Economic Restructuring Research Articles

Budgetary Policy and Structural Transformation of the Russian Economy

Recently the Russian economy in addition to global trends has been affected by structural shocks. Fiscal instruments make it possible to respond both to temporary fluctuations in business activity and to support economy restructuring. The existing Russian fiscal reserves made it possible to cope with the first consequences of the sanctions. Estimated effectiveness of the budget impulse in 2022 was twice as high as in 2020. However, the risks of fiscal policy are increasing due to an unforeseen increase in spending, the need to increase the tax burden on the economy and the build-up of public debt. The paper proposes measures to redistribute the tax burden between the export-oriented sector and domestic producers, approaches to the use of digital financial assets in taxation, measures to develop the debt market and other areas of supporting the structural transformation of the Russian economy.

The Flows of Racial Capitalism: Charting the Spread of COVID-19 through Alberta’s Meatpacking Industry

This article will present a case study of Cargill’s High River meatpacking plant operations to show how at crucial historical junctures racial capitalism shaped its working conditions and in so doing determined the spread of COVID-19. First, the Canadian meatpacking industry’s 1980s-era economic restructuring relocated and reorganized its workforce from a core to peripheral one, allowing for the low wage employment of many precarious workers; this restructuring enabled the Cargill company to gain overwhelming control of the meatpacking industry in Canada and to become a “choke point” in the supply chain. Second, Canadian immigration policy from 2006 to 2010 supported a marked increase in migrant workers to meet the labour market needs of business; this reconstituted the labour class to heighten their disposability. With these pieces in place, the Albertan provincial government could classify meatpackers as “essential workers” who worked even in the face of mass COVID infection in April through June 2020. Across this crucial historical period racial capitalism enabled the plant to circumvent public health interventions protecting workers through the onset of the pandemic. Political championing of business interests, enacted through legislative mechanisms, allowed for the exploitation of workers and consistently rendered workers personally responsible for their own health and safety, despite their lack of control over what exposed them to risk.

State Innovation Policy in the Conditions of Structural Reorganization of the Economy

Currently, the main role of the state in the implementation of the state innovation policy is to create infrastructure for innovation and to finance new developments and fundamental research. In today’s world, the speed of change is increasing, and the role of the state becomes even more important, especially in times of crisis and economic restructuring. State innovation policy can accelerate the pace of development of individual industries, stimulate inter-industry cooperation, and help to remove barriers to innovation (legislative and infrastructural). This study is devoted to the formation of effective innovation policy in the conditions of economic restructuring associated with the economic crisis, heavy international political and economic environment. In order to analyze and make recommendations on innovation policy, such main innovation factors are analyzed as: financing, creation of infrastructure, customer or initiator of innovations, development of competencies, as well as creation of innovation culture. The role of the state in the above factors is paramount. The study analyzes the data presented for the last 5 years and provides forecasts for 2023.

Restoring What Never Existed: The Role of Familism in Narratives of Return in Hungary

This study seeks to provide insight into the mechanisms of familism in the landscapes of Hungarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), public and higher education, and academia. By contextualizing the growing importance of familism as a governing ideology and an effective political tool used by the current government, aiming to offer an alternative to the insecurities rooted in economic restructuring and cultural transformation in eastern Europe in the last few decades, we show how “academic familism” and “NGO-familism,” often intertwined, reproduce the ideological underpinnings of the Hungarian neoliberal gender regime. The article’s novelty is in, first, revealing how recent institutionalization tendencies show that Hungarian academia, especially in the social sciences, is shifting to reproduce and legitimize familism, risking the autonomy of science even in the short term. Second, the study highlights the fact that besides some government-friendly NGOs dedicated to promoting familism, the ideology of the importance of families is strengthened even by some bottom-up civil organizations that campaign for a more inclusive family concept as a reaction to the government’s idealization of nuclear, heterosexual, and marriage-based family formations.

