Driver For Socio-economic Development Research Articles

ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF SIERRA LEONES NATIONAL POLICY ON RADICAL INCLUSION TO ADDRESS GENDER INEQUALITY AND PROMOTE EQUAL ACCESS TO GIRLS EDUCATION

Muigua and Deem emphasize the importance of gender equality in educational opportunities, pointing out that education is a fundamental human right and a driver of socio-economic development. According to Kamara, Sierra Leone`s radical inclusion policy is a remarkable case study that highlights the relevance of gender equality in education provision. This study used a purposive sampling technique to sample 15 students, 5 parents, 5 teachers, 5 school administrators, 5 policymakers, and 5 community members. Barrie also discusses the challenges faced by children in poverty and the benefits of education, as well as government efforts to improve transparency and accountability in primary education in Sierra Leone. Wechter, Terrell, Gupta, and Peterson state that free quality school education (FQSE) is a key policy priority of the Government of Sierra Leone in national transformation through education. According to the 2018 Global Gender Gap Report, Iceland accounts for 85% of the total gender gap, making it the most gender-equal country. A total of 40 participants were randomly selected, who were involved in developing targeted strategies that address the unique challenges girls face in accessing quality education.Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis were used to analyze the data collected using percentages, and graphs, for data collected through questionnaires, whereas a description of findings was used for data collected through interviews and data collected through observations. The study aims to assess the effective implementation of Sierra Leones national policy on radical inclusion to address gender inequality and promote equal access to girls education. Gender equality has improved significantly, from the basic level of students in primary and secondary education to undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as the number of lecturers and teachers in schools and universities in general.The result revealed that the National Policy on Radical Inclusion in schools for excluded and marginalized children has been effectively carried out as indicated in the results from the perspectives of women beneficiaries, it is shown that the majority of them believe that women beneficiaries of radical inclusion policies value the policies and that they are beneficial to their lives and that progress has been made in the awareness and implementation of this policy, which is having a positive impact on women beneficiaries which is an indication that the governments objectives have been achieved.

Preduzetnički potencijali u BiH u kontekstu aktuelnih socio-ekonomskih kretanja

This paper explores the pivotal role of entrepreneurship in economic development and the maintenance of a stable social structure. Entrepreneurship, as a combination of labor, creativity, capital, and technology, generates innovative products, services, and socioeconomic activities, becoming increasingly significant in post-industrial societies. Its efficiency, particularly in the development of small businesses, is becoming crucial in mitigating the influence of the corporate world. In the specific context of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entrepreneurial spirit and the potential of citizens emerge as key factors for economic development and social stability. The paper utilizes a theoretical framework encompassing the characteristics of entrepreneurship, along with social, economic, cultural, and educational assumptions for its development, aligning them with the current socioeconomic conditions in the country. Empirical research analyzes the motives, ambitions, and readiness of citizens to initiate their own entrepreneurship in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a specific focus on unemployed youth and their social integration as drivers of socioeconomic development.

Ukrainian Export in the Conditions of War: Trends and the Rateof Changes

Russia's military aggression against Ukraine has highlighted the need to strengthen the country's export capacity as a driver of socio-economic development. The purpose of the article is to assess the scale and directions of structural transformations in the export of commodities in Ukrainian regions affected by military operations. The authors analyse export activity of the country's 23 regions on the basis of economic indicators: the ratio of exports to imports, the economy's commodity export orientation, the level of technological exports, the level of high-tech exports. Results of this analysis are used to identify changes that have taken place in the structure of exports across the main commodity groups and problems for the country's export activity, which are due to external challenges and threats. The authors propose a number of state policy measures that are required in order to stimulate exports and reduce the volume of imports. They provide arguments in favour of is a large-scale import substitution program, which should initially aim to boost investments in those processing industries, where Ukraine has sufficient raw materials (agro-processing and the production of finished metal products).(original abstract)

