ABSTRACT This study identifies entrepreneurial characteristics that function as informative indicators of resilience in Dutch small businesses. It focuses on firms facing financial distress and examines how recovery differs from persistent stagnation. Rather than equating resilience with survival, the analysis analytically distinguishes resilient recovery from persistent economic stagnation in order to isolate characteristics relevant for refining viability assessment and failure prediction models. A qualitative-led mixed-methods design is employed, combining semistructured interviews with 24 entrepreneurs, validated psychological and behavioral instruments, nonparametric statistical tests, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The findings indicate that higher levels of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and timely, solution-oriented responses to crisis distinguish resilient recovery trajectories from stagnation. Background characteristics, effectual behavior, and network support do not emerge as independent differentiators. Overall, the results suggest that resilience in distressed small businesses is shaped primarily by adaptive psychological and behavioral capacities rather than static attributes. These findings provide a refined basis for integrating nonfinancial indicators into small business viability assessment and failure prediction practices.

ABSTRACT This study examines the evolution of Chinese youth subcultures within the broader socio-economic transformations since the 1978 Reform and Opening-Up. Drawing on a historical-sociological perspective, it proposes a five-phase framework that traces how youth subcultural forms have emerged, diversified, and transformed alongside China’s modernization. (1) Enlightenment phase (Late 1970s – 1990s), marked by ideological questioning and identity exploration; (2) Pluralization and Consumption (1990s – early 2000s), defined by consumer-driven xiaozhi lifestyles and globalized tastes; (3) Networked Expression (mid-2000s – early 2010s), witnessed the rise of digital creativity in zhai, ACGN, and Shamate subcultures, enabled by early internet communities; (4) Platform-Dominated (2010s), where algorithmic logic and metrics such as traffic and popularity reshape cultural production; and (5) Reflection and Fatigue (2020s), characterized by post-COVID-19 economic stagnation, burnout, and low-desire lifestyles, expressed through neijuan and bailan attitudes. The five-phase model draws selectively on CCCS and post-subcultural perspectives, illustrating how resistance, adaptation, and fatigue intertwine as modes of youth agency. By tracing these shifting dynamics from ideological resistance to digital participation and emotional withdrawal – the model reveals how Chinese youth continuously reconfigure their subjectivities in response to evolving socio-economic and political conditions.

ABSTRACT Efforts at fostering economic transformation in Africa through foreign-imposed development models have been far from successful. This failure has generated intense debates among scholars. While modernization apologists argue that internal socio-economic and political dynamics have obstructed capitalist-driven development in Africa, scholars of the dependency persuasion attribute the economic stagnation to the distortions of neo-colonialism. Although this debate has enriched the development literature, it downplays the potentials of indigenously conceived models in Africa’s development. Consequently, local solutions have remained the least tried approaches to development in contemporary Africa. Against this background, this paper reevaluates Julius Nyerere’s Ujamaa as a potential ‘third way’ to Africa’s development. Utilizing the theory of agrarian populism and the qualitative documentary method, this paper argues that to develop sustainably, Africa must leverage on its own ingenuity and agency to cater to the needs and aspirations of its people. It concludes that to avoid the criticisms which bedeviled past attempts at applying Ujamaa, future efforts should be targeted towards agricultural modernization and technological development to enhance mass production for consumption and export.

Theoretical and applied scholarship examines the role of educational institutions as a rural and regional development tool. In this article, we use the 20‐year history of the University Centre of the Westfjords (UW), located in Ísafjörður (population 2,700), as a case study in university education as a community development tool. Close to 300 graduates from UW’s two coastal‐themed master’s programs, plus countless study abroad and guest students and researchers, have contributed significantly to the region’s cultural and economic revitalisation. Many graduates choose to stay in the Westfjords, supporting community development through innovative projects, entrepreneurship, and social engagement. This retention of talent has been crucial in addressing demographic challenges such as outmigration and gender imbalances. The authors use methods from insider research in higher education to reflect on lessons learned about the role of universities in small‐scale societies, using data on local economic impact and the immeasurable cultural impact of university institutions in rural coastal communities. We examine how UW has acted as a policy tool for societal transformation, enabling the region to move beyond economic, educational, and demographic stagnation. In this way, UW serves as a model for the concept of universities as collaborative platforms for promoting sustainable development in coastal communities through education and research grounded in local economic and cultural connections to the sea. By sharing these insights, this work contributes to the broader discussion on the unique challenges and opportunities of how university activities in coastal communities can serve as engines for regional development.

