Economic Imbalances Research Articles

Modeling of Thermochemical Conversion of Glycerol: Pyrolysis and H2O and CO2 Gasification

Glycerol is the byproduct of biodiesel production. Biodiesel has been considered a strong alternative candidate to petro diesel. Stoichiometrically, one mole of glycerol is generated during the conversion of one mole of triglyceride feedstock or per three produced moles of biodiesel. This an equivalent to 10–15% byproduct volume/mass. The biodiesel production has observed a huge jump in production, being preserved as a renewable, sustainable and near CO2 neutral source. This is driven by advances in technology of 1st generation biomass lipid harvesting and advancement of 3rd generation breeding and maximizing algae lipids and their extraction. Therefore, a sound solution for velarizing the glycerol byproduct is becoming a necessity before it is viewed as waste burden. Currently, the glycerol market is saturated and substantial production can lead to an economic imbalance. Therefore, satisfying the energy needs following thermochemical conversion of glycerol into clean syngas fuel is a more favorable and dual solution to the problem, i.e. reducing process waste and generating clean fuel. In this work, the process metrics in using Glycerol as feedstock for the production of syngas fuel is evaluated under pyrolysis then gasification under steam (H2O(g)) and CO2 moderators. Process metrics are assessed using the syngas mole fractions and their normalized value termed as the cold gasification efficiency. The analysis followed equilibrium modeling based on Gibbs Energy Minimization and under sweeping reaction temperatures. The model is validated against experimental literature. Result of glycerol pyrolysis achieved a maximum of 83% at 0.43 CO and 0.57 H2 mole fraction. Glycerol gasification under steam moderator resulted in a slightly higher efficiency of 84% and 0.20 CO and 0.55 H2 mole fractions, while under CO2 moderator resulted in a lower efficiency of 80% and 0.40 CO and 0.30 H2 mole fractions. This emphasizes the technical feasibility of thermochemical conversion of glycerol into clean syngas and closes the loop of biodiesel production towards zero byproduct process.

El fin de la frontera agrícola en Nicaragua y su impacto en el desarrollo nacional

El fin de la frontera agrícola en Nicaragua significa el fin de la disponibilidad de tierra para aumentar la producción agropecuaria extensiva, la cual, desde 1950 hasta ahora, es la principal base de la economía Nicaragüense. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo, describir el proceso de destrucción de los recursos naturales en la frontera agrícola y explicar el mecanismo social que condujo a esta situación. En el proceso de investigación, se revisó bibliografía desde 1950, se utilizaron datos cuantitativos de instituciones nacionales e internacionales en forma comparativa y se formaron variables cuantitativas y cualitativas para explicar el fenómeno y hacer predicciones científicas. Se presenta la tesis, que el agotamiento de tierra disponible, combinado con los graves efectos de cambio climático en la disponibilidad de agua, conduce a Nicaragua por primera vez en su historia, en un desequilibrio económico y un posible conflicto social grave. La propuesta para evitar la crisis, es la alianza entre productores, estratos de la comunidad epistémica y gobierno, que permita cambiar las políticas públicas del estado y establecer una agroindustria sostenible para una producción sostenible, en sustitución de la actual agroindustria de empresas carteles oligopsonicos

Arctic Transformations: Multinational Companies Facing the New Challenges of Sustainable Development

What is the impact of the ongoing transformations in the Arctic region – global warming, socio-economic and institutional changes – on internationalization in the Arctic and the activities of multinational companies in the polar regions of the Arctic countries? What is the role of multinational companies in the sustainable development of these regions, including the ensuring of the welfare of the northerners? The article attempts to answer these questions and discuss new approaches to the problem of sustainable development in the Arctic region with its extremely vulnerable and severe nature, large reserves of natural resources, unique human potential, dynamically developing economy, infrastructure and active involvement in the world economy. The main emphasis is on the assessing of the social component in the triangle of the interrelated priorities of sustainable development – social, environmental and economic. The analysis showed that the consequences of systemic transformations form a new context for the activities of multinational companies, which have to adapt their corporate strategies to the Arctic specifics. The northern regions are actively involved in internationalization; a significant part of their GRP is produced by enterprises controlled by multinational companies. Assessments of the role of multinational companies for the local population and sustainable development are mixed. Such companies help to modernize the economy and infrastructure, create jobs, place orders with local producers, and develop human potential. In a number of countries, the control of the local population over the activities of multinational corporations (USA, Canada) is strengthening. At the same time, serious social and economic imbalances arise, including social disproportions and stratification of the population, as well as challenges for traditional activities and nature. The contribution of the Arctic regions to the world economy is almost five times higher than their share in the world population. Obtaining a social license from the northerners, implementing corporate social responsibility is becoming a popular instrument used by multinational companies to support their activities in the Arctic. The interaction between the state and multinational companies is strengthening, and the forms of state regulation of the access to natural resources and infrastructure are being diversified. The study is based on the analysis of the practices of foreign Arctic countries, rich in mineral and energy resources – the USA, Canada and Norway; their approaches and practices may be of interest to Russia and its northern regions. In conclusion, new scientific concepts of adaptive governance of sustainable development and its inclusiveness in the context of the interaction between transforming natural and social systems in the Arctic are summarized.

