Different Levels Of Economic Development Research Articles

How does improving agricultural mechanization affect the green development of agriculture? Evidence from China

Over the past two decades, China has actively pursued a green, low-carbon economy in response to climate change. Amidst rapid economic development, China's green total factor productivity—a key metric reflecting the nation's green development—has notably risen. As a developing country with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, agriculture plays a key role in China. China has persistently strived to comprehensively promote the scale and scope of agricultural mechanization, recognizing it as a crucial gauge to enhance agricultural productivity, thereby facilitating agricultural modernization and ensuring food security. However, can elevating the agricultural mechanization level improve China’s green development within the agricultural sector? Specifically, how does agricultural mechanization () affect agricultural green total factor productivity ()? To address these questions, we assess the effects of agricultural mechanization on agricultural green total factor productivity and examine its channels using panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning from 2000 to 2021. Additionally, we investigate the heterogeneous effects under different levels of economic development, agricultural economic development, environmental regulation intensity, and agricultural technology. The results indicate that: First, the development of agricultural mechanization promotes the agricultural green total factor productivity. Second, channel analysis indicates that agricultural mechanization can bolster agricultural green total factor productivity through three channels: enhancing agricultural management level, improving agricultural factor efficiency, and fostering diversification of agricultural industrial structure. Third, heterogeneous analysis suggests that agricultural mechanization exerts a more pronounced impact on agricultural green total factor productivity in provinces characterized by lower levels of economic development, reduced agricultural economic development, higher environmental regulation intensity, and enhanced agricultural technology. This article is anticipated to furnish empirical evidence from China for developing nations seeking to foster agricultural green sustainable development through the widespread adoption of agricultural mechanization, thereby contributing significantly to global efforts to mitigate climate change.

Comparative analysis of accounting information quality amongst French, Brazilian and Latin American companies

Purpose: This work aimed to compare the Accounting Information Quality (AIQ) of publicly traded companies in markets with different levels of economic development, represented by France, Brazil and other Latin American countries (these together). Methodology: The methodological approach was quantitative, using descriptive and exploratory statistics, and regression with unbalanced panel data. The data used encompassed the following periods: between 1987 and 2017, for the French market; between 1995 and 2017, for the Brazilian market; and between 1989 and 2015, for the Latin American market. Results: The results pointed to structural differences in AIQ in financial statements between the markets analyzed, indicating that the more developed market has better AIQ. Contributions of the Study: As a practical contribution, this research can support investor decisions, while the academic knowledge generated reveals that markets in different economic contexts have different levels of AIQ.

Task-shifting and the recruitment and retention of eye care workers in under-served areas: a qualitative study of optometrists' motivation in Ghana and Scotland.

To assist policy-makers in improving access to eye care in under-served areas by analysing the relationship between motivational factors affecting the uptake of task-shifting in eye care and the recruitment and retention of optometrists in remote and rural areas. The World Health Organization recommends two key strategies in tackling preventable blindness in under-served areas: improving human resources for health and task-shifting. The relationship between task-shifting and recruitment and retention of eye care workers in under-served areas is unknown. Ghana and Scotland are two countries from different levels of economic development that have notably expanded the roles of optometrists and struggle with rural recruitment and retention. Motivation was explored through semi-structured interviews with 19 optometrists in Ghana and Scotland with experience in remote and rural practice. Framework analysis was used to analyse interviews, explore the relationship between task-shifting and recruitment and retention and create recommendations for policy. The main motivational considerations included altruism, quality of life, learning and career opportunities, fulfilling potential, remuneration, stress of decision-making and collaboration. Motivational and demotivational factors for task-shifting and recruitment/retention shared many similar aspects. Recruitment and retention in remote and rural areas require staff be incentivised to take up those positions, motivated to remain and given the adequate resources for personal and professional fulfilment. Task-shifting also requires incentivisation, motivation to continue and the resources to be productive. Many motivational factors influencing recruitment/retention and task-shifting are similar suggesting these two strategies can be compatible and complementary in improving access to eye care, although some factors are culture and context specific. Understanding optometrists' motivation can help policy-makers improve rural recruitment and retention and plan services.

Does Environmental Regulation Affect Circular Economy Performance? Evidence from China

Environmental regulation is an important means to solve the environmental pollution challenges faced by economic development. Under the predicament of economic growth facing enormous environmental challenges, this paper aims to explore whether environmental regulation has a promoting effect on the circular economy performance, construct the mechanism through which environmental regulation impacts circular economy performance, as well as test regional heterogeneity on the impact of environmental regulation on circular economy performance under different levels of economic development. Exploring these factors is of great significance for meeting people’s demand for better living environments and promoting green and sustainable economic development. This paper takes interprovincial panel data of China from 2011 to 2022 as the sample and adopts structural equation modeling to explore the influence mechanism of environmental regulation on circular economy performance by constructing a measurement system of environmental regulation and circular economy performance. The results indicate the following: environmental regulation has a significant role in promoting circular economy performance, and there is a partial mediating effect of industrial structure upgrading within it; heterogeneity analysis shows that the promoting effect of environmental regulation on circular economy performance varies according to the different levels of regional economic development. Therefore, environmental regulation policies should be moderately adjusted to promote balanced economic and environmental development; environmental regulation policies should be enriched to promote industrial structure transformation and upgrading; regional synergistic governance should be improved to facilitate the promotion of the circular economy.

The effects of digital economy development on social insurance funds revenue: Evidence from China.

China has experienced rapid development in the digital economy. Using data from 30 provinces in China between 2011 and 2017, this paper constructs a two-way fixed effects model to study the effects and mechanisms of the digital economy development on social insurance funds revenue. An increase of one unit in digital economy development led to a 0.56% increase in basic endowment insurance funds revenue and a 0.33% increase in basic health insurance funds revenue. The digital economy increased the social insurance funds revenue by promoting employment and increasing income. Furthermore, the effects of digital economic development on social insurance funds revenue were heterogeneous for different levels of economic development and urbanization. The conclusions stood after robustness tests by changing the method of weighting the digital economy indicators and using instrumental variables. This paper confirmed the positive role of the development of the digital economy in increasing the revenue of social insurance funds from the perspective of quantitative research and explored the mechanisms in depth. In order to increase social insurance funds revenue, it is essential to accelerate the development of the digital economy, especially in regions with lower economic development and urbanization, and to address the needs of the technically unemployed and those engaged in flexible employment.

DEVELOPMENT OF COASTAL CITIESIN THE ARCTIC ZONE(EVIDENCE FROM THE KARELIAN ARCTICAND ARKHANGELSK REGION)

The economic development of the off-shore territories of the Arctic zone is characterized by certain advantages and risks associated with the geographical location. Territorial formations of the ASRF have unequal economic structure and different levels of economic development, harsh climatic conditions, preferential economic and legal regime, etc. Territories develop unevenly: some territories have steady economic growth, others are characterized by processes of stagnation, still others are characterized by degradation and devastation. The object of the research is the coastal territories of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, and the subject is the process of their economic development. The aim is to study the process of development of coastal cities in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, on the example of the Karelian Arctic and the Arkhangelsk region. The study is based on the use of hardware for comparative analysis and assessment of indicators of coastal territories' development. The novelty of the study is the use of the rank method and the calculation of σ-variance coefficient, which allow to determine the presence of regional heterogeneity in its dynamics in the context of coastal cities of the ASRF, on the example of the Karelian Arctic and the Arkhangelsk region. The results determined the presence of a gap between the urban settlements under consideration. The assessment of the inequality of some indicators demonstrates the trend of coastal cities to convergence, other indicators in the context of coastal cities steadily diverge. Large urban settlements break away from other cities of the European North. Small urban settlements of coastal location - Kem, Kandalaksha, Belomorsk - are characterized by a low level of development. The findings may serve as the basis to form the strategic and program documents, and can be also used as additional material, while analyzing the coastal cities of the AZRF and the dynamics of their development.

Study on the Impact of Digital Economy Enabling High-Quality Economic Development in Yunnan Province

This article aims to explore the role of digital economy and its mechanism in promoting the high-quality development of Yunnan Province's economy. By constructing an evaluation index system and applying econometric methods, the current situation of the digital economy in Yunnan Province and its impact on the high-quality development of the economy are comprehensively analyzed. It is found that the digital economy has a significant positive contribution to the high-quality development of Yunnan Province's economy, and indirectly affects the high-quality development of the economy by enhancing the level of entrepreneurship. In addition, there is a non-linear relationship between the digital economy and high-quality economic development, and the promotion effect of the digital economy on high-quality economic development varies significantly across different levels of economic development. Based on these findings, the article puts forward policy recommendations such as comprehensively promoting the development of the digital economy and implementing a differentiated digital economy development strategy in order to promote the sustainable development of Yunnan Province and the wider region in the era of the digital economy.

AN ALTERNATIVE MODELING OF THE INNOVATIVE POTENTIAL OF COMPANIES

Modern economic conditions require the testing and introduction of new methods to find ways to achieve a prolonged effect in terms of ownership and investment attractiveness. The purpose of the article is to develop theoretical and methodological tasks regarding ways to maximize the investment attractiveness of companies, using external search information about the state of innovation potential of companies with different levels of economic development and the selection of logically justified descriptors of influence.We have defined the principles of the author's concept - Unified concept of building innovation potential - (UKDIP), the essence of which is to find unified ways to increase the innovative potential of business entities, at the expense of descriptors of the state of the innovation sector (gross domestic expenditure on R&D, the number of researchers, the number of government researchers, number of triadic patent families). We confirmed the relationship between the meta-factors of innovation using the foundations of the implicit theory. Using the clustering method, we have formed 4 latent clusters with varying degrees of investment attractiveness. The approach defined by us can serve as one of the options for effective methods of researching the influence of factors that contribute to the growth of the innovative potential of individual companies and, consequently, the national economy as a whole.

CORRELATION ANALYSIS OF THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF ECONOMY'S INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY INDICES

Creativity and the generation of innovative solutions are means of solving the problems of slow economic development and resistance to instability that have been observed in recent years. The key role of creativity of individuals and groups of workers as a defining feature of modern economic life is increasingly recognised. There is a consensus that people, as a source of creativity, are now a critical resource of the new era. In the new model of economic development, creativity, knowledge and free access to information are seen as powerful drivers of development and catalysts of globalisation. The subject of the research is to study the relationship between innovation and creativity in the economic sphere. In particular, the article examines how the creativity of various economic subjects affects the level of innovative indicators, which synthetically reflect the possibilities of achieving the goals of innovative development. The research methodology includes the use of global reports on innovation and creativity indices, as well as scientific sources on this topic. The study uses the methods of critical analysis of scientific papers and international rankings, comparison and correlation of interdependent indicators. The purpose of the research is to assess the relationship between creativity and the level of innovative indicators, which synthetically show the possibilities of achieving the goals of innovative development. Creativity of business entities and mechanisms for generating innovative solutions are determining factors of success of modern post-industrial societies. In most developed countries, long-term economic growth is supported by innovation and creativity of various economic entities. To create the research algorithm, the authors defined the chain of concepts "sustainable development – innovation – creativity". To assess and analyse creativity, the study uses methodological tools that can be applied in global and local contexts. The most well-known indices are the Global Innovation Index (GII), the Global Creativity Index (GCI), the City Creativity Index (CCI), and the Hong Kong Creativity Index (HKCI). The general correlation coefficients between the global innovation index and the creativity indices of some countries have been calculated. According to the results of the calculations, the correlation coefficients of creativity and innovation are very positive. They are closely related and belong to the group of significantly correlated indicators. This means that there is a very high correlation between innovation and creativity in the economies studied. Conclusions. The positive correlation between innovation and creativity indices confirms, in general and in specific terms, a close relationship between innovation and creativity in the economies of different countries. This may indicate that countries or regions with a higher level of economic development have higher rates of creativity and vice versa. The research demonstrates the importance of innovation for the development of creativity in the economy. Understanding this interaction can serve as a basis for designing strategies and policies aimed at promoting innovative development and the growth of creative potential. The economies of Poland, Bulgaria and Ukraine, which were studied in detail, are not innovative enough. The countries studied represent different levels of economic development and are in the phase of post-industrial development, which requires effective innovation policies and measures to support creativity. In order to increase the level of innovation and creativity, it is necessary to involve national governments and organisations (especially the European Union) that can contribute to this. The conclusions point to the need to develop comprehensive approaches to support innovation and creativity in the economies of the countries studied. This may include not only effective strategies to stimulate research and development, but also policies aimed at the cultural environment, education and other areas.

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON INCOME INEQUALITY

This article is devoted to the study of the impact of corruption on income distribution. The study reveals statistically significant associations between the level of corruption and income inequality in Kazakhstan by applying least squares linear regression models. The paper uses the Corruption Perception Index as a measure of corruption and the Gini Index as a measure of income inequality. The paper also analyzes the impact of corruption on income inequality in other countries. This made it possible to determine the specifics of such an impact in countries with different levels of economic development. The results of the study showed that a decrease in the level of corruption, expressed as an improvement in the Corruption Perception Index, is associated with a decrease in income inequality, expressed as the Gini Index. The study also found that population growth has high statistical significance and is associated with a significant reduction in the level of social inequality in Kazakhstan. This confirms that population growth is predominantly observed among the less well-off strata of society, which leads to an increase in the Gini coefficient.

A Model for Describing the Management Processes in the Scientific Sector. Verification

The model of management in the scientific sector presented in the previous article, as well as some alternative models applied to the organization of science management are used to interpret various statistical data. The article also considers intersectoral comparisons of science financing in countries of different levels of economic development, including the costs of basic research. It is shown that the correlation between science costs and gross domestic product (GDP) is 32.9% in more than 120 countries of the world and GDP per capita is 50.9%. They are not statistically significant. On average, the share of basic study costs in domestic research and development expenses does not depend on the level of wealth of countries. This allows us to conclude in favor of a mutually consistent management model in the scientific sector. The author analyzes the dynamics of the number of researchers and small enterprises in the sector of science and scientific services, as well as the dynamics of the number of academic employees in the sectors of science in the 1990s. It is demonstrated that the decrease in their number mainly occurred in the applied sectors and to a lesser extent in the fundamental research sector. These data are described more fully by the proposed mutually consistent model of science than by the alternative models. Possible adjustments in the organization of the scientific sector management system are examined, including in terms of changes in input impacts on the science sector, output indicators characterizing its effectiveness, as well as changes in the organization of the scientific sector and management bodies, which follow from the considered mutually agreed management model in this sector of the economy.

Policy Tourism and Economic Collaboration Among Local Governments: A Nonparametric Matching Model

Policy tourism is an important, widespread, but understudied aspect of the networking efforts of public managers. Few studies have investigated how the official and purposeful interactions between public managers in the context of policy tourism affect collaboration. To fill this gap, this article aims to explore the question: To what extent does policy tourism channel economic collaboration? We argue that leaders’ visit paths provide a direct channel for collaboration through information exchange, trust building, and integration of regional policies, but the consequences vary between jurisdictions at different levels of economic development. We adopt a newly developed nonparametric matching method to estimate the marginal average treatment effects of policy tourism on interprovincial trade flows in China from 2000 to 2013. Results demonstrate that policy tourism channels interprovincial trade flow significantly and that the impacts decrease over time. Also, policy tourism affects interprovincial trade flow more significantly when initiated by less-developed jurisdictions.

Impact of climate risk on financial stability: Cross-country evidence

There is a growing awareness that climate change is a new source of risk to the financial system, but cross-country evidence on the impact of climate risk on financial stability is lacking. This study empirically investigates the impact of climate risk on financial stability using panel data from 2007 to 2019 in 53 countries. The findings of this study reveal that climate risk negatively affects financial stability, and this adverse impact will show differences due to the different levels of economic development, financial development, and competition among countries. Furthermore, macroprudential policies have effectively maintained the financial stability of countries affected by climate risk. However, the macroprudential policies imposed on borrowers are different from balance-based and buffer-based macroprudential tools. In addition, good national governance quality can contain the impact of climate risk on financial stability. After suffering from climate risk, strengthening political stability, improving government efficiency, supervision, and legal system, strictly controlling corruption and improving the right to speak and accountability are conducive to the country's maintenance of financial stability to varying degrees. This study not only enriches the existing research in the field of climate financial risk, but also provides a reference for government departments to reduce the impact of climate risk and maintain financial stability.

