, covering both offline and online scenarios. Additionally, an online experiment was conducted to further reveal the causal relationship between time-of-day and consumers' price sensitivity. The studies indicate that price sensitivity is highest in the morning, decreasing by approximately 0.5% per hour. These findings are interpreted using the circadian rhythms theory. This research deepens our understanding of how price sensitivity changes over time, offering invaluable insights for businesses to tailor their pricing and promotional strategies throughout the day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people struggle to enter a new capitalist economy characterized by job instability and devalued wages and labor. The COVID‐19 pandemic exacerbated this instability, since employment sectors hit hardest by the economic recession affected jobs where young people worked. We study racially marginalized young people's labor market experiences in the United States through in‐depth interviews with seven participants conducted between 2019 and 2022, before and during the pandemic. Through coding and analysis, we develop themes of surviving, navigating the labor market, and glimpsing cracks in the capitalist wall. Interviews illustrate how racial capitalism pulls the rug out from under young people while offering illusions of stability through cobbled‐together work, benefits, and housing. Young people describe tuning themselves to become better capitalists and shifting their mindset to survive. Even so, young people recognize the pandemic created opportunities to question the status quo and reevaluate their engagements within the current capitalist economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments routinely wage civil conflicts in ways that disrupt civilians' lives and livelihoods, creating harmful externalities like internal displacement. Both fighting and displacement hinder economic activity, jeopardizing popular support for governments and reducing the future gains of governance. How do states fight when using force induces migration and thus risks popular discontent? I model a conflict where government efforts to control territory spur displacement, creating economic disruption that can spark tension between displaced civilians and government supporters. The risk of losing popular support leads the government to modify its tactics. While the government could mitigate the disruptive consequences of displacement by fighting less, I find another, more troubling, strategy. Governments may engage in preemptive violence to prevent migration. Moreover, economic downturns exacerbate migration incentives and, I find, can also increase violence against civilians. Governments anticipating displacement fight more intense conflicts today to see relatively less migration in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed healthcare systems and triggered global economic downturns. While vaccines have reduced the lethality rate of SARS-CoV-2 to 0.9% as of October 2024, the continuous evolution of variants remains a significant public health challenge. Next-generation medical therapies offer hope in addressing this threat, especially for immunocompromised individuals who experience prolonged infections and severe illnesses, contributing to viral evolution. These cases increase the risk of new variants emerging. This study explores miniACE2 decoys as a novel strategy to counteract SARS-CoV-2 variants. Using in silico design and molecular dynamics, blocking proteins (BPs) were developed with stronger binding affinity for the receptor-binding domain of multiple variants than naturally soluble human ACE2. The BPs were expressed in E. coli and tested in vitro, showing promising neutralizing effects. Notably, miniACE2 BP9 exhibited an average IC50 of 4.9 µg/mL across several variants, including the Wuhan strain, Mu, Omicron BA.1, and BA.2 This low IC50 demonstrates the potent neutralizing ability of BP9, indicating its efficacy at low concentrations.Based on these findings, BP9 has emerged as a promising therapeutic candidate for combating SARS-CoV-2 and its evolving variants, thereby positioning it as a potential emergency biopharmaceutical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic raises the question of austerity's problematic social toll for health in the south of Europe. Has EU economic governance constrained health spending? If so, have these spending levels led to inequalities, which in turn shaped responses to the pandemic? EU economic governance is often dismissed as ineffective because of its poor track record of compliance. Yet austerity is blamed for negative health outcomes. This article shows that the EU fiscal rule is a determinant of health because it affects fiscal policies of European countries. First, the analysis of EU member states during 1995–2018 shows that austerity policies affect health spending and health inequalities. Euro-area countries under the EU Excessive Deficit Procedure significantly consolidated their health spending. The contractionary effect was concentrated in southern countries, contributing to rising health inequalities across the core and periphery. Finally, the analysis shows the pandemic implications of health inequalities, as periphery countries with a track record of high consolidation display more stringent (and costly) COVID-19 response models. This analysis contributes to understanding the supranational determinants of health in the EU, showing the pervasive spillover effects of the fiscal framework on national health policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Austerity measures have become a contentious topic, shaping the landscape of health care systems around the world. As governments grapple with economic challenges, the impact of austerity on health care has emerged as a critical concern. This study focuses on the consequences of austerity actions adopted by the Zimbabwean government under the Transitional Stabilization Program (TSP) from August 2018 to December 2025. This research examines the impact of austerity measures on Zimbabwe's health care sector, exploring its connections with health infrastructure and resources, accessibility