Can we hope to break the vicious circle of inertia in Croatia? A commentary on the Commission’s European Semester Winter Package

On March 13th in Zagreb, the European Commission representation in Croatia presented the analysis of the economic and social situation, including, among other things, an analysis of the implementation of country-specific recommendations (CSRs) and an assessment of potential economic imbalances.

Examining the Association of Economic Development with Intercity Multimodal Transport Demand in China: A Focus on Spatial Autoregressive Analysis

Transportation is generally perceived as a catalyst for economic development. This has been highlighted in previous studies. However, less attention has been paid to examine the relationship between economy and transport demand by exploring spatially cross-sectional data, especially for countries with significant regional economic imbalance, like China. In this article, we assess the economic influence of intercity multimodal transport demand at the prefecture level in China. Spatial autoregressive regression models are used to examine the impact of transport demand on economy by deep analysis of transport modes (land, air, and water) and regions (eastern, central, and western). Through contrasting results from spatial lag model and spatial error model with those from the ordinary least square, this study finds that the estimation results can become more accurate by controlling for spatial autocorrelation, especially at the national level. Through rigorous analysis it is identified that except for water passenger traffic, all other intercity transport demand significantly contribute to a city’s economic development level in gross domestic product. In particular, air transport demands distribute more evenly and are estimated with the highest beta coefficients at both national and regional levels. In addition, the beta coefficients for land, air and water transportation are estimated with different magnitudes and significances at the national and regional levels. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on the relationship between intercity multimodal transport demand and economic development level. Findings from this paper provide planning makers with valid and efficient strategies to better develop the economy by leveraging the special “⊣” cluster pattern of economic development and the benefits of air transportation.

Challenges and Countermeasures of China’s Economic Development under the Background of “One Belt One Road”

Belt One is a new type of strategy for China’s entering a new normal state to promote sustainable economic development, which embodies the top Chinese design wisdom of open to promote reform, reform to promote development, development to promote transformation. Opening to the outside world provides the excess capacity to release the channel and the power to optimize industrial structure. However, its own investment in the low efficiency, economic security threats and further structural economic imbalance will make the construction of Belt One Road face more challenges. Therefore, this paper systematically analyses the situation of China's economic development to refine the challenges of China's economic development under the background of Belt One Road, and gives corresponding countermeasures to help China to formulate feasible macroeconomic plans.

Європейський досвід завчасного виявлення макроекономічних дисбалансів: рекомендації для України

The article presents the experience of establishing a system for the early identification of macroeconomic imbalances and introduction of the procedure for their correction in the EU member states. Considered the main components: methodology, normative legal basis, and results. The author investigates methodological and monitoring materials related to the detection of macroeconomic imbalances, as well as the main indicators of living standards developed in Ukrainian state executive bodies. It has been proved that official analytical materials are insufficient to identify the main macroeconomic imbalances, as well as the fact that Ukraine has neither a mechanism for responding to identified imbalances nor a system for the prevention of crisis phenomena. The author provides various recommendations on the introduction of mechanisms for the early detection of macroeconomic imbalances and the implementation of systemic measures for their correction. To monitor the domestic imbalances, author proposes the main indicators of the macrostructural institutional scoreboard; and, to monitor the external ones – indicators of the scoreboard of foreign economic imbalances, as well as indicators for the scoreboards of labor activity and social imbalances. To make decisions on prevention or correction of imbalances, it is proposed to create, at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, a Commission for the Prevention and Correction of Macroeconomic Imbalances whose authorities would include a compulsory expertise (with the right of rejection) of all bills that could provoke emergence or strengthening of macroeconomic imbalances.