Financial openness and energy structure transformation

Energy structure transformation is the only way for China to achieve the “dual carbon” goal, and one of the difficulties faced by energy transformation is financing. In the context of China’s steadily promoting the high-level opening-up of financial industry, this paper uses the panel data of China’s provincial level from 2010 to 2019 to systematically examine the impact of financial opening-up on the transformation of energy structure. The results show that: 1) Financial openness has a significant positive impact on the energy structure transition; 2) In different stages of energy structure transformation, as the main driving force in the initial stage of energy structure transformation is the government’s policy support, with the continuous maturity of energy structure transformation, the impact of financial openness on energy structure transformation gradually increases; 3) With different levels of economic development, the driving effect of financial openness is also different. The lower the level of economic development is, the stronger the driving effect of financial openness on energy structure transformation is due to the lack of financing channels. This paper provides a theoretical basis for China’s energy structure transformation, and also provides rich policy implications for promoting China’s financial industry to open up at a high level.

Why are some countries rich and others poor? development and validation of the attributions for Cross-Country Inequality Scale (ACIS).

Understanding lay theories on the causes of economic inequality is the first step to comprehending why people tolerate, justify, or react against it. Accordingly, this paper aims to develop and validate with two cross-sectional studies the Attributions for Cross-Country Inequality Scale (ACIS), which assesses how people explain cross-country economic inequality-namely, the uneven distribution of income and wealth between poor and rich countries. After selecting and adapting items from existing scales of attributions for poverty and wealth, in Study 1, we tested the factorial structure of this initial pool of items in three countries with different levels of economic development and inequality, namely, Italy (n = 246), the UK (n = 248), and South Africa (n = 228). Three causal dimensions emerged from the Exploratory Factor Analysis: "rich countries" (blaming the systematic advantage of and exploitation by rich countries), "poor countries" (blaming the dispositional inadequacy and faults of poor countries), and "fate" (blaming destiny and luck). The retained items were administered in Study 2 to three new samples from Italy (n = 239), the UK (n = 249), and South Africa (n = 248). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) corroborated the factorial structure of the ACIS, and Multi-Group CFA supported configural and metric invariances of the scale across countries. In addition, we show internal consistency and construct validity of the scale: the scale correlates with relevant constructs (e.g., beliefs about cross-country inequality and ideological orientation) and attitudes toward relevant policies related to international redistribution and migration. Overall, the scale is a valid instrument to assess causal attribution for cross-national inequality and is reliable across countries. By focusing on resource distribution from an international perspective, this scale will allow researchers to broaden the discussion on economic inequality to a global level.

Trying to buy more sustainable products: Intentions of young consumers

Young adults play a pivotal role in environmental preservation and the future of the planet, but little is known about the predictors of their attitudes and intentions to purchase more sustainable products. Building on the theory of trying (TT) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study addresses the research gap and examines how young consumers seek to conserve the environment by purchasing more sustainable products. The present study tests the conceptual model using multi-group structural equation modeling on samples of young adults from Western, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe with different levels of economic development, sustainable policies, and consumer attitudes toward sustainability. The results show that the predictors proposed by the TT explain the attitudes and intentions to buy eco-labeled products better than the predictors from the TPB and that past behavior plays an important role in this process. This study has both theoretical and practical implications for various stakeholders, including managers, policy makers, consumers, and stakeholder representatives.

