Drivers Of Sustainable Economic Growth Research Articles

Asymmetric influence of fintech, oil prices, and precious metals on green growth of emerging seven countries

The resources and financial technology can be a powerful driver of sustainable economic growth and financial stability in emerging countries. Understanding the pivotal role behind gold, oil, and fintech in achieving green growth, this study intends to establish a cross-section association for Emerging (E-7) countries: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey. The annual data of gold, silver, oil, fintech, and green growth from 1991 to 2022 has been used for empirical analysis. Method of Moment Quantile Regression (MMQR) has been employed to scrutinize the impact of said variables at several quantities of green growth. All variables are measured at the same unit using their respective local currency rates. The outcomes revealed that oil, gold, and silver prices influence the green growth of the E-7 economies. However, this negative impact validates the resource curse phenomenon for the sampled countries. Manifestly, fintech improves the conventional mode of the economic cycle in emerging countries and encourages green growth. The bidirectional causality is also observed between minerals, financial technology, and green growth. The study furnishes notable policies regarding mineral resource dependency as sustainable economic development is desirable for emerging nations.

Innovation-Driven E-Commerce Growth in the EU: An Empirical Study of the Propensity for Online Purchases and Sustainable Consumption

The e-commerce sector has experienced significant growth in the past two decades, outpacing other economic sectors and contributing to sustainable consumption, increased labour productivity, competitiveness, consumer incomes, and GDP growth. This trend is expected to continue, making e-commerce a key driver of sustainable economic growth in Europe. This study aims to explore the relationship between a nation’s innovation level and its population’s inclination towards online shopping in various EU member states. It hypothesizes that higher innovation levels within a country lead to a greater tendency for online purchases. This study conducts a thorough analysis of the interplay between European economies’ innovation levels and the e-commerce market’s evolution. A composite innovation index was created using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methodology, and panel data models were utilized to examine the dependencies, with data from Eurostat and the Global Innovation Index. The focus is on the period from 2019 to 2021, which was marked by unique market dynamics and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings confirm the significant role of innovation in driving e-commerce expansion within the context of sustainable consumption, supporting the main hypothesis. This research also highlights the pandemic’s positive effect on the e-commerce sector. The pandemic-induced changes in consumer behaviour, particularly due to social isolation and crises in certain economic sectors, have emphasized the importance of online shopping. Notably, the most active online shoppers are identified in the 25 to 54 age group, revealing a key demographic trend.

Total Factor Productivity and Financial Development

The main objective of this study is to explore the relationship between total factor productivity and financial development for a group of Latin American countries consisting of Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico covering the period from 1996 to 2019. Total factor productivity, which is considered as one of the main drivers of sustainable economic growth, especially for emerging economies, is the measure of productive efficiency given by the ratio of aggregate output to aggregate inputs. Financial development refers to the development of financial institutions and financial markets. Latin American countries exhibit different levels of both total factor productivity and financial development mainly due to the emerging nature of their economies, which explains the motivation of choosing four of these countries as the sample to analyze the association between total factor productivity and financial development. Data for total factor productivity is taken from the Penn World Table while the Financial Development Index Database provided by the IMF is used in order to examine financial development. The results of this study indicate that countries with higher levels of total factor productivity also have higher levels of financial development. This finding can be interpreted as the outcome of the fact that there are macroeconomic and financial factors determining or similarly influencing both total factor productivity and financial development. Significant policy implications for emerging countries can be inferred from this close connection between total factor productivity and financial development, which constitutes the major contribution of this study to the literature.