Mutual Economic Interdependence or Economic Imbalance: Turkish Private Sector Presence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

This article concentrates on the deepening of Ankara-Erbil relations, with a specific focus on the presence of the Turkish private sector in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) between 2004 and 2014. During that period, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) failed to implement important structural reforms to diversify the economy and ensure economic stability. The absence of a strong local private sector, independent from government-led economic activity, hindered the potential for the region to become completely self-reliant. Due to the liberal economic framework and insufficient government capacity to oversee private sector operations, foreign corporations could operate in the area without deliberately contributing to the long-term socioeconomic development of the KRI. For the viability of South Kurdistan, the KRG must require foreign corporations operating in the KRI to move beyond simple ‘do no harm’ approaches and actively engage in conflict sensitive practices including inclusive business practices, sustainable human resource management, environmental sustainability, human capital development, and social investments.

Effective dispute settlement as a mechanism of economic attractiveness

Commercial disputes the number of which is growing every year can cause economic imbalance if a country doesn’t obtain ADR (Alternative disputes resolution) technologies and methods implementation experience. In the Russian Federation separate branch of courts – state arbitration courts – is established and it demonstrates high quality of litigation. But effective functioning of judiciary (its accessibility, low costs and rapid procedures) doesn’t signify universal character of litigation, especially in the field of investment and construction projects dealing with socially significant objects such as apartment complexes or infrastructure facilities. Within one project different controversies and misunderstandings can arise which should be resolved without delays, abuse of rights and termination of collaboration. The article is focused on three main aspects, defining approaches to ADR promotion: features of legal and judicial system of a concrete state, availability of elaborate measures ensuring ADR successful development, specifics of practice area. Certain means and technologies of ADR are proposed in order to eliminate infringement of construction process participants’ rights. Analysis of state arbitration courts statistics has shown a very low level of ADR implementation. Legislative and explanatory measures fail to cope with this problem. In this connection concrete organizational and educational measures are suggested to enhance the process of ADR promotion for ensuring economic attractiveness.

ФОРМУВАННЯ СИСТЕМИ УПРАВЛІННЯ ВИТРАТАМИ ТОРГОВЕЛЬНОГО ПІДПРИЄМСТВА

The activities of commercial enterprises in an economic imbalance requires the creation of an effective cost management system to make effective management decisions to optimize them. Terminological approaches to the definition of «cost management», which includes process and system approaches, are investigated. The interpretation of the economic category is given, so by cost management we mean a system of related functional, organizational and motivational elements, methods and mechanisms that form an integrity of management actions aimed at optimizing the level of company costs. It is determined that the activities of a trading company include external and internal environments, which together influence the adoption and implementation of management decisions to reduce costs. The cost management system of a trading company is proposed and the purpose, objects, subjects, tasks, functions and structural elements of the system are outlined. The developed cost management system will allow to systematize internal and external information flows in a set of functional subsystems and make effective management decisions to optimize the costs of the trading company. It is noted that an effective cost management system affects the formation of the financial result of the business structure and the distribution of net profit. Measures to optimize the costs of a commercial enterprise are proposed. It is expedient to create a reserve system to cover the costs of a commercial enterprise, which is aimed at: financing mandatory payments and covering costs; covering unforeseen costs and losses; in order to evenly distribute costs between periods. It is investigated that all reserves according to the method of reflection in the financial statements are divided into open and hidden. Reserves for optimization of enterprise costs are determined.

Venezuela: The Decline of a Democracy

The political crisis in Venezuela has been aggravating for the past 5 years; the economic imbalance has increased the chances of social disintegration while government focuses on holding to power. The institutional deterioration provides forms of control consistent with the authoritarian model in detriment of the values and principles of a democracy that was once a model for stability in Latin America.

The cyclicality of loan loss provisions under three different accounting models: the United Kingdom, Spain, and Brazil

ABSTRACT A controversy involving loan loss provisions in banks concerns their relationship with the business cycle. While international accounting standards for recognizing provisions (incurred loss model) would presumably be pro-cyclical, accentuating the effects of the current economic cycle, an alternative model, the expected loss model, has countercyclical characteristics, acting as a buffer against economic imbalances caused by expansionary or contractionary phases in the economy. In Brazil, a mixed accounting model exists, whose behavior is not known to be pro-cyclical or countercyclical. The aim of this research is to analyze the behavior of these accounting models in relation to the business cycle, using an econometric model consisting of financial and macroeconomic variables. The study allowed us to identify the impact of credit risk behavior, earnings management, capital management, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) behavior, and the behavior of the unemployment rate on provisions in countries that use different accounting models. Data from commercial banks in the United Kingdom (incurred loss), in Spain (expected loss), and in Brazil (mixed model) were used, covering the period from 2001 to 2012. Despite the accounting models of the three countries being formed by very different rules regarding possible effects on the business cycles, the results revealed a pro-cyclical behavior of provisions in each country, indicating that when GDP grows, provisions tend to fall and vice versa. The results also revealed other factors influencing the behavior of loan loss provisions, such as earning management.