Firm Size and Credit Accessibility of MSEs in Kenya

Micro and small enterprises have been known to be drivers of socio economic development. Despite the effort of the government in formulating and implementing policies intended to enhance entrepreneurship, several challenges are still being experienced by entrepreneurs, with the major ones being the requirements of lenders of different financial institutions. This research aimed at determining the influence of firm size characteristics on MSEs credit accessibility in Meru Town. The study employed the use of a questionnaire as the primary method of data collection. A target population of 800 registered MSEs was used for random sampling yielding a sample size of 89 respondents, all of whom were owners or managers of these enterprises. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and a multiple linear regression model. The finding was that firm size significantly influenced credit accessibility of MSEs. The study results show that firm size and credit accessibility of MSEs account for (79.2%) of the variation in independent variables.

How to Retain Quality under Expansion: Practices to Overcome Negative Consequences of Massification in Doctoral Education Original article

As Russian and international experience shows, the massification of doctoral education is not only a driver of socio-economic development, but also a significant challenge for national policy in the field of higher education and research. The increase in demand for doctoral studies can lead to an enormous decrease in the quality of training unless particular measures for quality assurance and support are implemented. There are dozens of such practices worldwide. In this article, we consider three of them: 1) diversification of doctoral programs; 2) collaboration with industry and business; and 3) improving the quality of supervision. These practices have not yet been implemented in Russian doctoral programs on a systemic level. However, we believe that they are the most relevant and potentially useful for the Russian context, as they can improve the efficiency of doctoral training in terms of the number and quality of defenses, as well as increase the level of graduates’ preparation for the labor market.

Heritage tourism as a driver of socio-economic development and implications for sustainable tourism: Dropped from previous research works

Heritage tourism as a driver of socio-economic development and implications for sustainable tourism: Dropped from previous research works

Diversification versus concentration trends in the housing construction and stock across Siberian regions

Relevance. The processes of regionalization and localization are currently intensifying in the Siberian macro-region, where local markets act as drivers of socio-economic development. We associate their development with the diversification of the sectoral structure. Nevertheless, the demographic conditions contribute to the growth of spatial concentration, which affects the sustainability of the housing construction structure and negatively affects the housing market. Research objective. This study aims to analyze the economic consequences of the diversification-related processes and the degree of the spatial concentration of these effects in Siberian regions. Data and methods. The study relies on official databases for the calculation of the Herfindahl-Hirschmann and Gini-Struck coefficients. Econometric analysis was conducted with the help of E-Views software. Results. The concentration phenomenon in housing construction becomes indirectly dependent on regional diversification of the urban and rural housing stock, with an intense and natural correlation for the urban housing stock, which is stronger than in the case of the rural housing stock. The multifactorial model of concentration in housing construction indirectly depends on the combined regional diversification of incomes and population and the urban or rural stock. Conclusions. The evolution of the Siberian macro-region is shaped by the increasing urbanization and localization processes, which exacerbate the insufficient level of diversification. These factors are detrimental to the development of the local markets of resources; they have a negative effect on the rate of housing construction and on the supply in the housing market.

Production, Science, Education: Future scenarios. VIII International Congress (PSE-2021)

The article presents an overview of the VIII International congress «Production. Science. Education: Future Scenarios» (PSE-2021), organized by the S.Yu. Witte Institute for New Industrial Development (INID). This congress has become a platform for a comprehensive discussion of topical problems of the modern economy, the search for ways to integrate production, science, education and the development of future scenarios. The congress was devoted to the development of human potential of technological and socio-economic progress; production, science and education as drivers of socio-economic development; the transformation of public institutions while moving towards a new industrial society of the second generation (NIO.2) and noonomics. The proceedings of the VIII International congress «Production. Science. Education: Future Scenarios» (PSE-2021) contain both new theoretical provisions presented by the participants, and practical recommendations for the transition to new social relations.

Производство. Наука. Образование: сценарии будущего (ПНО-2021)

The article is devoted to the review of the VIII International congress “Production. Science. Education: Future Scenarios” (PSE-2021), organized by the S.Y. Witte Institute for New Industrial Development (INID). This congress has become a platform for a comprehensive discussion of topical problems of the modern economy, the search for ways to integrate production, science, education and the development of future scenarios. The congress was devoted to the development of technologies and the foundations of socio-economic progress, the human potential of technological and economic development, production, science and education as drivers of socio-economic development, the transformation of public institutions while moving towards a new industrial society of the second generation (NIS.2) and noonomics. The result of the VIII International congress «Production. Science. Education: Future Scenarios» (PSE-2021) became both new theoretical provisions presented in the results of the study of the participants, and practical recommendations for the transition to new social relations.

THE CONCEPT OF INTEGRATED CITY DEVELOPMENT: EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE AND POSSIBILITIES OF ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN UKRAINE

The authors investigate that the leading form of territorial and socio-economic organization of modern society are cities. At the same time, cities act as drivers of socio-economic development, political prosperity and social progress and will undoubtedly be important for the formation of competitiveness in the world. It is established that one of the documents, which was developed with the participation of representatives of common European interests and promotes to integrated urban development, is the Leipzig Charter «Cities of Europe on the path to sustainable development». The practice of participatory management helps integrated urban development. Participatory management becomes relevant in the context of decentralization and community development, in particular participatory budgeting, which is the opportunity for city residents to participate in decision-making on how to allocate a certain part of the budget. It is analysed, that plenty of international indexes is for the quantitative and quality estimation of development of cities, that allow to explore tendencies and estimate influence of political decisions and steps that is accepted within the limits of cities for the improvement of welfare of habitants. A category ‒ «Smart City» is investigated. It is set that in rating of Smart Cities Index the first places occupy New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Reykjavik. Among the terms of development of the integrated cities on the basis of conception of «Smart City» the following is highlighted: introduction of networks of generation 5G, continuous coverage of territories and access to the internet in difficult of access places, trouble-free simultaneous work in the network of enormous number of devices. A collaboration and partnership with European societies and organizations help the Ukrainian cities in their integrated development. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study has become the scientific works of Ukrainian and foreign authors on integrated urban development based on European experience and guidelines and provisions of the European Union.

Socioeconomic development of Brazilian municipalities: The role of public and private banks

The economic literature has discussed the role of public banks regarding their performance as drivers of socioeconomic development, highlighting their social role when compared to private banks. This paper contributes to this discussion and analyzes the impact of the physical presence of public and private commercial banks on the Firjan Index of Municipal Development (FMDI) of Brazilian municipalities. The results of a logit panel model show that public banks have greater impact on the FMDI rather than private banks, taking into account where the municipality is located and the externalities caused by the neighboring municipality. There is great probability of a municipality being in a high level of development if it has the physical presence of commercial public banks.

Strategic Analysis of the Transport Infrastructure Development in Saint Petersburg Urban Agglomeration as a Socio-Economic Problem Solving Tool

The article is devoted to the study of possible consequences of the implementation of various scenarios for the “Strategy of Social and Economic Development of Saint Petersburg for the period up to 2035”. The authors present the results of the target scenario opportunities and risks analysis and conclude that it is necessary to review the approach adopted by the Government of Saint Petersburg to selecting the target scenario for the city’s development in favor of an updated baseline scenario which takes into account new threats and challenges. The methodological framework of the research is formed on the basis of the strategic analysis concepts. The research methodology involves producing matrices and maps to assess the risk of failure to achieve strategic objectives, matrices to assess conditions and consequences of implementation of the Comprehensive Plan of Transport Service (Comprehensive Plan) in the urban agglomeration. The article determines the priorities in providing sources of funding for participants according to the inertial and customized options of the Comprehensive Plan implementation. The evidence base obtained within the study makes it possible to justify a set of priority preventive measures to minimize the negative consequences of associated risks and threats. Under conditions of resource constraints and growing macro environment risks the Comprehensive Plan becomes the main driver of socio-economic development of the urban agglomeration. The study may be of interest to the representatives of regional state authorities of the Russian Federation, researchers, teachers and managers of educational programs in Economics and Management of higher education institutions.

Risk-Taking and Performance of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Lessons from Tanzanian Bakeries

SMEs are the major drivers of socioeconomic development of many economies. In order to influence economic growth, SMEs must be capable of enhancing their competiveness, growth, and sustainability. These capabilities are acquired by SMEs that understand and adopt entrepreneurial strategies that work. There is abundant literature confirming that one of these entrepreneurial strategies include risk-taking practices. SMEs are still facing challenges to understand and apply the right risk-taking strategies that influence their performance. We therefore characterise risk-taking as risk planning, risk controlling, and strategic risk initiatives, and seek to establish their contribution on SME performance. This study draws lessons from the risk management practices of small and medium-sized bakeries in Tanzania where agriculture, a sector that directly relates with bakery business, is one of the leading sectors in driving economic growth. We adopt a multi-stage sampling technique and receive responses from 161 questionnaires, and 20 in depth interviews from bakery owners/managers throughout Tanzania. The principal component analysis, qualitative content analysis (manifest analysis), and the moderator analysis are used in analyzing these data. We ascertain that both the firm age, and the gender, of the owner/manager moderate the relationship between risk-taking strategies and SME performance. We argue that SMEs have the responsibilities of improving their risk-taking practices and capabilities in order to drive their competitiveness. Additionally, SMEs need to employ their efforts and resources in supporting their risk management initiatives, and integrate them in their business operations, and policy development practices, and ultimately advance their sustainability.

Features of Economic Development and the Role of the State in Modern Russia

The article characterizes the similarities and differences in the role of the state in the development of the economy of different countries and the features of this role at different stages, including under crisis conditions. In the countries of Western Civilization, the activation of the social layer of entrepreneurs plays the main role in overcoming economic crises. In Russia, this layer is much less important. The periods of successful socioeconomic development are associated with the eras of cultural and ideological development, when the society is inspired by the ideas of common cause. The article shows that the state is usually the most important initiator and driver of socioeconomic development in Russia and China. The spiritual and ideological crisis associated with the destruction of the Soviet Union can be largely compensated by the focus on improving the state and creating an effective planning and market system.

European funds in Central and Eastern Europe: drivers of change or mere funding transfers? Evaluating the impact of European aid on national and local development in Bulgaria and Romania

ABSTRACT In recent years, there have been numerous academic and policy debates on the delivery mechanisms of European Union (EU) funds in member states. Studies focused on issues arising, for instance, during the management and implementation of EU aid at the local level but devoted less attention to the economic and institutional impact of EU funds. To what extent do EU funds act as drivers of socio-economic development and institutional change? Theoretically, this paper contributes to debates about economic convergence and the institutional spillover effects generated by EU aid across national and local settings. Empirically, the paper evaluates the impact of EU aid in Bulgaria and Romania after a decade of EU membership. Firstly, the paper examines a mix of quantitative indicators and secondary sources on the socio-economic impact of EU funds in the two countries. Secondly, using original qualitative evidence, the paper assesses the spillover effects of EU aid on domestic institutions and stakeholders, policies and practices. Finally, the paper provides an analysis of the unintended domestic consequences triggered by EU funds. It contributes to growing debates on the impact of European aid and suggests potential avenues for policy development and for further academic research in this area.

Fostering Innovative Entrepreneurial Design Students: Exploring the Relationship between Innovation Characteristics and Attitudes towards Entrepreneurship in South African Design Students

Innovation and entrepreneurship have been increasingly recognized as drivers of socio-economic development. The term innovative entrepreneur is a relatively new one and could be necessary for economic growth during a challenging and changing global environment. Previous studies have found that limited job opportunities for architectural graduates has meant that many have changed careers while others have had to innovate to survive within the profession. Therefore, architects must transform and innovate to survive and so should our curriculum. Learning how to train these innovative entrepreneurs effectively is key. Innovation can be taught and result in improved entrepreneurial skills that develop better entrepreneurial competence. The challenge is for educators, researchers and policymakers to create curricula that will impact design students to foster innovative entrepreneurial graduates and lead to eventual growth in the economy. This article is the result of a study that explored and measured the characteristics and dynamics of an innovative entrepreneur in design students. The sample consisted of South African students from the architecture, interior, graphics and multimedia disciplines. The study is the first step in understanding what behaviours and attitudes are present in African innovative entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that there is a relationship between entrepreneurial attitudes and innovation characteristics and behaviours. These can be nurtured through a dynamic design curriculum and increase a design student’s propensity to become a better designer within a thriving economy.