and affordability of health care, health funding, health care inequalities, and the health care workforce. Using a quantitative approach and data from 970 participants, including the general populace, health care providers, and government officials, significant positive correlations between austerity measures and these health care variables were identified. The findings indicated a noteworthy positive correlation between the independent variable "austerity measures" and five dependent variables: health care accessibility and affordability, health care inequalities, infrastructure and resources, health care funding, and health care workforce. The t -statistics values exceeded the threshold of 1.96, with values of 5.085, 3.120, 6.459, 8.517, and 3.830, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of considering the effects of austerity on health care access, health funding, health care inequalities, health workforce, health infrastructure and resources development. Policymakers should prioritize equitable resource allocation and targeted investments to strengthen the resilience of the health care system during economic challenges. Understanding these associations is crucial for evidence-based policy decisions and fostering a more equitable and resilient health care system in Zimbabwe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Egyptian Journal of Information Sciences is the property of Beni Suef University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Journal of Portfolio Management (JPM) debuted in the fall of 1974 during a decade of stagflation and geopolitical tumult and well into a deep recession. Over the past half-century, the journal has provided a front-row seat to the evolution in our understanding of the capital markets. Competing ideas have done battle in the field of finance, some winning and some losing. Many good ideas have emerged, while a few bad ideas have gradually faded away, often so slowly that their passing was barely noticed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: Over the years, the impact of the business cycle on firm strategy has been neglected in the area of strategic management and remains one of the most important but least developed research streams in management scholarship. Studies in this area are scattered across time and domains, therefore, there is a need to consolidate this fragmented literature to provide a comprehensive review and thus avenues for further research. This study aims to address this gap. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, the systematic literature review (SLR) method is used to select and examine research articles in the area of firm responses and decisions during recession. This SLR examines 127 studies and carries out a thematic synthesis of the literature. Findings: Based on the SLR and thematic synthesis of the literature, the themes identified in this study include – severity of recession impact (Theme 1); firm specific characteristics (Theme 2); resource adjustment activities (Theme 3); and firm performance (Theme 4), based on these themes and analysis this paper maps and proposes various relationships and linkages in this research domain that can be explored further for the development of scholarship in this field of study. Originality/value: This paper fulfills the need for a systematic review of the extant literature on firms' responses during recession. The study synthesizes literature and carries out a thematic analysis from 1980 till the period February 2024 to provide directions to advance this domain of literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the world economic downturn, consumers are showing a trend of brand weakening. In order to explore the product advantages of the source manufacturer, that is, the competitive supplier, we establish a game theory model to study the strategy choice of original equipment manufacturers (OEM), competitive suppliers (CS), and noncompetitive suppliers (NS) based on consumer heterogeneity. By dividing consumers into quality consumers and ordinary consumers and considering horizontal competition (between suppliers) and vertical competition (between OEM and suppliers), it is found that the products of the source manufacturers are becoming more and more popular with consumers. Contrary to the traditional view, we find that under the trend of brand weakening, the products of the source manufacturers should be positioned above the price range acceptable to consumers, and the OEM products of the brand owners should be appropriately reduced. The interesting question is whether CS will discontinue the supply of OEM components once it has its own branded products. Further, we analyze that CS terminating the component sales business is an untrustworthy threat to OEM. Finally, we find that there will be a "win–win" zone between OEM and competing suppliers, and the "win–win" region will decrease as the manufacturing cost of the competing supplier increases and increase as the manufacturing cost of the noncompeting supplier increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advocates of Medicaid expansion argue that federal Medicaid assistance to states fosters economic activity, generating positive local multiplier effects. Furthermore, during economic downturns, Congress regularly tweaks federal match rates for state Medicaid spending—including during the COVID-19 public health emergency—in order to assist states. Despite heavy reliance on Medicaid funding formulas, identifying the economic effect of these federal transfers has proved challenging. This is because federal Medicaid assistance (to states) is endogenous since funding levels are correlated with unobserved factors driving state economic activity. To address this concern, we construct an instrument based on a nonlinearity in the federal matching rate for state Medicaid spending. Using state-level panel data from 1990 to 2013, we find that federal Medicaid assistance does stimulate economic activity, but the implied cost per job created is quite high, and the multiplier is well below 1. Despite modest economic effects over the entire sample period, we find that federal Medicaid assistance provided powerful