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Under what conditions can the state discipline private equity firms into delivering the investment required to meet the coming needs of industrial transformation? States have sought to crowd in private capital to finance industrial development, but the results have so far been less than satisfactory. Prevailing accounts of financial industry power largely characterise an arms-length state-finance relationship that has unfolded in private-led markets where private equity firms have contributed to the secular growth in non-productive economic activity. This article problematises the assumption of private-led markets and argues that state-led markets present a counterfactual in which the disbursement of public money entails strict policy discipline and tight embedding between the state and private equity firms, which provides the conditions for them to emerge as unlikely champions of industrial policy. Two cases of co-investment between Chinese and European sovereign wealth funds demonstrate the power dynamics at play. Where PE firms in the Sino-Irish co-investment facilitated the international scaling of Irish firms in China, the PE firms operating in Europe failed to embed Chinese firms into regional supply chains in the Sino-Belgian co-investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the impact of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) equity ownership on bonds' credit ratings of their target firms. Using a sample of 2045 bonds issued by 324 SWF target firms from 16 countries over the period 1996–2020, we find evidence linking SWF investments to lower likelihood of bond rating upgrades. Consistent with value‐reducing political agenda hypothesis, our results suggest that credit rating agencies perceive SWFs as a structure that could affect the quality of corporate governance and harm bondholder interests by leaving them vulnerable to losses. Our results also show that credit rating could be improved: (i) with SWF transparency and experience; (ii) when SWFs take a more passive investment stance; and (iii) within the financial crisis period. Finally, and interestingly, using generalized structural equation modelling, we provide evidence supporting the mediating role of target firm's corporate governance quality in the relationship between SWF investments and bond ratings. Our findings are robust to controls for the endogeneity and heteroscedasticity issues and to alternative sample compositions and regression frameworks. [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.)

ABSTRACT This article considers the challenge of ensuring that international reparations payments are effective in benefiting the recipient countries of such reparations. To guarantee that these financial flows provide long‐term benefits to the recipient economies, the article recommends the adoption of a developmental state approach to the use of the funds. It also considers in detail the advantages of establishing a Bank of International Reparations that serves as a trustee for the receipt and distribution of reparations, facilitates coordination of the use of reparations across countries to avoid disadvantageous forms of competition, provides investment banking services to support the use of the reparations to fund a domestically focused ‘sovereign wealth fund’, and provides ‘public option’ commercial banking services to recipient country firms in order to foster the growth of recipient country economies. Finally, the article finds that the most effective means of funding the reparations would be to use Special Drawing Rights (or SDRs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on financialisation in the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) over the past three decades. The key economic features of the GCC countries relevant for financialisation are outlined. The dimensions of financialisation are drawn to allow investigation of financial developments in the GCC countries. The evolving structures of financial institutions in GCC countries are indicated and compared with their evolution in other countries. Sovereign wealth funds play an important role in the internationalisation of finance in the GCC, as does Islamic finance. Thus, the GCC countries exemplify a variegated financialisation in which both conventional and Islamic finance have expanded at the national and global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstructive spectrometers, which leverage the compressive sensing technique and computational algorithm, are promising solutions for high‐performance integrated spectrometers. Among the various options for realizing reconstructive spectrometers, stratified waveguide filters (SWFs) have emerged as a particularly attractive choice due to their ultra‐compact size and high performance. However, previous demonstrations of SWFs on silicon substrates have suffered from suboptimal and non‐reproducible spectrometer performance due to the brute‐force random design approach. In this paper, applying a bio‐inspired inverse design algorithm to the system level of multiple correlated SWFs is proposed. The algorithm allows for the precise and optimized design of the SWFs in order for higher spectral resolution of each SWF and lower spectral cross‐correlations between any two SWFs, overcoming the limitations of previous methods. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by implementing a reconstructive spectrometer on a silicon nitride (SiN) platform, which is more thermally stable and can support a wider optical range than silicon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 7 October 2021, a controversial takeover of the English Premier League team Newcastle United Football Club saw an 80% stake acquired by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country's sovereign wealth fund. Public discussion and media coverage of the takeover has revolved almost entirely around the concept of 'sportswashing' – the practice of (usually) undemocratic regimes using sporting investments to 'cleanse' or enhance their reputation and deflect attention away from human rights abuses. This article examines the Newcastle takeover, interrogating the widespread portrayal of it as a clear-cut case of sportswashing, and explores alternative explanations for the purchase, and potentially other sports-related investments. Drawing broadly on scholarship by Bourdieu and scholars of the Arabian Peninsula, it argues that the concept of sportswashing as it is currently used limits discussion of wider, more complex social, political and economic entanglements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing trend of sovereign wealth and pension funds to allocate more toward private investments has made the management of asset allocation more complex. Traditional rebalancing methods, such as fixed-weights rebalancing, encounter problems when applied to private assets, as their illiquidity and lags in appraisal valuations pose challenges. During financial crises, the delayed and smoothed valuations of private assets lead them to be overweight in portfolios as public assets decline in values. Rebalancing the underweight public assets can increase leverage usage and, more importantly, deteriorate the fund's liquidity position. To address these challenges, this article proposes a holistic rebalancing strategy: rebalance a portfolio to the desired factor allocation by complementing the factor exposures of existing private assets with an allocation to public assets that overall delivers the required factor allocation. This approach safeguards the liquidity position of a fund during market downturns by maintaining a stable risk and leverage profile. It presents a dynamic and risk-aware approach for rebalancing portfolios with private assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a framework for attributing motivations to Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) investment by noting that there are two major subdivisions, those that argue that the investments are undertaken due to macroeconomic factors and those that argue there is a political element as well. The political literature is divided into three subcategories of domestic political considerations, geopolitical competition and economic diplomacy. The literature of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) does not include any discussion of economic diplomacy as a consideration, an omission this article seeks to rectify. Using a realist understanding of international political economy (IPE), the article explores the influence of elites, the nature of PIF investments in America, India, China and Russia, and collaboration with other SWFs on investment. The article concludes that economic diplomacy should be considered as one of a multitude of variables that determine how and where the PIF invests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many cities, the entry of financial actors into housing opens new geopolitical relations with overseas entities, including state-backed investors such as sovereign wealth funds. These transformations raise the question of the extent to which real estate enables the urbanisation of state capitalism, understood as the expansion of the state's role as promoter, supervisor, and owner of capital. Our paper answers this question through an analysis of Manchester Life, a residential real estate joint venture between Manchester City Council and the Abu Dhabi United Group, an investment firm linked to the Abu Dhabi royal family. In doing so it explores state capitalism as a form of extended urbanisation, with oil revenues from the Persian Gulf used to extract urban land rents in the Global North. It further highlights urban geopolitical implications, theorising Manchester Life as an organisational fix that reworks the geographies of value extraction while eroding democratic accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the determinants of equity shares purchased by Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs). Based on the literature of cross-border acquisitions and entry mode choice theory, we shed light on the real drivers of these state-owned funds when they buy small or large stakes in cross-border target firms. Using an original dataset of SWF acquisitions over the period 2000–2015, a Two-Part Fractional Regression Model is estimated to account for both the fractional nature of the dependent variable as well as the separation between the decision to invest and that concerning the share of equity invested. We find that the decision to invest and the decision on the share of equity to be acquired are two distinct processes. We also find that SWFs take the investment decision in cross-border target firms by trying to reduce transaction costs and information asymmetry according to the cross-border acquisition theory, and also by taking the legal and institutional environment of the host country into consideration. However, the fact that they do not hesitate to take large shares or to acquire targeted firms that are considered to be strategic and located in politically unstable countries suggests that their motives may go beyond financial consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World" by Brett Christophers explores the concept of an "asset-based society" and the role of asset managers in owning and controlling infrastructure and housing assets. The book focuses on the case study of the Westconnex road interchange in Sydney, Australia, which highlights the negative impacts of privatized infrastructure on residents, particularly those in low-income areas. Christophers argues that the transfer of public infrastructure to private hands limits the ability of the state to adapt to citizens' needs and exacerbates inequalities. The book also examines the distributive consequences of asset-managed infrastructure and the interests of different players in the field of institutional asset investment. [Extracted from the article]