FACTORS DETERMINING EFFECTIVENESS IN MALAYSIAN SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES BY IMPLEMENTING GLOBALIZATION STRATEGY

This research paper aims at identifying the current issues of Malaysian Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to globalize to enter into new market, identifying companies’ internal and external barriers, identifying gaps of effective global strategy etc. The seriousness of the study will affix the current knowledge of business situation of effective globalization strategy to progress Malaysian SMEs. Earlier there is a study that has been placed that organizes Malaysia SMEs challenges across discipline for a better perspective to unleash SMEs potentials. In particular, benefaction of the SMEs will be creating employment possibility and providing constant economic development in both ways, enlarging entrepreneurial foundation and expanding human capital. With the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1971 which aimed to improve people’s welfare and restructure ethnic, economic imbalances, this step has been shown the importance of SMEs in Malaysia which can be traced back to the early 1970s. The commitment of Malaysian Governments to develop SMEs was further strengthened by the implementation of the Malaysia Industrial Master Plan, particularly the Industrial Master Plan 2 or IMP2 from 2000 to 2005 which was followed by the IMP3 spanning 2006 to 2020. Among other policies, this plan coincides with the country’s vision to be a developed nation by 2020 (MITI, 2005). In this research paper there shall be a significant study on identifying the barriers to globalize and extend the borders for Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

PRINSIP-PRINSIP EKONOMI ISLAM: SEBUAH KAJIAN AWAL

Up to the present time, economics can't succeed in building economic justice and property for all mankind. In reality, there is an economic imbalance among the poor and the rich nations. In order to better the situation, the economics changed paradigm and vision. Moslem scientists tried to find an alternative system which could be relevant to the principles of Islamic Law. The alternative system is economy of Islam. Economic of Islam is established based on four philosophical bases namely, unity of God, justice and balances, freedom and human's responsibility. In the economics of Islam, product and services of banking have some specific rules such as abolishing interest, the expanse is used to finance legal efforts basing on principles of Islamic law and eliminate unproductive speculation.

A Call for the Transformation of the South African Insurance Industry: An Analysis of the Insurance Bill 2016

Abstract This article comments on the South African Insurance Bill, 2016. It examines the constitutional obligations imposed on the legislature when enacting legislation using existing jurisprudence, it argues that the Insurance Bill is unconstitutional to an extent that it omits to incorporate, a transformation policy that is designed to transform the insurance industry and address the economic imbalances of the past. The article recommends that Parliament should include a clear transformation objective in the Insurance Bill.

Sectoral Balances And Stock-Flow Consistent Models

The European banking and sovereign debt crisis has revealed severe financial imbalances among countries and institutional sectors. In reaction, economic policy and theory has focused on the role of finance in mitigating economic imbalances and finding ways to deal with them. Policy makers launched data gap initiatives to enhance economic and financial statistics, an important pillar of these initiatives being the integrated framework of the System of National Accounts, unifying product, income, capital, and financial accounts. In this framework, there are elaborated Stock-Flow Consistent models that model any interconnections of institutional sectors, in both real and financial aspects, in a consistent way. This article aims to illustrate the principles and possibilities of Stock Flow Consistent models and their relation to the System of National Acounts. To accomplish this, we construct a simplified Stock Flow Consistent model applied to the sectoral (im)balances between the private, government, and foreign sectors, which were a notable feature of the recent European crisis.

The migration and social exclusion dimension in Turkey and in the world

The globalisation process has brought with it economic imbalance. The global economy offers employment and applications for employment in labour markets, which is not only limited within international boundaries but even crosses them. This situation is one of the outstanding factors that expedite migration. According to recent developments in labour markets, immigrants work in economically fluctuating sensitive sectors which lead to increase in unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. The rise of unemployment rates, increasing international migration, decline in the phenomenon of a welfare state and the rise in social problems points to the concept of social exclusion. In this study, increase in the migration rate and its relation to social exclusion and policies is discussed. Migration focused social exclusion concept and reasons and results of migration are searched and observations are made related to this. Keywords: Migration, labour markets, social exclusion.

