Local Projects Research Articles

Impacts of monetary policy on housing prices in five emerging economies during the Covid-19 pandemic

Purpose This paper aims to examine the dynamic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and government policy on real house price indices in five emerging economies, namely, Brazil, China, Thailand, Turkey and South Africa. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the local projection method with a panel data set of these countries spanning from January 2020 to July 2021. Findings The number of COVID-19 confirmed positive cases raised housing prices, whereas government containment measures reduced them. Both conventional and unconventional monetary policy implemented by central banks to cope with the COVID-19 helped increase housing prices. These effects were strengthened by the US monetary policy via globalized financial markets. Originality/value First, while previous researches typically concentrated on developed countries, the authors investigate emerging economies where proportionally more people were badly affected by the pandemic. Second, a panel data set of five emerging economies enabled the authors to examine the dynamic effects of the COVID-19 crisis on housing prices. Third, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study evaluating the influences of easing monetary policy on housing prices in emerging economies during the pandemic.

Lunar descent and landing via two-phase explicit guidance and pulse-modulated reduced-attitude control

This work considers the three-dimensional descent path of a space vehicle, from periselenium of its operational orbit to the lunar surface. The trajectory is split in two arcs: (1) descent path, up to an altitude of 50 m, and (2) terminal approach and soft touchdown. For phase 1, a new, three-dimensional locally-flat near-optimal guidance is introduced that is based on the local projection of the position and velocity variables. A minimum-time problem is defined using the locally flat coordinates of position and velocity. This leads to identifying closed-form functions of time for the two thrust angles, which identify the commanded thrust direction. During terminal approach (phase 2), correct vertical alignment, modest velocity, and negligible angular rate at touchdown are pursued. With this intent, a predictive bang-off-bang guidance algorithm is proposed that is capable of guaranteeing the desired final conditions. In both phases, the attitude control system has the objective of aligning the actual thrust direction with the commanded one, provided by the guidance algorithm. The resulting reduced-attitude control problem is addressed through the use of a new quaternion-based nonlinear control algorithm, which is proven to enjoy asymptotic stability properties. The attitude actuation system is composed of 12 monopropellant thrusters, ignited using pulse width modulation. Monte Carlo simulations are run, assuming significant displacements from the nominal initial conditions and including several harmonics of the selenopotential. The numerical results unequivocally prove that the guidance and control architecture proposed in this study is effective to achieve lunar descent and safe touchdown in nonnominal flight conditions.

Exploring the Role of Intermediaries in the Acceleration Stage of the Energy Transition: A Comparative Case Study of Two Local Energy Projects

AbstractTransition intermediaries are expected to play an important role in the acceleration stage of the energy transition. While existing scholarship helps us understand the role of transition intermediaries in the early stages of transitions, it remains unclear what role intermediation plays in subsequent transition stages, especially at the local level where the implementation of policies and legislation takes place. In this article, we aim to investigate how intermediation takes shape in the acceleration stage of the energy transition. Drawing on the literature on transition intermediaries and intermediation at the local level, we explore the role of transition intermediaries in two local energy projects in the Netherlands. Through extensive qualitative research, we find that various actors can act as transition intermediaries and that a single actor can fulfil different intermediary roles simultaneously. Our findings contribute to the literature on transition intermediation and urban intermediaries, emphasising the key role intermediaries play in aligning innovations with existing institutional configurations. Furthermore, we highlight their role in connecting the energy transition to broader societal developments, including through citizen involvement in local and regional governance arrangements.

Contextualizing Response Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences From a Boston-Based Community Health Centers Study.

The focus of this study was to calculate and contextualize response rates for a community-based study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, a topic on which scant data exist, and to share lessons learned from recruiting and enrolling for implementation of future studies. The Life+Health Study, a cross-sectional population-based study designed to advance novel methods to measure and analyze multiple forms of discrimination for population health research. The study recruited participants from 3 community health centers in Boston, Massachusetts, between May 2020 and July 2022. A total of 699 adult participants between the ages of 25 and 64 years who were born in the United States and had visited one of the health centers within the last 2 years. The response rate was calculated as follows: (number of completions + number of dropouts)/(dropouts + enrollments). To contextualize this response rate, we synthesized evidence pertaining to local COVID-19 case counts, sociopolitical events, pandemic-related restrictions and project protocol adjustments, and examples of interactions with patients. Our study had a lower-than-expected response rate (48.4%), with the lowest rates from the community health centers serving primarily low-income patients of color. