Economic Fallout Research Articles

Fragile Bonds of Recognition: Exploring the Social Underpinnings of Sentiments of Exclusion in Post-1989 East Germany

AbstractRecently, as a corollary of intensified efforts to understand the rise of right-wing populism, the topic of social recognition has gained renewed attention in sociological research. It seems that a sense of misrecognition and exclusion is shaped as much by cultural as by economic factors. Just how these elements are interlinked, however, remains a black box. In this article, I offer an empirical contribution to this problem: I demonstrate that social recognition is nourished in everyday interpersonal relations and that people negotiate ideas of economic deservingness in their social surroundings—so much so, in fact, that they make social ties dependent on them. The article studies the case of the post-1989 societal shifts in formerly communist-ruled East Germany, a context marked by a pervasive sense of social exclusion today. In interviews with 41 individuals who lived through this rupturing process, I identify a crucial dynamic of social misrecognition in how respondents evaluate other peoples’ strategies of coping with the economic fallout of this time and how they draw—often deeply personal—boundaries between themselves and others on these grounds.

A New Approach to Energy Transition in Morocco for Low Carbon and Sustainable Industry (Case of Textile Sector)

Morocco has resolutely committed to the green transition of its economy by opting for industry decarbonation, which now imposes itself as an essential access criterion to foreign markets. Intending to include energy efficiency in the leading players in energy-intensive industries, this paper has the main objective of contributing to a better understanding of the decarbonation plans potential impact, taking the example of solar energy integrating opportunities as an action for a thrifty, sustainable, and low carbon Moroccan industry. Indeed, the paper focuses on the industrial textile sector, such as the energy-intensive industry. This sector is the first employer and the most important industrial activity; it is also an icon and the oldest industry in Morocco. This study examines the energy, economic and environmental fallout, evaluating the productions, the investment and the CO2 emissions limit. Besides, the energy industrial sector is characterized by a strong dependence on fossil imports, which increases the energy factor and price. In this regard, several geographical sites and factories were studied under six climatic regional conditions, proposing the most optimal and sustainable configurations for each location and present models with scopes and levels of energy and environment gains and investments that can inspire the sector actors. Then the present work must install concepts by inspiring local factories, accompanying the national vision, and resizing the industrial ecology. In this paper, a power of 8.88 MW is the total power installed, which provides an annual total of 8484.65 tonnes of CO2, with an average payback time between 2.6 years and 4.5 years, and attractive economic parameters, with an LCOE of 0.034 $/kWh and $181,863 for the NPC, those outputs shows the importance of environmental gains that the generalization of this strategic vision can achieve.

The Dollar as a Mutual Problem: New Transatlantic Interdependence in Finance

When the 2007 global financial crisis hit financial markets, European leaders were quick to point the finger at US markets, excessive risk-taking, and insufficient regulation. However, it soon became apparent that European banks were more exposed than their Wall Street counterparts. With massive dollar liabilities, European banks were dependent on the US to act as a global lender of last resort. The crisis revealed a level of transatlantic interdependence that had been unknown to most observers and policymakers prior to the crisis. We argue that this represents a paradox, given that the project of the European Monetary Union was partly motivated by a desire to make Europe more independent from the US dollar. The euro was a response to the challenge of “it’s our dollar, but it’s your problem.” In this article, we examine how the European vulnerability to the US dollar that began post-Bretton Woods did not, in fact, disappear with the creation of a European currency. Instead, through financialization and deregulation, European financial markets developed new, complex interactions with US financial markets. This financialization of transatlantic banking flows created a new type of interdependence. As European banks were so heavily invested in US markets, this gave the US authorities a direct interest in bailing them out. While cross-border banking flows have decreased since the crisis, the interdependencies remain, and currency swaps were used once again to handle the economic fallout from Covid-19. In the area of financial and monetary policy, the transatlantic relationship remains strong and stable within a dollar hegemony.

