Economic Literature Research Articles

Five Years of Digital Services Taxes in Europe: What Have We Learned?

This article aims to assess whether digital services taxes (DSTs) have been effective in achieving their policy goals as well as identify key unresolved questions and highlight how the evidence from five years of DSTs’ existence in Europe can help in resolving them. The article analyses DSTs’ key policy goals with a particular focus on the equalization of the tax gap and creating fair taxation in the context of a tax incidence. It is based on publicly available data related to introducing five selected DSTs based on the similarity of both their design and the economic situation of the countries in which they were introduced. The collected revenue, fiscal efficiency of these taxes, and taxpayers’ reactions strongly indicate that DSTs have been passed on to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and consumers to a great extent while yielding negligible revenues that contradicts their policy goals. Due to limitations in data availability and the occurrence of two significant disruptions in the economy during the analysed period, some questions remain unanswered. Therefore, in the context of theoretical economic literature applicable to the case of DSTs, this author indicates where additional in-depth research and governmental analysis of DSTs is necessary and what the possible approaches are to obtain sufficient grounds for political decisions regarding introducing similar measures.

A critical review of domestic and foreign methodological aspects of financial strategies formation using a matrix method in modern realities

Subject. The article discusses financial strategies in the corporate finance management system based on a matrix approach. Objectives. The purpose is, after the analysis of existing financial models in economics that are based on the matrix approach, to identify positive and negative sides of each toolkit, while offering criteria for their comparison, formulated on regional, sectoral, and behavioral aspects. Methods. The study employs theoretical (analysis, synthesis, modeling, systematization) and empirical (comparison, classification by characteristics, mathematization) methods of scientific research. Results. I analyzed economic scientific literature concerning domestic and foreign methods of corporate finance management, defined the terms "financial model" and "financial matrix", compared domestic and foreign instruments, developed criteria for evaluating the existing techniques. The criteria enabled to reveal advantages and disadvantages of the matrix strategies mentioned above. Conclusions. A specific feature of domestic matrix methods is diversification. Moreover, almost all existing financial models are marked by universality: industry differences are ignored. However, each methodological toolkit has its "pros" and "cons", various indicators and financial strategies. At present, there is a need to form a new methodological technique based on the matrix approach. This toolkit can be presented in the form of a financial model characterized by precision and optimality, and would also consider such parameters as industry and regional specifics.

Calibrating Ukraine’s Growth Model: How Can Ukraine Emulate Poland’s Growth?

This study provides a comparative analysis of the economic growth paths of Ukraine and Poland from a growth‑model perspective and determines how to calibrate Ukraine’s growth model to converge with Poland’s booming economy. The methodology comprises an approach to operationalizing growth models for GDP growth decomposition into “import‑adjusted” demand components, drawing on national input‑output data from 2000 to 2019. I found that from 2000 to 2003, both European economies relied on a combination of exports and domestic consumption. Expanded trade integration and an FDI boost after Poland joined the EU in 2004 spurred the Polish growth model’s shift to a distinctively export‑led, FDI‑driven strategy with accelerated GDP growth rates. In Ukraine, in the wake of the great financial crisis, I identified a transition to a consumption‑led growth model that, along with a declining investment component of aggregate demand, led to fading growth rates. An analysis of sectoral contributions to GDP growth revealed that avoiding deindustrialization in Poland underpinned the country’s export‑led strategy, unlike Ukraine, which underwent a key sectoral shift from manufacturing to a commodities‑based orientation after 2008. Both these economies demonstrated a high level of integration into global value chains, focusing on labor‑intensive manufacturing and services, but Poland has outperformed Ukraine in terms of share of high value‑added exports, which increased after EU accession. Following the Polish pattern, I propose that Ukraine’s growth model should activate the FDI driver of economic growth, upgrading the export structure and moving up value chains to unlock the country’s growth opportunities. The study represents the first comparison of Ukraine’s and Poland’s economic growth paths that traces the changes in dominant final demand components and macro‑sectors in the two countries’ economic growth profiles. This paper contributes to the comparative political economy literature on the growth models of peripheral economies, providing insights that can inform policies for growth model transformation.

Computer Analysis of Scientific Texts to Identify Ideological Narratives

This article is devoted to the problem of identifying hidden ideological attitudes in scientific articles on economics, as well as defining methods for analyzing the ideological landscape of Russian economic science. The problem of this review article lies in the absence of a developed generally accepted approach to the textual analysis of scientific publications. Thus, there is an extremely wide list of methods that can be used in this case. Nevertheless, the development of the most effective methodology requires a comprehensive analysis of existing approaches individually and a comparison of each of them with the others. The authors associate the solution of the problem of choice in the presence of several approaches and a variety of methods with the definition of such a basis that would allow the formation of a methodology that includes ideological classification within the framework of economic scientific literature, the use of computational linguistics tools, in particular natural language processing, in addition to classical narrative analysis tools to identify "ideological narratives". In this regard, the methods of identifying implicit meanings in economic texts are considered in detail. The proposed tools can be used in further research on this or related topics.

Feminist Approach to Integrated Reporting: Theory of the Firm and Practice in Dialogue

This paper contributes to maintain active the debate in applying Feminist Approach to understand the theory of the firm underlining Integrated Reporting in different lens of capitalism. The work is useful to accounting scholars, standard setters and the general public, because there are practical implications especially important to the present development of the sustainability reporting scenery. The business theory underlying the IR framework remain clearly still a capitalist theory, but if in some cases organizational changes are activated, and therefore we are moving towards small changes in the corporate culture. This process can leave room for an area to include reflections on a different theory that can be generated incidentally, also starting from a model structured in itself and oriented towards the creation of value for investors.  Finally, we think that by keeping the debate alive we can help sow a seed to improve the potential of accounting and accountability (social, environmental, sustainable). The research design is grounded on Feminist approach literature in economics and accounting. After literature analysis set of keywords are analyzed to identify the interpretative paradigms of the firm that can be associated with the masculine and feminine.  The analysis use NVivo 12 and is addressed to the integrated reports released by health and pharmaceutical companies, that have been selected among the leading practices included in the IR examples website (IIRC Database as of May 11, 2021). This choice is due to investigate one of the most sensitive industries during the Covid-19 pandemic.

To compete or strategically retreat? The global diffusion of reconnaissance strike

The reconnaissance strike complex is synonymous with modern military power, and prominent realist theories would have predicted rapid proliferation after its successful debut in the Gulf War. Instead, the complex has proliferated slowly. To explain this puzzle, we theorize that interstate security threats significantly impact proliferation, but not in the way traditionally presumed. Although the literature on weapons proliferation has largely assumed a monotonically increasing relationship should hold between the capabilities of a state’s adversaries and a state’s own capability, we draw from the economics literature and game theoretic insights from political science to argue that the relationship should resemble an inverted-U. When states have rivals with moderate reconnaissance strike capabilities, they have security incentives to compete with them. However, when states face highly advanced adversaries, it becomes more difficult to escape or match their competition, making symmetrical acquisition less appealing. While most prior research focuses on narrower aspects of the reconnaissance strike complex like missiles or smart bombs, we test our theory on a novel dataset tracking country-level acquisition of eight aspects of the complex from 1980 to 2017: Ballistic missiles; bombers; cruise missiles; fighter aircraft; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets; precision-guided munitions; satellites; and submarines. We find strong support for our inverted-U argument. States that have rivals with moderate reconnaissance strike capabilities have over double the reconnaissance strike capabilities themselves than states that have rivals with very low or very high capabilities. Our findings hold for broader measures of the complex that closely proxy a state’s general military capabilities, narrower measures of the complex, and alternative measures of general military sophistication, indicating our theory has broad applicability. This article explains why some states invest heavily in conventional capabilities despite an already-large lead over their adversaries, and why other states instead opt to invest in alternatives rather than balancing symmetrically.

Transformative social innovation and rural collaborative workspace assemblages as a means of prefiguring community economies

Background Collaborative Workspaces are rapidly growing and evolving across the world. Traditionally understood as an urban phenomenon, most research understands them as either ‘entrepreneurial-led’, as profit-driven and commercial spaces such as business incubators and accelerators, or ‘community-led’ as being bottom-up, not-for-profit ventures aimed at catering for the needs of their community. Recent years however have seen their diffusion beyond large urban agglomerations to small towns and villages, with their functions assumed to be more community-orientated. At the same time, social innovation, or social innovation processes have been gaining prominence in academia, policy, and practice, as they address societal problems and hold potential for new forms of social relations. This paper attempts to provide a novel framework towards understanding the transformative potential of rural collaborative workspaces, as they engage in processes of social innovation, by drawing from diverse and community economies literature and assemblage thinking. Methods The paper uses international case study comparison between rural Austria and Greece (One case from each country). Methods applied were: semi-structured interviews (N=28), participant observation and focus groups (2). Results Community-led rural collaborative workspaces hold transformative potential from i) their ability to assist rural actors with their capacities and realizing their desires and ii) changing individual subjectivities towards collective. Through changing social relations in praxis and perceptions, we examine how social innovation processes through collaborative workspaces can be understood as a means of opening new economic subjectivities towards creating community economies as their transformative potential. Conclusions Although rural collaborative workspaces hold potential for societal transformation, they require further institutionalization and support to move beyond the interstitial and symbiotic stages of transformation.