Public innovation is a distinct field that is no longer reliant on private sector research. It is characterized by its publicness, occurring within a formal political context rather than being driven by market pressures. Public innovations involve engaging stakeholders such as managers, employees, politicians, service users, citizens, private companies, and third sector organizations. Public organizations can play various roles in public innovation, including being owners, commissioners, orchestrators, and sense-makers. Assessing the value of public innovation is a challenge, as it aims to create public value rather than just private value. Public value creation is a contested democratic practice, as different stakeholders may have different views on the priorities and evaluation of public innovations. Sharing and spreading successful innovations can reduce risk and create public value across society. Practitioners should learn from the private sector but also recognize the political nature of public innovation. Policy-makers should celebrate the innovativeness of public organizations and consider fostering a variety of innovations in different ways. They should also involve a variety of stakeholders and balance conflicting values and interests in creating public value. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association 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.)

AbstractWhy have Gulf resource-dependent countries transformed the role of their sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) from passive global investors to ubiquitous drivers of economic development? How does this role-change operate amidst fiscal scarcity, confounding macroeconomic expectations of commodity-based SWFs? Beyond a narrow view of funds as apolitical economic actors, this article puts forward the logic of SWFs as tools of regime stability to explain SWF development in Gulf rentier states. This logic advances that SWFs are adaptive strategies through which rentier states respond to evolving external pressure without compromising the fundamental pillars of regime stability underpinning allocative frameworks. Drawing on the Saudi case, the article finds that SWFs create de-risking pathways to mobilize private finance capital through environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and market-based instruments like green bonds. Simultaneously, SWFs allow incumbents to revisit rentier governance by enhancing economic steering capacity while upholding, but restructuring, patronage networks. By shedding light on the political role of SWFs, this article contributes to debates surrounding rentier states and financialization literatures. It highlights how the elasticity of rentierism as financialized forms of state-led economic development does not erode state capacity but rather empowers ruling elites with a new range of tools and resources to upgrade rentier governance in times of economic transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient method for the detection of the stator winding faults (SWFs) of induction motors was dealt based on Park's vector of rotor slot harmonics (RSHs). The induced harmonic voltages of the RSHs in the stator windings are the supreme signatures for fault detection, which can be monitored in the motor currents. Using such a signature, unbalanced supply voltage and stator windings fault situations could be segregated straightforwardly. On the other hand, despite some merits, Park's vector analysis‐based methods suffer from low sensitivity and unreliability in the case of low‐severity faults. To have the advantages of both methods while tackling the shortcomings, Park's vector approach and the RSH signatures are combined in the proposed method. The RSHs are extracted using the fast Fourier transform method and the least squared approach is employed for pattern recognition. Different experimental results under various scenarios, even in the case of low severity faults, confirm that the locus of Park's vector is an elliptical shape in SWFs, while it is shapeless in other cases, such as healthy and unbalanced supply voltage cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores sovereign wealth fund investments by Gulf Cooperation Council member states in China's equity market. Using data from Chinese stock exchanges, we analyze patterns of shareholding over two decades, across different sectors and among distinct funds, and compare them to their non‐Gulf counterparts. We reveal a gradual upward trajectory in both the scale and diversity of investments by Gulf funds, indicating growing engagement with the Chinese equity market. We anticipate a continuation of current trends, albeit with larger volumes and potential expansions into technological and emerging sectors that align with Gulf interests. We project that the deepening financial linkages between China and the Gulf could give rise to a mini petro‐yuan system operating under the dominance of the American dollar. This does not presage a transformation in China‐Gulf relations but should be understood within the increasing complexity of their broader economic ties. The article is part of a special issue examining the responses of Gulf countries to rising Sino‐American competition, edited by Andrea Ghiselli, Anoushiravan Ehteshami, and Enrico