Vulnerability and Pathways to Precarity: How COVID-19 Has Affected Japan’s Nepali Immigrants

Abstract This article explores the impact of COVID-19 on Nepali immigrants working as cooks in Nepali-owned Indian curry restaurants, one of the largest ethnic entrepreneurships in Japan. The COVID pandemic disproportionally affected the socio-economic situation of the restaurants’ owners and their cooks based on structural (dis)advantages. Many Nepali cooks have lost their jobs, and those who have stayed employed have seen their salaries reduced by 30–50%. As a result, cooks, who were already a vulnerable group, have been pushed into a more precarious situation, struggling to merely survive. However, surprisingly, more than 90% of Nepali restaurant owners have maintained their business operations and are still better positioned to weather this crisis than the cooks in their restaurants. This raises an important question: why are Nepali restaurant owners able to cope with the economic fall-out of the pandemic when Nepali restaurant cooks fell into destitution due to the coronavirus pandemic? Based on in-depth research in Japan and Nepal conducted from March 2020 to June 2021, and supplemented by my long-term research before the pandemic, this article will examine Nepali cooks’ social, economic, and structural vulnerabilities by emphasizing their responses to the pandemic and its outcome. Through the voices of the cooks, their families, and Nepali restaurants owners, I demonstrate how the vulnerability and the unequal effects of the pandemic, compounded by preexisting social inequality, exploitation, and socio-economic hierarchies are reverberating throughout the Nepali restaurant industry. Furthermore, by analyzing the relationship between the cooks and the owners, I argue that social networks at meso level not only increase migrants’ ‘resilience’, as suggested by vulnerabilities scholars but conversely involve a measure of exploitation and produce vulnerabilities.

Collision of Covid-19 Pandemic Lockdown on the Economic Conditions among Women: A Sociological Perception

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an alarming impact on women globally, with women being disproportionately affected by job loss and burnout as they juggle work with care giving demands. Economic fallout by the Covid-19 pandemic is having a inconsiderate impact on them and they are disproportionately represented in sectors offering low wages, few benefits and the least secure jobs. Women, who are the only bread earners of their families especially widows, have faced an economic failure which later effects other parts of their life as well, such as; in education of their children, nutritious food, health conditions, shelter and in cities usually people used to live on the rent rooms or houses and for those people they have to pay the rent of the house, electricity bills, water connections etc. And it has been found that low-income women, ageing women, and single mothers, around the world and especially from developing countries, encounter the inequalities that exist for women and also the vulnerabilities of belonging to another relatively disadvantaged group of society as well. This paper places the interest on major impacts of Covid-19 pandemic lockdown on different issues and especially on economic toll through which the women are facing many more difficulties to survive. The study is based on reviewing of primary data sources (observations) as well as secondary sources of data. On the basis of the recommendations given in this review based study, the government and non-governmental organizations should look towards these issues that the women are facing since the early days of Covid-19 pandemic.

An Affordable Identity—Customisation Prior to Housing Construction in Australia

This paper presents a study that explores an affordable housing scheme which allows customisation prior to construction for owner-occupiers. Due to ongoing concerns about the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affecting large populations, the demand for affordable housing is increasing. In particular, low-income households continue to struggle with unaffordable rents throughout major Australian cities. Assailed by this growing affordability crisis and deemed environmentally unsustainable, Australian suburbs are in need of revitalisation. The implementation of mass customisation solutions can heighten the sense of identity within a community and also significantly increase occupant satisfaction. However, presently, there is a lack of studies discussing the financial model and design of affordable mass customisation solutions for housing. To address that gap, this paper employs the method of case studies by analysing five relevant cases from the perspectives of affordability and customisation. The results of this study indicate that there is great room for future improvement in what is currently claimed to be defined as affordable housing, in terms of both affordability and customisation. These results will potentially assist and provide guidance to future architects, developers and planners.

Review: The Wealth of Refugees: How Displaced People Can Build Economies, by Alexander Betts

Book Review| April 01 2022 Review: The Wealth of Refugees: How Displaced People Can Build Economies, by Alexander Betts The Wealth of Refugees: How Displaced People Can Build Economies, by Alexander Betts. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2021. 430 pages. $25.95 (hardcover). ISBN: 9780198870685. Dorian Brown Crosby Dorian Brown Crosby Spelman College Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar National Review of Black Politics (2022) 3 (1-2): 57–60. https://doi.org/10.1525/nrbp.2022.3.1-2.57 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Dorian Brown Crosby; Review: The Wealth of Refugees: How Displaced People Can Build Economies, by Alexander Betts. National Review of Black Politics 1 April 2022; 3 (1-2): 57–60. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/nrbp.2022.3.1-2.57 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentNational Review of Black Politics Search Alexander Betts’s The Wealth of Refugees: How Displaced People Can Build Economies elucidates displaced peoples’ often overlooked economic contributions and agency. Betts accurately notes that the number of globally displaced persons steadily increases. At the same time, policies of resource-rich States continue to reject them. The book’s central argument is “that within this age of displacement, the key to sustainability lies in unlocking the potential contributions of refugees themselves” (viii). Betts’s refugee inclusivity strikes a musical note in the choir of positive refugee narratives. The purpose of the book is to provide practical solutions for refugees as they carve out dignified lives amid challenges such as the economic fallout from the pandemic, rising populism and nationalism, and the decreasing willingness of Western countries to admit displaced persons. To that end, Betts asks, “How can we create sustainable refugee policies that can enable displaced people to live in safety and dignity... You do not currently have access to this content.

Carceral Structures: Financialized Displacement and Captivity in Detroit

This article develops an analytic of carceral structures that bridge processes of racist inclusion and exclusion. It does so by examining the relocation of a county jail from Detroit's central business district into a hazardous waste corridor. In recent years, county administrators have funded jail expansions using revenues from tax foreclosure surpluses produced by evicting majority-Black Detroit residents. Buildings that disappear Black people within the strictures of mass incarceration are financed by the mass displacement of Black people from their homes. Jails have been central features of Detroit's downtown neighborhood since the 19th century. Surrounding property owners celebrated their late 20th century expansions as a means of supporting districts experiencing the economic fallout of racist population loss. However, when county administrators ran out of funds to complete a jail expansion, developers successfully lobbied to transform the jail site into a campus of a majority-white university. Their plan included rehousing incarcerated people in new jails constructed on the site of unused warehouses adjacent to an incinerator. By attending to Black Detroiters as they navigate dislocations that make incarceration financially possible, this article argues that uneven development is funded by the articulation of racist displacement with racist captivity. In so doing, it offers a model for identifying the expansive structures of carceral institutions as they organize the production of space in the context of racial capitalism.

Reasons for Suicide Attempts in South India during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: By increasing the risk of isolation, fear, stigma, abuse, and economic fallout, COVID-19 has led to an increase in the risk of psychiatric disorders, chronic trauma, and stress. These factors eventually increase suicidality and suicidal behavior. This study intends to evaluate the reasons for suicide attempts due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the south Indian population.Design: Cross-sectional studySetting: The study was conducted in R. L. Jalappa Hospital and Research Centre, Kolar.Participants: This study was conducted on 91 patients admitted to the general medicine department for a suicide attempt because of the COVID 19 pandemic.Methods: A single examiner conducted a structured interview with a pretested questionnaire with each participant. Participants were asked to indicate the primary reason or motivation for their suicide attempt. Patients answered a set of questions regarding personal and family concerns (marginalization, fear and uncertainty, domestic abuse, loneliness, grief over loss of loved one) and work-related concerns (economic fallout, high-risk environment, shortage of personnel and personal protective equipment [PPE]). We employed mean and standard deviation to descriptively analyze quantitative variables. Categorical variables were expressed in terms of frequency and proportion. For non-normally-distributed quantitative parameters, medians and interquartile range (IQR) were compared across study groups using the Kruskal-Wallis test (> 2 groups). Data was analyzed using coGuide software, V.1.03.Results: The mean age of participants was 29.47±11.06 years, the majority (43.63%) of which were aged between 21 to 40 years of age. The majority (72.53%) of participants reported personal and family concerns as reasons/motivation for suicide, whereas only 17.58% reported work-related concerns. There was a statistically significant difference across reason or motivation for suicide with age (in years) and gender (P value < 0.001).Conclusion: The study concluded that more than half of the patients indicated personal and family concerns as the major reason for suicide attempts during the pandemic. It is vital to emphasize the mental health well-being of the population and take proactive steps to minimize its detrimental effects during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The implications of remittances for agricultural land use and fuelwood collection: evidence from the remaining forested landscapes in the Philippines

