Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThis study analyzes the causal relationships between economic growth, inflation, exports, and domestic credit to the private sector in Turkey using annual data covering the period from 1990 to 2024, obtained from the World Bank and the Turkish Statistical Institute. The empirical strategy is based on a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) modeling framework combined with the Toda–Yamamoto Granger causality approach, with the long-run interactions among the variables further examined through Johansen cointegration analysis. This integrated methodology allows for a comprehensive assessment of both short-run dynamics and long-term equilibrium relationships in the Turkish macro-financial system. The empirical findings from the Toda–Yamamoto causality tests reveal statistically significant causal effects running from exports of goods and services, economic growth, and inflation to domestic credit to the private sector. Specifically, exports (EXGS), GDP growth (GDPG), and inflation (INF) each exert a meaningful influence on domestic private sector credit (DOCR), indicating that historical movements in these macroeconomic variables possess substantial explanatory and predictive power for credit dynamics. These results underscore the importance of real economic activity, external trade performance, and price stability in shaping the evolution of financial intermediation in Turkey. From a policy perspective, the results imply that maintaining export competitiveness, promoting stable and inclusive economic growth, and ensuring low and predictable inflation are essential for improving private sector credit access, reinforcing financial sector performance, and fostering sustainable economic development and macroeconomic stability in Turkey.

ABSTRACT Achieving sustainable development requires not only economic growth but also resilient and inclusive health systems, as emphasized under Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3). This study analyzes the relationship between financial development, macroeconomic stability, and public health outcomes in the E7 economies China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia, and Turkey—over the period 1990–2023. Financial development is measured through Domestic Credit to the Private Sector (DCPS) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), while macroeconomic stability is captured by inflation (INF). Public health outcomes are assessed using life expectancy (LE), immunization (IMM) coverage, the elderly population (POP65) share, and hospital beds (HBEDS) per 1000 people. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis are employed to examine cross‐country trends. The findings reveal that financial deepening and FDI inflows are generally associated with improvements in LE, IMM coverage, and healthcare access, whereas inflation consistently undermines health outcomes. China and India demonstrate rapid financial expansion supporting health gains but continue to face healthcare infrastructure constraints. Brazil and Turkey benefit from financial inflows, though persistent inflation limits progress. Mexico shows steady improvements across financial and health indicators, while Russia records strong post‐transition health gains. Indonesia achieves notable advances in IMM and LE but remains constrained by limited healthcare capacity. Overall, the results indicate that financial development alone is insufficient to improve public health without macroeconomic stability and targeted healthcare investment, highlighting the need for integrated policy approaches to advance SDG 3.

This study investigates the effects of public investment in transportation infrastructure on economic growth in Nigeria over the period 2000–2024. The dataset is sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and the World Development Indicators (WDI, World Bank) Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) is employed as the dependent variable, while public investment in transportation infrastructure (PITI), road construction expenditure (RCE), total capital expenditure (TCE), and inflation (INF) serve as the explanatory variables. Anchored on the Keynesian multiplier theory, the study adopts the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, following preliminary descriptive, correlation, and unit root tests. The empirical findings reveal that public investment in transportation infrastructure has a positive and statistically significant long-run effect on economic growth, while road construction expenditure and total capital expenditure exert positive but statistically insignificant effects. Inflation shows a negative but insignificant relationship with growth. The short-run results indicate delayed adjustment effects, with the error-correction term confirming a stable convergence to long-run equilibrium. Diagnostic tests show no evidence of serial correlation, heteroskedasticity, misspecification, or model instability. The study concludes that sustained and efficient investment in transportation infrastructure is crucial for long-term economic growth in Nigeria. It recommends improved project execution, macroeconomic stability, diversification of transport infrastructure, and stronger governance mechanisms to enhance the growth impact of public spending.

ABSTRACT Research indicates that lack of fair compensation is one of the primary sources of dissatisfaction among freelance translators (Moorkens, 2020; Ruokonen & Svahn, 2024) and that rate-setting practices in the language services industry need to be improved collectively (Lambert & Walker, 2022), especially since the advent of neural machine translation (Vieira, 2020). In the 2024 edition of the European Language Industry Survey, for the first time in the history of the survey most freelance translators reported price drops, despite current inflation. Within this context, however, actual rates, pricing methods, and income satisfaction have received scant attention in translation research. In this article, we present the findings of an anonymous online survey on translation, revision and post-editing rates, pricing methods, and income satisfaction among freelancers based in two multilingual European markets, namely Belgium and Switzerland. The study confirms industry-wide trends of falling rates and reduced workloads due to AI. It reveals significant cross-country differences in pricing models and income satisfaction, with dissatisfaction mostly related to low rates rather than to pricing methods themselves. Despite structural concerns and uncertainty about AI’s impact, professional satisfaction remains relatively high, driven by the intrinsic appeal of translation-related work and freelance autonomy.

ABSTRACT The rising number of abandoned children in Ethiopia represents a critical child protection crisis, yet the institutions on the front lines remain under-studied. This case study assesses the practices and challenges of orphanage institutions in caring for these vulnerable children in Hawassa City. A qualitative approach was employed, with data collected from 47 participants across seven orphanages through interviews, focus group discussions, observation, and document review. The findings reveal that while orphanages provide comprehensive integrated services – including shelter, education, medical care, and psychosocial support – they operate under severe constraints. Major root causes of abandonment were identified as pervasive poverty, parental mental illness, and the stigmatization of children with special needs or those born from sexual abuse. Key institutional challenges include a critical imbalance between the influx of children and institutional capacity, inconsistent government policies, bureaucratic delays, economic inflation, and a lack of community awareness. The study concludes that safeguarding abandoned children requires a multi-faceted strategy, recommending heightened public awareness campaigns and strengthened collaboration between orphanages and government and non-government stakeholders to ensure sustainable care for this vulnerable population.

This paper reviews the origins of the neostructuralist theory of inertial inflation, which underpinned the heterodox aspects of the Austral Plan implemented in Argentina in 1985. According to this theory, the current inflation trend is determined by past inflation due to the formal or informal indexation mechanisms that appear in economies with chronic high inflation. After highlighting the heterodox measures of the Austral Plan, the evolution of neostructuralism in the field of inflation based on Latin American structuralism is reviewed here. The main features of inertialist theory are described and three sets of research that led to the emergence of this theory are examined. A relatively significant amount of attention is paid to articles published in Argentina and to advances derived from empirical research conducted in several Latin American countries, as there is a literature focused on the development of inertialist theory in Brazil. Finally, two economic policy proposals for this country are described, which had analogies with measures that were later taken in the Austral Plan.

This study examined the relationship between wage equity, measured by the Wage Equity Index (WEI), and inflation (INFL) across five East African countries, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan, over the period 2013 to 2024. The study was anchored in two theories: wage indexation theory and institutional economics theory. Using a panel dataset of 60 observations, the study employed descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and two-way fixed-effects (TWFE) regression to assess both country-specific and time-specific effects on wage equity. The findings reveal that inflation exhibits a negative, though statistically insignificant, relationship with wage equity, suggesting that short-term price fluctuations have a limited impact on wage fairness. In contrast, temporal trends demonstrate a consistent and significant improvement in WEI, highlighting the role of long-term structural, institutional, and policy-driven factors in promoting equitable wage distribution. These results underscore the importance of labour market reforms, regional integration, and socioeconomic development initiatives in sustaining wage equity across East Africa. The study recommends that policymakers continue to strengthen institutional mechanisms, harmonize employment standards, and expand social protection programmes to ensure that the observed improvements in wage equity are maintained. This research contributes to the understanding of wage dynamics in developing economies and provides evidence-based insights for regional labour policy formulation.

The study examined the effect of government expenditure on inflation and unemployment in Nigeria, covering the period 1994–2023. Specifically, the study disaggregated government expenditure into economic, social, and administrative components to evaluate their individual impacts on key macroeconomic variables. An ex-post facto research design was adopted, relying on secondary data from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin and the National Bureau of Statistics. The Vector Erro Correction model specification was adapted to test the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The results of the first regression revealed that government economic expenditure (GEE) and government social expenditure (GSE) have a statistically significant negative effect on inflation (INF). This suggests that increased spending in productive and social sectors helps to stabilize prices and mitigate inflationary pressures. Conversely, government administrative expenditure (GAE) was found to exert a positive and significant influence on inflation, indicating that excessive recurrent spending fuels price instability. The second regression result demonstrated that government economic expenditure (GEE) exerts a significant negative impact on unemployment (UEM), underscoring its role in job creation and economic empowerment. In contrast, government social expenditure (GSE) and administrative expenditure (GAE) showed no significant effect on unemployment, implying that such expenditures may not directly translate into employment opportunities in Nigeria. The study concludes that while productive and social investments are effective tools for curbing inflation, only economic expenditure significantly reduces unemployment. It recommends prioritizing capital-oriented and growth-inducing spending while rationalizing administrative costs.

We empirically investigate the Phillips Curve hypothesis, which posits an inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment in the short run, using Venezuela’s quarterly data from 1991 to 2023 obtained from the World Bank. Employing a Vector Autoregression (VAR) model, we treat inflation (GDP deflator, annual %) as the dependent variable and unemployment (% of total labour force, ILO estimate) as the independent variable. VAR results show strong persistence in both inflation and unemployment, with a 10% increase in lagged inflation (lag 1) raising current inflation by 7.8%, and a similar rise in lagged unemployment increasing current unemployment by 9.1%. However, lagged inflation in period 2 slightly reduces current inflation by 2.3%. Cross-variable effects between inflation and lagged unemployment, and vice versa, are statistically insignificant. Thus, we find no clear inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment, challenging the traditional Phillips Curve hypothesis in the Venezuelan context

The Patient Health Questionnaire stress scale (PHQ stress) is a brief 10-item measure of psychosocial stressors, including work, health, relationship, and financial concerns. This study examines changes in psychosocial stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluates the scale's temporal stability and measurement invariance. Longitudinal population-based data (N=4412) were collected at three time points during the pandemic (baseline, 4months later, and 1.5years after baseline). Internal consistency was assessed using McDonald's omega, and temporal stability via Pearson correlations. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to verify the unidimensional factor structure. A sensitivity analysis included pre-pandemic data (1.5years before baseline). PHQ stress scores increased across the four time points. Internal consistency remained acceptable (ω=0.77-0.79), with moderate temporal stability (r=0.631-0.697). CFA supported a stable one-factor structure (CFI=0.947, TLI=0.932, RMSEA=0.048, SRMR=0.047). The PHQ stress scale demonstrated adequate reliability and temporal stability in a longitudinal context. It effectively captured variations in stress influenced by major external events such as the pandemic and economic inflation.

This study examines how technological innovation has shaped economic growth and financial sector performance in South Africa between 1999 and 2023. While many studies treat innovation and finance as separate areas, this research brings them together in a country-specific context. Financial sector performance is measured through domestic credit to the private sector (DCPS), with exchange rate (EXR), broad money supply (M3), inflation (INF), gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), and information and communication technology (ICT) service exports as the main explanatory variables. Time series techniques. including unit root and cointegration tests, the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), variance decomposition, and Generalised Impulse Response Functions (GIRF) are applied to capture both short- and long-run relationships. In the short run, exchange-rate depreciation, rising inflation, and ICT service exports reduce DCPS, while M3 and GFCF show no significant impact. In the long run, however, ICT service exports emerge as a positive driver, highlighting the role of digital innovation in deepening credit markets. The error-correction results show a slow but steady adjustment toward equilibrium, pointing to structural challenges within the financial system. The study used quarterly data sourced from different databases with differing measurement frequencies, the data was therefore turned into logs during analysis stage to make it more unified for ease of analysis and application. Overall, the findings indicate that technological innovation is an important but uneven driver of South Africa’s growth. Policy efforts should link innovation to credit access, design public investment to support rather than crowd out private borrowing and better align digital and financial sector strategies.

Abstract The study investigates the effect of public debt on economic growth of Nepal over the period 1990 to 2024. The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of public debt on the economic growth of Nepal. The study considers external debt and internal debt as independent variables, gross capital formation and inflation rate as control variables, and GDP as the dependent variable. It utilizes secondary panel data from ten major commercial banks in Nepal. The results indicate that external debt has a positive and significant impact on GDP growth both in the short and long term, implying that external borrowing contributes to sustained economic development. In contrast, internal debt shows a negative effect on economic growth in the short run and an insignificant effect in the long run, suggesting that domestic borrowing may create short-term economic pressure. The effect of inflation appears mixed: current inflation does not significantly influence growth, but lagged inflation negatively affects GDP, indicating delayed harmful effects of rising prices. Keywords: External Debt, Internal Debt, Gross Capital Formation, Inflation Rate,

In the 21st century, the role of social workers has expanded far beyond traditional casework into a multifaceted profession shaped by technological innovation, economic pressures, global crises, and an intensified focus on social justice. Social workers today are active in policy advocacy, community organizing, digital service delivery, and systemic change, while still providing essential direct support to individuals and families (Badillo Diaz, 2025; Jacob & Souissi, 2024). Technology plays a dual role: it streamlines administrative tasks and enables remote service delivery—yet also raises ethical concerns around equity, confidentiality, and the human connection central to social work (Wassal et al., 2024; “21st Century Social Worker,” 2025). The COVID 19 pandemic, economic inflation, and mental health crises have magnified demands on the profession, leading to innovative interventions in non-traditional settings such as libraries, virtual platforms, and community hubs (The Guardian Australia, 2025; Re-Designing Social Worker Role During World Inflation Spillovers, 2025). Concurrently, there is a pronounced shift toward macro-level practice—emphasizing advocacy, policy design, community development, and interdisciplinary collaboration—to address structural inequality and global challenges (Lombard & Viviers, 2024; Wikipedia, 2025). Key future competencies include digital literacy, cultural responsiveness, and integrative approaches that bridge individual-level support with systemic transformation. As social workers adapt to rapidly changing social landscapes, their essential contributions to individual empowerment, community resilience, and societal well being are more critical than ever.

This study investigates the role of bank lending in fostering economic growth in Sri Lanka over the period 1991–2023. As a critical financial intermediary, bank lending facilitates the allocation of capital toward productive investment and economic development. Despite its importance, empirical evidence on the causal impact of bank credit on Sri Lanka’s economic performance remains limited. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds Testing approach, the study examines the short-run and long-run dynamics between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and key financial and macroeconomic variables, including bank lending rates (BLR), private-sector credit, credit-deposit ratio (CDR), inflation (INF), labour force participation, trade openness, and gross capital formation. The findings reveal that credit to the private sector (CPS) unidirectionally drives GDP growth (GDPG), while the reverse relationship is not significant, confirming that bank lending is a key driver of economic expansion rather than merely responding to growth. Other variables, such as trade openness, the CDR, and labour force participation, exhibit bidirectional causality with GDP, highlighting complex feedback mechanisms within the economy. These results underscore the importance of enhancing access to credit and improving the efficiency of lending mechanisms. The study concludes with policy recommendations aimed at reinforcing the banking sector’s role in promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Sri Lanka.

The subject of the study is the interaction of the banking system and government authorities in achieving the national development goals of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the work is to identify factors hindering the strengthening of the economy, ensuring financial sovereignty, import substitution, creating conditions conducive to industrial growth at a rate exceeding the global average, clarifying the role and responsibility of government authorities in achieving national development goals in cooperation with the Bank of Russia, as well as making proposals to resolve contradictions between credit and government organizations in strengthening economy and reduction of inflation. The analysis of empirical data provided by ROSTEC State Corporation, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-term Forecasting, Ministry of Economic Development, current and forecast data on Industry and agriculture in the Nizhny Novgorod region, with a grouping of production facilities based on their dependence on lending rates and government support, is carried out. The experience of the USA and Turkey in regulating inflation is considered. Proposals have been put forward to reduce inflation and strengthen the economy through financial and legal methods, as well as improving the system of cognitive training for students. It is concluded that the high inflation rate is due to the lag in the growth of production and supply of goods on the market from consumer demand, largely due to the high lending rate.

This study investigates how economic recessions impact youth unemployment in Nigeria. Secondary data on youth unemployment rate (YUEMP), recession periods (ERES) and Inflation (INF) were sourced from CBN statistical bulletin and World Bank Indicators. The ordinary least square (OLS) estimation method and the error correction model were used. Findings revealed that economic recession has a positive and significant impact on youth unemployment rate in Nigeria (i.e. β = 0.36, p < 0.05). While inflation rate bears a negative and significant impact on youth unemployment rate in Nigeria (i.e., β = -3.47, p < 0.01). Findings suggest recessions disproportionately hurt youth due to structural labor market flaws. Based on the above, the study concludes that economic recessions have a profound and lasting effect on youth unemployment in Nigeria, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities in the labour market. It is thus important for policymakers to prioritize vocational training and economic diversification in Nigeria.

This study aims to analyse the impact of the policy to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate from 11% to 12% on people's purchasing power and domestic economic inflation in Indonesia. This policy was implemented in order to increase state revenue, but it has economic consequences that need to be examined empirically. The VAT rate increase directly drives up the prices of consumer goods and services, which can reduce household consumption, especially among low-income groups. In a macroeconomic context, a decline in household consumption — which accounts for more than 50% of gross domestic product (GDP) — has the potential to slow economic growth. In addition, the VAT increase also drives cost-push inflation due to price adjustments at the producer and consumer levels. Using a descriptive approach and empirical literature study, this research finds that even though the rate increase is only 1%, its impact on purchasing power and inflation is quite significant, thus requiring supporting policies to maintain economic stability and protect vulnerable groups.Keywords: VAT, purchasing power, inflation, household consumption, fiscal policy

This paper attempts to examine the impact of graduate unemployment on economic growth in Indonesia. Time series data has been included from year 1990 to 2022 and consists of two stages of data analysis. The first stage analysis to identify long-run cointegration between graduate unemployment (GUEM), government spending in education (GEDU), inflation (INF) and foreign direct investment (FDI) towards economic growth by applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach as an estimation method. Second stage analysis determines strength of the relationship by using standard asymptotic Chi-square in Wald test. The findings found that GUEM, GEDU and INF own a significant long run cointegration towards economic growth in Indonesia. This outcome suggests the GUEM lower economic growth due to existence of large mismatch between demand skills by employer and graduate supply by Higher Education which reduce productivity of the whole economy. Meanwhile government spending on education should focus on providing a better infrastructure in higher education to produce quality graduate that matches job requirement in labor market. Overall, the outcomes of this study provide benefits for policymakers to align job demand and production of marketable university graduates from higher education hence boost the economic growth in future.

This article analyzes the macro-social effects of inflation in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Mauritania over 1990–2023 using a panel ‎VAR with system-GMM. We document that moderate inflation is associated with higher GDP growth and lower unemployment in the ‎short run, while it depresses real consumption per capita (our poverty proxy), implying higher poverty in the absence of compensating so‎cial policies. Inflation also crowds out investment, consistent with risk and cost channels. These results highlight the need to contain infla‎tion volatility and shield vulnerable households, while preserving a price environment supportive of activity‎.

This study investigates the bi-directional relationship between public service efficiency (PSE) and digital transformation (DIT) in Nigeria from 2014 to 2024, using E-Government Development Index (EGDI) for DIT and proxies like Public Debt-to-GDP Ratio (FS), Government Effectiveness Index (GOV), Public Sector Employment (GS), and Inflation (INF) for PSE. Descriptive statistics show moderate DIT progress, rising debt, and volatile inflation. ADF tests confirm mixed stationarity; Granger causality reveals bi-directional effects between DIT and FS/INF, and unidirectional DIT to GS. Findings indicate DIT enhances fiscal efficiency (p=0.071, FS→DIT; p=0.069, DIT→INF), but governance quality remains unresponsive. Recommendations include deploying digital fiscal platforms, AI- driven inflation tools, and e-governance frameworks to boost efficiency and sustainability.