Fardella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Anbar University for Law & Political Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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 COVID-19 pandemic and the current food, energy, and safety crisis caused by the war in Ukraine strongly affected the existing gap in Sustainable Development Goals funding. Restoring global sustainability progress and the 2030 Agenda requires reshaping responsible investment architecture and rethinking the role of sovereign wealth funds as the largest investors in this process. The current study explores the ways in which the most transparent sovereign wealth funds act towards sustainability values and incorporate environmental, social, governance, and ethical criteria (ESGE) into their investment strategy, portfolio, and reporting. Also, 16 high-ranked funds by the Sustainability Transparency Index (Cavagnetto et al., 2022) were investigated by using the case study and benchmark analysis. Study results demonstrate the similarity of all funds disclosure within some questionnaire criteria like sustainability policy, scoring (voting) rules for decision-making, ESGE criteria, stakeholder engagements, and assurance of the financial information disclosed. Nevertheless, qualitative differences were identified between the sustainability transparency criteria of A and B-ranked funds. There is also huge variation in the implementation of funds’ ethical criteria, sustainability coherence, relevance of sustainability goals, disclosure of specific climate-related goals, and foundation membership criteria. Policy implications derived from the differences in sovereign funds' benchmarks are aimed at enhancing the sustainability context in funds’ operating frameworks, developing impact measurement metrics, prioritizing the most material stakeholder requests, sustainability verification procedures, and standardizing funds’ sustainability reporting. Specific channels, instruments, and regulatory measures towards greater funds’ sustainability transparency and their involvement in bridging the sustainable development funding gap may be the subject of further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sovereign wealth funds have been one of the important actors of political economy in the last two decades, and their role in the political economy of many societies, especially societies benefiting from rentier incomes from the sale of natural resources, such as the Persian Gulf countries, has been very prominent. Although these funds are considered an economic tool, governments have been able to benefit from their political gifts. This article tries to use the institutional approach to investigate the function of these funds in the framework of domestic political economy for the owner countries and its effects on their internal system. This article raises the question of what is the reason for the importance of foreign exchange reserve funds in the last two decades in the domestic political economy? Relying on the descriptive-analytical-exploratory method and using the data statistics and letters related to the funds, it is on the agenda to examine the hypothesis that foreign exchange reserve funds as an institution for countries have important political benefits despite their economic benefits. The findings of this research from examining the effects of these funds in two political and economic dimensions show that the important and fundamental role of currency reserve funds in creating power and forming a procedure appropriate to the ruling policy can help consolidate the internal power of governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) embody the state's growing insertion in the global financial system. While the bulk of the SWF literature has centred around the dynamics behind their establishment and geopolitical utility, there is very little research on the factors behind SWF exhaustion. Drawing from conventional political and economic explanations, this article finds that SWFs are almost always depleted in highly unstable political environments, while economic crises rarely impact SWFs to the point of exhaustion. The article presents a theoretical foundation for SWF exhaustions by examining political instability in different regime types. In weakly institutionalized regimes, SWFs are more prone to exhaustion as incumbents govern in recurrently uncertain environments and prioritize short-term goals, which are typically incompatible with funds' objectives. Conversely, highly institutionalized regimes enjoy greater stability and certainty, which sustain the long-term nature of SWFs. The argument is substantiated through a comparative analysis contrasting the effects of (in)stability in Venezuela's exhausted FIEM and FONDEN and Azerbaijan's resilient SOFAZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Santiago Principles, a set of “generally accepted principles and practices” (GAPP) adopted by most of the world’s sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), are a product of a very different political and economic moment.1 But as SWF assets under management grow beyond $10 trillion and SWFs play an increasingly visible role in many countries’ political economies, the Santiago Principles are likewise growing in importance as a form of international soft law.2 Sovereign wealth funds contest the distinctions between politics and finance across domestic and international dimensions, and the Santiago Principles serve as a mechanism to manage some of the concerns arising from SWFs’ unique position as public actors in private markets.3 While the Santiago Principles have proven resilient, they have also been static. As the principles reach their fifteenth anniversary, this essay considers the