Despite the projected sharpest decline in remittances in history due to the global economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, remittances are expected to remain an important source of external financing for many developing countries. The Philippines is among the top five recipients of remittances worldwide, while outmigration is an important livelihood strategy for rural communities in the country due to rapid population growth, poor employment opportunities, and scarce agricultural land. Migration and remittances can influence smallholder land use with potential implications for forest resource use through an impact on household income and household decisions on local activities. However, little attention has been paid in previous research to how remittances relate to changes in rural households’ land use and their implications for forests. The goal of this study is to investigate the links between the inflow of both international and internal remittances and rural households’ land use in forested landscapes in the Philippines. In order to do that, we use the data from 1024 household surveys and an instrumental variable approach to investigate the impact of remittances on fuelwood use and on the area cultivated by perennials and cereals. The findings of this study show that remittances positively influence the size of land planted by perennials and reduce households’ reliance on fuelwood use. Our findings provide an improved understanding of the links between migration—remittances—natural resource management, which will become especially relevant as countries struggle to deal with the economic fallout associated with COVID-19. We argue that demographic policy measures should play a bigger role in land use, land use change, and forestry negotiations than before. Moreover, global sustainability agendas such as the sustainable development goals should recognize the impacts of migration on natural resources to help bridge the gap between developmental and environmental goals.

Economic Anxiety and the Performance of SMEs during COVID-19: A Cross-National Study in Kuwait

The focal aim of the project was to assess the economic anxiety (EA) and the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) during partial and full lockdowns in Kuwait. The challenges facing the SMEs during COVID-19 and the potential solutions were also explored. The call for this vital investigation was due to the global economic fallout and the shocking drop within the marketplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive approach was used for online survey design to collect datasets from 147 SMEs spanning all governorates of Kuwait in the period between March and June 2021. It included sociodemographic data, economic anxiety perception, potential challenges and solutions to SMEs, and SMEs’ performance. The data analysis using SPSS 25 showed that 78.2% of the SMEs were affected directly by the COVID-19 pandemic, and about 83% were affected negatively by the COVID-19 pandemic. In comparison, only 12.2% experienced a positive impact, mainly medical, technology, social media, food supplies, and delivery or logistics industries. With great concerns of SMEs for all dimensions related to economic anxiety (with an average of around 3.95), the greatest concerns were the financial and cash flow, followed by labor shortage (an average between 4.51 and 5.00). The results also showed that most of the performance indicators for the SMEs were low (with an average of less than or equal to 2.5), and more than 66% of them worked fewer hours during the pandemic; the number of operating hours was dropped dramatically. More than 74% of the SMEs used technology in more than 20% of their activities, representing an increase in using technologies of about 44%, and about 25.2% used social networks in more than 80% of their activities. The performance of SMEs is also found to be significantly and positively correlated with the economic anxiety levels, with a correlation coefficient of 0.186. The findings revealed significant and crucial outcomes for policymaking, decision-makers, and governmental agencies to build recovery plans and proper actions needed to manage the consequences caused by the disaster against the economic and other developments within the context of SMEs. Overall, there is a clear need to find ways and customize operations to adapt to the new work modes that require social distancing, online operations, and site management. In addition, new alternative modes of SMEs work follow to compensate for the lower working hours from the office and increased online working from home.

The impact of natural disasters on the performance and solvency of US banks

PurposeThis paper explores the effect of natural disasters on the profitability and solvency of US banks.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a sample of 187 large-scale natural disasters that occurred in the United States between 2000 and 2014 and a sample of 2,891 banks, we examine whether and how disaster-related damages affect various measures of bank profitability and bank solvency. We differentiate between different types of banks (with local, regional and national operations) based on a breakdown of their state-level deposits and explore the reaction of these banks to damages weighted by the GDP of the states they operate in.FindingsWe find that natural disasters have a pronounced effect on the net-income-to-assets and the net-income-to-equity ratio of banks, as well as the banks' impaired loans and return on average assets. We also observe significant effects on the equity ratio and the tier-1 capital ratio (two solvency measures). Interestingly, the latter are positive for regional banks which appear to benefit from increased customer deposits related to safekeeping, government payments for post-disaster recovery, insurance payouts and decreased withdrawals, while they are significantly negative for banks that operate locally or nationally.Originality/valueWe contribute to the literature by offering various new insights regarding the effects natural disasters have on financial institutions. With climate change-driven natural disasters widely expected to increase both in terms of frequency and severity, their economic fallout is likely to impose an increasing burden on financial institutions. Large, nationally operating banks tend to be well diversified both geographically and in terms of their product offerings. Small, locally operating banks, however, are increasingly at risk – particularly if they operate in disaster-prone areas. Current banking regulations generally do not factor natural disaster risks into their capital requirements. To avoid the next big financial crisis, regulators may want to adjust their reserve requirements by taking this growing risk exposure into consideration.