Abstract Contemporary literature underscores the demographic and economic stagnation of non-urban areas, driven by ongoing urbanization and the associated outflow of human capital. Although counterurban migration has long been proposed as a potential remedy, empirical evidence on its long-term consequences remains limited, particularly with respect to individuals who remain in these areas over time. This study examines post-migration staying among individuals who moved from metropolitan to non-metropolitan regions in Sweden between 2006 and 2010, analysing the determinants of staying duration over a ten-year follow-up period using administrative register data. Employing survival models, the analysis reveals substantial variation in staying duration across regional contexts and migrant sub-groups. Longer residential stability is more strongly associated with proximity to metropolitan labour markets, family-related characteristics, and prior regional ties, while more remote and structurally weaker regions exhibit higher exit risks. The findings indicate that counterurban migration frequently takes the form of selective settlement in commuting-accessible areas rather than deep rural retention. Overall, the results highlight patterns of regional fit and selective retention across migrant sub-groups and destination types, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of counterurban migration and its role in regional population redistribution.

This study examines infrastructure as a key determinant of socio-economic development in rural areas within Petrich Municipality (Bulgaria), in the context of the Integrated Development Plan (2021–2027). The analysis is based on official strategic and statistical data, focusing on transport, water supply and sewerage, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure. The findings demonstrate that infrastructure provision is directly linked to quality of life, accessibility of services, economic activity, and demographic dynamics in rural areas. Insufficient or deteriorated infrastructure contributes to depopulation, economic stagnation, and limited investment potential, while targeted infrastructure investments support economic diversification, including agriculture, tourism, and small enterprises. The study identifies significant territorial disparities between the municipal center and rural settlements, particularly in terms of accessibility, connectivity, and technical condition of infrastructure networks. The results highlight the need for an integrated policy approach combining infrastructural, social, and economic measures. It is concluded that infrastructure represents a strategic instrument for achieving sustainable and balanced rural development and for enhancing the competitiveness of rural areas at both regional and national levels.

Abstract Authoritarian regimes have long faced governance challenges arising from decentralization, as central governments struggle to control local government behavior due to information barriers. This paper argues that promoting the disclosure of local government information to the public is an effective strategy to alleviate issues associated with decentralization. Using a policy mandating the disclosure of local government information on social governance as a quasi-natural experiment, we examine its impact on a critical governance challenge emerging from decentralization – the decline of county seats. Using China’s county-level panel data (2015–2022) and a difference-in-differences approach, we find that local information disclosure significantly promotes county seat development. Specifically, it increases land allocation for both economic and public service purposes, thereby breaking the vicious cycle between deficient public services and economic stagnation. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that these effects are more pronounced in counties with higher citizen responsiveness and more constrained fiscal capacity.

ABSTRACT This article elaborates on the concept of the front line in the context of border studies and consider the societal peculiarities of Ukrainian frontline cities compared to other Ukrainian cities at war, employing the methodology of a phenomenological analysis and systematizing the statistical data. Using the concept of a military “borderscape”, the paper examines the structural and daily aspects of living near the front line. Specifically, it discusses how distance from the front line influences the population’s decision to migrate or remain in frontline cities during the Russian-Ukrainian War. Desktop research employing qualitative comparative analysis reveals the peculiarities of Ukrainian frontline cities’ functioning in terms of population dynamics, higher education, culture, and the economy. The research reveals that frontline cities become logistical deadlocks under the influence of the front line, experiencing economic marginalization, population fluctuation (a temporary decrease in population when the front line approaches, followed by stabilization when it retreats), and stagnation of cultural life and education (with schoolchildren and students mainly learning online).