Transactional pathways: Institutional possibilities for status and wealth under racial/caste capitalism

I introduce the concept of transactional pathways, coined by anthropologist Jane Guyer, to trace the institutional processes that contribute to uneven and unjust patterns of wealth and status distribution under systems of colonialism and racial/caste capitalism. Transactional pathways employ historical perspectives to reveal how divergent economic institutions and sources of valuation relate to social hierarchies. This approach links everyday economic transactions with patterns of wealth accumulation that are based not only on class, but intersectional social groups including race, caste, and/or ethnicity. Transactional pathways account for the fact that not only do different groups receive different amounts of valuable resources because of uneven distribution, but they have variable access to the symbolic power required to define which resources are deemed valuable in the first place and to monopolize them accordingly. The article briefly surveys foundational concepts from the economic anthropology literature before detailing transactional pathways. It introduces the case of attempted formalization of waste collection and recycling in Delhi, India, using the related concepts of thresholds and conversions to analyze key moments when wealth and status accumulation becomes especially possible in institutionally plural contexts.

Economic growth, foreign direct investment and corruption nexus in sub-Saharan African countries: moderation model

This study aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 8 which borders on “economic growth by ensuring FDI inflows continue to increase so as to spur sustained economic growth”. It contributes to the economic growth literature by evaluating the role of FDI inflows and corruption on economic growth. The Sub-Saharan African region has witnessed an increase in FDI inflows for the last three decades. However, economic growth has been reducing. For example, the region witnessed a contraction in economic growth to 2.7 percent in 2022 down from 4.4 percent of 2021. The literature indicates that corruption can impede FDI inflows from translating to high economic growth. Many studies have examined the role of FDI inflows in economic growth but have not studied the moderating effect of corruption thus creating a gap for this study. To achieve the objective, the study uses the Fixed Effects Panel data approach on unbalanced panel data for 46 sub-Saharan African countries from 1998 to 2021 to interrogate the nexus. The results revealed a positive relationship between FDI inflows and economic growth. The findings align to the endogenous growth model that explains the link between foreign direct investment and economic growth. However, corruption was found to reduce the effectiveness of FDI inflows in realizing economic growth. The study therefore recommendsthat the governments of the Sub-Saharan Africa countries need to address corruption so as to achieve the desired economic growth. They should implement measures focusing on improving institutional quality to control corruption. In addition, the policy makers should relook at anti-corruption initiatives aimed at reducing poor governance. For instance, financing anti-corruption agencies and legislating their independence to ensure corruption is reduced.

Regional (economic) integration, political stability uncertainty and (intra-African) exports

The economic literature reports ambiguous effects of regional economic integration (REI) and political stability on exports. Therefore, this research analyzes the effects of REI and political stability on intra-African exports, compares them to the effects on intra-African imports and explores the combined effect of REI and political stability on intra-African exports. We use the two-stage least squares and fixed-effects approach which includes the two-step feasible generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation to address endogeneity issues in a panel of 49 African countries over the period of 1996–2022. The results show that REI and political stability lead to an increase in intra-African exports. However, while REI results in an increase in intra-African imports, political stability results in a decrease; similar findings are highlighted for overall intra-African trade as well as for total exports of goods and services. The results remain robust across diverse estimation techniques. Furthermore, they reveal that political stability plays a role in amplifying the relationship between REI and intra-African exports. Supporting the African Continental Free Trade Area agenda, these findings imply that African policymakers need to (i) strengthen REI to increase intra-African trade and (ii) improve political stability to ensure that a greater part of REI is canalized in a more effective way in order to boost intra-African exports.

The utility of appellate review at the WTO and its optimal structure

Abstract The impasse over the appointment of judges to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body shows no signs of abating, raising considerable doubt about the future of appellate review in WTO disputes. This paper examines the rationale for appellate review in the WTO, drawing on both the history of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the economic literature assessing the desirability of appellate review in judicial systems. It argues that the WTO does not present a compelling economic case for a two-stage judicial process. It further argues that if some form of appellate review is to be retained in the WTO, a discretionary ‘certiorari-like’ mechanism may be the best option.

