Investment Framework Research Articles

UNDERSTANDING LEGAL BARRIERS TO FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN AFGHANISTAN: A CASE STUDY IN HERAT INDUSTRIAL ZONE

Since a century ago, there have been many efforts to attract foreign investment in Afghanistan. These efforts include the codification of laws and policies and the provisionof facilities for participation of foreign companies in the Afghan economy through partnership with the government and partnership with private sector in this country. Since 2001, with the support of the market economy system in Afghanistan's constitution and the reform of some governmental institutions, these efforts have been accelerating, hoping thatencouraging foreign investors and their presence in the market will improve the economic situation. Unfortunately, these efforts have failed to meet the market expectations and the Afghanistan’s government purposes in order to attract foreign investment in Afghanistan. Even in 2014, and after that, the outflow of capital (domestic and foreign) has also beenreported from the economy of Afghanistan. Various variables can be considered as an obstacle to the development of foreign investment in Afghanistan, war, corruption, lack ofinfrastructure, lack of energy, lack of trained workforce and non-accountability of the legal system are in this category. In this research, it was assumed that the existing challenges in different sectors of legal framework of foreign investment in Afghanistan are the main obstacles to the growth of foreign investment in this country. In order to prove the hypothesis, the study was carried out using the experimental research method by referring to the investors and experts in the economic zone of Herat in western Afghanistan. The research results indicate that in some sectors, the legal system needs to be reformed, but in general and by comparing the legal system with other variables, the measure of investors' satisfaction is satisfactory, and regulations are not as the main obstacle to the growth of foreign investment in Afghanistan, thus based on the analysis of data, the existing challenges in the laws and policies is not the main obstacle to the growth of foreign investment in Afghanistan. Therefore, it is necessary for Afghanistan's government to take into account the challenges such as security problems, corruption, lack of infrastructure, lack of energy and lack of trained workforce and take steps to address them.

More and Better Investment Now! How Unlocking Sustainable and Digital Investment Flows Can Help Achieve the SDGs

The global community can address the collapse of investment following COVID-19, drive digital transformation, and help achieve the SDGs through five actions: (1) establish a Facility and Fund to provide resources for technical assistance and facilitate private–public collaboration, including through a new EASI Alliance, (2) endorse a Sustainable Investment Framework to advance such collaboration, through aligning and coordinating efforts, (3) adopt specific investment policies and measures to support sustainable FDI for sustainable development, prioritizing linkages, (4) adopt specific policies and measures to facilitate investment in the digital economy, accelerating productive transformation while building resilience, and (5) develop partnerships and industry-based coalitions to operationalize these efforts.

State Regulation of Investment and the Development of High-Tech Enterprises

The influence of state regulation of investment on the national economy is considered. Special attention is paid to the legal framework for investment. Tools of state intervention in investment are identified, as well as approaches requiring both internal and external outlays.

Studyholism Inventory (SI-10): A Short Instrument for Evaluating Study Obsession Within the Heavy Study Investment Framework.

Loscalzo and Giannini (Loscalzo, Y., & Giannini, M. [2017]. Studyholism or Study Addiction? A comprehensive model for a possible new clinical condition. In A. M. Columbus (Ed.), Advances in psychological research, (Vol. 125, pp. 19-37). Hauppauge, NY, USA: Nova Science) recently proposed a theoretical model for a new potential clinical condition: Studyholism, or obsession toward studying. This study aims to analyze the psychometric properties of the instrument that has been created based on their theory, namely the Studyholism Inventory (SI-10). The participants are 1296 Italian college students aged between 19 and 55 years. We analyzed its factor structure, as well as its convergent and divergent validity, and we proposed the cut-off scores of the SI-10. Moreover, we investigated some demographic and study-related differences in studyholism and study engagement and the correlations with academic indicators. The results showed that the SI-10 is a ten-item (2 fillers) and 2-factor instrument (GFI = .98, CFI = .97, RMSEA = .07) with good psychometric properties. The SI-10 could be used in future research to analyze the features and correlates of studyholism, and for both clinical and preventive purposes, pointing to favor students’ well-being and academic success.

On Purpose: Towards a Unified Theory of Responsible Investment

A functional framework for responsible investment is necessary for quality and consistency in selection, differentiation, and evaluation of varied responsible investment applications as used by investors and/or their service providers. Understanding responsible investment as an intervention aimed at correcting for gaps in conventional financial markets’ recognition of real value provides such a framework. Using this framework enables universal investors and those with similar economic interests to identify offerings capable of meeting their needs.

Domestic Labor as Care and Growth in Western Kenya

SummarySociological and feminist explorations have tended to see domestic labor as feminized care work linked to the “private” realm of the home. This article explores domestic labor in western Kenya, describing such work as a reproductive and economic project that is carried out strategically through conditions of extreme precarity, as parts of efforts to ensure the growth of the home over time. Analyzing these practices through the lens of care unsettles some core dimensions of the conceptual frameworks commonly used to understand care, in particular assumed contiguities between domestic labor and care work. However, the ethnographic material presented here suggests that broadening our understandings of care can nonetheless provide a useful framework for understanding investments in domestic labor.

Enhancing green product and process innovation: Towards an integrative framework of knowledge acquisition and environmental investment

AbstractDespite the increasing interest in green innovation literature, little is known on how and under what conditions firms' knowledge transfer activities affect green innovation. There is lack of research that on how particular organizational capabilities are seen more useful and how it influences on green innovation performance. To address this research gap, we examine a mediation model in which we explore whether a firm's knowledge acquisition capability and investment in environmental management mediate the impact of buyer‐driven knowledge transfer activities on green product innovation and green process innovation. On the basis of an analysis of a sample of 239 manufacturing firms, we find that buyer‐driven knowledge activities have a greater positive impact on green product innovation than green process innovation. Investment in environmental management fully mediates the relationship between buyer‐driven knowledge transfer activities and green process innovation, and knowledge acquisition capability partially mediates the relationship between buyer‐driven knowledge transfer activities and green product innovation. The current study provides evidence that internal competencies and the role of buyers in knowledge transfer are critical for explaining the green product innovation and green process innovation. Our results suggest that buyer involvement pushes firms to develop resource acquisition capability to enhance green product innovation. Our results also highlight the importance of investment in environmental management for overcoming the environmental challenges in the manufacturing firms.

Parents’ Investment in a French-English Dual Language Immersion Program in the United States

ABSTRACT Drawing upon Darvin and Norton’s framework of investment, this article explores the multiple factors underlying parents’ commitment to bilingual education. I use open-ended responses on a survey to report on the motivations and experiences of parents who have enrolled their child in a French-English dual language immersion program. Findings indicate how parents’ investment played out in issues surrounding identity, capital and ideology. Parents deemed it a success when their imagined identity for their child coincided with the child’s experience in the program, whereas challenges occurred when this identity conflicted with the child’s attitude. French linguistic capital was a salient issue, since opportunities to practice French outside of school remained limited, including for children from French-speaking households. Indeed, the major structural barrier was the hegemony of English. This discussion raises questions about the extent to which parents’ investment influences children’s experiences with bilingual education.

A global investment framework for the elimination of hepatitis B

Background & AimsMore than 292 million people are living with hepatitis B worldwide and are at risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set global targets for the elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. However, current levels of global investment in viral hepatitis elimination programmes are insufficient to achieve these goals.MethodsTo catalyse political commitment and to encourage domestic and international financing, we used published modelling data and key stakeholder interviews to develop an investment framework to demonstrate the return on investment for viral hepatitis elimination.ResultsThe framework utilises a public health approach to identify evidence-based national activities that reduce viral hepatitis-related morbidity and mortality, as well as international activities and critical enablers that allow countries to achieve maximum impact on health outcomes from their investments – in the context of the WHO's 2030 viral elimination targets.ConclusionFocusing on hepatitis B, this health policy paper employs the investment framework to estimate the substantial economic benefits of investing in the elimination of hepatitis B and demonstrates how such investments could be cost saving by 2030.Lay summaryHepatitis B infection is a major cause of death from liver disease and liver cancer globally. To reduce deaths from hepatitis B infection, we need more people to be tested and treated for hepatitis B. In this paper, we outline a framework of activities to reduce hepatitis B-related deaths and discuss ways in which governments could pay for them.

Strategic enablement investments: Exploring differences in human and technological knowledge transfers to supply chain partners

Business-to-business firms have a long history of investing in training their supply chain partners using primarily salespeople. However, advances in technology now allow for elements of sales enablement programs to be automated and run without human involvement. This paper examines how human and technology enablers are suited to transfer tacit and explicit knowledge respectively. It constructs a strategic enablement investment framework that, depending on the mix of investments in human or technology enablers, results in four types of learning environments: self-directed, collaborative, adaptive, and complex. We close by discussing the implications for future research and offer guidance for industrial marketing managers.

When does eco-efficiency rebound or backfire? An analytical model

It is known that an eco-efficiency strategy, which saves resources in the production process, may be offset by a rebound effect; it may even backfire. Less known are the exact conditions under which eco-efficiency rebounds or backfires. This article fills the gap by providing an analytical model of the rebound and backfire effects. We propose an optimal control framework of dynamic pricing and eco-efficiency investment, for which eco-efficiency reduces the unit production cost and boosts the demand of environmentally concerned consumers. Results, which hold with a general demand formulation, examine the analytic conditions for the rebound and backfire effects. They also highlight the possibility of a reverse rebound effect. Such results pave the way to sounder sustainability strategies.

Emergency preparedness: Interviews with senior leadership in Nebraska hospitals.

The objective of this study was to explore perceptions of senior leadership in hospitals on the motivations, cost, benefits, barriers, and facilitators of investment in emergency preparedness. This is a qualitative study which used a grounded theory approach to develop a theory of hospital emergency preparedness. A purposive sample of hospital leaders (n = 11) in the US state of Nebraska were interviewed. Results showed that the environmental risk associated with the hospital location, the hospital's position in the community, and the preparedness requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services contribute to investment decisions. Rural hospitals face unique challenges in preparing for disasters, for example, lack of trained personnel. Facilitators of disaster preparedness include the availability of federal funds, the commitment of leadership, and an organizational mission aligned toward emergency preparedness. Hospitals invest in hazard vulnerability assessments; partnerships with other organizations in the community; staff trainings and infrastructure. The authors concluded that hospitals in Nebraska are committed toward investing in preparedness activities. The theory of hospital emergency preparedness developed will be used in a subsequent study to develop a decision-support framework for hospital investment in preparedness.

An integrated framework for municipal capital investment planning

Resilient and sustainable municipal organisations develop long-term capital investment plans to balance capital investment needs with organisational financial capacity in the most optimum way to ensure services are provided at the acceptable level of service. Currently, capital investment planning frameworks and methodologies exist to develop the capital investment plans, but these lack a service-centric and integrated approach to identify, coordinate, prioritise and plan capital investment needs – capital projects. The development of a service-centric and integrated framework for municipal capital investment planning will address these issues. A three-step methodology is used to develop the framework, including; desktop discovery, field discovery and framework development. The paper discusses the development of the capital investment planning framework comprised of three main components; identify, coordinate and plan and manage capital projects. The paper further explains the implementation challenges and their solutions.

Regimen tributario preferencial. Ganancias corporativas de empresas de comercio exterior en la región Asia-Pacífico

El objetivo de la investigación es contribuir al comercio internacional y la inversión extranjera en la región Asia-Pacífico mediante el uso de regímenes fiscales preferenciales a las ganancias corporativas de empresas de comercio exterior.
 
 La metodología compara jurisdicciones fiscales de Asia y de países OCDE aplicados a casos de estudio. Aborda, en primer lugar, la constitución de sociedades de responsabilidad limitada, los marcos de inversión y moneda extranjera y los impuestos sobre ganancias corporativas en Hong Kong. En segundo término, profundiza en compañías offshore constituidas en Delaware, la documentación de propiedad de derechos en la compañía y en las reglas de confidencialidad de identidad de sus accionistas. Por último, examina dos casos de estudio que involucran a compañías con responsabilidad limitada y la entrega de productos importados destinados a la venta en el mercado de China continental.
 
 La investigación concluye la constitución de sociedades de responsabilidad limitada en el extranjero como parte de una planificación fiscal destinada a promover empresas que obtienen ganancias corporativas en exportación al mercado chino y/o que adquieren bienes de capital no destinados a jurisdicciones offshore.

Measuring the Social Return on Investment of community sport and leisure facilities

ABSTRACT Rationale/Purpose: There is a growing demand from managers and policy makers for evidence on the wider impacts of sport and physical activity. This is driven by the need to demonstrate accountability for public expenditure and effectiveness in relation to public policy. The research presented in this paper addresses a gap in knowledge relating to the social impact of local sport and leisure facilities. Design/methodology/approach: A Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework was used to measure the impact of sport and physical activity across 12 community sport and leisure facilities in Sheffield. A range of methods were used to measure general participation by regular visitors and a targeted therapeutic exercise programme for specific participants. Findings: The research found the social value of outcomes related to general and targeted participation were £21.67 m and £0.26 m, respectively, and that for every £1 spent a SROI of between £1.20 and £3.42 was generated. Practical implications: The research enables managers to identify the value of facilities beyond the financial indicators commonly used in performance management. Contribution: It contributes to knowledge on valuing the non-market benefits of sport. The research provides a methodological example of using SROI to measure the value of local sport and leisure facilities.