ABSTRACT Throughout October 2025, Liulangba (Wanderers Forum), a popular online community among precarious rural migrants in China, was flooded with posts from destitute straight men seeking help from gay men, alongside offers of assistance from gay users in exchange for sex or companionship. This phenomenon marks a historical juncture where queer politics shaped by cosmopolitan aspirations during China’s era of economic ascent confronts emergent queer politics grounded in precarity and dispossession amid economic stagnation. Liulangba serves as a stage where precarious and dislocated lives intersect, producing volatile and contingent bonds that are neither fixed nor fully legible within dominant social norms. The creative potential of these encounters – manifested through cooperation, improvisation, or even exploitation – remains unrecognized when viewed solely through frameworks of cosmopolitan identity and aspirational subjectivity. Foregrounding precarity as a master term for analysing contemporary queer politics in China, this article complements and extends earlier approaches centred on cosmopolitanism, highlighting how economic downturn reshapes the affective and material conditions of queer life.

Since independence, Kyrgyzstan has experienced persistent economic stagnation and limited progress in structural transformation. Existing studies tend to explain this outcome primarily in terms of weak governance, external shocks, or structural constraints inherited from the postsocialist transition. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the long-term institutional constraints embedded in the country’s development trajectory. Drawing on the analytical framework of historical institutionalism, this paper examines the formation of institutional path dependence in Kyrgyzstan and its implications for economic growth. It argues that the radical reforms implemented in the early 1990s constituted a critical juncture that triggered self-reinforcing feedback mechanisms, resulting in durable institutional lock-in. Consequently, Kyrgyzstan has fallen into an economic growth trap characterized by weak governance capacity, a narrow economic structure, and limited innovation potential. A comparative analysis with Kazakhstan demonstrates that divergent paths of institutional change largely explain the differences in development outcomes. The paper concludes by emphasizing the necessity of gradual, sequenced, and context-sensitive institutional reforms.

Women constitute an essential yet underexplored pillar of a just energy transition, particularly through their contributions to social, educational, and cultural domains that mitigate depopulation, economic stagnation, and territorial abandonment in coal regions. This comparative study investigates women's multifaceted roles in advancing a just transition in two lignite-dependent regions, namely Eastern Greater Poland (Poland) and Lusatia (Germany), while also examining the opportunities and barriers they encounter. Grounded in feminist ecological economics and feminist political ecology, the analysis addresses two core questions: (1) What roles do women assume in the energy transition? and (2) What benefits can they derive from it? Drawing on 50 semi-structured interviews (2023–2025) and field observations in both regions, the study highlights women's leadership in advocacy, industry representation, grassroots mobilization, and often-overlooked administrative functions. The findings identify women as pivotal agents of change: in Poland, they secured Just Transition Fund resources and co-developed the ‘Job After Coal’ programme, supporting 2200 individuals, including miners' families; in Lusatia, women's networks advance socio-ecological demands amid right-wing resistance. By providing empirical evidence of women's leadership in European coal regions, thus addressing a gap identified in a literature review, this study enriches understanding of gender dynamics in energy transitions. • Women lead just energy transition in Konin and Lusatia via advocacy, policy, and grassroots. • Key roles of women: securing EU funds, admin work, community projects against depopulation. • ‘Job After Coal’ aids 2200, incl. women/families, via retraining and entrepreneurship. • Challenges: burnout, right-wing opposition, barriers to high-tech jobs for women. • Need gender-sensitive policies for inclusive green jobs and sustainable outcomes.

Corruption is a major hindrance towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Pakistan, and it is evident in both academic and economic realms. This paper explores the intersection between governance and corruption and how they have had negative impacts on the process of SDG implementation, especially in education and economic development. Combining the governance indicators, corruption indices, and SDG statistics, the study will show that corruption undermines institutional integrity, prevents the implementation of policy, and increases inequality. Using a mixed-methods research design based on the combination of qualitative case-study analysis and quantitative regression modelling, the results indicate a strong correlation between a high level of corruption and low educational achievement, economic stagnation, and a long-term implementation of the SDG targets. The findings highlight the need to change the system of governance, launch active anti-corruption initiatives and increase the institutional openness to reduce the negative impact of corruption and promote the SDG goals of Pakistan. The article ends by giving policy recommendations that can be used to build stronger governance structures, rejuvenate the education sector, and promote economic growth by use of evidence based anti-corruption policies.

Over the last 40 years, Latin American countries (LACs) have experienced a variety of specialisation trajectories, however sharing a common pattern of weak and unstable growth. Manufacturing has represented an interrupted opportunity of development, given the accelerated premature deindustrialisation path and the loss of productive capacity. The result has been a stable landing into a middle-income trap and economic stagnation. Accordingly, in this paper we address the relationship between sectoral productive composition, growth performance and its volatility. Integrating the UN-COMTRADE and the Penn World Table 10.1 databases between 1962 and 2017, we account for the specialisation strategies of LACs, linking aggregate output, export products, and sectoral composition. In a nutshell, we examine the extent to which revealed comparative advantages, at country or technological-class level, and the relative composition of the export baskets exert any significant role in explaining output growth and volatility. According to our findings, specialising in existing factor endowments and natural resources have brought LACs into a trap of halted catching-up.

This study examines long-term changes in regional productivity in Japan by analyzing real GDP per worker for all prefectures from 1975 to 2021 and real municipal GDP per working-age person for 29 municipalities in Mie Prefecture from 2011 to 2021. Using nationally deflated real output measures, the analysis reveals a consistent pattern across both prefectural and municipal levels: regions experiencing substantial declines in the working-age population often recorded notable increases in productivity. In contrast, major metropolitan prefectures such as Tokyo exhibited rising employment but only limited productivity gains. These findings challenge the conventional view that population decline inevitably leads to economic stagnation and instead suggest that demographic contraction may facilitate structural adjustment, adaptive resilience, and productivity enhancement in certain regional contexts. This multi-scale approach integrates long-term prefectural trends with detailed municipal-level dynamics, highlighting the importance of regional heterogeneity in Japan’s demographic and economic transitions. The study also acknowledges limitations related to data availability and the absence of region-specific price indices. Overall, the findings indicate that demographic decline and productivity growth are not mutually exclusive and that understanding regional adaptation to shrinking labor forces is essential for designing effective policies in an era of persistent population decline.

The study investigates the strategic use of historical continuity in the redevelopment of Marunouchi (Tokyo), which was once the core of Japan’s imperial modernity. During the Meiji and Taisho periods, the region embodied national aspirations through iconic projects including Tokyo Station (1914), Marunouchi Building (1923), and Gyoko-dori Avenue (1903–1923). This narrative of success was disrupted by subsequent wartime devastation, postwar functionalist reconstruction, and economic stagnation. Redevelopment projects during the early 2000s have attempted to restore Marunouchi to its prewar identity by reintroducing historical symbols as urban storytelling and corporate branding tools. The study examines how selective reconstructions mediate between the past and present, drawing on theories on postwar Italy’s “historical continuity” as discussed by Ernesto Rogers and Aldo Rossi. Four categories of intervention are identified: monument restoration (Tokyo Station), building reconstruction (Marunouchi Building), boulevard regeneration (Gyoko-dori Avenue), and urban design practices (OMY guidelines on façades, heights, and materials). The study findings show that historical continuity in Marunouchi functions less as a conservation practice than as a curated narrative serving corporate and national identity. Although these interventions are effective in enhancing Marunouchi’s position as a financial hub, they also raise ethical concerns around memory, authenticity, and selective erasure. The study highlights how architecture becomes an instrument of cultural storytelling, where history is strategically reconstructed to project triumph over rupture.

Abstract Concerns about faltering productivity have led to calls for grand fiscal strategies to ignite economic growth. Targeted spending sprees are believed to be lifting economies out of stagnation. This policies shift stands in stark contrast to the type of fiscal restraint (austerity) advocated after the Global Financial Crisis. This paper examines whether fiscal policy can lift economic growth after recessions characterised by prolonged economic stagnation – also known as scarring-while keeping debt under control. I find the odds of such an expansionary debt-reducing fiscal policy are limited due to a typical deficit bias in the short term – a combination of much lower tax revenues and reduced government spending – and the use of tax-based consolidations in the longer run. Higher taxes even push governments to raise spending to higher levels a decade after the recession. The combination of procyclical fiscal policy in the short term, with distortionary tax increases in the long term is unlikely to lift productivity growth.

The automotive industry faces radical technological change, driven by the adoption of electrification, automation, and digitalization. As a leading industrial hub with key OEMs and suppliers, such as Volkswagen, Southeast Lower Saxony is disproportionately impacted by this structural transformation. As a consequence of these trends, the region’s automotive base faces economic uncertainties, local regulatory lag, and technological disruptions. In this study a scenario planning methodology is conducted, to identify three potential mobility futures for 2035: a Best-Case scenario, where innovation and favorable policies enable a stable growth environment for the local automotive industry; a Trend scenario, marked by incremental yet uneven progress, while maintaining the current status quo; and a Worst-Case scenario, defined by economic stagnation and regulatory impediments, leading to a slow degradation of the regional automotive industry. The scenarios are then evaluated based upon their impact and probability of occurrence, while individual impact factors were also prepared and categorized to support future decision-making on a topical basis. This study offers an overview of potential scenarios for the Southeast Lower Saxon automotive industry, supporting the strategic decision-making.

Relevance. In modern international trade in Russia, the key role is played by the development of the export potential of various sectors of the national economy, which is necessary not only to receive currency for goods, but also for the further technological and economic development of the country. However, under the conditions of permanent sanctions, since 2014, certain sectors of the national economy have been using re-exports to avoid economic stagnation of the industry. The purpose is to investigate the main manifestations of re–export in Russia's international trade and suggest ways to improve the export potential of industries. Objectives: to study the legal basis of international trade of the Russian Federation, taking into account reexport; to assess Russia's re-export cooperation with individual countries; to identify priority areas for re-export of the Russian Federation in 2025. Methodology. The methods of analysis and synthesis of theoretical and statistical material are based on data from UNCTAD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the Russian Federation, Turkey, China, and Armenia. Results. The article reveals the directions of Russia's re-export cooperation with Turkey, China, and Armenia under the conditions of sanctions and embargoes from the United States of America and the European Union for the supply of certain types of products, including energy. Russia's positions in the form of retaliatory sanctions and restrictions on the supply of certain groups of goods for export and re-export are outlined. Conclusions. The main conclusion is that Russia, like a number of foreign countries, actively uses re-exports to maintain the country's economic and technological positions on the world market, as well as to overcome sanctions restrictions and embargoes from the countries of the "collective West."

This study examines the present state of leadership in Ghana, focusing on its causes, impacts, and pathways for redress. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, the research integrates quantitative and qualitative data from fifty (50) respondents to explore both scholarly and public perspectives on Ghana’s leadership crisis. Findings reveal a critical divergence between academic diagnoses and public perceptions. While existing literature attributes the leadership problem to structural and institutional weaknesses such as neo-patrimonialism and executive dominance, citizens overwhelmingly perceive it as a crisis of morality, mindset, and personal integrity. Qualitative responses emphasize themes of poor leadership, corruption, moral decay, and lack of accountability, often expressed through statements such as "leaders are self-centered and lack integrity" and "there is no fear of God." Quantitative data confirm this pattern: 66% of respondents identify individuals as the root cause of leadership failure. However, both academic and public perspectives converge on the effects of poor leadership, economic stagnation, weak institutions, and erosion of public trust. The study also identifies strong public support for reform through leadership training, moral education, faith-based values, and civic engagement, reflecting hope for ethical renewal and transformational governance. The research concludes that effective leadership reform in Ghana requires bridging systemic transformation with moral reawakening. Structural reforms must be complemented by civic responsibility, value reorientation, and the cultivation of servant leaders. The study provides critical insights for policymakers, civil society actors, and educators committed to rebuilding ethical and accountable leadership in Ghana.

Abstract Housing issues are a growing global concern and a key topic on the European policy agenda. Across EU, challenges such as immigration, economic stagnation, inequality, and ageing populations exacerbate housing provision issues. This growing concern demands effective solutions, guided by research, data-driven insights, and comparative analysis. This study overviews and compares housing provision in the EU countries. Using OECD and Eurostat data from 2010 to 2021, we examine governments’ roles in housing provision and assess availability, affordability, and adequacy, while exploring their interrelationships. Through hierarchical cluster analysis and cartographic visualization, we identify clusters of countries with similar housing characteristics. The findings reveal significant variation, with some countries struggling with availability, others with affordability or adequacy. Our results highlight a clear divide in housing challenges between Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Europe, largely aligning with welfare state regimes.