Reinforcement Learning Methods and Algorithms for Modeling Individual Trajectories of Professional Development

Corporate human capital is one of the most important drivers of sustainable economic growth that is becoming increasingly important under changing nature of work. Due to the expansion of various areas of human activity, an employee portrait is getting multifaceted. Therefore, the problem of human capital management based on the individual trajectories of professional development, aimed at increasing the labor efficiency and contributing to the growth of he corporate operational efficiency, is relevant, timely, socially and economically significant. The paper proposes an approach for the dynamic regimes for human capital development (DRHC), to design individual trajectories for the employees professional development, based on reinforcement learning methods. The DRHC develops an optimal management regime as a set of programs aimed at developing an employee in the professional field, taking into account their individual characteristics (health quality, major and interdisciplinary competencies, motivation and social capital). The DRHC architecture consists of an environment — an employee model as a Markov decision making process and an agent — decision making center of a company. The DRHC uses Double Deep Q-Network algorithms to maximize the agents utility function. The implementation of the proposed by DRHC policies would enhance the corporate HC quality, improve its resource efficiency and ensure the performance growth

Dynamic Regimes for Corporate Human Capital Development Used Reinforcement Learning Methods

Corporate human capital is a critical driver of sustainable economic growth, which is becoming increasingly important in the changing nature of work. Due to the expansion of various areas of human activity, the employee’s profile becomes multifaceted. Therefore, the problem of human capital management based on the individual trajectories of professional development, aimed at increasing the labor efficiency and contributing to the growth of the corporate operational efficiency, is relevant, timely, socially, and economically significant. The paper proposes a methodology for the dynamic regimes for human capital development (DRHC) to design individual trajectories for the employee’s professional development, based on reinforcement learning methods. The DRHC develops an optimal management regime as a set of programs aimed at developing an employee in the professional field, taking into account their individual characteristics (health quality, major and interdisciplinary competencies, motivation, and social capital). The DRHC architecture consists of an environment—an employee model—as a Markov decision-making process and an agent—decision-making center of a company. The DRHC uses DDQN, SARSA, and PRO algorithms to maximize the agent’s utility function. The implementation of the proposed DRHC policy would improve the quality of corporate human capital, increase labor resource efficiency, and ensure the productivity growth of companies.

Agriculture for Economic Development in Africa Evidence from Ethiopia, by Naoto Emelie RohneTill, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2022. ISBN: 978‐3‐031‐07900‐9.

Rural SociologyEarly View Book Review Agriculture for Economic Development in Africa Evidence from Ethiopia, by Naoto Emelie Rohne Till, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2022. ISBN: 978-3-031-07900-9. Eliaza Mkuna, Corresponding Author Eliaza Mkuna [email protected] Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Economics, Mzumbe University, Morogoro, TanzaniaSearch for more papers by this author Eliaza Mkuna, Corresponding Author Eliaza Mkuna [email protected] Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Economics, Mzumbe University, Morogoro, TanzaniaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 30 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12500Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL References Adedeji, Atilade Adedayo, Max M. Häggblom, and Olubukola Oluranti Babalola. 2020. “Sustainable Agriculture in Africa: Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) to the Rescue.” Scientific African 9:e00492. Badiane, Ousmane, Xinshen Diao, and Thomas Jayne. 2021. “ Africa's Unfolding Agricultural Transformation.” Pp. 153– 92 in Agricultural Development: New Perspectives in a Changing World, edited by K. Otsuka and S. Fan. Part Two: Regional Issues in Agricultural Development. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Opoku, Eric Evans Osei and Isabel Kit-Ming Yan. 2019. “Industrialization as Driver of Sustainable Economic Growth in Africa.” The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development 28(1): 30– 56. Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue ReferencesRelatedInformation

Impact of biased technological progress on the total factor productivity of China's manufacturing industry: The driver of sustainable economic growth

Sustainable economic growth relies on an increase in total factor productivity (TFP). To upgrade the core competitiveness and support the sustainable growth and high-quality development of China's economy, ascending TFP in China's manufacturing industry counts. This study analysed the impact of biased technological progress on TFP, which was estimated by using the relevant data of 27 subsectors of China's manufacturing industry from 1980 to 2019. The results revealed that from the early industrialisation period (1980–2000) to the mid-industrialisation period (2001–2012) and then to the middle and late industrialisation period (2013–2019), the mean value of TFP in China's manufacturing industry grew from 0.291 to 0.394 and then to 0.555, embodying a continuously upwards advancing tendency. Technological progress was capital biased from 1981 to 2011 and labour biased during the rest of the sample period. In addition, its direction was heterogeneous among various industries. To some extent, the growth of TFP has been hindered by biased technological progress and factor allocation. The per unit increase in them has led to 1.495 and 1.017 unit decreases in the TFP. Upon examining the factor efficiency and the factor structure, we found that the estimated coefficients of biased technological progress dropped to −1.516 and −1.719, preventing TFP from growing to a greater extent. Consequently, there is room for their optimisation in China's manufacturing industry.