Does COVID-19 really make people risk aversion in investment decision-making?

The economic fallout from COVID-19 pandemic changes individuals’ investment perceptions and behaviors in a tremendous way. Consequently, investment decision-making has been affected as people have to adjust to the new environment. This study aims to study whether COVID-19 really make people risk aversion due to the economic slowdown. Our empirical results are analyzed from household finance data in U.S in July 2021. It is found that COVID-19 proximity, income, and occupation are positively associate with risking taking in investment decision-making, while age and family size are not. This study contributes to the newly emerged body of knowledge on post pandemic investment decision-making and risk behavior analysis and provide implications for financial investment institutions.

ZADUŽENOST U VRIJEME PANDEMIJE COVID-19 – SLUČAJ BOSNE I HERCEGOVINE

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global unprecedented event since the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918. The IMF addressed this pandemic-caused economic fallout as the worst crisis since the Great Depression. Entire continents are in lockdowns just with essential services and activities. Unlike the global financial crisis that derived from a financial sector, this pandemic-caused crisis is shock in real economy, both on the demand and supply side. During previous crisis, especially during global financial crisis, most governments responded with austerity measures and fiscal consolidation. This time it is different. Governments worldwide approved additional expenditures, tax cuts, government bond issuance and borrowing in order to mitigate economic consequences of the looming crisis. One of the pandemic’s result is dramatic increase of indebtedness that could affect efficiency of fiscal and monetary responses created before to fight against crisis. This sudden and strong COVID-10 shock especially effects developing countries and emerging markets, but also advanced countries with already limited fiscal space. The COVID-19 pandemic-caused crisis evoked again fear of debt crisis and expanded a number of countries with indebtedness problems. Bosnia and Herzegovina as developing country with complex state structure and its own macroeconomic, political, institutional problems is not spared of negative effects of the pandemic. In order to save economy when recovery from the previous crisis is still in swing, Bosnia and Herzegovina did emergency measures to support economy. Increase of government spending in addition to reduced tax revenues have created the need for budget rebalance and additional borrowing. The aim of this work is to show macroeconomic situation and problems in the EU countries, countries in the region and especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina before the pandemic as well as current problems, their reactions to COVID-19 pandemic and necessary financial support that could cause increase of indebtedness.

Challenges in Nuclear Posture and Deterrence from China’s Perspective

South Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world today. Since India and Pakistan embarked on their path of open nuclear weapons development with their nuclear tests in 1998, nuclear deterrence between the two countries has become an important pillar within the South Asian security architecture. As strategic stability in the region is increasingly fragile, a number of these factors also impact China’s security, through economic and political fallout, as well as nuclear impacts on deterrence, arms races and crisis stability. The ongoing Kashmir dispute, challenges to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, as well as shifting nuclear postures and Indo-Pacific strategies all merit greater attention. This essay will address these trends, in addition to how China’s South Asia policy may best prioritise the enhancement of nuclear stability in the region.

External enablers of Eurozone austerity: exploring the link between the ease of suppressing domestic spending and trading partners’ demand

ABSTRACT In the onset and aftermath of the Eurozone crisis, why did the currency area stick to policies suppressing domestic spending and forcing up saving? And why could some countries uphold these policies easier than others? This paper explores how individual Eurozone members’ ease of suppressing spending was linked to the policy choices of their trading partners. It finds that beyond domestic ideological preferences, sectoral interests or distributive politics, Europe’s austerity bias was bolstered by a convenient external option: positive external demand shocks from China and the United States alleviated the employment costs of weakened home markets. The analysis of balance-of-payments and employment statistics is nested in a case comparison framework: it draws a parallel between Germany and Ireland and finds that, compared to their surplus and deficit country groups, these perceived ‘success cases’ of austerity were aided by their better position to benefit from foreign demand boosts through favourable export product mixes and established ties to faster-growing partners. Reliance on global demand, however, was only possible because of the regional nature of the shock; such boosts are absent in case of more widespread demand collapses like the Global Financial Crisis or the economic fallout in the wake of COVID-19.