fiscal stimulus to states after the Great Recession when the implied multiplier exceeded 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) heavily relies on fossil fuels to drive economic growth, making it one of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters. Promoting energy efficiency has been proposed as a solution to mitigate this issue. However, the potential negative impact of energy efficiency on economic growth remains unclear. Therefore, this study aims to re‐evaluate the dynamic impact of overall energy efficiency on economic growth in ASEAN countries, considering climate change factors. Unlike prior studies, this research measures overall efficiency based on both persistent and transient components of energy efficiency. This study employs two key techniques: stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to estimate the overall energy efficiency and panel vector autoregression (PVAR) to analyze the dynamic causal effects of determinants' shocks. The findings suggest that enhancing ASEAN's overall energy efficiency could result in an 85.9% reduction in total energy consumption, indicating high levels of inefficiency in the region. While extensive energy efficiency measures might induce a temporary economic contraction in ASEAN countries, the rate of decline seems to abate over the long term. This implies that the impact of the energy efficiency shock will be most prominent during initial growth stages, progressively waning over time. Additionally, this study confirms the presence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) for climate change and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnostic expectations constitute a realistic behavioural model of inference. This paper shows that this approach to expectation formation can be productively integrated into the New Keynesian framework. Diagnostic expectations generate endogenous extrapolation in general equilibrium. We show that diagnostic expectations generate extra amplification in the presence of nominal frictions; a fall in aggregate supply generates a Keynesian recession; fiscal policy is more effective at stimulating the economy. We perform Bayesian estimation of a rich medium-scale model that incorporates consensus forecast data. Our estimate of the diagnosticity parameter is in line with previous studies. Moreover, we find empirical evidence in favour of the diagnostic model. Diagnostic expectations offer new propagation mechanisms to explain fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the law of emotion transmission on the social Internet. By applying higher-order network theory, ER random networks are reconstructed and higher-order network structures with multiple interaction points are generated. The I-state of the SI model is extended to set up the propagation rules of emotions based on higher-order networks. Concepts such as sentiment recession rate are introduced to make sentiment propagate through different simplexes, so as to obtain the propagation rules of higher-order networks. Qualitative analysis of emotional changes during the propagation process verifies the phase transition phenomenon of emotions in the network. By comparing simulated results with actual data, we demonstrate the accuracy of our higher-order network-based emotion propagation model in reflecting real-world trends and outcomes. The study also explores the effects of factors such as the initial proportion of extreme emotions on emotion propagation. This study provides valuable insights into understanding the operation of complex systems and offers important implications for government predictions of opinion development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the economic resilience of cities in Hubei province during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilizing highway nighttime lights as a proxy indicator. By February 2020, the pandemic had caused a significant economic contraction in Hubei. However, by May 2021, a strong recovery was observed, with most cities experiencing growth rates of over 20%. Despite initially similar responses to the crisis, this study reveals significant heterogeneity in economic resilience across the examined cities in Hubei. The spatial distribution follows a core-periphery structure, with Wuhan exhibiting greater resistance to economic shocks compared to peripheral cities. Furthermore, the response capacity within the Wuhan urban agglomeration area exhibits regional variations. In summary, lockdown policies had spatially varied impacts on economic resilience across Hubei's cities. These results offer valuable insights into regional economic resilience and contribute to the formulation of strategies aimed at effectively addressing future unforeseen events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Social and organisational changes in businesses have led to the appearance of "emergent risks" which affect workers but are less evident and hard to quantify such as psychosocial risks. Linked to psychosocial risks, issues such as work‐related stress and workplace violence are major challenges to occupational health and safety. This paper analyses the trends in the concerns expressed by wage‐earners in Spain regarding psychosocial factors that may affect them in the workplace. Methods. A causal analysis based on the application of binary logistic regression is presented, covering certain social and occupational characteristics of survey respondents and the psychosocial factors included in the Spanish National Surveys of Working Conditions for 2007 and for 2011‐2012. Binary logistic regression is a multivariate statistical tool that serves as a classification technique, identifying the variables that affect the probability of the event to be studied (dichotomous variable). This technique has the advantage that it does not require that the explanatory variables follow a normal distribution. The aim is to estimate the influence of the explanatory variables on the probability of the occurrence of the event under study, represented by the explained variable. Results. During the economic crisis of 2008, workers became more concerned about losing their jobs and about factors related to personnel cutbacks and decreases in investment in the prevention of occupational risks. Downsizing due to the crisis led to increased workloads for many of those still in work. Thus, in 2011, the likelihood of workers being concerned about working hours was greater, especially among respondents aged 25–34 and those working in commerce and transport. Workload was found to be a particular concern among respondents aged 25–34 and among workers in transport, communication, financial, professional, and administrative activities; health‐related activities; and industry. Conclusions. Policy should also be directed towards improving the structural aspects of psychosocial variations, in terms of work conditions, employment protection, and employment security to protect workers against income fluctuations as a result of job loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People's livelihood serves as the primary impetus driving all social activities. Faced with intense regional competition and stringent assessment, regional governments often resort to manipulating GDP figures. This study investigates the repercussions of such economic distortion on residents' welfare. Our findings reveal a significant negative relationship between regional GDP manipulation and investment in livelihood improvements. This correlation is particularly pronounced during the initial phase of officials' tenure and diminishes when officials serve in their hometowns. Moreover, we observe that the reduction in livelihood investment is exacerbated during periods of economic downturn. These conclusions contribute to the existing literature on regional GDP manipulation and livelihood investment, shedding light on the potential implications for residents' welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well‐documented that the discharge‐area power‐law scaling exponent (θ) can be much lower than 1 during peak flow periods. A physical explanation for this phenomenon is generally given with the help of the channel network width function, which represents pure surface flow (PSF). When PSF ceases to dominate, θ is expected to increase due to the increasing contribution of mixed surface sub‐surface flow (MSSF) and approach 1. However, to our knowledge, no study thus far has conducted a systematic investigation of the variation of θ. In this study, we use a channel network morphology‐based routing model that considers both PSF and MSSF to investigate the variation of θ across the streamflow spectrum. The model captures the increasing trend of θ quite well during recession periods, attributable to the growing dominance of MSSF. We also demonstrate that the analysis of the discharge‐area scaling is further complicated by several factors, including spatio‐temporal variation of rainfall. The uniqueness of the model is that it suggests θ to assume values much greater than 1 because the flow in smaller basins decreases at a higher rate during late recession periods. Demonstrating this effect using observed data is difficult since obtaining sufficiently long recession curves is practically challenging. However, the predicted trend of θ is well supported by observed data when we perform percentile‐based discharge‐area scaling analysis. Our results thus indicate the possibility that a basin is not merely a sum of its hillslopes, with far‐reaching consequences for modelling hydrological and ecological phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German economy continues to stagnate. After it appeared to finally be growing at the start of 2024, it experienced a slight setback in the second quarter. Although incomes are rising and inflation is now near the two-percent target, people in Germany are saving their money. As investments and exports faltered due to the sluggish industrial sector, the upturn has been delayed for the time being. Overall economic output is likely to stagnate in 2024, but it will likely pick up at the end of the year; growth of 0.9 and 1.4 percent is expected in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Private consumption, which will increase more slowly than expected but still provide a stimulating effect, will primarily support this growth. As interest rates continue to fall worldwide, foreign trade and investments are also supporting growth. The global economy has returned to its recovery path, but expanded more weakly in the second quarter compared to the first. Growth in China in particular has stalled somewhat, and there are also signs of an upcoming economic slowdown in the United States. Following growth of 3.8 percent in 2024, the global economy is expected to expand by only 3.5 percent in 2025, but develop more dynamically again in 2026. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between individual environmental priorities and national economic conditions, addressing the commonly held belief that individuals prioritize economic concerns over environmental concerns during economic downturns. Introducing the novel concept of attitudinal decoupling, this study empirically analyzes the relationship between environmental priorities and economic conditions using a comprehensive dataset from five waves of the World Values Survey (1994–2022) encompassing 52 countries of varying economic statuses. The findings generally support the existence of a tradeoff that suggests that environmental priorities waver when economic conditions decline. However, the results also highlight significant variations across different countries and periods, with some instances showing increased environmental concern during economic decline. Additionally, the study found that political orientation significantly influences this relationship, particularly in high-income countries. These insights show that the interplay between economic and environmental priorities is complex and nuanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the impact of household earnings shocks on in-school mental health designations in the context of the Great Recession using propensity score matching and a unique data set of linked administrative educational and tax data. Relative to children who did not experience recessionary earnings losses, the rate of new mental health designations among children with earnings losses was 0.5 percentage points higher (20 percent) during the recession. The effect of experiencing a recessionary earnings loss is persistent and grows, especially among children who experienced the loss when they were aged 10 or younger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemic models of susceptibles, exposed, infected, recovered and deceased (SΕIRD) presume homogeneity, constant rates and fixed, bilinear structure. They produce short-range, single-peak responses, hardly attained under restrictive measures. Tuned via uncertain I,R,D data, they cannot faithfully represent long-range evolution. A robust epidemic model is presented that relates infected with the entry rate to health care units (HCUs) via population averages. Model uncertainty is circumvented by not presuming any specific model structure, or constant rates. The model is tuned via data of low uncertainty, by direct monitoring: (a) of entries to HCUs (accurately known, in contrast to delayed and non-reliable I,R,D data) and (b) of scaled model parameters, representing population averages. The model encompasses random propagation of infections, delayed, randomly distributed entries to HCUs and varying exodus of non-hospitalized, as disease severity subdues. It closely follows multi-pattern growth of epidemics with possible recurrency, viral strains and mutations, varying environmental conditions, immunity levels, control measures and efficacy thereof, including vaccination. The results enable real-time identification of infected and infection rate. They allow design of resilient, cost-effective policy in real time, targeting directly the key variable to be controlled (entries to HCUs) below current HCU capacity. As demonstrated in ex post case studies, the policy can lead to lower overall cost of epidemics, by balancing the trade-off between the social cost of infected and the economic contraction associated with social distancing and mobility restriction measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic prompted projections of economic contraction and a resulting decline in immigrant remittances, which are fundamental to many migrant household survival strategies. However, in the first year of the pandemic, remittances from the United States to Mexico and other Latin American countries remained surprisingly stable. Using novel survey and interview data, we investigate this apparent divergence, and the dynamic familial networks that sustained remittances during the first year of Covid-19. We identify patterns masked by the overall macro trend of resilient remittance flows, including heterogeneity across remitters' responses to the pandemic and household-level strain of remitting during this period. Specifically, we find evidence of an intensified expanded remittance pool, wherein remittance responsibility spread across household and extended family members—especially US citizens, authorized immigrants, and those who were more financially stable—in response to job loss and income instability within remitting households. During a period of extreme hardship, the continued need for remittances among nonmigrant family members contributed to the purposive intensification of these expanded pools. Our study of immigrant remittances during Covid-19 demonstrates the utility of examining complexity, change, and oftentimes strain at the micro-household level that undergirds apparent stability at a macro-level of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study is to investigate the impact of the coexistence of basic intermittent exotropia and vertical incomitance in the form of the V and sub-V pattern on the results of surgical correction of intermittent exotropia. Methods: The records of 81 pediatric patients who had surgery for intermittent exotropia and a follow-up of more than 1 year were reviewed retrospectively. They were divided into groups: a concomitant group which underwent only horizontal muscle surgery of bilateral lateral rectus recession and a V pattern group which had additional inferior oblique recession, further separated into two subgroups: ≥ 15 prism diopters (classic V pattern group) and ≥ 10 < 15 prism diopters (sub-V pattern group). The surgical outcome, deviation control, stereoacuity, and postoperative drift were assessed after 3 months and 1 year postoperatively. Results: Patients with sub-V and classic V pattern intermittent exotropia showed significantly better surgical success rate (p = 0.025) and less postoperative drift (p = 0.042) than patients without vertical incomitance. One year after surgery, successful surgical outcome was achieved in 83.72% of the vertically incomitant group: 80.76% for the classic V pattern and 88.24% for the sub-V pattern group, while only in 60.53% of nonpattern patients. Conclusions: Patients operated for intermittent exotropia with a coexistent V pattern have consistently better surgical long-term results than those with only horizontal deviation. Additional inferior oblique recessions in the sub V pattern group provided excellent outcomes with no overcorrections; therefore, surgeons should consider addressing vertical incomitance even when the typical criteria for the V pattern are not met. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the unfavourable labour market and work environment conditions that have emerged in the last decade, this study identifies the factors that positively influence employee motivation. The study was conducted in Greece's banking sector, which was at the epicentre of the economic crisis. A new research model is proposed exploring the relationships between employee motivating factors, employee performance and organizational effectiveness. This model is empirically tested using structural equation modelling on data from 328 bank employees. The results are controversial, showing that non‐financial incentives motivate Greek bank employees most, emphasizing their need to stay in their jobs. Highly motivated workers may boost corporate effectiveness by improving employee performance. Even though this study found that non‐financial incentives motivate employees most, management should not