Cross-class solidarity in times of crisis: the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on support for redistribution

This study investigates how the economic crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic impacted support for social assistance in Germany. We formulate our expectations drawing from the classical political economy literature on self-interest and the burgeoning research on the role of solidarity. On the one hand, we hypothesize that only low-income individuals impacted economically by COVID-19, who can benefit from social assistance, will support its expansion. On the other hand, we expect higher-income individuals affected economically by COVID-19 to be more supportive of social assistance, even though they do not benefit from it, and less likely to consider welfare recipients ‘undeserving’ compared to higher-income individuals not economically affected by the pandemic. We argue that first-hand crisis experiences update people’s beliefs about how luck impacts one’s economic situation in the presence of an exogenous shock. We combine observational and experimental data from an original survey collected in Germany in April 2021 to test our expectations. On average, low-income respondents appear to be the most vigorous supporters of social assistance, but their support is not conditional on their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, we find that the support for more social assistance among affluent individuals depends on the economic impact of the pandemic. We experimentally manipulated the deservingness of welfare recipients and found that better-off respondents impacted by the pandemic were less likely to penalize even the most ‘undeserving’ welfare beneficiaries. We suggest that solidarity between classes in hard times may occur through a convergence of the deservingness perception among individuals. The article has broader implications for studying the effect of crises on solidarity and the conditional nature of class-based explanations for support for different welfare policies.

Turn the camera on to get better grade: Evidence from a field experiment

The economics literature provides mixed results on the effect of online classroom technology on student outcomes. An emerging body of behavioral studies suggests that videoconferencing is a cognitively exhausting activity and that the camera that is a salient feature of virtual meetings is a leading cause of this fatigue, with a more pronounced effect on women. Thus, economists and behavioral scientists debate whether online education and its technology provide an effective method of instruction. We use a field experimental design to examine how camera use in online synchronous economics classes affects learning outcomes. We find that changing the method of student engagement from turning the camera off to turning it on increases quiz grades by 0.18 standard deviations while we control for students’ gender and aptitude.

YEW-KWANG NG THE UTILITARIAN: AN APPRECIATION

The most important insight of Yew-Kwang Ng as a scholar is the single idea that welfare dictates humanity and the other sentient beings as well. This idea serves as the unifying principle that runs through the lion’s share of significant contributions by Ng, as an outstanding defender and an innovative modern theorist of utilitarianism, to a good number of literatures in economics and beyond.

Do time preferences predict diabetes outcomes? A combined survey and register-based study.

Identifying determinants of heterogeneity in health outcomes continues to be a focus in the health economic literature. In this study, we analyze whether time preferences predict health outcomes in individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who use insulin pump therapy to manage their condition. We collect data on time preferences using a hypothetical matching task and estimate aggregate as well as individual-level discounting parameters using the exponential, hyperbolic, and quasi-hyperbolic discounting models. These parameters are then regressed against essential diabetes-related health outcomes obtained from registries and medical records, including glycemic control, kidney function, BMI, and number of hospital contacts. Our analyses indicate that all three discounting models fit the data equally well. Except for hospital contacts, we find robust evidence that impatience, as reflected by higher discounting, predicts worse health outcomes. Additionally, present bias is associated with worse kidney function. Our findings suggest that time preferences can explain some of the heterogeneity in health among individuals with T1D and call for increased attention on the role of time preferences in the design of disease management programs for individuals with chronic conditions.

The Relationship between Sovereign Debt and Politics

ABSTRACT: With the rise of bonded private debt over the past 15 years, there is an increased dependency on private creditors for sovereign nations that borrow to finance their government activities. The power of private creditors gained through increased sovereign debt burdens is affecting the internal political dynamics of these borrower countries, especially in the Global South, including Latin America. A larger external debt burden creates internal political conflict around the distribution of benefits, so debt is intimately linked with politics. Standard economics literature ignores this problem by hypothesizing markets based on perfect competition. We outline a set of hypotheses regarding the relationship between creditors' political preferences in sovereign debt markets that feature "power rents," when relatively powerful foreign investors can obtain significantly higher returns by lending to smaller, weaker nations. Bringing power asymmetries into the debt discussion, we also present a research agenda for economics and political science.

Эволюция антикризисного управления организацией в современных условиях

The article deals with the dynamics of the theory of anti-crisis management of the organization (ACM) in modern conditions. The basic classifications of types of anti-crisis management are considered, their comparative analysis is carried out, conclusions are made that in modern conditions anti-crisis management of an organization is inseparably connected with its sustainable development, therefore, it comes to a new level, becoming a part of strategic management and especially actual today change management. The levels of anti-crisis management of the organization are marked out. The article pays special attention to the ambiguity of interpretation of the concept of «crisis of the organization». It is necessary for formation of effective anticrisis strategy of the organization to understand the essence of its basic concept – crisis, the research of its genesis and modern interpretations. The study of economic literature has shown that the understanding of crisis is ambiguous. There are two main positions have been formed in studies on the problems of crisis management to understand the nature of the crisis. One group of authors (E.M. Korotkov, T.N. Rogova, V.K. Krutikov, K.V. Baldin, S.E. Kovan, etc.) focuses on the negative manifestations of the crisis, its destructive function. Other researchers (A.S. Bolshakov, V.Y. Zakharov, A.D. Chernyakhovsky, N.D. Koryagin, A.S. Lifshits, V.M. Pishchulov, etc.) consider crises as a contradictory phenomenon and analyse their positive sides and creative role. The dual nature of crises predetermines the multi-purpose orientation of ACS and multifunctionality of its content. This is the peculiarity of the anti-crisis management system. The unified ACM system includes tools for crisis prevention, diagnosis, overcoming the crisis, enterprise restructuring strategy, methods of crisis prevention, methods of forecasting and planning, strategic management, as well as non-standard methods of personnel management. The author notes that crisis management tools should be integral components of sustainable enterprise development strategies.

Power of economics without power in economics?

Power relations dominate most social and economic processes. Despite its significance, however, the concept of structural power relations is often neglected in standard economics. Standard economics often confines itself to dissecting an idealised, abstract world, wherein power dynamics are abstracted from and seen as somewhat outside the economic realm. But, can economics be powerful in understanding, explaining and, ideally, tackling the multiple crises of our time without embedding the concept of power in its analysis? We suggest that the lack of consideration or insufficient engagement with power-related aspects in mostly standard approaches has far-reaching implications, as policies that neglect underlying power relations are not fit to address the crisis. This collection reopens the discussion of power in economics. Building on the talks and discussions at the 2023 EAEPE Pre-Conference that was held in Leeds, UK, this collection provides scholars an outlet to shed light on power structures within their field of research to highlight the complexity and interrelation of power and economics. We also conduct a literature analysis to identify different forms and categories of power used in the mainstream and heterodox economics literature with a particular focus on the different definitions and interpretations of the concept. We get our sample from the Web of Science (WoS) category ‘Economics’ in the WoS SSCI database, from 2010 to 2024. This approach provides a roadmap to better understand the different interpretations, definitions and conceptualisations of power within current literature.

Репрезентативность показателей и объективность оценок в компаративистике: экономика Российской империи второй половины XIX столетия в современных зарубежных исследованиях

The relevance of comparative studies of the level of industrial and economic development of the Russian Empire in the second half of the XIX century is determined by the fact that their results in some cases are used to substantiate theoretical ideas about the national characteristics of the Russian economy and society in comparison with the leading countries of Industrial Revolution. In economic literature, assertions about the “catastrophic” backwardness of Russia during this period are often encountered. Modern foreign historical-economic research allows for a more objective assessment of the gap between the level of industrial and economic development of the Russian Empire and the “advanced” states. However, the authors of these studies do not always succeed in consistently applying the principle of uniform criteria for comparing different economies. In particular, it is hardly justified: in some cases, to take into account, and in others, not to take into account the population and economic potential of territorial isolated peripheral regions of the respective economies. For example, the value of historical and economic comparisons is reduced by the confusion in research between the actual territory of the Russian Empire in the middle and second half of the XIX century, its territory within the conditional “borders of 1913” and the territory within “former USSR” borders. In this regard the article notes that conclusions drawn on the basis of fragmentary and arbitrarily interpreted information can’t be considered as fully correct. According to the author, in a comparative analysis of the economies-leaders of the Industrial Revolution, it is necessary to use assessment methods that take into account the population and indicators of economic development of peripheral territories were included in trade and financial exchanges with these economies, because this inclusion strongly spired the development of economies-leaders.

Organizational Wrongdoing within the Context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: An Integrative Review

AbstractAddressing organizational wrongdoing (OW) is crucial for sustainable development. However, there seems to be a lack of structured analysis of this concept within the realm of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This study aims to map the economic, business, and management literature on OW in relation to the SDGs using metadata extracted from 374 journal articles indexed in the Web of Science database for the period 2000–2023. This study highlights the need for a more systematic approach to understanding complex OW phenomena in the sustainable context. It proposes the foundation for a novel conceptual framework and suggests future research directions. Additionally, this study emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary research for developing comprehensive strategies that align organizational practices with sustainable development objectives.