Sustainable Economic Growth Factors in the EU: Applying a Modified Cobb-Douglas Production Function with Renewable Energy and Digitalization

The paper utilizes the Cobb-Douglas production function with renewable energy and digitalization to estimate the sustainable economic growth factors in the EU. Neoclassical economic theory emphasizes the role of capital and labor as input variables in the output growth models, while novel growth theories are endogenous and emphasize the role of technological advances in economic development. The time frame of the research covers 2011-2021 in order to include the latest available data for all 27 EU member states economies. The research method was fixed-effects GLS regression for the panel data. This study has investigated the impact of different factors on sustainable economic growth. The paper proves that capital and labor as classical production function have a positive impact on GDP. Renewable energy development and digital economy were revealed to be drivers of sustainable economic growth. One of the policy implications is that the governments should promote renewables and digital economy with diverse range of policy instruments for sustainable economic growth promotion by decision-makers.

Specialization Versus Diversification as Alternative Strategies for Sustainable Growth in Resource-Rich Developing Countries. Case of Nigeria

Abstract The question of whether developing countries should pursue specialization or diversification in export as a driver of sustainable economic growth has been a subject of an intense debate in economic literature. At present, one understanding of the debate, as postulated by Imbs and Wacziarg (2003), is that economies grow through two stages of diversification and concentration as income grows: they initially diversify but re-specialize once a (relatively) high level of income per capita is attained. A U-shaped curve best explains the notion. With Nigeria as a reference country, we employed ARDL procedure and examined the aforementioned exposition over the period 1960-2019. Specifically, the non-monotonic relationship between diversification and growth is examined. In furtherance, we examined the impact of diversification on the effect of non-oil exports on growth. Employing an augmented production-function framework and two distinct measures of diversification, we find, contrary to the Imbs-Wacziarg notion, a monotonic (increasing) relationship between diversification and growth, suggesting that diversification, rather than specialization, continues with growth. Applying a similar framework and five different measures of non-oil exports, we find that the impact of diversification on the effects of agricultural and industrial sectors on growth is higher, as compared to building and construction, wholesale and retail, services sectors.

Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Performance of the Agro-allied Enterprises in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

It is widely recognized that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the major drivers of sustainable economic growth, sources of income generation and panacea for poverty reduction in developing countries. Unfortunately, they are faced with numerous challenges that threaten their existence and survival. This precarity of small entrepreneurial organizations in entrepreneurial ecosystem has prompted widespread attention by scholars and researchers. Hence, it is critical to take into consideration examining the performance of the enterprises. This study analyzed the effect of entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, personal and institutional characteristics on the performance of small and medium agro allied enterprises. Through the multistage sampling procedure, a total of 198 SMEs were selected for the study and data were collected with the aid of questionnaire. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results revealed that among the entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, only risking taking and innovativeness significantly and positively affected the performance of SMEs agro allied enterprises. Furthermore, findings showed that except for size of business which was negatively related to the growth of SMEs, educational level of entrepreneurs, managerial and business experience positively and significantly impacted on the performance of SMEs. Policies to encourage SMEs invest in risky investments and create new product and services should be pursued.

Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Performance of the Agro-allied Enterprises in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

It is widely recognized that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the major drivers of sustainable economic growth, sources of income generation and panacea for poverty reduction in developing countries. Unfortunately, they are faced with numerous challenges that threaten their existence and survival. This precarity of small entrepreneurial organizations in entrepreneurial ecosystem has prompted widespread attention by scholars and researchers. Hence, it is critical to take into consideration examining the performance of the enterprises. This study analyzed the effect of entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, personal and institutional characteristics on the performance of small and medium agro allied enterprises. Through the multistage sampling procedure, a total of 198 SMEs were selected for the study and data were collected with the aid of questionnaire. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results revealed that among the entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, only risking taking and innovativeness significantly and positively affected the performance of SMEs agro allied enterprises. Furthermore, findings showed that except for size of business which was negatively related to the growth of SMEs, educational level of entrepreneurs, managerial and business experience positively and significantly impacted on the performance of SMEs. Policies to encourage SMEs invest in risky investments and create new product and services should be pursued.

Green Investments as Drivers of Sustainable Economic Growth in the EU Countries: A Retrospective Analysis

This article addresses sustainable economic development under the green investing impact. The authors emphasize that a favorable investment climate attracts green and socially responsible investors contributing to green economic transformation. The research aimed to conduct a retrospective analysis of green transformation to determine the main driving forces and preconditions for sustainable economic growth. The relevance of the decision of the investigated scientific problem is that the green investments contribute to the harmonization of the three main pillars of sustainable development (society, economy, and environment) under the growing burden of climate change. The research object was the EU countries. The analysis covered data from 2014 to 2019 for empirical calculation and from 2000 to 2020 for bibliometric analysis. To achieve the research goal, the study involved the scope of bibliometric and econometric tools. The findings of bibliometric analysis allowed to determine the main driving forces of the economic growth and green investments considered in the literature. The obtained results empirically confirmed and theoretically proved that strengthening and developing sustainable economic performance significantly depends on the success of the green transformation under investments growth. The authors stated the necessity to further explore green investment markets on the national levels to improve the incentive mechanism for developing a green investment market.

Empirical Analysis of Evidence-Based Policymaking in R&D Programmes

This study explores evidence-based policymaking (EBP) in public research and development (R&D) programmes. Governments develop and implement R&D programmes to promote innovation, the key driver of sustainable economic growth. For effective management, public policies should be planned, executed, and terminated based on their impact evaluation and feedback. Although many studies have investigated the impact of R&D support, few have analysed whether it evolves on the basis of evidence. Using a dataset of Korean programmes, this study adopted the propensity score matching with a difference-in-differences method. We distinguished four determinants of performance evidence: R&D intensity, assets, sales, and profits growth. The following are the main results: (1) while R&D intensity, sales, and profits growth reveal the efficiency of the EBP mechanism, the performance of assets do not differ across the abolished and continued programmes; (2) the EBP process classified by subsidy amount reveals no statistically significant differences in terms of R&D intensity and profits. This suggests that policymakers need to consider the amount of subsidy granted under the budget limitation. This study contributes to the empirical research on EBP using heterogeneous evidence indicators and describes how policymakers exploit policy evaluation to implement and monitor policies for sustainable development.

The Nexus of Social Cause Interest and Entrepreneurial Mindset: Driving Socioeconomic Sustainability

The importance of entrepreneurial activity as a driver of sustainable economic growth is well established. Interest in social enterprises as a means to fill gaps that exist in society is growing. With the emerging concept of social entrepreneurship in China, this paper aims to examine the relationship between entrepreneurial mindset, individual intention to start an enterprise, the likelihood of actually starting a business and personal interest in social causes. Theoretical models in the field of entrepreneurship study indicate that personal entrepreneurial desire is a strong factor in predicting future business behaviour but there is little in the existing research about entrepreneurial mindset as a predictor of actual activity. Considering entrepreneurship and psychological research and theory, four main psychological entrepreneur traits including chance alertness, risk tendency, tolerance of vagueness and intentional optimism are considered to measure the aptitude towards starting a business. Based on the results of 590 online surveys, the role of entrepreneurial mindset as a predictor is analysed using Correlation, Linear Regression and Multiple Regression Analysis. The findings of this research indicate that social cause interest is unlikely to drive entrepreneurial activity in the absence of structured intervention. The findings contribute to the future development of social entrepreneurial programs, and to the role and assessment of the entrepreneurial mindset of potential social entrepreneurs. The study also provides insight into the perspective of the individual towards the concept of social responsibility.

