Development Economics

The main objective of the working paper series of the IIMA is to help faculty members, research staff and doctoral students to speedily share their research findings with professional colleagues and test their research findings at the pre-publication stage. IIMA is committed to maintain academic freedom. The opinion(s), view(s) and conclusion(s) expressed in the working paper are those of the authors and not that of IIMA.

The main objective of the working paper series of the IIMA is to help faculty members, research staff and doctoral students to speedily share their research findings with professional colleagues and test their research findings at the pre-publication stage. IIMA is committed to maintain academic freedom. The opinion(s), view(s) and conclusion(s) expressed in the working paper are those of the authors and not that of IIMA.

Vanadium redox flow batteries have, in previous studies, shown to have great potential for large-scale energy storage applications. Due to their beneficial characteristics, such as long lifetime, safety and flexible sizing the technology could be used for several different applications. In this study, the economic and technological feasibility of integrating a vanadium redox flow battery with a 100 MW wind farm is assessed. Different applications and operating schedules were tested. Simulating models have been built using conditional statements or linear optimisation and solved in MATLAB. Results suggested that a model which stacked power levelling with frequency regulation had the highest profitability. For this model the payback time was shown to be 10 years and the net present value was around 1.2 M€ for a 5 MW/10 MWh battery. However, the battery had around 820 annual charge/discharge cycles, which could be a limiting factor of the battery's lifetime. A sustainability assessment was carried out which concluded that the battery can be seen as sustainable, given that the battery is manufactured and operated under safe conditions. iv Vanadin redox-flödesbatterier har visat stor potential för storskaliga energilagringsapplikationer i tidigare studier. På grund av deras fördelaktiga egenskaper, såsom lång livstid, säkerhet och skalningsflexibilitet har teknologin många användningsområden. I denna studie utreds den ekonomiska och teknologiska möjligheten att integrera ett vanadium redox-flödesbatteri med en 100 MW vindpark. Olika applikationer och driftsstrategier testades. Simuleringsmodeller har byggts där linjäroptimering eller villkorssatser har tillämpats och dessa har lösts i MATLAB. Den mest ekonomiskt gynnsamma modellen var en modell där kraftbalansering och primär frekvensreglering kombinerades. Denna modell visade en återbetalningstid på 10 år och ett nuvärde på 1.2 M€ för en batteristorlek på 5 MW/10 MWh. Däremot hade batteriet 820 laddning/urladdnings cykler på år, vilket kan vara en begränsade faktorn för batteriets livstid. En hållbarhetsbedömning gjordes där slutsatsen kunde dras att batteriet kan anses hållbart, förutsatt att batteritillverkningen och driften görs under säkra förutsättningar. This M.Sc. thesis has been carried out during the spring of 2018 at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and is the final examination part in the M.Sc. program "Sustainable Energy Engineering". The thesis was commissioned by ÅF -Renewables and Energy Strategy, which have provided support and information throughout the study. The supervision of this thesis was partly funded by the STandUP for Energy project. First, we would like to express special thanks to Janine af Klintberg and Jakob Dotevall, for helping us throughout the project and supporting us when necessary. Thank you for giving us the chance to work together with ÅF. We would also like to thank our supervisor, Anders Malmqvist for providing excellent support and reviews of the report. Lastly, we would like to thank Erik Bergström at Statkraft and Maria Eriksson at Svenska kraftnät. Thanks for your patience with our questions about the power market. Without your help this thesis would not have been possible.

This document aims to analyze the impact on the sustainability of the Central Bank of Uruguay's balance sheet of having defined several simultaneous targets. Potential conflicts between these different targets are studied through a standard model of dynamic analysis of central banks' balance sheets. This situation is first addressed from a theoretical point of view and is afterwards analyzed after a calibration of the Central Bank of Uruguay's information. This study proves that the coexistence of the Central Bank's inflation target and reserve accumulation target results in a systematic deterioration of its balance sheet. The simulations of the balance sheet of the Central Bank of Uruguay show that, even after the 2010 capitalization, to continue the level of accumulation of reserves carried out in recent years, results in a systematic and increasing deterioration of this balance.

Abstract. This document aims to analyze the impact on the sustainability of the Central Bank of Uruguay’s balance sheet of having defined several simultaneous targets. Potential conflicts between these different targets are studied through a standard model of dynamic analysis of central banks’ balance sheets. This situation is first addressed from a theoretical point of view and is afterwards analyzed after a calibration of the Central Bank of Uruguay’s information. This study proves that the coexistence of the Central Bank’s inflation target and reserve accumulation target results in a systematic deterioration of its balance sheet. The simulations of the balance sheet of the Central Bank of Uruguay show that, even after the 2010 capitalization, to continue the level of accumulation of reserves carried out in recent years, results in a systematic and increasing deterioration of this balance.

I am also indebted to the hardworking Faculty of the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) for their immense contributions and inputs made into my work during the various colloquium presentations I have made at USB. I am also grateful to Mrs van Zyl Marietjie, Mrs Saayman Norma and Mrs Ashlene Appollis for the excellent administrative support they provided me during my study at Stellenbosch Business School. My gratitude also goes to the World Bank and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for giving me access to their various databases. My thanks also go to Mr Nigel Bell for accepting to proofread my work. I would like to thank my lovely mother, Madam Grace Yawa Abaye for her sacrifices in seeing me through school. My gratitude also goes to my humble and affable wife, Akofa and children, Fafa and Seme for their fortitude and moral support and to my siblings, Charles, Esenam, Eric, Edinam and Elikplim for their prayers. To my PhD colleagues, particularly, Raph Nordjo, Joseph Nyeadi, Lordina Amoah and the entire 2014 PhD Development Finance cohort at USB, I say thank you for your excellent support. I am also immensely indebted to my friends, Professor John

I am also indebted to the hardworking Faculty of the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) for their immense contributions and inputs made into my work during the various colloquium presentations I have made at USB. I am also grateful to Mrs van Zyl Marietjie, Mrs Saayman Norma and Mrs Ashlene Appollis for the excellent administrative support they provided me during my study at Stellenbosch Business School. My gratitude also goes to the World Bank and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for giving me access to their various databases. My thanks also go to Mr Nigel Bell for accepting to proofread my work. I would like to thank my lovely mother, Madam Grace Yawa Abaye for her sacrifices in seeing me through school. My gratitude also goes to my humble and affable wife, Akofa and children, Fafa and Seme for their fortitude and moral support and to my siblings, Charles, Esenam, Eric, Edinam and Elikplim for their prayers. To my PhD colleagues, particularly, Raph Nordjo, Joseph Nyeadi, Lordina Amoah and the entire 2014 PhD Development Finance cohort at USB, I say thank you for your excellent support. I am also immensely indebted to my friends, Professor John

This article analyses the state of democracy in the world in 2018, and recent developments building on the 2019 release of the V-Dem dataset. First, the trend of autocratization continues and 24 countries are now affected by what is established as a "third wave of autocratization". Second, despite the global challenge of gradual autocratization, democratic regimes prevail in a majority of countries in the world (99 countries, 55%) in 2018. Thus, the state of the world is unmistakably more democratic compared to any point during the last century. At the same time, the number of electoral authoritarian regimes had increased to 55, or 31% of all countries. Third, the autocratization wave is disproportionally affecting democratic countries in Europe and the Americas, but also India's large population. Fourth, freedom of expression and the media, and the rule of law are the areas under attack in most countries undergoing autocratization, but toxic polarization of the public sphere is a threat to democracy spreading across regimes. Finally, we present the first model to predict autocratization ("adverse regime transitions") pointing to the top-10 most at-risk countries in the world.

In the second section we discuss in general terms how the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project differs from extant indices and how the novel approach taken by V-Dem might assist the work of activists, professionals, and scholars. Appendix A addresses the possible uses of V-Dem for program evaluation, Appendix B offers a glossary of key terms used in this document, and Appendix C clarifies search terms used for several analyses in Table . Many attempts have been made to measure democracy. It is somewhat complicated to identify these indices because they do not always refer explicitly to democracy. Nonetheless, we include an index in our survey if it is commonly viewed as representing democracy or some aspect of democracy, and if it features fairly broad country coverage. This includes the BNR index developed by Bernhard, Nordstrom & Reenock (2001); the Bertelsmann Transformation Index ("BTI") directed by the Bertelsmann Stiftung (various years); the Democracy Barometer developed by Wolfgang Merkel & associates (Bühlmann, Merkel, Müller & Weßels 2012); the BMR index developed by Boix, Miller & Rosato (2013), the Contestation and Inclusiveness indices developed by Coppedge, Alvarez, & Maldonado (2008); the Political Rights, Civil Liberty, Nations in Transit, and Countries at the Crossroads indices, all sponsored by Freedom House (freedomhouse.org); the Economist Intelligence Unit (2010) index ("EIU"); the Unified Democracy Scores ("UDS") developed by Pemstein, Meserve & Melton (2010); the Polity2 index from the Polity IV database (Marshall, Gurr & Jaggers 2014); the democracy-dictatorship ("DD") index developed by Adam Przeworski & colleagues (Alvarez, Cheibub, Limongi & Przeworski 1996; Cheibub, Gandhi & Vreeland 2010); the Lexical index of electoral democracy developed by Skaaning, Gerring & Bartusevičius (2015); the Competition and Participation indices developed by Tatu Vanhanen (2000); and the Voice and Accountability index developed as part of the Worldwide Governance Indicators ("WGI") (Kaufmann, Kraay & Mastruzzi 2010). 2 In order to make comparisons in a systematic fashion we summarize key features of 2 Other indices, not included in Table , may be briefly listed: the Political Regime Change [PRC] dataset

In the wake of the Cold War, democracy has gained the status of a mantra. 1 Perhaps no concept is as central to policymakers and scholars. 2 Yet, there is no consensus about how to measure democracy such that meaningful comparisons can be made through time and across countries. Skeptics wonder if such comparisons are possible at all. While this conclusion may seem compelling, one must also consider the costs of not comparing in a systematic fashion. Without some way of analyzing the level of democracy through time ...

West African countries have long advocated efforts to promote economic integration and income convergence. In recent trends, Nigeria records the highest GDP in nominal value, yet its neighbouring countries are yet to catch up in terms of both GDP growth rate and GDP per capita growth rate. The general objective of this paper is to examine the convergence of Western African countries to catch up with Nigeria in terms of real per capita income. For the estimation, the paper employs fractional unit root approach to model simultaneously smooth breaks by means of flexible Fourier function in time. The approach adopted is novel, where it is still lacking in the application of economic convergence across countries. The findings show that, while some West African countries do converge among themselves, only Ghana is likely to catch up with Nigeria. As a policy implication, the West-African countries would increase further education level and technology transfers to promote income convergence at different stages of economic development.

L'etude du fonctionnement des systemes d'approvisionnement alimentaire urbain, c'est-a-dire les processus d'acheminement des produits jusqu'a la ville, leur distribution et leur transformation, est un premier pas dans la construction d'une representation de la complexite de l'organisation alimentaire urbaine. L'adaptation de l'organisation alimentaire aux contraintes telles que la baisse et l'instabilite du pouvoir d'achat, la periode de soudure des produits agricoles et la devaluation du FCFA, montre les capacites d'evolution de ce systeme.

A model of informal caregiving is presented in which decisions are made by extended households including parents and children. An extended household possibly has both a demand and a supply of elder caregiving by children-in-law. A patrilocal version of the model, inspired from traditional Chinese marriage institutions adopted by a number of countries in the Far East, leads to derived demands for caregiving by daughters-in-law and supplies of caregiving by families of daughters. Market equilibrium prices for caregiving by children-in-law are established. These prices then provide incentives to which individual households respond. Payments can be made during, before, or after marriage. The model can throw light on gender differences in marital happiness, differences in the impact of eldercare on the health of in-family caregivers and on their happiness, and East/West and regional differences in caregiving obligations of family members. It also suggests that these geographic differentials may be related to variation in family institutions, including variation in the prevalence of dowry and brideprice. The policy relevance of the model is discussed. Population ageing implies greater demand for health services, including informal eldercare. In all countries, even the richest ones, some informal eldercare is supplied by relatives. For instance, substantial proportions of older households in Japan, the United States and Europe have been

Cross-border trade (CBT) has existed for centuries and plays an important economic, political, and social role for pastoralists, and it serves as a source of employment for most population in most African countries. The CBT has strong historical ties between Ethiopia and its neighboring countries that offer significant opportunities for economic development. The CBT contains formal CBT and informal cross-border trade (ICBT). The ICBT's contribution is estimated at 43% of the official GDP, over half of the population employment, and providing income to 43% of Africans in border areas. The formal livestock and its product export accounted for few percent of the total export compared with other agricultural output: coffee, Chat, oil crops, and pules in 2021/22, however ICBT for livestock takes place that not included in the national account, and different studies have been done on livestock ICBT so far, but most of them are not comprehensive, concentrate on specific border regions, and have limited outlook research. The purpose of the study was to examine the state and prospects of Ethiopia's livestock ICBT. The study made a literature review, used data from National Bank of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Custom Commission, and Eastern African Quarterly Bulletin, and made FGDs, KIIs. The Naive, Linear Trend, and Simple Moving Average methods are used for quantitative analysis. The best model selected using MAD, MSE, and MAPE smallest error values. The study found formal live animal export showed a decreasing trend, while ICBT took place in border areas. The ECC seized 28,410 livestock and 455 donkeys attempted to smuggle to neighboring countries; Somalia was the highest expected livestock destination. The seized livestock decreased due to traders' different strategies led to cross more animals. Ethiopia's informal livestock exports accounted for 86% of the East African regions to Middle Eastern countries through Somalia; therefore, the ICBT is heavily concentrated during the annual Ramadan and Hajj seasons; therefore, ICBT integrated with Somalia ICBT and formal Saudi Arabia markets. If the Government does not take any action, the formal live animal export will never increase until 2026/27, and held livestock will reduce in ICBT for the coming five years. The ICBT for livestock to Somalia will continue and follow seasonal variations for Ramadan and Haj festivities. Therefore, policymakers should formalize ICBT by easing the formal marketing system, establishing alternative markets and facilities, revising policies, automating border trade systems, community sensitization campaigns, etc. may be the solution.

Interventions that improve childhood health directly improve the quality of life and, in addition, have multiplier effects, producing sustained population and economic gains in poor countries. We suggest how contemporary global institutions shaping the development, pricing and distribution of vaccines and drugs may be modified to deliver large improvements in health. To support a justice argument for such modification, we show how the current global economic order may contribute to perpetuating poverty and poor health in less-developed countries.

The international remittance is one of the important sources of foreign exchange earning in the country. Recently, Pakistan received over $4 billion as foreign remittances in 2006. The flows of funds through foreign remittances serve as a cushion balance of payment and foreign reserves. The paper investigated the determinants of international workers' remittances in Pakistan. The time series data was used to identify determinants of the international remittances in Pakistan. The stationary properties of each time series were investigated and each were found to be integrated of order one. Therefore, Cointegration and vector error correction models were used to establish the long run and short run relationship among the included variables in the research. The real remittances in Pakistan were found positively related with real GDP, real growth rate and unemployment rate and were negatively related with real wage rate, literacy rate and spread rate of banks in Pakistan. Based on re...

Objectives: There is no single “correct” definition of poverty. However, there is consensus that any definition of poverty needs to acknowledge particular social, economic and cultural contexts. Different meanings of poverty results in different policy implementations in the context of human poverty. There is also less agreement as to whether objective or subjective definitions and measurements of poverty are more valid. Participatory approaches however point to the need to let people define for themselves what it means to be poor and define the magnitude, causes and consequences of being poor. The major focus of this paper was to clarify, explain and define the

This paper discusses the progress in transition to a knowledge-based economy in Saudi Arabia. As for the methodology, this paper uses updated secondary data obtained from different sources. It uses both descriptive and comparative approaches and uses the OECD definition of knowledge-based economy and the World Bank Knowledge Index KI and Knowledge Economy Index KEI and other indicators often used in the international literature to examine progress in transition to a knowledge-based economy in Saudi Arabia. This paper is valuable because it adds to the existing studies in the regional and international literature and it fills the gap in Saudi Arabia literature by presenting a more comprehensive analysis and investigating recent progress in transition to knowledge-based economy in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the results confirm the importance of supporting the efforts aimed at enhancing knowledge- based economy in Saudi Arabia. Our findings imply that over the period 2000-2012 Saudi Arabi...

This paper employs both the descriptive and comparative approaches and uses the definition of systems of innovation used in the literature to discuss the systems of innovation in the Arab region. We explain that the two common characteristics of poor Arab regional systems of innovation is apparent from both the poor subsystems of education, S&T and R&D and ICT institutions

In this paper we provide a new contribution and fill the gap in the Sudanese literature by investigating the importance (impact) of tacit and codified sources of knowledge at the micro and macro levels in Sudan using new primary data from the firm survey (2010 ...

Regional economic development has the primary objective to increase the number and types of job opportunities for local communities. To achieve this goal, local governments and communities must take the initiative of local development. Gross Regional Domestic Product (GDP) from year to year is one indicator of the success of regional development, in which the role of each economic sector is crucial. The size of the revenue contribution of each economic sector is the result of planning and sectoral development undertaken in the area. Barito Kuala District contributed by 9 (nine) sectors of the economy namely agriculture, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water supply, building, trade, hotels and restaurants, transport and communications, finance, leasing and business services, and services. To know the economic sectors with the potential to be developed as supporting economic growth in Barito Kuala District researcher tried to do research with the title Analys...

O Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), desde sua criação em 1988, tem um histórico de recursos insuficientes que permitam efetivamente garantir a universalidade e a integralidade do cuidado. Seu subfinanciamento, derivado da ausência de apoio de parte da sociedade e de políticas neoliberais assumidas por diversos governos nos anos 1990 e 2000, transformou--se em um efetivo desfinanciamento a partir da aprovação do "teto de gastos", em 2016, agravando as dificuldades estruturais do sistema. A pandemia de Covid-19 gerou uma necessidade preeminente de ampliação da capacidade de atendimento do sistema público de saúde e, com isso, os recursos para o SUS foram ampliados. Essa maior disponibilidade financeira, porém, foi fruto de medidas extraordinárias e ficou restrita aos anos de 2020 e 2021. O orçamento ordinário destinado à saúde nesses anos e a LOA de 2022 explicitam que o desfinanciamento se mantém e que a pandemia não gerou priorização da saúde da população brasileira no interior do orçamento federal. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Pandemia de Covid-19; subfinanciamento; desfinanciamento do SUS; Brasil.