continuing relevance of the Santiago Principles, and whether the principles will (and should) persist in their current form. Acknowledging that any voluntary set of practices are inherently limited in their power as a signal of governance credibility, the Santiago Principles provide a compelling example of how international soft law develops over time.4 And, as sovereign funds continue to grow in number and in wealth, the importance of the principles has never been greater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sovereign development funds (SDFs) and strategic investment funds (SIFs) have become increasingly important investment vehicles for sustainable development. This article explores how the design and governance of these funds align institutional capital with large, long-term investments such as infrastructure, all while yielding high commercial returns for institutional investors. Using the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India as a case study, this article demonstrates how SIFs can crowd-in private capital into strategic assets via collaborative investment models. The study thus offers a blueprint for how large, longterm institutional capital can be channeled into long-term projects that support economic growth and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper compares the benefits of direct international real estate investments in a mixed asset portfolio from the perspective of a passive investor with high and low bond allocation. Design/methodology/approach: Due to high data availability and its professionalism, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund was used as a representative example. Real estate indices from 8 countries were used for the portfolio analysis. The data were desmoothed according to Geltners's 1993 approach. Findings: The optimal real estate ratio in the present case is around 20–55%. However, this is strongly dependent on the bond ratio of the multi-asset portfolio. Portfolios with a high equity ratio benefit more from the additional direct real estate investments than portfolios with high bond ratios. Research limitations/implications: A rebalancing of individual stocks and bonds was not analysed. Only indexes from MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) were available. Practical implications: Concludes that the weighting of stocks and bonds has a strong influence on the optimal real estate ratio and therefore structural changes that affect this weighting. Originality/value: The originality of the paper lies in the analysis with different weights of stocks and bonds, the consideration of 8 real estate markets and the observation period. The results of the work highlight areas of interest for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the academic literature on entrepreneurial finance has expanded exponentially, many gaps in our knowledge remain. This is driven by digitalization impacting the development of new investment types such as crowdfunding and ICO, the emergence of new investors based upon digital technologies, and the functioning of existing investors. Next, the supply of entrepreneurial finance has become more diverse and new types of investors developed, like incubators and accelerators, family funds, impact investors, or sovereign wealth funds. This increases the sources and type of funding new ventures can get access to. Third, investors pay increasingly attention to non-financial goals like providing solutions to environmental or societal challenges. This paper explores these trends and suggests avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents a solution to maximize public investment as a growth driver for commodity-exporting economies. The solution is to compensate for the low efficiency of public investment by drawing on internal and external factors within an active fiscal and monetary policy framework. For this, the paper introduces a quantitative model that implements a golden rule of public finance in a resource boom backed by a sovereign wealth fund under an active monetary policy stance. The modeling results show that mobilizing windfall resource revenues to finance increased public investment can limit a crowding-out effect through proper resource allocation and change the sectoral structure in favor of the final goods sector. As confirmed by the sensitivity analysis, the low efficiency of public investment can be partially offset by a less restrictive monetary policy response to fiscal dominance, but this leads to excessive volatility in financial indicators. However, if the public debt burden is an issue due to a more robust fiscal dominance regime, a higher tax rate on exported raw materials can be used to maintain sustainability. By developing a policy goals domain, the paper initiates a discussion that can direct policy recommendations toward a promising growth path by maximizing the public investment driver in the complex policy environment of fiscal-monetary interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sovereign Wealth Funds SWFs play a crucial role in global financial markets, particularly during periods of crisis. This paper delves into the impact of SWF interventions on inflation rates amidst financial crises. By analyzing historical data of some emerging country how possessed a SWFs, the paper examines how SWFs actions affect inflation dynamics. Additionally, the paper investigates the relationship between SWF interventions and inflation rate. Through empirical analysis, the paper provides insights into the extent to which SWF interventions contribute to inflation volatility and stability during times of crisis. Understanding the interplay between SWFs and inflation is essential for macroeconomic stability in the face of financial turmoil.

This article, titled "Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances Its Global Ambitions," explores how China uses sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) to advance the agenda of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The author argues that China's SWFs, which they prefer to call sovereign leverage funds (SLFs), are unique because they are not commodity-based funds but are based on China's foreign exchange reserves. The article examines the establishment and workings of these funds and provides policy recommendations for managing China's global financial challenges. While the article sheds light on the role of SLFs in China's rise, it also raises questions that require further analysis. [Extracted from the article]

The article is devoted to the evolution of the role of approaches to the construction of “global safety nets”; the elements of global safety nets (of national, regional, global level) are critically analyzed in terms of the possibility of their use in the context of new geopolitical challenges. Based on the established criteria for assessing the effectiveness of elements of global safety nets, it is concluded that the contour coverage of anti-crisis mechanisms of certain groups of the countries is fragmented: as opposed to the countries issuing reserve currencies with virtually unlimited and relatively inexpensive access to network elements, the group of developing countries is much less covered by anti-crisis regulation. A hypothesis is being put forward about the collapse of the unified architecture of global safety nets in the face of new geopolitical challenges, in particular, due to the erosion of the anti-crisis function of international reserves, IMF programs and swap agreements of central banks

Central bank assets held in foreign countries are entitled to immunity from execution under international law. Even as foreign sovereign immunity in general has become less absolute over time, the trend has been toward greater protection for foreign central bank assets. As countries expand their use of central banks, however, recent cases have limited immunity for certain kinds of sovereign wealth funds held by central banks. Sanctions on foreign central bank assets have also become more common, raising issues about the relationship between central bank immunity and the recognition of governments, the relationship between immunity and executive actions, and the denial of central bank immunity as a countermeasure. This symposium Article explores recent developments in central bank immunity focusing on sovereign wealth fund litigation in Sweden, U.S. sanctions on Afghan central bank assets, and the global response to sanctions imposed on Russian central banks following the invasion of Ukraine. Some of these actions and cases do not implicate foreign sovereign immunity. However, proposals to confiscate Russian central bank assets and U.S. litigation to turn Afghan central bank assets over to private plaintiffs, even if presented as countermeasures to secure reparations, would undermine significantly one of the increasingly rare areas of international economic law around which there is a global consensus: the immunity of foreign central banks from measures of execution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of several postulations that sovereign wealth fund’s stabilization fund promotes smoothness in the fiscal performance of nations, there are contrary views that it does not. This study investigates the impact of sovereign wealth fund on fiscal performance using Nigeria and 21 other natural resources rich countries in Africa with data spinning from 2003 to 2018. The study made use of Two-Step System GMM and found that sovereign wealth funds have about 0.8 percent positive insignificant impact on the fiscal performance implying that having a sovereign wealth fund in place improves nation's fiscal performance. Consequently, the study recommends that the governments and the management of the various existing funds in Africa should put in more efforts in improving sovereign wealth fund performance; natural resources rich Africa countries without sovereign wealth fund should consider establishing theirs; and the control of corruption, strengthen of financial institutions, reduction in the cost of oil production and increase in general revenue should be taken seriously as they enhance fiscal performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While welfarist economics (WE) methods rely wholly on individuals' valuations, extra-welfarist (EW) methods seek alternative measures of value. Major reviews of the EW literature conclude that EW studies almost universally replace "utility" with "health" as the maximand. This analysis seeks to understand what conclusions are necessary and sufficient to make EW and WE methods concurrent and discusses implications for measuring social value. Using standard WE methods, I demonstrate that EW is equivalent to WE with 2 key restrictions—individuals have constant returns to health in producing utility and health budgets are fixed. Fixing budgets removes a key WE step, determining the marginal rate of substitution between consumption and health, the