Econometric Estimation of the Factors That Influence Startup Success

Technology startups are important regional economic engines that are recognized as drivers of sustainable economic growth. Understanding the factors that influence their success is of interest both to the scientific community and to practitioners. However, there is currently no consensus in the literature on how to define the success of a technology startup. Startup success has multiple dimensions and different theoretical approaches and empirical contexts. Therefore, in the present work, our aim is to identify ways of measuring the success of a technology startup. Using a review of the literature and interviews with entrepreneurs and venture capital investors, we identified two common success indicators: achieving significant revenue and obtaining financing. We then analyzed the factors that have the greatest impact on startup success using 340 startups. We used a multivariate model based on independent econometric estimates for each of the two ways of defining the success of a technology startup. The main conclusion is that there are four factors that have a significant influence on the two ways of measuring success: the location of the startup, the promoting partners’ dedication, the age of the company, and the existence of nonpromoting partners.

Driving force for China’s economic development under Industry 4.0 and circular economy: Technological innovation or structural change?

The integration of the circular economy (CE), a model promoting the cyclical use of resources, and Industry 4.0, an intelligent-based approach to manufacturing, is expected to achieve sustainability. Finding the most suitable path for technological progress and structural change to promote economic growth is the key to adopting Industry 4.0 technologies and successfully transforming to a CE, and thus, key to China achieving sustainable development quickly. This study identifies the joint effects of energy- and environment-biased technological progress and multi-dimensional industrial structural change on economic growth, and empirically verifies the specific effects within China. Our results are as follows. First, pollution abatement technological progress, backstop technological progress and autogenous structural ecologicalization are the main drivers of sustainable economic growth. Second, innovation policies have a positive impact on national economic growth by promoting pollution abatement technological progress. Finally, in sub-regions’ regression, backstop and environment technology, and structural ecologicalization promote eastern China’s economy, while policies drive environment technological progress and structural ecologicalization to stimulate economic growth in central and western China. Our results imply that policymakers should take into consideration the readiness levels of each region regarding the adoption of Industry 4.0 and circular economy, and that the government should consider and ensure the participation of all stakeholders, including firms.

Robustness of the Link between Precipitation in North Africa and Standard Modes of Atmospheric Variability during the Last Millennium

Drought is a recurring phenomenon in North Africa, and extended dry periods can have a serious impact on economic and social structures, as well as the natural environment. Consequently, understanding the mechanisms that underlie precipitation variability in the region is a key driver of sustainable economic growth in activities such as agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and transport. North Africa’s climate differs significantly between coastal and inland areas. The region has a Mediterranean climate along the coast, characterized by mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers with reasonable rainfall of around 400 to 600 mm per year. The link between winter precipitation variability in this region and atmospheric patterns is assessed here using several gridded datasets of observations and reanalysis as well as model simulations from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and the third phase of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP) covering the last millennium. Results show that the link between the zonal wind index at 850 hPa (U850) and winter precipitation is stronger and more robust over time than the link with some well-known modes of variability, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Mediterranean Oscillation (MO), and Western Mediterranean Oscillation (WeMO). U850 better explains the interannual changes in winter precipitation variability in North Africa for the past decades as well as the last millennium. Both winter precipitation and U850 simulated time series present significant decreasing trends, associated with drier conditions, starting in the 19th century. This is in agreement with the reconstructed and simulated Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), which shows a decreasing trend toward drying conditions in North Africa.