Batı Akdeniz Bölgesi'nde Kırsal Kalkınma Yatırımlarını Destekleme Programı'ndan Yararlanan İşletmelerin Destekleme Programını Kullanmalarını Etkileyen Faktörlerin Belirlenmesi

Sanayileşme ile birlikte dünyada değişim yaşanmış, kalkınma çabaları kentsel alanlarda yoğunlaşmıştır. Bu durum kırsal alanı olumsuz yönde etkilemiş ve bölgelerarası ekonomik dengesizliklerin ortaya çıkması ile kırsal kalkınma çalışmalarının önemi artmıştır. Planlı dönemle birlikte Türkiye‘de kırsal kalkınma çalışmaları artmış ve stratejiler, projeler ve programlar geliştirilmeye başlanmıştır. Bu çalışmalardan birisi de 2006 yılında yürürlüğe giren Kırsal Kalkınma Yatırımlarının Desteklenmesi Programı (KKYDP)‘dır. Programın amacı kırsal alan gelir düzeyini arttırmak, tarımsal üretim ile tarımsal sanayinin entegrasyonunu sağlamak, gıda güvenliği güçlendirmek, kırsal alanda alternatif gelir kaynakları yaratmaktır. Bu çalışmada Türkiye genelinde uygulanan KKYDP kapsamında Batı Akdeniz Bölgesi'nde programdan yararlananların tutum ve davranışları, programdan yararlanmalarını etki eden faktörlerin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmada, araştırma alanında programdan yararlanan toplam 96 adet işletme ile yüz yüze görüşmeye dayalı anket uygulaması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu çalışmada, işletmelerin KKYDP‘nı tercihinde etkili olan faktörlerin belirlenmesi ve işletmeleri yatırım yapmalarını etkileyen unsurların ortaya konulması için faktör analizi uygulanmıştır. Araştırmada, faktör analizinde programdan yararlanan işletmelerin bu destekten yararlanmasında etkili olan 12 adet değişken 3 faktörde birleştirilmiştir. Bu faktörler “desteğin bölgeye uygunluğu ve destek hakkında bilgi sahibi olma”, “desteğin istihdam olanağı” ve “desteğin çevreye duyarlılığı” şekilde bulunmuştur.

Counterproductive (safety and security) strategies: The hazards of ignoring human behaviour

Abstract Measures are taken in order to optimise processes or to solve problems. The motivation for this can be very different, e.g. to handle problems like economic imbalances and social conflicts or to reduce risks, such as terrorist threats, industrial accidents or corporate crises. However, any change has an impact on the risk situation. During our own studies in very different fields relating to safety and security issues and the impact of the human factor, we made a remarkable discovery. In different fields, various measures are taken to handle difficult situations but the introduced measures fail to achieve their aim and intensify the risk situation. We found a counterproductive mechanism . This effect is of great interest to the work in the field of safety and security, which is why several of these studies have been intensively analysed from this point of view—in a kind of a review. With regard to methodology, the analysis of the series of case studies is based on observations and a statistical-empirical approach, with a theory for the counterproductive mechanism being derived from the observation of reality (case studies). The counterproductive phenomenon was discovered in a lot of cases, even where explicit safety and security strategies had been taken. So far, safety science has not systematically explored the hazards caused by itself. This is true for the fields of both safety and security. At the moment, the exact cause-effect relationships for the counterproductive mechanism are not well known, but human behaviour plays a fundamental role in it. It is often ignored and reduced to rational structures. Awareness of this problem is the first step towards solving this ( common-cause failure ) situation.

Development of Public Housing in Post‐reform China

AbstractThis paper explores the dynamic nature of the transformation of public housing regimes in urban China since the abolishment of the urban welfare housing system in the late 1990s. We summarize the latest progress in the development of public housing in post‐reform China and investigate the driving forces behind these developments. A close examination of the public rental housing program in Shanghai helps to show that the recent revival of public housing in Chinese cities is mostly driven by the desire for economic growth. We conclude that the state provision of housing could be a short‐run state remedy to alleviate economic imbalance and social inequality. However, in the long run China needs to seek more effective solutions to solve the low‐income population's housing affordability problems.