willingness to pay for health gains. Because EW methods equate with WE with these 2 restrictions, I show how formal models to construct aggregated social welfare functions (SWFs) in WE frameworks lead directly to SWF models using EW models of value. I also show that, in fixed-budget health systems, when SWFs place different values for improving health of different subpopulations, aggregate health output fails as a SWF criterion. I demonstrate how different societal values can and should enter EW SWF models using WE criteria. I also discuss the implications when either of these key restrictions does not properly represent people's preferences. Once EW methods are shown to be a restricted form of WE methods, those WE methods can illuminate how best to measure SWFs in EW environments. • Extra-welfarist (EW) economics eschews using individuals' own utilities, the only proper value measure in standard welfarist economics (WE). By far the most common practice in EW replaces "utility" with "health" to measure of value. This analysis focuses on that specific definition of EW. Proof is given that EW then coincides with WE when constant return to health and fixed budgets are assumed, which are the necessary and sufficient restrictions to make WE and EW equivalent. • Proper WE social welfare functions (SWFs) are restricted to linear weighted sums of individual utilities, in which the weights come from political or ethical but not economic analyses. In cases which WE and EW are equivalent, these same WE approaches guide the proper construction of EW SWFs. When "health" is the maximand, and every person has equal weight in the SWF, this justifies maximizing total population health within a fixed healthcare system budget. • Proof is given that use of standard incremental cost-effectiveness analysis achieves this goal. However, if different societal members have different SWF function weights, for example, by sex, income, or racial disparities, then maximizing SWFs requires measuring actual amounts interventions used and their marginal productivity on each relevant subgroup. If "health" is not the sole maximand, more-complex methods are required to measure total social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This book review examines "Screening Foreign Direct Investment in the EU: Political Rationale, Legal Limitations, Legislative Options" by Jens Velten. The book analyzes the political, economic, and legal aspects of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the European Union (EU). It is divided into three parts, discussing the background of FDI screening, the doctrinal overview of FDI screening on security or public order grounds, and the flexibility to screen FDI on broader grounds. The review raises questions about concerns regarding FDI from developing countries and challenges assumptions about investors from emerging economies. It also explores the interpretation of "security and public order" in the EU FDI Screening Regulation and discusses potential expansions of FDI screening grounds. The author concludes that FDI screening should be viewed as one tool among many and suggests alternative measures to address concerns related to foreign investment. While the text provides a comprehensive assessment of FDI screening mechanisms, some of its conclusions should be approached with caution. It is a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers interested in FDI screening in the EU. [Extracted from the article]

Norway has a stable economy, a vibrant private sector, the highest living standards in the world, a robust labour market, moderate inflation, and low public debt. Its economy relies much on oil, apparently contradicting the ambitious pro-green policies Norway adopts to face the environmental challenges of this century. Norway administers its huge oil revenues through its Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and invests them in its citizens' welfare. The State is a crucial actor in Norway's dynamic economy, but private companies play a role as well. The country remains a crucial actor within the European sphere and, together with the EU, it shares the European Green Deal's (EGD) ecological standards, which might work as both an inspiration and an opportunity for Norway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Alternative Investments, Volume 26 Number 3 Winter 2024, features an article on sovereign development funds (SDFs) and their investment strategies. SDFs, unlike sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), focus on promoting economic development within a country by financing domestic projects. They have a lower risk tolerance and invest more strategically to achieve socio-economic returns. Another article explores the role of gold in a diversified portfolio, finding that while it reduces downside risk, it also comes at the cost of return. The issue also includes articles on celebrity endorsements in special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), an algorithm for ranking technologies, and the timing skills of crypto hedge funds in the Bitcoin market. The last piece is a book review on the rise of institutional investment in timberland. [Extracted from the article]