Universal Ownership in Practice: A Practical Positive Investment Framework for Asset Owners

Universal owners such as pension funds, insurance companies, university endowments, and sovereign wealth funds have an interest in the long-term health of the financial system as a whole. As COVID-19 unfortunately has demonstrated, these asset owners cannot diversify away from systemic risks such as climate change, inequality, and pandemics, and can only mitigate whole-system threats by effecting change in the real economy. The following paper examines the current state of responsible investment and its impact across asset classes and through shareholder engagement, suggesting that responsible investment in its current guise is not fit for purpose as a means to address systemic risks – particularly climate change. This is because responsible investment tends to aim to protect individual portfolios from systemic environmental and social risks, without mitigating these risks in the real economy. In contrast, universal owners’ interest is in mitigating systemic risks themselves, which would have the effect of internalising externalities and protecting the long-term health of the system as a whole. This paper proposes an evidence-based practical framework for universal owners paper that includes several measures designed to produce real-world outcomes: a more urgent and tactical version of active ownership within public equity (and even within corporate bond holdings); asset allocation within the primary market; a particular focus on assets that make the transition from the primary to the secondary market; “ungameable” metrics linked to real-world outcomes; strategic engagement with public policy and standard-setting regimes; and forward signalling to reduce wastage and accelerate decarbonisation timelines. Together these elements of the framework have the potential to change the rules of the game, alter company behaviour and fundamental strategy, reallocate capital, and bend the emissions curve permanently downwards – precisely what is required of universal owners in the year of COVID-19 recovery and during this last crucial decade of climate action.

Indigenous investments: Are they different? Lessons from Iwi

Iwi, the tribal entities of the Māori people of Aotearoa New Zealand, now manage billions of dollars, a task requiring increasing sophistication in their investment strategies. Asset classes of Iwi have evolved from the properties, fisheries quotas, and cash they received through Aotearoa New Zealand’s Treaty settlement process to now include major investments in private equity, infrastructure, and other financial assets. The literature has, however, been largely silent on Iwi investments. Performance discussions tend to emphasize a western approach focusing on traditional financial performance measures. Using Waikato-Tainui operated Tainui Group Holdings (TGH) as an example, we analyze a sample of corporate disclosure documents. We find the intent of tribal (Iwi) investment firms may not be adequately captured through traditional investment frameworks and classic performance metrics. Drawing parallels between Iwi investment firms and impact investing widens the scope for financial managers to think differently about how we quantify Indigenous investment performance.

A Case-based Evaluation Model of Venture Investment Contract Method and Its Application to ‘Simple Agreement for Future Equity’

Purpose - In this paper, we examine prevailing venture investment contract methods employed by the venture capital community in Korea in order to assess the extent to which they are actually beneficial for developing and nurturing early stage start-ups. Design/Methodology/Approach - We evaluate the validity of SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), a recently adopted investment contract modality in Korea by comparing its position relative to RCPS or Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock which is established as the most prevailing investment contract method. In doing so, we analyze data on Venture Capital investment contract during the period from 2015~2019 in Korea, through the conduct and qualitative assessment of multiple case studies of early start-ups. Findings - We find that the venture investment community in Korea has been relying disproportionately on the RCPS as the prefered venture investment contract method, which, however, works against the interests and success of the start-up by imposing too much risk on the entrepreneur and binding him/her to repay the invested capital at the expense of the longer-term viability of the firm. Research Implications - The implication of our study is that striking a good balance between the investor’s risk reduction in redemption and the sustainability of the start-up operation is the key to the successful design and implementation of the institutional framework for venture investment.

Gratidão, gratitude: Brazilian immigrant parents’ perspectives on their children’s bilingual education

ABSTRACT This article explores Brazilian immigrant parents’ perspectives about a newly established Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program in their community. The analysis of parental answers to a family engagement survey, using the framework of investment, reveals that the Brazilian parents in our sample assembled narratives of gratitude through overt statements of thankfulness, multiple compliments to the school, to the bilingual program and its teachers, and by placing the TWI program as a space for “helping those in need”. On one hand, engagement with the discourse of gratitude validated school agents as authorities and relegated immigrant parents and children to vulnerable positions as beneficiaries. On the other hand, it enabled parents to secure the right to speak in interactions with the school and vouch for their children’s education. This article sheds light on immigrant parents’ beliefs and orientations toward a model of bilingual education that is rapidly growing in popularity in U.S. schools.

Modifying social impact assessment to enhance the effectiveness of company social investment strategies in contributing to local community development

ABSTRACT Good practice social impact assessment (SIA) should lead to improved local community development outcomes. However, the social benefits alleged to flow from projects are often not as evident to affected communities as the project’s adverse impacts. Projects still give inadequate attention to social issues and fail to achieve social development outcomes. Using a prominent gas project in Russia, the Nord Stream 2 project, as an illustrative example, we explore the potential of environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) to enhance the effectiveness of project contributions to local community development. We analyse the main steps of the community development process for the Nord Stream 2 project, and consider how it benefitted from the SIA process. We also reflect on the potential further contribution of SIA to community development. Even though SIA and community development are interrelated, we conclude that SIA, as currently practiced, is constrained in its ability to contribute to community development outcomes. Adjustments to the SIA and corporate social investment frameworks are needed to make them more effective in achieving social development outcomes.