Evaluation of the economic development of European Union countries

In the European Union (EU), as a global economic community, there are countries with very different levels of economic development. Therefore, it takes place unevenly – some countries develop intensively, but with significant changes in it, others – stably, without significant changes, but not intensively, etc. In such a situation, it is important to determine adequately the current state of economic development. It is an integral quantity that combines both development changes and intensity. These two components of development form two of its partial indicators. Combined into one size, they comprehensively reflect the current situation of the country’s economic development. Development refers to a process, so it must be assessed not on the basis of the state at the end of the period under consideration, but on the whole of this period. The presentation of development in the sense of recent years does not reflect the overall development process, based on the economic development of countries 2018–2022. Their ranks are determined by the results of the comprehensive assessment. Since they do not adequately reflect the current situation, the countries were combined into homogeneous groups, where countries with close values of the economic development indicator were located. This allows to highlight the economic development trends of EU countries.

STRATEGIES OF MACRO-REGIONAL INTEGRATION ASSOCIATIONS ON THE EXAMPLE OF ASEAN

The article is devoted to the analysis of the integration policy of the ASEAN countries. ASEAN includes countries with very different levels of economic development, population, and area, but this integration association is successful and plays an important role in the economic and political spheres in the Southeast Asian region. The article examines the ASEAN approach to regional integration, which is characterized by a “soft character”, in contrast to the European and North American approaches. The main stages of the development of the studied union and the circumstances that prevented the economic integration of the participating countries at the initial stage were analyzed. The main principles of ASEAN work, which are enshrined in the Bangkok Declaration of 1967 and the ASEAN Charter of 2007, are defined. The main directions and mechanisms of economic integration of countries are analyzed, namely: the agreement on the formation of a preferential trade zone, the agreement on the creation of a free trade area (AFTA), the framework agreement on the ASEAN investment zone (AIA), industrial cooperation schemes (AICO), the ASEAN framework agreement with services (AFAS). Also, the article provides an assessment of the main macroeconomic indicators of the participating countries and the union as a whole: GDP volumes in dynamics, the structure and dynamics of trade relations, the commodity and geographical structure of the union’s export-import operations. Problematic issues of the ASEAN integration association have been identified. The current state of cooperation between Ukraine and ASEAN was analyzed, including the volume of export-import operations in terms of the product structure, and prospects for the expansion of economic cooperation were also established. The paper draws conclusions about the success of the ASEAN development strategy and suggests ways to develop cooperation between ASEAN and Ukraine.

The Impact of Economic Development on Environment and Local Redisdents Living Standard in Beijing and Harbin

China experienced rapid economic growth in the past few years. Governments and citizens in developing countries are concerning about the environmental issues and peoples living standard in developing countries. Different areas respond differently to the impact of growth in the entire economy. The close relationship between economic development and environment and peoples living quality can be explored from multiple perspectives. This paper uses data from cities of mainland China to investigate the impact of different levels of economic development by comparing various economic and environmental factors. Factors such as gross domestic product, education availability and employment rate are included to consider the economic development of Beijing and Harbin in China. In this case, environment and living standard are represented by PM2.5 level, public transportation provision, life expectancy, as well as urban green area. Majority of the gaps in the data sets are the result of inequality in their economic growth. Problems of unequal distribution of wealth and geographical locations can be explained through the results from this topic.

The role of climate-adaptive technological innovation in promoting agriculture carbon efficiency: impact and heterogeneity in economic development.

Achieving global climate change mitigation targets requires low-carbon production in agriculture. In such an endeavor, a new classification of climate-adaptive technology is defined to affect agriculture towards the low-carbon direction, but such an impact has seldom been empirically tested in the literature. In this paper, we investigate the impact of climate-adaptive technological innovation on agricultural carbon efficiency, a proxy for low-carbon agriculture. We use a stochastic directional distance function framework and a cross-country dataset covering 38 OECD countries. Additionally, we test the heterogeneous impact, considering that regional economic development is a crucial condition for deploying advanced technologies. The findings show that climate-adaptive technological innovation can promote carbon efficiency in agriculture, and this aggregate effect hides significant heterogeneity at different levels of economic development. The higher the economic development level is, the better climate-adaptive technological innovation contributes to improving agricultural carbon efficiency. Then, related policy implications are set forth.