Debt Dependency and the Cost of Migration: The Case of Roma and Non-Roma Migrants from Baia Mare

Abstract The Baia Mare region was once one of Romania's main mining centres, with a significant proportion of the local population engaged in industry jobs. However, the extensive economic restructuring that followed the collapse of the old communist regime and the emergence of capitalist development was characterized by brutal privatization measures and great economic instability. While the transition years brought new opportunities for some, for most they meant unstable housing and employment, debt, and a declining social status. Thus, many workers quickly became ‘surplus populations’ (Li 2017) and were forced into patterns of circular migration abroad. Employing a qualitative research methodology, analysing both interviews and secondary data, this paper will focus on the adaptive responses of workers from Baia Mare to the changes in the socio-economic landscape after the collapse of the communist regime and the advance of neoliberal policies in Romania. In particular, the paper looks at Roma and non-Roma migrants from Baia Mare, attempting to compare their strategies and work histories in the context of migration, to see the extent to which class and race differences play a role in creating specific migration patterns in the post-socialist context. The comparison between racialized people living in improvised shelters on the periphery of Baia Mare and those who are working class but not living in a situation of destitution will show us the role that dispossession plays in creating certain conditions that lead to debt dependency and specific migration patterns.

Comparison of Male and Female Labor Force and Employment Levels in China

In todays era, which calls for equality for all, womens education and social status are gradually improving. As the supply and demand in the labor market is also changing, more and more women have been prompted to enter the labor market in search of economic independence and opportunities for self-realization.The research in this paper aims to promote gender equality, economic development and social progress. This paper uses the World Banks data on the employment rate of men and women over the age of 15 in China.This study descriptively analyzes the data collected by the World Bank, including the mean, variance, and so on. The data collected by the World Bank was then analyzed using R for evaluation. It is understood that both male and female employment rates are declining and the gap between the two is narrowing. The ETS predicts a steady downward trend over a 10-year period. Through ARIMA, this study obtained autocorrelation results between each data point in the time series data and its lagged version. A PEST analysis was then conducted to explain the changes in the data in both models in order to predict future trends in the time series. Finally, it is concluded that the reasons for the decline in the employment rate of men and women in China are multifaceted and require concerted efforts in terms of policy, economy, society, science and technology. It is necessary to promote economic restructuring, solve the problem of population aging, encourage female employment, and increase the employment rate of men and women.

The making of a racialized surplus population

Abstract In capitalist Eastern Europe, surplus population is created at the intersection of economic restructuring, leading to the decline of jobs, the absorption of housing in broader circuits of capital accumulation, and the state's disinvestment in social housing. Drawing on the lived experiences of the impoverished Roma from Baia Mare (Maramureș county, Romania), I analyze how racialization produces them as surplus-as-laborer and surplus-as-tenant. The article explores the historically constituted labor-housing nexus. Capitalist enterprises are interested in having permanent access to a cheap and flexible labor force that reproduces in housing conditions that are as low cost as they are inadequate. Private real estate capital excludes those who cannot afford the fast-rising level of the ground rent while the post-socialist state refuses to invest in public housing.

Related variety and state-sponsored R&D collaboration: a geographical and industrial analysis in Czechia

This paper aims to explore the influence of related variety on direct state-supported R&D cooperation across various geographical levels to understand regional performance differentiation and economic base restructuring in Czechia by employing Frenken et al.’s (2007) methodological approach to calculate a related and unrelated variety for all NACE and NACE C-Manufacturing. Findings indicate that the city of Prague has the highest unrelated and related variety, followed by the cities of Brno, Ostrava, and Pilsen. Calculation just for C-Manufacturing changes the ordering significantly. Furthermore, intra-regional and extra-regional pairwise R&D cooperation in joint projects is calculated. The cluster analysis of Czech microregional data (SO ORP) reveals patterns such as emerging collaborators and collaboration powerhouses. Linear regression analyses established a strong positive association between R&D collaboration intensity and related variety, while a negative link was observed with unrelated variety. Similar relationships were observed in the manufacturing sector (NACE-C).

Impact of Internet use on industrial value added: evidence from Southeast Asian countries

The Internet facilitates real-time communication and collaboration, enabling seamless coordination in industrial processes. This enhanced connectivity can increase efficiency and productivity in the production chain. Moreover, the Internet provides a platform for businesses to reach a global audience. Expanded market access can contribute to the growth of industrial activities, fostering international trade, and positively impacting industrial value added. Therefore, this study seeks to explore how Internet usage impacts industrial value added across eight Southeast Asian countries, using a sample collected from the World Bank and Global Economy from 1991 to 2021. Two regression methods were employed: fixed-effects and Driscoll-Kraay standard error models. The research findings indicate that Internet growth has a positive effect on industrial value added in Southeast Asian countries. Additionally, the results reveal a positive correlation between industrial value added, economic growth, and trade openness. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the connection between Internet usage and industrial value added, with profound implications for the economic restructuring of selected Southeast Asian countries.

Examining Relationships between Regional Ecological Risk and Land Use Using the Granger Causality Test Applied to a Mining City, Daye, China

Land use changes are an important factor contributing to the increasingly severe deterioration of the ecological environment. Therefore, regional analyses of land use and ecological risk should be developed for the restoration of ecological functions. In this study, a comprehensive ecological risk assessment was constructed on a regional scale and applied to Daye, a traditional mining city in China. Cointegration analyses and Granger causality tests were used to explore the complex relationship between land use and ecological risks in the study area from 2007 to 2021. The results show a long-term and stable relationship between land use changes in different sub-regions and ecological risks, albeit with distinct Granger causality relationships. This research presents the development trend of the relationship between land use change and ecological risks in a mining city, from rapid economic growth to economic restructuring and full-region ecological governance.

Accelerating Global Economic Recovery and Building Resilient Economies in the Post-COVID-19 Era

World economic trends in recent times have been grossly influenced by the ramifications of COVID-19. The paper endeavours to assess the severity of world economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019-2021 relative to the global recession of 2008-2010. It also attempts to surface emerging trends for accelerating economic recovery while building resilience. It employed desk review with a mixed approach. The sample size spanned the 4 main international economies and 21 representative countries. A One-Paired 2 Sample means t-Test at  0.05, 1-tail, 8 df shows that, the economic collapse experienced due to the pandemic was just as bad as that of the 2008-2010 economic recession. Monitoring database reveals that low income and emerging markets are recovering faster than advanced economies from the shocks of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the t-Test  0.05, 1-tail, 8 df again shows that, the world economy is steadily recovering. The recovery can be accelerated and made resilient through economic restructuring by integrating emerging trends such as AI, technology, education and greening into economies.

Typing of the Homokhát settlements with factor- and cluster analysis

With the passing of time, it is sometimes necessary and useful to re-examine “classic” themes and territories. In my view, such a theme is the restructuring of rural economy, and such a territory is Homokhátság. Unfortunately, the territory under investigation mostly only receives attention during summer droughts, when the lack of water is so severe, that farm fields, or even gardens, may not be watered. The explored economic and social processes are most certainly also affected by the lack of water, but unravelling the relationship between these two processes is not the subject of this writing. My goal is to shed light on those phenomena, in which the restructuring of the rural economy is manifested. It may well be that we do not obtain an epoch-marking result, or one which is surprising, but I consider it important to “keep our fingers on the wrist of Homokhátság and to check its pulse”. In my opinion it is also important we do, because it true for regional science statement of Herakleitosz, what is; the only constant is change.

Dynamics of coastal tourism: drivers of spatial change in South‐East Asia

Coastal tourism has grown significantly across South‐East Asia from the 1960s, particularly in three key destinations hosting large tourist numbers: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. It encompasses different scales from basic backpacker accommodation in budget enclaves to large scale capital‐intensive luxury resort enclaves. Coastal tourism studies typically range from descriptive analyses of destinations’ evolutionary dynamics and resort morphology to more granular ethnographic inspections of socio‐economic patterns of transformation and resource conflicts. More recent critical research theorizes the spatial reorganization of coastal tourism in relation to economic restructuring processes. Although national tourism policy and economic development is often analysed, forces shaping coastal tourism development have been little examined and research typically focusses on impact case studies without analysing the underlying political economy. This paper interrogates the political‐economic drivers of the historical‐geographical and spatial organization of coastal tourism in these three major destinations and demonstrates how processes of tourism capital accumulation are experienced/contested via intensified commodification leading to increasingly complex and diversified coastal tourism political economies.

An analysis of ICT hardware manufacturing in industrialized economies: Growth patterns, productivity performance, and driving Forces

We employ growth accounting and data from the 2019 release of the EUKLEMS database to systematically quantify the primary contributors to value-added and labor productivity growth within the Information and Communication Technology Manufacturing (ICTM) industry across 13 industrialized economies between 2000 and 2015.Our analysis reveals that total factor productivity, labor quality, investments in software, and research and development emerge as the primary drivers of growth. Additionally, when compared to the overall manufacturing sector, the ICTM industry has undergone more extensive restructuring in most economies under examination.Moreover, the study highlights a substantial and widespread adverse impact of the 2008–2009 global financial crisis (GFC) and its aftermath on the ICTM industry. In addition, the United States stands out as a leading player in ICTM's productivity performance, resulting in a considerable gap between the EU and the US in this regard, and the US exhibiting stronger resilience in ICTM labor productivity growth during the crisis-affected period, with total factor productivity playing an essential role.Drawing from its findings, the study offers several policy insights to advance the ICT manufacturing industry in industrialized economies. They encompass strategies to strengthen industry growth drivers and support for ongoing restructuring efforts in response to challenges arising from rapid technological change as well as more intense global competition.

Life next to a landfill: urban marginality, environmental injustice and the Roma

The site known as Lipnica is a segregated Roma settlement built on the edge of a municipal landfill in the district town of Turčany, central Slovakia (fictitious names have been used for the site and the town). The settlement emerged as a result of processes rooted in neoliberal economic restructuring, accompanied by a sharp rise in unemployment in the 1990s. The settlement was originally built to provide temporary housing for those who were in arrears for rent in municipal flats, and originally consisted of one apartment building and several modular cabins. In the following years it expanded, and today it is an ethnic quasi-ghetto for approximately 400 Roma inhabitants. From a theoretical perspective, an analysis of the Lipnica settlement is situated at the intersection of critical race theory and environmental justice theory. In this article, we describe the trajectory leading to the formation of the settlement and analyse how the impoverishment of the Roma, coupled with the construction of the community as ‘maladjusted’ anti-social others, facilitated their spatial exclusion. We conclude that the case demythologises culturising explanations for the emergence of Roma settlements, by using empirical data to show how Lipnica developed as a result of intentional discriminatory policies of the local ruling class used against an ethnic minority.

James Crotty’s Advice to Koreans

The Korean economy achieved rapid economic growth with equal income distribution for over three decades until the late 1990s when, in 1997, a financial crisis occurred. Mainstream economists and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attributed this crisis to the problem of East Asian crony capitalism. The Korean government accepted this perspective and implemented neoliberal economic restructuring and financial opening after the crisis. However, James Crotty argued that the crisis in Korea was a result of haphazard financial opening and the withdrawal of state intervention. Most importantly, he extensively criticized the post-crisis economic reform in Korea imposed by the IMF. He believed that it would lead to lower economic growth and higher inequality, and he advised Koreans to oppose it. This article examines Crotty’s argument about the Korean economy and how the latter changed in the 21st century. JEL classification: F34, H12, O19, O53

Housing and welfare reform, and the suburbanization of poverty in UK cities 2011–20

The suburbanization of poverty has been noted in many advanced industrial nations including the UK. Theory focuses on economic and labour market restructuring combined with processes of market- and/or state-led housing change. This paper examines the contributions of housing and welfare reforms. In the UK, housing policy has driven low-income households increasingly to find accommodation in the private rental sector at the same time that welfare reforms have constrained the rents these households can afford. This paper traces the spatial consequence of these reforms, drawing on a novel combination of Government data and a database of private rental adverts. Up to 2011, the shift from social to private renting for low-income households was relatively neutral in its impacts on suburbanization. Since then, low-income households in private renting have been increasingly pushed to less central locations as rents in more central areas have risen faster. The role played by housing and welfare policy in the suburbanization of poverty needs wider consideration.