Effects of COVID-19 on maternal anxiety and depressive disease: a literature review

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection is a public health emergency of international concern. Pandemics pose a challenge to psychological resilience and can have an adverse impact on mental health. The impact of the ensuing social isolation and loneliness imposed by quarantine along with the worries about the risks of the infection and its economic fallout would appear likely to affect the mental health of the population. It has been reported that women are more likely to experience anxiety and depression symptoms during COVID-19 than men. COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the level of anxiety and depression of pregnant women according to their basal level and pregnancy characteristics. Antenatal mental disorders may be a risk factor for maternal mental health problems such as an increased likelihood of postnatal depression and adverse obstetric and developmental outcomes. Effective coping strategies are associated with better psychological wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced anxiety and depression. The increased risk of mental disorders due to COVID-19 requires policies to be developed to address prenatal and postpartum care to promote maternal-child wellbeing outcomes.

Evaluation of Transportation Infrastructure: A Case Study of Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 1&amp;2

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there has been increased reliance on new infrastructure projects to counter economic fallout and underpin employment security. Urban and inter-urban transportation projects, such as major road, rail and port facilities, are popular choices for national and state governments in Australia as they provide broad fiscal support across all sectors of the economy. The problem with stimulus is making sure that the quality of the new infrastructure provides collective utility to a community or region. Whether the benefits will be worthwhile and represent best use of resource inputs requires financial, social, ethical and environmental consequences to be evaluated in a comparable format. The aim in this paper is to analyse the Gold Coast Light Rail (GCLR) Stage 1&amp;2 project using a method that is capable of merging tangible and intangible criteria using an ordinal ranking algorithm. While the GCLR case study is undertaken with the benefit of hindsight, normally these types of evaluations are performed in real time as a project progresses from initiation (design) to implementation (deliver) and influence (delight). The method adopted in this study represents a modern form of multi-criteria decision-making, which enables successful projects to be distinguished from unsuccessful ones using a time period from commencement until one full year of operation has occurred. The i3d3 model, developed by a team from Bond University, has the unique benefit of ranking projects from best to worst across an organisational portfolio, geographic region or industry sector. It also supports past project performance to inform new design through application of a continuous improvement process of recording lessons learned. The GCLR case study calculated 100% of the critical success factors in the model to be positive and produced an overall success ranking of 23 (on a scale of -100 to +100). This paper presents the approach taken to evaluate GCLR’s level of success and the calculations that took place to reach this finding. This is the first time i3d3 has been used on an Australian project.

Well-being disparities during the COVID-19 outbreak: Evidence from Malta.

As governments struggled to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, individuals across the globe experienced considerable impacts on their lifestyles and well-being. This study examines these impacts in Malta, where COVID-19 first broke out in early March 2020. Within days, government authorities had instituted a range of restrictions, culminating in lockdown for older persons. A survey undertaken toward the end of the month (1,821 respondents) yielded the necessary data to estimate an econometric model of subjective well-being. This sheds light on the considerable impact that COVID-19 had on self-assessed happiness and life satisfaction and on the resulting disparities that arose. Significant effects were experienced by those who were exposed to or concerned about the effects of COVID-19. A significant and negative association was also found to exist between old age and happiness. Working from home and having a university degree were found to be positively associated with happiness. Typically important positive predictors of well-being, such as social interaction and engagement in outdoor activities, failed to predict well-being at all during the COVID-19 outbreak in Malta. On the other hand, engaging in sport, artistic work or voluntary work continued to be associated with higher levels of self-assessed happiness and life satisfaction. These findings yield insights on the broader impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Republic of Palau: 2021 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Palau

The COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures have severely impacted the economy. Border closure and the suspension of commercial flights curtailed tourist arrivals. Real GDP contracted by 9.7 percent in FY2020, notwithstanding policy support. The economic contraction is estimated to have deepened in FY2021, and a gradual recovery is expected in FY2022 as tourism activities resume. While Palau’s public debt remains sustainable, the economic fallout of the pandemic and the cost of the fiscal response have led to a sharp deterioration of the fiscal position and a rapid increase in public debt. The high share of concessional loans from multilateral creditors in Palau’s external debt is an important risk mitigating factor. Palau is vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters.