Search

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.)

The paper quantifies the impact of the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war on sovereign bond yields for 58 countries. Our findings based on event study methodology and multivariate cross-sectional regression analysis highlight the salient role of trade channel in shaping the markets' reaction to the hostilities. The uptick in yields was higher in countries with a greater share of agricultural raw materials imports from Ukraine. No other persistent cross-geography differences in market reactions were found. The strength of the reaction was contingent on the individual countries' macroeconomic conditions. The post-event cumulative abnormal returns exhibited a positive associative link with the baseline inflation in the studied countries pointing to the inflationary pressure portended by the outbreak of war. No statistically significant links between the ex ante situation on the labor market and the subsequent bond market reaction were observed. At the outset of hostilities, the dynamics of yields were driven by the perceived likelihood of escalation, while at later stages, the trade channel appears to have shaped the market response. The paper provides insights into the factors shaping the spillover effects of the war on fixed-income markets and quantifies the speed of market adjustment in response to an external shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the main components of the organizational framework for macro-prudential management in the Member States of the European Union. The organizational design of macro-prudential management is a competence of the Member States, which can themselves be grouped into different models. First, the study provides an overview of the international and EU standards and recommendations on the legal status of macro-prudential bodies in the Member States. Then, it lists those basic features of the legal status of macro-prudential bodies which are relevant with a view to the present inquiry before finally turning to address those very features. The study concludes that there is a tendency for the EU macro-prudential body to standardize the basic elements of the legal status of the Member State macro-prudential bodies. However, the process of standardization, in terms of the content of the institutional framework, is still at an early stage and a variety of legal solutions may be identified for each of the substantive aspects. As such, we claim that the institutional framework of macro-prudential policy is best described by a coordinated standardization of the substantive pillars with different formal features and with different legal solutions.

Abstract Background Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine set in motion a large number of refugees. Considerable amount of them came and stayed in Czechia. Refugees represent special vulnerable individuals often affected by war physically and psychologically. Due to the national regulations not allowing most of Ukrainian men aged 18–60 to leave the country, nowadays Ukrainian forced migration is relatively young and strongly gendered. Evidence suggests the higher probability for searching the safe refuge abroad among Ukrainian women with small children as well as those with relatively higher economic and cultural capital. The aim of this study is to identify the structural features of systemic risks associated with war migration by examining determinants of self-rated health among forcibly displaced highly educated Ukrainian women of productive age residing in Czechia. Methods Data from one wave of the panel survey among Ukrainian refugees in Czechia conducted in September 2022 was used. Determinants of self-rated health including self-reported diseases and healthcare factors, lifestyle, human and social capital, economic factors, and migration characteristics were analysed using binary logistic regression. Results About 45% highly educated Ukrainian women refugees in Czechia assessed their health as poor. The poor self-rated health was mostly associated with the number of diseases and depressive symptoms, and by social capital and economic factors. Having four and more diseases (OR = 13.26; 95%-CI: 5.61–31.35), showing some severe depressive symptoms (OR = 7.20; 95%-CI: 3.95–13.13), experiencing difficulties to seek help from others (OR = 2.25; 95%-CI: 1.20–4.23), living alone in a household (OR = 2.67; 95%-CI: 1.37–5.27), having severe material deprivation (OR = 2.70; 95%-CI: 1.35–5.41) and coming originally from the eastern part of Ukraine (OR = 2.96; 95%-CI: 1.34–6.55) increased the chance of these refugees to assess their health as poor. Conclusion Social and economic determinants such as lack of social contacts for seeking help and material deprivation were found to be crucial for self-rated health and should be tackled via migration policies. Further, qualitative research is needed to better understand the mechanisms behind the factors affecting subjectively assessed health.

This study identifies the impact of systemic risks on the company’s strategic development prospects through attracting investments and ensuring their insurance protection. The company’s strategic development model predetermines the level of its investment activity at various stages of the life cycle. This is important because there is an urgent need for the Ukrainian economy to attract foreign investment for the post-war reconstruction of the country. But there are objective difficulties associated with the complication of actualizing the investment position of enterprises in the leading sectors of the economy, taking into account the challenges and threats caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation. Conditions of entropy, which indicate unpredictability and variability in the business environment, expose enterprises to great risks. It was determined that the investment position of the business entity should correlate with the strategic model of its development and represent a balanced mechanism. This has made it possible to reasonably systematize the risk of investment activities and approaches to their management. Statistical analysis became the basis for evaluating the dynamics of direct and capital investments in the leading sectors of the Ukrainian economy. The results gave grounds for asserting a significant deterioration of the investment climate in Ukraine as a result of the war. The level of direct and capital investments is low. We focused attention on the possibility of flexible adjustment of strategic development plans to unforeseen risks. The proposed recommendations, unlike existing ones, consist of a combination of state and market levers to stimulate investments in the economy of Ukraine. Existing military risks restrain the investment activity of stakeholders. Therefore, the conditions for the practical implementation of the mechanism of distribution and reduction of risks are the formation of insurance protection of investments for investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Russia's military aggression against Ukraine set in motion a large number of refugees. Considerable amount of them came and stayed in Czechia. Refugees represent special vulnerable individuals often affected by war physically and psychologically. Due to the national regulations not allowing most of Ukrainian men aged 18–60 to leave the country, nowadays Ukrainian forced migration is relatively young and strongly gendered. Evidence suggests the higher probability for searching the safe refuge abroad among Ukrainian women with small children as well as those with relatively higher economic and cultural capital. The aim of this study is to identify the structural features of systemic risks associated with war migration by examining determinants of self-rated health among forcibly displaced highly educated Ukrainian women of productive age residing in Czechia. Methods: Data from one wave of the panel survey among Ukrainian refugees in Czechia conducted in September 2022 was used. Determinants of self-rated health including self-reported diseases and healthcare factors, lifestyle, human and social capital, economic factors, and migration characteristics were analysed using binary logistic regression. Results: About 45% highly educated Ukrainian women refugees in Czechia assessed their health as poor. The poor self-rated health was mostly associated with the number of diseases and depressive symptoms, and by social capital and economic factors. Having four and more diseases (OR = 13.26; 95%-CI: 5.61–31.35), showing some severe depressive symptoms (OR = 7.20; 95%-CI: 3.95–13.13), experiencing difficulties to seek help from others (OR = 2.25; 95%-CI: 1.20–4.23), living alone in a household (OR = 2.67; 95%-CI: 1.37–5.27), having severe material deprivation (OR = 2.70; 95%-CI: 1.35–5.41) and coming originally from the eastern part of Ukraine (OR = 2.96; 95%-CI: 1.34–6.55) increased the chance of these refugees to assess their health as poor. Conclusion: Social and economic determinants such as lack of social contacts for seeking help and material deprivation were found to be crucial for self-rated health and should be tackled via migration policies. Further, qualitative research is needed to better understand the mechanisms behind the factors affecting subjectively assessed health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial stability appears more and more often in discussions of money and capital market analysis, the financial banking system and financial education in Eastern EU countries. The uncertainty hanging over the national economy due to the war on the eastern border, as well as the increase in the total debt of the country as a result of the state budget imbalances influenced by the increases in budget expenditures, the energy crisis, poor financial education and the increase in the inflation rate are only part of the causes. which periodically creates problems for the monetary authority regarding the financial stability of Romania. Financial stability and price stability are two sides of the same coin. We must always consider both sides. In this sense, the statistical information provided by the banking financial system has an important role in the analysis of financial stability and price stability

Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have been classified as systemic risks and have elaborated that such systemic risks will become the new normal. Ways to tackle the long-term effects of climate change include law and environmental policy. In addition, insurance can help mitigate the burden placed on governments when such systemic risks occur, including pandemics. In relation to the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of long-Covid, sports and exercise are examined as a mitigating factor able to release pressure from public health and help mitigate its long-term effects. This article discusses the correlation of Covid-19 with environmental changes and climate changes and goes on to address the role of insurance, on the one hand and sports and exercise on the other hand as mitigating mechanisms to handle systemic risks such as climate change and pandemics. The article’s findings suggest and conclude that 1) outside state action (law and policy), private action such as change in lifestyle towards a more sustainable way of life, and sports and exercise can help with the long-term effects of pandemics and 2) insurance can act as a mitigating private sector mechanism. Governments should integrate law, policy, and mitigating techniques such as private insurance to tackle and respond to systemic risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the main components of the organizational framework for macro-prudential management in the Member States of the European Union. The organizational design of macroprudential management is a competence of the Member States, which can themselves be grouped into different models. First, the study provides an overview of the international and EU standards and recommendations on the legal status of macro-prudential bodies in the Member States. Then, it lists those basic features of the legal status of macro-prudential bodies which are relevant with a view to the present inquiry before finally turning to address those very features. The study concludes that there is a tendency for the EU macro-prudential body to standardize the basic elements of the legal status of the Member State macro-prudential bodies. However, the process of standardization, in terms of the content of the institutional framework, is still at an early stage and a variety of legal solutions may be identified for each of the substantive aspects. As such, we claim that the institutional framework of macro-prudential policy is best described by a coordinated standardization of the substantive pillars with different formal features and with different legal solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial stability appears more and more often in discussions of money and capital market analysis, the financial banking system and financial education in Eastern EU countries. The uncertainty hanging over the national economy due to the war on the eastern border, as well as the increase in the total debt of the country as a result of the state budget imbalances influenced by the increases in budget expenditures, the energy crisis, poor financial education and the increase in the inflation rate are only part of the causes. which periodically creates problems for the monetary authority regarding the financial stability of Romania. Financial stability and price stability are two sides of the same coin. We must always consider both sides. In this sense, the statistical information provided by the banking financial system has an important role in the analysis of financial stability and price stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008–2009, international financial regulators tightened the regime of banking supervision in order to minimize systemic risks, strengthen banking sector resilience and ensure financial stability. Given the increased level of credit risks and the issue of liquidity in the banking sector, as well as the role of banks in promoting the dynamics of the macro-environment, the objectives of banking regulation, through their interrelationship, may conflict with one another, and the research of this phenomenon is the subject of this article. The academic literature excludes research that provides definitive evidence on whether post-crisis banking regulation reform has achieved each of the abovementioned goals, determining the relevance of our study. The scientific novelty is attributed to the principally different approach proposed by the authors in assessing the effectiveness of the post-crisis model of international banking regulation, which is based on the analysis of the interaction and contradictions of the objectives of modern regulatory policy. The purpose of the study is to identify the extent to which the objectives of the post-crisis regulatory model were achieved and to what extent regulatory efforts contribute to the reduction of systemic risks. To achieve the research objectives, the authors applied methods of statistical and comparative analysis, synthesis of factors underlying the post-crisis regulatory mechanism, systematization, generalization and forecasting. The authors analyzed the main elements of the regulatory reform, examined the dynamics of the banking sector, and assessed the impact of the reform on systemic risks and economic growth. The research results show that tighter supervisory standards strengthened bank stress resilience, reduced systemic risks, and had a limited impact on economic growth. The article concludes that the objectives of banking regulation actively interact, but do not conflict: a consistent transition to the new Basel III standards allows each objective to be achieved.

This article analyses the use of powers by Czech presidents Václav Havel (1993–2003), Václav Klaus (2003–2013) and Miloš Zeman (2013–2023). The text is based on the concept of presidential activism, empirically examining mainly their interactions with governments and legislative vetoes. The results show that important incentives for presidential activism are non-cohesive coalition governments, minority governments, slim government majorities in parliament, the collapse of governments and a chaotic parliament. On the other hand, the internal cohesion of a government acts as a constraint on presidential activism. Popularly elected Zeman interpreted his powers much more widely in appointing and removing governments and ministers than Havel or Klaus, who were elected by parliament. By contrast, Zeman used his legislative powers less than his two predecessors, which was apparently influenced by their low success (with some exceptions) in this area. The president’s political proximity to the government was found to only sometimes limit his agility. Czech presidents have rarely been passive. A specific factor that affected activism, albeit only to a limited extent, was the poor health of Havel and Zeman at certain moments. To reduce systemic risks in the future, it would be useful to define more precisely the rules for appointing and dismissing a government and individual ministers.

Despite efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there are unavoidable impacts of climate change that are occurring now and will continue to unfold into the future. As the frequency and intensity of climate disasters increase, improving our understanding of climate risks will be critical for developing effective national climate adaptation actions. In recognition of the need for greater interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration to improve our understanding of systemic climate risks, a broad range of decision-makers across government and non-government organisations were engaged to identify Australia’s nationally significant risks through Australia’s first National Climate Risk Assessment (NCRA). In this paper, we describe the collaborative process developed for Australia’s NCRA and highlight the climate risk interdependencies identified for the infrastructure and built environment (I&BE) system. The I&BE system was chosen to illustrate the need to consider climate risk interdependencies, as this system’s sectors are heavily interconnected and fundamental to the functioning of critical infrastructure, essential services and supply chains. Using data collected through Australia’s NCRA, we illustrate how climate hazards create risks to individual I&BE sectors and how such risks aggregate, compound and/or cascade to form systemic risks. These systemic risks impact not only the I&BE system but also other systems, such as defence and national security, health and social support, and economy, trade and finance. Due to the high interdependencies of climate risks across sectors and systems, cross-sector collaboration is critical to address the interconnectedness of the systems and to develop effective climate adaptation strategies. A systemic approach to address climate risks will allow for response strategies that benefit multiple sectors simultaneously and reduce the likelihood of unforeseen negative compounding and cascading risks and maladaptation.

We study how banks' year-end window dressing affects the identification of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) and their capital requirements. Some G-SIBs reduce their balance sheet at year-end, especially their derivative books and intra-financial system exposures, to an extent that they can reduce their requirements or avoid G-SIB designation. While window-dressing G-SIBs benefit from lower funding costs during normal conditions, they face tighter funding constraints and increased systemic risk during stress episodes. Supervisory judgement is thus crucial in assessing G-SIBs, and greater use of average as opposed to point-in-time data in regulation is recommended to mitigate window dressing incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic risks possess a high level of complexity and uncertainty that can be latent behind the veil of initial stress of possible disasters. They refer to, on the one hand, the functionality of interconnected systems and, on the other hand, the probability of indirect losses which can propagate through larger territories. Once considering the solid definition of resilience by the United Nations, the emphasis tends on systems’ ability to different facets of disturbance rather than the performance of the sum of each singular entity confronting the main shock. This paper aims to provide a broader perspective and a systematic review focusing on the commons of resilience and systemic risks in the frame of risk mitigation. The outcomes highlight the urgency of multidisciplinary actions, which have not been achieved yet since the 1999s earthquakes.

AbstractBanks give great attention to identifying the risks of adopting FinTech and the extent of its negative impact on their business. This study aims to explore the relationship between the risks of adopting FinTech in banks and their impact on performance, where the balanced scorecard was used to measure performance. This study identifies four risks, which are the most important risks affecting FinTech in banks: systemic risks, operational risks, outsourcing risks, and cyber risks. The data was collected through a questionnaire for 263 respondents at the managerial level of bank branches in Yemen from October to December 2021. Structural equation modeling PLS-SEM and a disjoint two-stage approach were used to approve the model’s constructs. The current study proved the validity of the proposed relationship between the risks and the effect of risk variables on each other, except for the impact of outsourcing risks on cyber risks. Also, the study result is that cyber risks and operational risks of adopting FinTech have a negative impact on banks’ performance. But the outsourcing risks of the adoption of FinTech have a positive impact on banks’ performance the systemic risks do not affect banks’ performance. Therefore, this study is considered one of the rare studies that contribute to analyzing the risks of adopting FinTech in banks and its impact on performance. In addition, it gives a clear picture for decision-makers in banks to identify the dark side of FinTech adoption.

Reflecting on the root cause framework devised for the research project preparing for extreme and rare events in coastal regions (PEARL) between 2014 and 2018 suggests a growing and evolving landscape of work building on the initial Pressure and Release (PAR) model. Empirical work using the PEARL framework added to debates about the nature, role and importance of institutions in the cross-scale interactions that drive disaster risk, even for small-scale disaster events. Going forward, its use opened up questions about our epistemologies and methodologies for root causes research in an era of systemic risk, uncertain futures and complex governance, and about tackling the layers of politics that can preclude action on reducing vulnerabilities. Contribution: The article suggests a new – and pluralised – agenda for root causes research going forward, which needs to be linked to critical understandings of the politics of root causes across disaster management and development actors and further action to reduce vulnerabilities.