Postmodern University Understanding: organizational and managerial aspects

Introduction. In the modern world, the university acquires new characteristics and functions, where traditional values are complemented by new ones which are connected with development of the regional community and entry to the international level. That is why the postmodern university should reorient its managerial and organizational levers. Purpose and methods. The purpose of the article is to consider the university as a driver of regional development through the analysis of its modern management. The study of postmodern university requires the use of multidisciplinary socio-cultural, structural and functional approaches and historical, analytical, comparative methods. Results. Universities that have always strived not only for knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but also for reproduction of knowledge for the sake of growth and strengthening of society well-being, must change the managerial paradigm. And such postmodern education institutions can be drivers of socio-economic development and scientific-educational potential. Conclusions and discussion. Modern universities have to become the growth points of the regions and take an active part in solving educational, socio-economic and cultural issues. Management of higher school should be aimed at ensuring its competitiveness both in the internal and external markets of educational services. The scientific novelty of the obtained results is to determine the factors of development of the postmodern university as a driver of growth of economy and socio-cultural sphere of the region. The practical significance of the obtained results is reflected in the possibility of using the idea of the university as a point of growth of the region and the country.

A promoção da habilidade Comunicação Persuasiva por meio do ensino de empreendedorismo

O empreendedorismo e a inovação tecnológica são considerados importantes propulsores de desenvolvimento socioeconômico e por isso têm sido incluídos como tema no ensino superior, na pesquisa acadêmica e na extensão universitária. Este artigo objetiva analisar a promoção da habilidade de comunicação persuasiva por meio do ensino de empreendedorismo. Visando atender a este objetivo é apresenta uma dinâmica que pode ser utilizada como estratégia de ensino de empreendedorismo no ensino superior envolvendo a promoção da habilidade empreendedora Comunicação Persuasiva. Trata-se de um estudo baseado em pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, no qual a dinâmica desenvolvida foi aplicada por três semestres em uma disciplina de graduação que aborda administração e empreendedorismo. Em forma de relato de experiência, são apresentadas as etapas e tarefas que compõem a dinâmica, destacando-se o fato de que os alunos utilizaram diferentes formas de comunicação para convencer potenciais clientes e investidores a respeito de uma ideia inovadora. O relato enfatiza que a habilidade empreendedora de comunicação persuasiva pode ser promovida em sala de aula com uso da dinâmica antes mencionada, fazendo com que a turma utilize recursos da comunicação visual e da comunicação verbal para defender propostas de negócios. O estudo indica que a dinâmica possui potencial para ser aplicada em disciplinas de diferentes áreas de conhecimento que visam ensinar empreendedorismo.

Asia's Third Giant: A Survey of the Indonesian Economy

This paper surveys the Indonesian economy and the drivers of socioeconomic development over the past half‐century. It highlights the country's rapid economic development in the face of unfavourable 'initial conditions'. We examine episodes in economic development, in particular comparing and contrasting the two main sub‐periods, of high economic growth during the authoritarian Suharto era, 1966–98, and moderate economic growth during the democratic era since 1999. The paper emphasises the importance of sound macroeconomic management, economic openness, inclusive social progress and institutional development. For all the challenges that Indonesia faces, and its unfinished reform agenda, the major conclusion is one of development success, broadly defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Опорные вузы как драйверы социально-экономического развития регионов страны

Опорные вузы как драйверы социально-экономического развития регионов страны