Cross-border e-commerce integrated with regional economic development on mixed depression among financial professionals

BackgroundIn recent years, mixed-type depression has become a widely recognized mental health issue. The rise of cross-border e-commerce and the new pattern of regional economic development may make financial professionals face more complex work environments, which may affect their mental health status. Considering that the combination of cross-border e-commerce and regional economic development may have a certain degree of impact on the mental health of financial practitioners, the study aims to explore the nature and extent of this impact, in order to take effective measures to improve the work environment and quality of life of financial practitioners.Subjects and MethodsThe study followed 80 financial professionals with mixed depression for 1 year. It investigated the extent of mixed-type depression in patients before and after the intersection of cross-border e-commerce and regional economic development. The study used the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) to assess the severity of mixed depressive symptoms.ResultsAfter the mutual integration of cross-border e-commerce and regional economic development, the average HAMA score of mixed depression among financial employees decreased to approximately 10.45, with a significant pre-post difference (P<0.05), indicating that the patients’ mixed depression was significantly alleviated.ConclusionsThe combination of cross-border e-commerce and regional economic development has a significant positive impact on the mixed depression of financial professionals. Prove that while promoting economic restructuring and cross-border e-commerce development, it also indirectly promotes the psychological health of practitioners.AcknowledgementThe 2019 Research Project of Humanities and Social Sciences by Chongqing Municipal Commission of Education (No. 20skz092).

The spatial spillover effects of establishing free trade pilot zones on FDI: Empirical evidence from China

The establishment of free trade pilot zones (FTZs) in China has constituted a pivotal endeavor to enhance global collaboration, foster economic restructuring and transformation, and attract foreign direct investment (FDI). These objectives are pursued through a series of strategies, including implementing a negative list system, reducing the threshold for FDI, and enhancing the FDI service framework. Based on panel data from 47 cities between 2005 and 2018, this research employs a spatial difference-in-differences model to empirically examine the spatial spillover effects of establishing FTZs concerning FDI. The findings reveal the substantial positive impact of FTZs on fostering FDI within respective domains. Conversely, an adverse spillover effect is observed on FDI in neighboring vicinities. Coastal FTZs have a negative spillover effect on FDI in surrounding areas, whereas inland FTZs have minimal impact on FDI in surrounding areas. The first and third batches of FTZs have had negative spillover effects on FDI in surrounding areas, while the second batch of FTZs has had no significant spatial spillover effect on FDI. Based on the empirical conclusions, this study proposes policy recommendations to broaden the scope of FTZs, refine the spatial spillover mechanism, and foster the diversified development of FTZs. These measures are envisaged to optimize the efficacy of the FTZ strategy to advance FDI objectives.

Branch Structure of the National Economy and Directions of its Optimization in the Post-War Period

Introduction. The war in Ukraine caused significant damage to the economy, but also provided many new opportunities, made adjustments to the paradigm of post-war economic development, in particular, in view of the need to rebuild industries and ensure the reliability of their operation in the future, the variability of logistics supply routes. The complexity of post-war reconstruction is aggravated by the fact that Ukraine must modernize the defense industry and, at the same time, reduce the country's budget deficit, which requires an increase in budget revenues. The radical changes necessary for this will require optimization of the sectoral structure of the country's economy.
 Aim and tasks. The purpose of the study is to create a methodological approach to the sectoral optimization of the national economy in the post-war period and, for this, to develop a structural-mathematical model, determine priority areas of development of branches, and mechanisms of structural optimization of branch development.
 Results. A methodological approach to sectoral optimization of the national economy in the post-war period was developed, in which a structural-mathematical model was implemented. To optimize the industry structure, the use of a "trigger" mechanism is proposed: when the stimulation of the development of individual projects in high-tech industries leads to the rapid development of adjacent sectors of the economy, The need for comprehensive use of intensive and extensive mechanisms of post-war economic restructuring is indicated due to the specifics of the development of industries, the significant industry differentiation of damages and losses, and the need for expenses for the transformation and restructuring of industries. A diversification approach with the selection of short-, medium-, and long-term industry strategies was proposed.
 Conclusions. The developed mathematical model allows for the combination of sectoral optimization strategies of the economy and optimization coordination of sectoral strategies at the national level. An assessment of the costs of reconstruction and industry transformation was carried out, and the application of internal financing mechanisms, in particular, an increase in the level of added value, was substantiated. The mathematical model illustrates the possibility of maximizing the added value. Considering this, directions for industry optimization and prerequisites for restoration, reconstruction, and optimization of the industry structure in the post-war period are proposed. The given areas of industry-wide impact of the trigger mechanism indicate the prospects of its introduction.