Pandemic-related business interruption (BI) losses are generally considered 'uninsurable' because, in order to pool sufficient premium revenue to meet valid claims, premiums would be unaffordable for the majority of policyholders. This paper explores whether and how such losses might be made insurable in the U.K. The authors consider post-pandemic governmental responses, including the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the meaning and implications of FCA v Arch Insurance (U.K.) Ltd ([2021] UKSC 1). The central premise of the paper is to highlight the importance of reinsurance in increasing an underwriter's insuring capacity and to illustrate how, with the support of government in the form of a public–private partnership (PPP), 'uninsurable' risks of this type may be made insurable. The authors propose a PPP, 'Pandemic Business Interruption Re', which provides, in their view, a feasible and defensible solution that would confer the benefit of increasing policyholders' faith in the industry's ability to underwrite pandemic-related BI claims and reduce reliance on ex post government aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from Chinese A-listed firms' loan announcements, this research creatively constructs a dynamic, variant-linkage, and more comprehensive banking network in China during 2007 and 2016. Exploiting techniques from the literature on complex networks, we find that China's banking network exhibits more clustering, more coherence, higher centrality, and even more heterogeneity. Empirical results show that the above network features, especially the heterogeneity of the network, have a great impact on financial systemic risk. A network with higher clustering coefficient, higher coherence, lower centrality, and greater heterogeneity is associated with a lower financial systemic risk. A range of policy measures can be drawn from our results, including macro-prudential policy, increasing network stability, and applying surcharges for systemically important financial institutions so as to minimize financial systemic risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Disciplines Economics & Administrative Scienves Studies is the property of International Journal of Disciplines in Economics & Administrative Sciences Studies 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 authors discuss connections between the problems of two-stage stochastic programming, robust decision-making, robust statistical estimation, and machine learning. In the conditions of uncertainty, possible extreme events and outliers, these problems require quantile-based criteria, constraints, and "goodness-of-fit" indicators. The two-stage stochastic optimization (STO) problems with quantile-based criteria can be effectively solved with the iterative stochastic quasigradient (SQG) solution algorithms. The SQG methods provide a new type of machine learning algorithms that can be effectively used for general-type nonsmooth, possibly discontinuous, and nonconvex problems, including quantile regression and neural network training. In general problems of decision-making, feasible solutions and concepts of optimality and robustness are characterized from the context of decision-making situations. Robust machine learning (ML) approaches can be integrated with disciplinary or interdisciplinary decision-making models, e.g., land use, agricultural, energy, etc., for robust decision-making in the conditions of uncertainty, increasing systemic interdependencies, and "unknown risks." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses connections between the problems of two-stage stochastic programming, robust decision-making, robust statistical estimation, and machine learning. In the conditions of uncertainty, possible extreme events and outliers, these problems require quantile-based criteria, constraints, and “goodness-of-fit” indicators. The two-stage STO problems with quantile-based criteria can be effectively solved with the iterative stochastic quasigradient (SQG) solution algorithms. The SQG methods provide a new type of machine learning algorithms that can be effectively used for general-type nonsmooth, possibly discontinuous, and nonconvex problems, including quantile regression and neural network training. In general problems of decision-making, feasible solutions and concepts of optimality and robustness are characterized from the context of decision-making situations. Robust ML approaches can be integrated with disciplinary or interdisciplinary decision-making models, e.g., land use, agricultural, energy, etc., for robust decision-making in the conditions of uncertainty, increasing systemic interdependencies, and “unknown risks.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, companies have increasingly been characterized by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores, and investors and academics have raised questions concerning financial performance and investment risks. Now, as the European Banking Authority has acknowledged that ESG risks can potentially impact the economic and financial system, the debate on systemic risk has gained traction. Understanding the relationship between ESG merit and systemic risk is of utmost importance for the stability of the economic and financial system, still, research is limited. Relying on real‐world European and United Stated data, we quantify systemic risk by means of QL‐CoVaR. Empirical analyses of the entire period from 2007 to 2021 show that companies with high ESG scores tend to exhibit low QL‐CoVaR values indicating a positive effect of ESG scores. Such evidence is confirmed by clustering the individual companies into ESG portfolios and focusing on COVID‐19. Additional insights using the individual pillars are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring how different people – as 'social sensors' – evaluate and respond to crisis such as pandemics, allows tailoring crisis communication to the social perceptions of the situation, at different moments. To gather such evidence, we proposed a index of social perceptions of systemic risk (SPSR), as an indicator of a situational threat compromising risks to physical health, psychological health, the economy, social relations, health system, and others. This indicator was the core of a social sensing approach applied to crisis situations, implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic through a content analysis of more than 130.000 public comments from Facebook™ users, in COVID-19 related publications. This content coding allowed creating a SPSR index monitored during a one-year descriptive longitudinal analysis. This index correlated with co-occurring events within the social system, namely epidemiological indicators across measurement cycles (e.g. new deaths; cumulative number of infection cases; Intensive Care Unit hospitalizations) and tended to reflect the epidemiological situation severity (e.g. with the highest level registered during the worst pandemic wave). However, discrepancies also occurred, with high SPSR registered in a low severity situation, i.e. low number of hospitalizations and deaths (e.g. school year beginning), or low SPSR in a high severity situation (e.g. 2nd pandemic wave during Christmas), showing other factors beyond the epidemiological situation contributing to the social perceptions. After each 'crisis period' with SPSR peaking, there was a 'restoration period', consistently decreasing towards average levels of the previous measurement cycle. This can either indicate social resilience (recovery and resources potentiation) or risk attenuation after a high-severity period. This study serves as preliminary proof of concept of a crises social sensing approach, enabling monitoring of social system dynamics for various crisis types, such as health crisis or the climate crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic risks possess a high level of complexity and uncertainty that can be latent behind the veil of initial stress of possible disasters. They refer to, on the one hand, the functionality of interconnected systems and, on the other hand, the probability of indirect losses which can propagate through larger territories. Once considering the solid definition of resilience by the United Nations, the emphasis tends on systems' ability to different facets of disturbance rather than the performance of the sum of each singular entity confronting the main shock. This paper aims to provide a broader perspective and a systematic review focusing on the commons of resilience and systemic risks in the frame of risk mitigation. The outcomes highlight the urgency of multidisciplinary actions, which have not been achieved yet since the 1999s earthquakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), this article highlights the fact that the cataloging procedures, the way records are stored, and the metadata models used during the recording, visualization, and storage of ICH expression elements, vary from country to country. Especially in these days of great uncertainty, war conflicts, and systemic risks that may arise, it is vital to clarify what techniques will be used in the storage of ICH to ensure its unhindered preservation and dissemination over time across the globe. Using the systems thinking approach indicated for cases of great complexity, the process followed in Greece for depositing a new element in its local repository is described to demonstrate the need for a well-defined process by UNESCO, which must be followed worldwide, and which has not been defined so far. What are the potential challenges not only in determining the type of data, but also in choosing the best metadata model to use in each case when capturing these data? What technologies must be used for storing digital cultural heritage in such a way that will preserve it over time, defying physical and technological hazards? This article finally suggests how blockchain technologies (BT) can be effectively used to store the global ICH and ensure its continuity in future generations by creating a decentralized worldwide network between the heritage stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic inequality, in particular vertical inequality in income and wealth within countries,1 has widened considerably with potentially dramatic economic, political and social consequences.2 Reflecting the need for urgent action on inequality, the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10 focuses on the reduction of various forms of inequality within and between countries.3 In that context, a number of recent interventions have sought to highlight how business affects inequality,4 recognizing that businesses have a central function in creating and distributing economic value in society. Significantly, two emerging initiatives, the Task Force on Inequality-Related Financial Disclosure (TIFD)5 and the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality (BCTI) by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development,6 seek to notably identify business impacts on inequality and provide approaches for their alleviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the GameStop frenzy in 2021, this article defines meme investors as a new group of investors in financial markets while demonstrating meme investors' regulatory and social implications. By comparing meme investors with traditional investors under the MiFID II regime, this article finds that meme investors are significantly less wealthy than traditional investors, trade via digital trading platforms, and rely on social media information for investment decision making. This article argues that the emergence of meme investors is an expression of the public's desire for financial inclusion and their frustration with traditional financial institutions. Therefore, properly engaging with meme investors is crucial for rebuilding the public's trust towards regulators. After illustrating meme investors' exposure to default risks, legal uncertainty, and online misinformation, this article calls for regulators to engage with social media meme investors and improve financial literacy among the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrastructure projects often encounter performance challenges, such as cost overruns and safety issues, due to complex risk interactions and systemic risks. Existing literature treats risk interactions and systemic risks separately and relies on models that struggle with nonlinearities, adaptability, and practical applications, leading to suboptimal risk management. To address this gap, this paper uses machine learning (ML) algorithms to analyze historical project data and predict the impacts of risk interactions and systemic risks on future projects. The results show that ML-based models provide accurate and practical data-driven predictions of project performance under risk interactions and systemic risks. These findings are valuable for infrastructure project managers seeking to improve risk mitigation strategies and project outcomes. The paper lays also the foundation for future research on leveraging advanced predictive analytics in managing complex project risks more effectively. • Risk interactions and systemic risks are imperative for efficient risk management. • Existing models are impractical and involve complex simulations. • Data-driven model for risk interactions and systemic risk assessment is introduced. • Practical risk analysis approach to address overlooked risk assessment dimensions. • Intuitive model architecture for risk prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]