Human Economy Research Articles

Towards biocultural realism: Connecting conservation with historical ecology and common sense. A European perspective.

In this perspective, we present and discuss four major causes of the worldwide nature conservation failure: 1) ideologies based on nature-culture dualism, 2) the bias prioritising forests in conservation, 3) the illusory objectiveness of selected biological indicators, and 4) the mismanagement of rural agricultural landscapes. All of these relate to ignorance of historical ecology and neglect of the role past plays in shaping landscapes and fostering biodiversity. These led to a false anthropology focussed on the broader human economy (including agriculture) as the absolute culprit of biodiversity loss. It is believed, therefore, that biodiversity preservation depends on conservation policies and actions providing protection against human activities, such as farming. In this way, nature conservation has been detached from the rich experiences of long and fruitful coexistence of people with other elements of nature. The bio-cultural legacy includes biodiversity-rich rural landscapes, whose habitats are often either neglected or wrongly interpreted as "remnants of natural ecosystems". Consequently, conservation efforts are frequently ineffective or worse still, counter-effective. In the face of policies favouring subsidised intensive agribusiness at the cost of destroying smallholder family farming, even expensive conservation projects are usually nothing more than a "fig leaf" to cover failure. We advocate re-focussing of conservation planning to put more emphasis on landscapes' historical ecology responsible for their bio-cultural diversity. It implies the need for new principles in policies necessary to secure the economic and cultural sovereignty of local socio-ecological systems responsible for the world's bio-cultural diversity.

Sensitivity of marine invertebrates to acidification of seawater by an atmosphere enriched with CO2

Ocean acidification, a consequence of increasing atmospheric CO2, results from oceans absorbing about one-third of CO2 emissions, leading to a decrease in pH. This phenomenon can cause sublethal or lethal damage to marine organisms some of which are crucial for coastal ecosystems and human economies. Understanding how to reproduce acidified seawater in a laboratory is essential for assessing potential impacts. Our protocol uses a CO2-enriched atmosphere to determine the pH tolerance of Mysidopsis juniae, exposed at pH 6.8 and 7.0, and larvae of Arbacia lixula, exposed at pH 7.2. M. juniae showed lethal responses at pH 6.8 ± 0.3, while A. lixula exhibited delayed larval development as a sublethal reaction at pH 7.2 ± 0.3. However, these pH levels are extreme and cannot be predicted for future oceanic conditions. Other studies have indicated negative sublethal effects on similar organisms at higher pH levels than those observed in this study. Continued experiments are necessary to prepare for and inform about the dangers of ocean acidification, and also to develop other types of studies.

Research Progress of Desertification Control in China

Desertification is a change in soil properties, vegetation, or climate that leads to the ongoing loss of ecosystem services essential for sustaining life. Desertification affects large areas of dry land around the world and is a major cause of stress in human societies. Desertification is a serious ecological problem in China. Desertification has seriously affected vegetation growth, food security, and human economy, and has caused certain adverse effects on the natural environment and social environment. Based on the causes of desertification and the present situation of desertification, this paper analyzes various measures to prevent and control desertification and puts forward some useful ideas on desertification in China, which will provide a reference for the research of desertification control in China.

Civilization Approach in Economic Researches

The proposed article presents the author’s view on how the civilizational approach to the analysis of economic processes developed and what it consisted of in various predominantly Russian-language literary sources of the 19th century. The author recognizes that the volume of sources containing evidence of such an approach is immense, so he focuses on those that he considers the most important and indicative for assessing the contribution of Russian science to the development of such a methodology of economic analysis, as well as the modern concept of human economy, to which some of the author’s earlier works were devoted. In the author’s opinion, the civilization approach already at the early stages of economic research helped to bring out non-material, cultural-psychological and moral aspects of economic behavior and formation of economic institutions. Most studies of the impact of civilizational development on the economy demonstrate a certain one-directionality, that is, they are built in the logic of a hierarchical world order: civilized nations are at the top of the pyramid of development, and uncivilized, barbaric nations are located somewhere at its base. The civilizational approach allows us to abandon the “economism”, which has become a template, based on the exclusive recognition of the primacy of material factors of social development. In addition, in the author’s opinion, there is an opportunity to raise the question of the correctness of the multipolarity concept, which can no longer describe in detail the formation of a new world order. The civilizational approach gives a chance to assess the processes of globalization and fragmentation in a new way, not as antagonistic processes, but as mutually conditioned. In general, the future development of a multi-civilizational world order and its conflict-free nature will be largely determined by the willingness of representatives of primarily Western civilization to recognize the need to gradually abandon the paradigm of universality of social development conditions in favor of manners identity paradigm, uniqueness of economic structure and behavior, and the importance of identity for economic development.

The US Economy as a Network: A Comparison across Economic and Environmental Metrics

Environmental-economic analysis is an evolving field that seeks to situate the human economy within environmental systems through its consumption of environmental resources and cycling of resources and waste products back into the environment. Environmental accounting has seen increased focus in recent years as national and regional governments look to better track environmental flows to aid in policy development and evaluation. This study outlines a conceptual environmental-economic framework founded on network science principles. An empirical study operationalizes portions of the framework and highlights the need for further research in this area to develop new data sources and analytic methods. We demonstrate a spatial mismatch between the location of water-intensive industries and the natural location of water resources (i.e., lakes, rivers, and precipitation), which climate change is likely to exacerbate. We use eigenvector centrality to measure differences in the US economy according to economic trade flow and five associated environmental flow accounts (land use, water consumption, energy use, mineral metal use, and greenhouse gas production). Population normalization helps to identify low-population counties that play a central role in the environmental-economic system as a function of their natural resources.

Formation of the Baby Economy as a Prerequisite for the Development of the Human Economy and Adaptation of the National Economy of Ukraine to the Principles of Sustainable Development

Abstract The processes of kinship, gender and age stratification, early learning opportunities, socialization, and the ability to engage in creativity and optimize craft are crucial for developing the education economy. All these factors in the development of the education economy should turn a young person into an economic person with the ability to make effective production, technological, and managerial decisions regarding the development of his or her personality, society, and economic element. It is worth noting that Ukraine is only forming a baby economy system. There are separate parts of it that the will of the state policy should unite. However, the private production and research sector should also be aimed at cooperating with educational institutions both in terms of production practices and highly specialized career guidance. Also, the education economy should be integrated into global educational processes, especially at the bachelor’s and master’s levels of university education. Ukraine is joining global university networks to optimize higher education. Joining exemplary examples of global education should influence the development of Ukraine’s national economy in the context of globalization. The processes of kinship, gender and age stratification, early learning opportunities, socialization, and the ability to engage in creativity and optimize craft are crucial for developing the education economy. All these factors in the development of the economy of education and upbringing should turn a young person into an economic person with the ability to make effective production, technological, and managerial decisions regarding the development of his or her personality, society, and economic element.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE CASHLESS PAYMENT SYSTEM AND TERMINAL FACILITIES ON SERVICE USER SATISFACTION AT THE PELINDO TANJUNG BALAI KARIMUN PASSENGER TERMINAL

Karimun is a boarding and alighting service for domestic and international passengers. To support passenger services, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero) continues to strive to improve its passenger terminal, both in terms of facilities and services. The Karimun Regent Regional Government remains committed to improving the regional economy, especially related to the tourism sector and maritime industry. Tanjung Balai Karimun Passenger Terminal offers excellent opportunities and prospects as it is strategically important for the positive impact of IMS-GT (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore-Growth Triangle). In the digital age like now, money is an important part of the human economy. Money can be used for transactions that are acceptable to humans. Service quality has a very good and significant influence on passenger terminal facilities. Ha is accepted and the results of the t test calculation which is the hypothesis that service quality has a very important influence on passenger terminal facilities produces a value of t = 2.445 at a significance level of 0.008. And T count (2.445) > T table (2.01), the significance value is 0.008, which is 0.05 smaller. The value of port services is also reflected in the embarkation and disembarkation options for sea passengers at the Tanjung Balay Karimun Indonesia Domestic Port Terminal.

Robust Forest Fire Detection Method for Surveillance Systems Based on You Only Look Once Version 8 and Transfer Learning Approaches

Forest fires have emerged as a significant global concern, exacerbated by both global warming and the expanding human population. Several adverse outcomes can result from this, including climatic shifts and greenhouse effects. The ramifications of fire incidents extend widely, impacting human communities, financial resources, the natural environment, and global warming. Therefore, timely fire detection is essential for quick and effective response and not to endanger forest resources, animal life, and the human economy. This study introduces a forest fire detection approach utilizing transfer learning with the YOLOv8 (You Only Look Once version 8) pretraining model and the TranSDet model, which integrates an improved deep learning algorithm. Transfer Learning based on pre-trained YoloV8 enhances a fast and accurate object detection aggregate with the TranSDet structure to detect small fires. Furthermore, to train the model, we collected 5200 images and performed augmentation techniques for data, such as rotation, scaling, and changing due and saturation. Small fires can be detected from a distance by our suggested model both during the day and at night. Objects with similarities can lead to false predictions. However, the dataset augmentation technique reduces the feasibility. The experimental results prove that our proposed model can successfully achieve 98% accuracy to minimize catastrophic incidents. In recent years, the advancement of deep learning techniques has enhanced safety and secure environments. Lastly, we conducted a comparative analysis of our method’s performance based on widely used evaluation metrics to validate the achieved results.

Advances in behavioral economics: paradigm shift towards a humanistic economics

The objective of the study is to offer a critical review, of scope and limits of content, on the development of behavioral economics, with attention to the Ibero-American contributions to overcome the biases of the Neoclassical Synthesis and thus rehumanize the study of economics, so a bibliometric study was developed in the Scopus database, comprising more than a thousand articles related to behavioral economics. With the metadata obtained a descriptive analysis has been made, plus bibliometric maps using VosViewer software, to present the thematic connections. Thus, it can be seen that there is a growing trend in scientific production in this field, and that the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom are the leading countries with a greater number of researches and of greater impact, influencing theoretical and applied developments. The most cited research is focused on the generation of scientific knowledge that contributes to achieving objectives of social interest, which is precisely where behavioral economics must go in order to achieve a more humane economy. There is an incipient participation of researchers from Latin American countries, especially in Scopus Q1-rated journals, which could represent an advance in innovation that could translate into a paradigmatic change, if governments and public policy designers seek an economy less focused on production and GDP growth, and rather focused on human satisfaction.

WE economy: Potential of mutual aid distribution based on moral responsibility and risk vulnerability.

Reducing wealth inequality is a global challenge that requires the transformation of the economic systems that produce inequality. The economic system comprises: (1) gifts and reciprocity, (2) power and redistribution, (3) market exchange, and (4) mutual aid without reciprocal obligations. Current inequality stems from a capitalist economy consisting of (2) and (3). To sublimate (1), the human economy, to (4), the concept of a "mixbiotic society" has been proposed in the philosophical realm. In this society, free and diverse individuals mix, recognize their respective "fundamental incapability," and sublimate them into "WE" solidarity. Moreover, the economy must have a moral responsibility as a co-adventurer and consider its vulnerability to risk. This study focuses on two factors of mind perception-moral responsibility and risk vulnerability-and proposes a novel wealth distribution model between the two agents following an econophysical approach, whereas the conventional model dealt with redistribution through taxes and institutions. Three models are developed: a joint-venture model in which profit/losses are distributed based on their factors, a redistribution model in which wealth stocks are redistributed periodically based on their factors in the joint-venture model, and a "WE economy" model in which profit/losses are distributed based on the ratio of each other's factors. A simulation comparison reveals that WE economies are effective in reducing inequality, resilient in normalizing wealth distribution as advantages, and susceptible to free riders as disadvantages. However, this disadvantage can be compensated for by fostering fellowship and using joint ventures. This study presents the effectiveness of moral responsibility and risk vulnerability, complementarity between the WE economy and joint economy, and the direction of the economy in reducing inequality. Future challenges include developing an advanced model based on real economic analysis and economic psychology and promoting its fieldwork for worker coops and platform cooperatives to realize a desirable mixbiotic society.

Non-Economic Functions in Education Investment

Education plays an important role in improving the standard of living and the quality of the human economy. This causes many people to think that higher education will provide high economic returns. But in reality, many graduates have completed their education at tertiary institutions, but are still unemployed, so people think that it is useless to go to school or have a higher education. Even though the function of investment in education is not only an economic function. This study uses literature studies by analyzing books, journals, or research related to the problem. From the results of the analysis, education has several aspects of non-economic functions such as religious, social, political and legal, cultural, educational, health, and social life functions. This shows that the return value from investment in education is not only an economic aspect, but includes many aspects. Education helps people to become more socially, politically, and culturally aware and better equipped to understand and apply science and technology to advance human civilization.

Развитие атомного ледокольного флота и его роли в экономическом освоении Северного морского пути

This scientific article studies the development of nuclear icebreakers, the history of their commissioning and service; the growth of nuclear icebreaker capacity is investigated. The Soviet and Russian stages of their history have been compared. A diagram of this development was constructed. Key tactical and technical data of nuclear icebreakers are compared; their proportionality and similarity are proved. The prospects of the nuclear icebreaker fleet development are investigated. The growth of cargo turnover along the Northern Sea Route in 1933–2022 is analyzed and systematized. The development of nuclear icebreakers is compared with the growth of cargo turnover along the Northern Sea Route, their interdependence is proved; the diagram of this interdependence is constructed. The reasons for the influence of both the development of the human economy and political events in and around Russia on the changes in the grouping of nuclear icebreakers are revealed. It is identified that the volumes of transportations along the Northern Sea Route in the 21st century are many times higher than in the Soviet era, largely due to the growth of the quality and quantity of the nuclear icebreaker fleet. The reasons for the reduction of the nuclear icebreaker fleet at the beginning of the 21st century under the influence of the general temporary reduction of cargo flows along the Northern Sea Route are shown. Maximum small and optimal sizes of nuclear icebreakers grouping for effective operation of the Northern Sea Route are specified.

Eating for a Human Economy: Food Politics and Pleasures in Wendell Berry’s Fiction

Eating for a Human Economy: Food Politics and Pleasures in Wendell Berry’s Fiction

Warfare, Political Economy, and Social Formations: Considering Central Andean Prehistory

Warfare is critical for anthropologists and prehistorians studying variation in human economies and societies. To view this variable comparatively, we must consider severity and regularity as documented by defensive facilities and locations, nature and frequency of weaponry, and bodily injuries likely from combat. Arkush (2022 and companion article) provides detailed documentation for explaining Andean warfare. Here, I look at war- fare as a constellations of phenomena involving raiding for wealth, competition over cor porate land ownership, and conquest warfare by complex chiefdoms and states aimed at maximizing the extraction of surpluses. My goal is to model warfare as imbedded within political economies with different goals and means based on sources of economic power. This is fundamentally a Marxist orientation, considering contrasting modes of economic organization representing competitive processes between interest groups. The Andean data suggest that warfare was elementally competition for corporately held agricultural lands intensified by facilities including especially irrigation. It varied in frequency and severity with population density increasing through time. With the emergence of institutional finance, however, overarching polities focus on conquest and intimidation to maximize surplus extraction as they imposed regional peace as documented for example by coastal EIP states and the Inca empire. Elaboration of offensive weaponry did not characterize Andean sequences in sharp contrast to Bronze and Iron Age Europe, suggesting distinctive trajectories of warfare. Key for success in Andean warfare was sizes of fighting forces as characterized by the numbers of sandals on the ground.

Educating Youth About Human Impact on Freshwater Ecosystems Using an Online Serious Game

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet and constitute key natural resources for human economies. These ecosystems, however, are endangered due to persistent human activities, ranging from temperature changes to water pollution. Here, we develop an online serious game to educate youth regarding human impact on freshwater ecosystems. In particular, we focus on how environmental variables can affect the behavior and well-being of freshwater fish, which are critical to the food web and the function of the whole ecosystem. In the game, players aim to maximize fish fitness by foraging and reproducing, despite adversarial environmental conditions. We leverage dynamical systems theory to create mathematical models for all the game characters and components, including animal locomotion and hydrodynamic interactions with the flow physics of a virtual river. We test the educational value and usability of the game on a group of middle-school students from New York City. Our results suggest that games like the proposed serious game could be a viable tool to engage youth in environmental education about freshwater ecosystems.

An essay on the need to redefine economics for the sake of a human economy

More than 90 years after Lionel Robbins more or less defined the subject ofeconomics in his famous essay, it is time to redress the issue in light of recent developments and new insights. Robbins used the figure of Robinson Crusoe to define homo economicus as an agent that makes choices in conditions of scarcity. By re-reading and re-interpreting the story of Crusoe, we make more sense of the narrative when we envisage people engaged in practices by which they realize what is important to them, that is, their values. Homo economicus becomes a special case pertinent to theinstrumental economies of markets and organizations. In the so-called human economies of the home, the social, cultural, and natural world, people use the inputs that they acquire in the instrumental economies to realize what is important to them, such as families, friendships, science, art, religion, meanings. This shift in perspective will have far reaching consequence for the way economists think and theorize and enables them to connect with the value-based approach that is increasingly dominatingthe worlds of business and politics.

Sustainability and Community: An Alliance to Reach Complete Neutrality with Nature

After the Covid epidemic, the conditions were created for a change in the geopolitical framework. But as Gramsci said “The new one is slow to arrive,” Maybe. But some important innovations on which the changes will be based are there for all to see. The widespread and rapid sentiment regarding global warming among communities globally, even before the serious evolution of the world under stress was announced and disseminated by the press and science. Because communities are forerunners of the sentiment spread by the universal laws that affect matter but also the laws of the human economy and therefore of life itself on the planet. There is nothing new in the fact that the communities were the first to incorporate concern for the planet's anomalies and that they give prevalence to the theme of the disease of the planet for anthropometric reasons compared to the social issues that usually absorb the debate between the parties. There is therefore a discontinuity between the communities attracted by the danger for future generations and the management of the political parties agitated by the conflict of positions due to the hunger for consensus. Now this hunger for consensus not only does not have a meeting point with the communities but is creating a discontinuity between the unitary tendency of the communities and the contentiousness index of the parties. It could be deduced that we have reached a turning point that puts the problem of the disease of the planet back at the highest point of interests and therefore the unitary tendency of the communities must prevail over the scattering of consensus among the politic parties. As if to say that we must move from the representative democracy of the parties to the direct democracy of the communities. In other words, moving from political governments to technical governments composed of experts and scientists given the growing and decisive importance on the lives of future generations of intervening to correct global warming of the planet.

Evolusi Uang Dalam Perspektif Sejarah dan Al-Qur'an: Analisis Berdasarkan Pemikiran Wahbah Zuhaili

Money has evolved significantly from prehistoric times to modern times, serving as the foundation of the human economy and way of life. Historical, Qur'anic and Wahbah Zuhaili perspectives will be examined in this discussion. Evolution took us from a simple barter system to the creation of precious and distinctive coins such as gold and silver. An important role in the economy is played by cash. Money serves as an effective measure of value and medium of exchange, making it easy to compare the prices of various goods and services. Value can be stored and accumulated over time thanks to its wealth storage function. In addition, money serves as a mechanism of exchange that makes ordinary business easier. The role of gold, silver, dinars and dirhams as tools of trade and as units of value is recognized in the Qur'anic perspective. This idea was translated into the contemporary economic context by Wahbah Zuhaili. However, the emergence of paper money and cryptocurrencies prompted new questions about the function of money in the modern era. This research highlights the development and importance of money in human civilization by integrating history, religion and economics. We can understand how money has influenced and still shapes the economy and human existence as a whole by examining the ideas of value, exchange, and the social significance of money. From prehistoric times to the present, money has undergone significant transformations.

New perspectives on plant-use at neolithic Abu Hureyra, Syria: an integrated phytolith and spherulite study

Archaeobotanical remains contribute crucial evidence for shifts in human economy from foraging to farming, understanding early village life and the strategies employed by people in the past to cope with changing environmental conditions. However, differential preservation of plant proxies often leads to the over or under representation of some plant types. This research analyses phytoliths and faecal spherulites to provide new perspectives on human economy at the Neolithic site of Abu Hureyra, N. Syria (∼ 11100–6000 bc) and plant taphonomy by comparing results with those from previous extensively analysed charred plant macro-fossils. This site is of especial importance as one of the earliest and largest pre-pottery Neolithic B farming settlements in the world, however, it was flooded following the construction of the Tabqa dam in the 1970s. This research therefore presents a case study for some of the methods that can be applied to archival material to continue research in areas of high archaeological significance that are no longer accessible. The presence of dung spherulites suggests a background faecal component in sediments throughout the lifespan of the site, and should therefore be considered as a depositional pathway for some of the charred plant macrofossils and phytoliths. Phytolith analyses show that a diverse range of vegetation types were exploited throughout the lifespan of Abu Hureyra, reflecting the site’s favourable position on the border of several ecotones, which likely contributed to its longevity over several millennia.

Does rDLPFC activity alter trust? Evidence from a tDCS study.

Trust plays an important role in the human economy and people's social lives. Trust is affected by various factors and is related to many brain regions, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, few studies have focused on the impact of the DLPFC on trust through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), although abundant psychology and neuroscience studies have theoretically discussed the possible link between DLPFC activity and trust. In the present study, we aimed to provide evidence of a causal relationship between the rDLPFC and trust behavior by conducting multiple rounds of the classical trust game and applying tDCS over the rDLPFC. We found that overall, anodal stimulation increased trust compared with cathodal stimulation and sham stimulation, while the results in different stages were not completely the same. Our work indicates a causal relationship between rDLPFC excitability and trust behavior and provides a new direction for future research.