Economic profitability of particleboards production with a diversified raw material structure

To achieve sustainable development, coherence of three key elements is necessary: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. They are interconnected and all are extremely important for achieving the well-being of individuals and entire societies. One of the key drivers of sustainable economic growth is the furniture industry, which is related to the maximum optimization of production cost while main-taining the high quality of the offered products. However, the expected material deficit may contribute to a significant weakening of growth dynamics. One of the possible solutions to this problem is harvesting timber from plantations of fast-growing trees that could supplement the increasing deficit of wood raw material. The research aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of particleboard technology modification involving the change in the structure of raw material by introducing wood from fast-growing tree plantations. The research included an estimation of the unit cost of 1 m3 particleboard manufactured in the series production process. The analysis was carried out on the example of one of the leading particleboard suppliers for the Polish furniture industry and consisted in comparing the cost of production of particleboards based on wood from fast-growing tree plantations with the cost of particleboards, which are commonly available on the market. Three variants of the diversified raw material structure were taken into account: 100 % share (1), 50 % share (2) and 25 % share (3) of raw material from fast-growing tree plantations. The time range of the studies was adopted for the years 2014-2020. The research indicates that the introduction of wood from fast-growing tree plantations into the production of particleboards enables the production of material and energy cost savings at the level of 6 % (3rd variant) to even 17 % (1st variant). Variant 1 of material structure can lead to cost reduction at the level of US$ 13,0 million (in case of particleboards production capacity 570000 m3)

ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE AS THE DRIVER OF ECONOMIC GROWTH

The role and function of entrepreneurial culture get more important and is the main driver of sustainable regional and national economic growth in Indonesia. The specific purpose of this article is to explain the role of entrepreneurial culture as the driver of regional economic growth in Central Java, Indonesia. For the purpose of this research, a survey for primary data and recursive model of path analysis are employed. The research results show positive and significance influence of entrepreneurial culture and network as well as competition on regional economic growth. With the principle of “tuna satak bati sanak” culture as the basic behavioral pattern of their business, the social entrepreneurial network and entrepreneurial culture in the research area are strengthened. Therefore, with support of entrepreneurial culture, the growth of entrepreneurship in Indonesia will serve more to be the main driver of sustainable economic growth.

Entrepreneurial Finance and Economic Growth: A Canadian Overview

Equity capital plays an important and growing role in connecting financial resources to investment opportunities in a highly productive manner. Exchange-listed companies, IPOs, venture capital and private equity are all complementary investment avenues. Each plays a vital role that allows companies more efficient access to capital for improving productivity, boosting long-term growth and innovation, and creating better jobs. On this dimension, Canada enjoys an enviable position. Despite these positive factors, Canada’s ranking compared to that of other major economies on key dimensions of competitiveness and drivers of sustainable economic growth has been declining. In 2009-10, Canada ranked ninth on the Global Competitiveness Index; in 2018, it had fallen to twelfth place. More worrisome for the future is that Canada’s lacklustre performance in areas known to be significant contributors to productivity, competitiveness and sustainable growth is pervasive across industries and regions. Although the Canadian financial industry cannot be held responsible for all the shortcomings in Canada’s performance, there is no escaping that a disconnect seems to exist between the generally favourable assessment of the effectiveness and strength of the Canadian financial industry and the overall competitiveness of the Canadian economy in the short and long run. One potential explanation has to do with the median size of exits in Canada, which is almost an order of magnitude smaller than in the United States. Moreover, institutional equity investors often engage in sales to foreign firms rather than IPOs. One powerful disincentive to exit through public markets is federal government tax policies that discriminate against and penalize Canadian innovative and high-growth companies that “go public.” In addition to correcting these counterproductive biases, serious consideration should be given to adopting a tax measure similar to the US Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, which provides for full exemption from federal taxation of capital gains realized on the sale of the shares of certain small businesses. There is empirical evidence that the exemption has had a significantly positive effect in the US. Serious consideration should also be given to reducing the capital gains tax on shares issued by qualified SMEs when they list on a Canadian stock exchange and are held by individual investors for a reasonable period of time, since evidence suggests that capital gains taxes influence the underpricing of IPOs. The adoption of such a tax measure applicable to exits by an IPO or upon listing the shares on a Canadian stock exchange would help establish a more neutral playground for the choice of exits, which, to a large extent, is the crux of the matter.