Bu makalede öncelikle azgelişmişlik kavramı üzerinde durulmuş bu konuda en önde gelen yerli ve yabancı kaynaklar belirlenmiştir. Ardından da bu kaynaklarda yer alan çalışmalar incelenmiş ve özellikle daha güncel tarihli çalışmalarda ele alınan ana ve alt konular üzerinde durulmuştur. Ayrıca azgelişmişlik düzeyini ölçen kriterler ayrıntılı olarak incelenmiştir. Özellikle; Dünya ekonomisine entegrasyon kriterleri, endüstrileşme kriterleri, sosyo-ekonomik kriterler, jeo-politik kriterler başlıklarında detaylı bilgiler verilmiştir. Literatürde ekonomik gerikalmışlık kriterlerini inceleyen çok çeşitli makaleler vardır. Bu makaleler genelde geri kalmışlık yaklaşımlarını genel değerlendirme perspektifinden aktarmaktadırlar. Bu makalede ise ekonomik geri kalmışlık kavramı ekonomik kalkınma iktisadı açısından incelenmiş ve ekonomik dengesizlikler ve kriterleri detaylı bir şekilde verilmiştir.

Depósi to Legal Derechos reservados confonne a la ley . Se prohibe la reproducción por cualquier medi o sin el consentimiento de los titulares de Jos derechos de las obras. Este libro se terminó de impri mir en el mes de diciembre en los tal leres de Amacalli Editores, S.A. de C.V .

Over the last several decades, Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) have emerged as a widely accepted method for the presentation of macroeconomic data and an analytical technique for impact analyses at national, regional and village levels. Although there is a large body of literature concerning the construction and application of SAMs, there are only a few impact evaluations with regional and village SAMs. This is particularly evident when focusing on the impact of regional investment projects in developing countries. In this paper, we have attempted to demonstrate how a regional SAM can successfully be applied to evaluate the impact of an irrigation project in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. This example clearly demonstrates the possibility of using regional and village level SAMs in evaluating post-war development projects, such as infrastructure and irrigation projects, in Sri Lanka.

Four MA dissertations and 222 BA research essays are listed alphabetically, and indexed by reference number under three subject categories-geographical area (by district, etc.), ethnic group, and a general subject index of 42 headings. All but 31 of the 226 alphabetical entries contain research solely on Botswana: the other countries being South Africa (12 entries), Zimbabwe (11), Namibia (6), Angola and Zambia (1 each). The most researched district of Botswana is Central (54 entries), followed by Kgatleng and Kweneng (25 each), North-East (24), South-East (16), Southern (9), Ngamiland (6), Chobe and Ghanzi (3 each), and Kgalagadi (2). The subject index of 29 ethnic groups ranges from Afrikaners (2 entries) and Amandebele (2) through Babirwa (7), Bakalanga (24), Bakgatla (27), Bakhalagari (4), Bakwena (21), Bangwato (19), Basarwa (5), and Batlharo (1), to Indians (3) and Ovambanderu (2). The general subject index ranges from Administration (29 entries), Agriculture (18), and Archaeo...

Public participation in government programmes has gained prominence, the world over as it enhances democratization good governance and quality of governments. Involving the public in government activities is associated with improved efficiency, accountability, inclusiveness and quality public service provisioning. Different countries design varying types and forms of participatory governance structures with varying impacts on public management. Uganda is among the countries that for long embraced elaborate and universal participatory governance frameworks at both central and local government’s programmes.The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the participatory governance framework, so far as 1997 and its contribution to quality of local governments in Uganda. The empirical objectives were to evaluate participatory planning, budgeting and capacity of local councilors in managing local government policies.The study was based on a cross-sectional designed carried out in six...

Este material fue elaborado para ser insumo de un libro de Magdalena García Hernández realizado entre 2020 y 2021 pero publicado hasta 2023, pues se atravesó la pandemia que afectó realidades, calendarios y actividades 1 Preámbulo Este material, elaborado en 2021 como parte del proceso de desarrollo de un libro, requiere una actualización estadística, la cual es factible de realizar. No obstante, he optado por publicarlo provisionalmente como documento de trabajo, ya que desde su redacción inicial comencé a construir una narrativa sobre el tema que, a la luz de los acontecimientos actuales-particularmente el regreso de Donald Trump a la presidencia de Estados Unidos-, considero relevante retomar y seguir analizando. 1 Material complementario a la publicación de M. García Hernández, (2023) "Conceptos y criterios para una macroeconomía feminista",

The sustainability of family farms, or Family Production Units (FPUs), cultivating native maize varieties in Chiapas, Mexico, is intricately linked to economic, socio-productive, environmental, and cultural factors. Given their significance within the regional socio-productive framework, the objective of this study was to assess sustainability across environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The methodology employed for sustainability analysis was the Framework for Evaluation of Natural Resource Management Systems (MESMIS). Thirty FPUs were purposively selected from 14 communities spanning four municipalities and were typologically classified into three groups: Traditional, Maize Growers-Livestockers, and Diversified. In-depth interviews were conducted with individual farmers, complemented by group interviews involving entire families. The collected data underwent processing through multiple correspondence statistical analysis, analysis of variance for linear models, and multiple comparisons of means. The results indicated that the Diversified FPU group exhibited higher sustainability, covering 68% of the sustainability perimeter. Consequently, this group demonstrated better conditions for preserving native maize varieties over time and developing strategies to meet their needs concurrently. The Traditional FPU group covered 58%, while the Maize Growers-Livestockers group covered 52% of the sustainability perimeter. In conclusion, it was observed that family reproduction strategies, grounded in resource utilization (capitals), shape forms of nature appropriation that are continually reconfigured. These configurations play a pivotal role in defining the sustainability of FPUs engaged in native maize cultivation in the Frailesca region.

The 2008 financial collapse was felt around the world, and in Brazil, the measures adopted to mitigate its effects focused on state incentives in various sectors of the economy, particularly in the construction of Social Interest Housing (HIS). This article analyzes the production of housing space in the city of Sobral, located in the State of Ceará, and its connections with the social totality, that is, critical valorization. The investigation was based on bibliographical research, interviews and mapping. The results reveal that the crisis activated mechanisms already used by capital to face its challenges, but, with regard to new living spaces, it exacerbated the urban problem.

The Global Economic Crisis and 2008 financial crisis, is considered by many economists the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s , The financial crisis, brewing for a while, really started to show its effects in the middle of 2007 and into 2008. It is a situation where macro indicator like economic growth rate fall in most countries across the world. “Although economists largely failed to predict this global economic seismic shock, they have since made up for their oversight by generating a large and growing literature explaining the crisis.” In this discussion paper explores what happened and what issues arise from the Global Financial Crisis on the global economy and the Algerian economic in particular.

The core and central objective of this paper is to present the concept of sociocultural advantage as an important and a foundational pillar of anthropological economics, and as an complementary concept to the concept of absolute and comparative cost advantage that already exist in traditional or what we may call legacy economics. The concept of sociocultural advantage may also be productively and effectively be used in economic planning along with the concepts of cultural and anthropological equilibrium which are two other important concepts that we introduce here. We begin this paper by overviewing our previously published work on anthropological economics and reviewing the twin theories of absolute and comparative cost advantage. Our previous concepts such as human, social, cultural and economic capital are also reviewed along with the concepts of sociocultural and socioeconomic groups besides creative intellectual and entrepreneurial classes. The concepts of sociocultural advantage are also assessed along with cultural remediation patterns, strategies and outcomes. This is done with recourse to a study of important social and cultural movements all across the world. The concepts of economic enculturation and economic mind-orientation are also discussed along with the concepts of cultural and economic competitiveness. We hope, expect and believe that this paper will become an important paper in the virgin and nascent field of anthropological economics and improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people all over the world.

The history of technology is marked by moments when two forces converge and reshape the world. Today, we stand at one of those inflection points: artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology are not merely approaching each other… they are destined to merge. This document is not a technical thesis nor a traditional academic essay. It is a vision. A conviction. A manifesto on why the convergence of AI and blockchain represents the new foundation for the decentralized financial systems of the future.

This article investigates the perceived relevance of governance as an explanatory variable for economic growth in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It examines a theoretical model that incorporates, as key independent variables, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the quality of governance, while also integrating a set of control variables commonly employed in the economic literature. These include human capital stock (approximated by school enrollment rates), gross fixed capital formation as a percentage of GDP, the degree of economic openness, and the inflation rate. The theoretical framework is compared with empirical findings derived from interviews with key stakeholders, leading to a series of recommendations aimed at enhancing the country’s economic growth trajectory. Both approaches of analysis confirm that governance is not relevant in the DRC growth model. In addition, the analysis of qualitative data suggests a long way to go in order to improve financial governance in DRC.
Key words: Economic growth, financial governance, reform implementation, and econometric model.

There is an urgent need for collective action to improve key aspects of our global health that can be realized only by addressing the global systemic and structural health inequities that impose significant social, economic, and inter-generational costs. Health disparities have continued to increase within and across countries, regions, and continents, despite gains in some localities. COVID-19 has amplified health inequities that disproportionately impact poor and vulnerable groups around the world. The global scramble to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for a global reaffirmation of health as being integral to the social, economic, and environmental resilience of our planet. Equitable approaches to COVID-19 and future shocks require global collective action on Global Public Goods for health.

One of the practical instruments for matching the macro policy documents as regional/municipal plans and strategies to the business needs of the local SMEs is the regional/community investment profile. In practical terms and in different types such profiles were developed or are in stage of finalisation in few Bulgarian border municipalities at the Bulgarian -Romania border and the Bulgarian -Serbia areas. The combinations between the success of the investment profiles themselves and the subsidies for the investments and the utilization of certain infrastructure among the SMEs will throw additional light on the approaches in which the national and the regional strategies will be translated at the micro-economic level.

One of the practical instruments for matching the macro policy documents as regional/municipal plans and strategies to the business needs of the local SMEs is the regional/community investment profile. In practical terms and in different types such profiles were developed or are in stage of finalisation in few Bulgarian border municipalities at the Bulgarian -Romania border and the Bulgarian - Serbia areas. The combinations between the success of the investment profiles themselves and the subsidies for the investments and the utilization of certain infrastructure among the SMEs will throw additional light on the approaches in which the national and the regional strategies will be translated at the micro-economic level. 1 areas. If with the bigger enterprises and infrastructure projects separate instruments were elaborated, with the SMEs one of the economy scale and marketing effective platforms proved to be exactly the municipal investments profiles. The profiles were in full versio...

Muslim jurists historically recognised the validity of such ideas, and in fact endorsed such political practices, as respecting international treaties and arbitration, and the rights of people to seek justice through those means. Jurists wrote about and explained specific rulings and edicts, both in what is often referred to as classical times and in contemporary works. We shall see that this is a principle and practice that not only had merit, but is arguably mandatory today in order to redress wrongs and seek such necessities as stopping war crimes and genocides, or at least curtailing them as much as possible

Cybernetics is a science characterized by the utopian search for new relationships between different areas of knowledge. After the Second World War, the best-known references in Western academia were Norbert Wiener's approaches to this new discipline. However, there is another little-known hemisphere of this development that remains understudied and we claim is key for its history which refers to the pioneering work of scientists, engineers and cultural practitioners in Latin America, as well as the materialization of specific experiences that lead us to reflect on the role that some regional milestones could have had in the global context. This volume of AI & Society covers points of view that were structured in the various most emblematic stages of these trajectories with the participation of agents that went beyond the assimilation and interpretation of external models, transforming themselves into fundamental and pioneering experiences, among others, the work of Mexican scientist Arturo Rosenblueth, or the impact of the concept of Autopoiesis. Through this article we introduce the outcome of the research-presented in great length in the contributions of this volume-on some of the main stages and trends that constituted the evolution of cybernetics in Latin America. The particular contributions of the authors in this issue have helped to reconstituting these contexts while developing a continuous horizon which also explores future practices. Andrés Burbano and Everardo Reyes tell that us the concept of cybernetics emerged in a conversation between Arturo Rosenbleuth, Norbert Wiener and others, at Café de Tacuba, in Mexico City, while they were eating tamales (Burbano and Reyes, in this issue) in the late 1940s, before the term became popularized by Wiener's Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (Wiener 1948). However, this term had already been used in France a century earlier by a physicist and founder of electrodynamics, André-Marie Ampère, who defined cybernétique as "the science of the government of men" (Ampère 1843). Even before that, Plato had used the term κυβερνητική (from the Greek kubernêtikê, from kubernân, to govern) to refer to the piloting of a ship. In The Republic, Plato used the term to refer to the steersman who directs sailors on a ship (Plato 2007). Plato regarded hé kubernêtikê (steersmanship) as an art or techné (Plato 2007). From a philosophical point of view, Hegel later introduced a distinction that may be more closely related to the modern concept of cybernetics. Hegel's distinction can be explained on a dialectical way, namely process whereby information is sent back and forth recursively between two entities to command several properties characterizing those entities or, in Hegel's words, a sich (in itself), für sich (for itself) and an und fürsich (in and for itself). As Maybee (2020) holds in his introduction to To Ricardo Uribe Berenguer in memoriam.

Abstract:  The integrity and impact of scientific research are increasingly threatened by a complex array of risks, including cyberattacks, espionage, insider threats, and misinformation. This paper presents a comprehensive approach to research security, emphasizing the protection of intellectual property, sensitive data, and researchers within the global research ecosystem. Through an interdisciplinary analysis, the study explores the critical roles of researchers in safeguarding their work, the diverse threats they face—cyber, physical, geopolitical, and informational—and the strategies required to mitigate these risks. Institutional measures, such as secure data storage and access controls, are integrated with technological solutions like quantum encryption and AI-driven threat detection, alongside policy frameworks that balance open science with security needs. Case studies, including the University of Manchester’s ransomware recovery and LSU Health Shreveport’s AI-screening program, illustrate real-world applications and challenges, such as resource constraints and resistance to change. Future directions highlight emerging technologies, global cooperation, and adaptive training to address evolving threats. The paper concludes with a call to action for researchers, institutions, and policymakers to prioritize security, envisioning a secure and thriving research ecosystem that upholds innovation and public trust. By synthesizing empirical insights and policy analysis, this study provides a roadmap for safeguarding research in an interconnected and dynamic threat landscape.

Perekonomian rakyat merupakan unsur penting dalam pembangunan ekonomi, dimana dengan menggiatkan sektor riil dapat menjadi tiang penyangga ekonomi agar semakin baik. Selain itu pemberdayaan sektor riil mempunyai posisi strategis dalam pengembangan ekonomi kelas bawah yang sangat membutuhkan bantuan pinjaman modal untuk menggembangkan usahanya, dengan pembiayaan yang diberikan oleh suatu lembaga keuangan, laju ekonomi suatu masyarakat lebih produktif. Ekonomi Islam sebagai suatu alternatif bagi umat muslim untuk bertransaksi secara halal dan menghindari dari sistem riba dan gharar yang telah menjadi hambatan psikologis bagi umat Islam. BMT sangat bersentuhan langsung dengan perekonomian masyarakat, dimana BMT dan sektor riil dapat menimalkan kegiatan spekulasi dalam usaha dan dan memaksimalkan kemampuan masyarakat dalam bidang produksi dengan pembiayaan-pembiayaan yang dilakukan sesuai dengan produk-produk yang berlaku pada tiap-tiap BMT yang ada. Perekonomian rakyat, selalu menjadi persoalan penting di Indonesia, persoalan ini sejak, Indonesia dilanda krisis ekonomi yang berkepanjangan, yang hingga kini belum ditemukan titik terangnya. Oleh karena itu, persoalan yang selalu muncul adalah bagaimana cara menyelesaikan krisis yang tak kunjung selesai ini. Salah satu jawabannya adalah menggiatkan sektor riil masyarakat, perekonomian rakyat merupakan sistem perekonomian yang sifatnya liat atau kenyal, tahan banting dan tangguh terhadap benturan kriris, akan tetapi, kehadirannya tidak pernah mendapatkan perhatian secara sungguh-sungguh. Dengan sifat ekonomi kerakyatan tersebut, apabila diperhatikan sungguh-sungguh, maka dapat menjadi soko guru atau tiang penyanggah ekonomi Indonesia yang semakin baik. Lembaga apakah yang dapat mengakses mekanisme perekonomian rakyat tersebut, dengan demikian, jika hal ini dilakukan, maka perlu lembaga yang dapat mengakomodasi antara pihak yang membutuhkan dana dengan pihak yang memiliki dana. Dana atau modal inilah yang digunakan untuk menggiatkan sektor riil atau ekonomi rakyat. Dalam kondisi yang demikian inilah BMT sebagai lembaga keuangan mikro berbasis syari'ah muncul dan mencoba menawarkan solusi bagi masyarakat kelas bawah. BMT merupakan kependekan dari Baitul Maal wa baitul tanwil , secara harfiah/lughowi Baitul Maal berarti rumah dana dan baitul tamwil berarti rumah usaha. Kedua pengertian tersebut memiliki makna yang berbeda dan dampak yang berbeda pula. Baitul Maal dengan segala konsekuensinya merupakan lembaga sosial yang berdampak pada tidak adanya profit atau keuntungan duniawi atau material di dalamnya, sedangkan baitul tamwil merupakan lembaga bisnis yang karenanya harus dapat berjalan sesuai prinsip bisnis yakni efektif dan efisien. 1 Secara kelembagaan BMT didampingi atau didukung Pusat Inkubasi Bisnis Usaha Kecil (PINBUK). PINBUK sebagai lembaga primer karena mengemban bisnis yang lebih luas, yakni menetaskan usaha kecil. Dalam prakteknya, PINBUK menetaskan usaha kecil, dan pada gilirannya BMT menetaskan usaha kecil. BMT dapat didirikan dengan badan hukum kelompok Swadaya Masyarakat (KSM) atau Koperasi Simpan Pinjam (KSP). Administrasi dan mekanisme kerja BMT sama dengan BPR Syariah dengan ruang lingkup dan produk yang dihasilkan berbeda. 2 BMT sendiri merupakan salah-satu model lembaga keuangan syariah yang bisa dibilang paling sederhana, realitas di lapangan, dalam beberapa tahun terakhir BMT mengalami perkembangan yang sangat pesat. Perkembangan BMT yang pesat ini terjadi karena tingginya kebutuhan masyarakat akan jasa intermedasi keuangan, namun di sisi lain akses kedunia perbankan yang lebih formal relatif sulit dilakukan. Di dalam operasionalnya, BMT sangat bersentuhan langsung dengan perekonomian masyarakat. Kegiatan yang dilakukan seperti yang telah dijelaskan di atas, adalah gambaran dari kedekatan BMT dengan sektor riil yang meminimalkan kegiatan spekulasi dan memaksimalkan kemampuan masyarakat dalam bidang