overlook financial and job‐related reward programmes. Managers must provide financial compensation, job security, and supportive leadership to reduce employee dissatisfaction and keep employees motivated. Managers should view recognition as an essential component of motivation because it contributes to the creation of an environment that is both productive and efficient for the organization. The conclusions drawn from studying Greece's 10‐year‐long economic crisis are significant because many other countries around the world are experiencing (or may experience) a similar crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the anthropology of critique has been hampered by an implicit framing of critique as the content of knowledge rather than an orientation to knowledge about the world. It does so building on an ethnographic account of a group of critical citizens in post‐recession Dublin, Ireland. It stages a comparison between two different forms of critique of importance to them: art and activism. Contrary to the assumption that activism and detachment, and moral advocacy and empiricism, are at odds, this ethnographic comparison reveals that here the ultimate critical skill is thought to be the ability to take up different critical attitudes. Moreover, it isn't a lack of detachment but the creation of a 'critical community' that makes critique political. Drawing from this ethnographic instance of what counts as critique, this article thus makes a case for an anthropology of critique as itself a critical practice – one that is becoming increasingly urgent as critique as we know it has come to exhibit a hegemony of form in the social sciences and public cultures of debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cyclicality in aggregate productivity predicts the efficiency of resources reallocation. • Aggregate productivity growth originates from within-plants, allocative efficiency gain, and due to entry and exit. • We exploit the Great Recession to analyse the validity of the 'Cleansing' or 'Scarring' effect of recession and 'Schumpeterian Darwinian Selection' for Indian manufacturing. • The contributions to aggregate productivity growth from within-plant and net-entry effects are procyclical. • Plants in export-oriented industries are crucial in explaining the pro-cyclicality. • The exporting sectors during 2008-09 shifted resources from more productive to less productive plants. • The relatively productive exporters exited the markets following the global crisis, scarring the economy. • The positive contribution from the net-entry exit effect of plants during the economic downturn validates the 'Schumpeterian approach of Darwinian Selection'. Understanding the cyclicality in aggregate productivity helps answer whether the economy allocates resources efficiently or not. The paper analyses the sources of aggregate productivity growth, such as direct efficiency gain within-plants, allocative efficiency gain, and gains due to entry and exit during economic fluctuations. In particular, we exploit the economic shock of the Great Recession to analyse the validity of the 'Cleansing' or 'Scarring' effect of recession and 'Schumpeterian Darwinian Selection' for Indian manufacturing. The rise and fall of within-plant and net-entry effects during the economic fluctuations explains the pro-cyclicality of productivity growth. Plants in export-oriented industries are crucial in explaining the pro-cyclicality. Negative external shock to exporting sectors during 2008–09 shifted resources from more productive to less productive plants. The relatively productive exporters exited the markets following the global crisis, scarring the economy. Nonetheless, the positive effect from the net-entry exit of plants during the economic downturn makes the 'Schumpeterian approach of Darwinian Selection' valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is imperative to explore the contribution of the Indian state to the country's impressive long-term growth performance during the free-market era, given the looming demand deficiency problem arising from this iniquitous growth process. Drawing on Marx's idea of circuit of capital, this article investigates the various ways in which the state contributes to the process of accumulation and economic growth, especially in the context of India during the period of market-oriented reforms. Additionally, this study aims to trace the changing nature of interventions of the Indian state to ascertain the domain and extent of its withdrawal and continued presence. Furthermore, it investigates the interventions undertaken by the Indian state to sustain or cushion the growth momentum at times of economic downturn during the free-market era. JEL Classification : B51, E62, O11, P16 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of a global economic slowdown and structural shifts, comprehending labor market stability is crucial for devising effective macro-employment strategies. This research introduces an innovative framework to analyze employment resilience in the wake of China's smart city pilot policy. Utilizing data from 275 prefecture-level cities across China, spanning 2008 to 2020, the study delves into the beneficial effects of the smart city pilot policy on employment resilience. It employs a dual approach, integrating the Differences-in-Differences method (DID) with robustness analysis. Findings indicate that employment resilience in smart city pilot cities is approximately 0.58% higher compared to non-pilot cities. Factors such as location, size, and city type exhibit varying influences on this outcome. The research further reveals that entrepreneurial activities significantly mediate the link between smart city policies and employment resilience. Additionally, the concentration of manufacturing and productive services, along with their interplay, demonstrates notable moderating effects. This investigation broadens the economic research scope regarding smart cities and offers fresh empirical insights into the labor market impacts of smart city pilot policies, serving as a valuable guide for policymakers in managing employment markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]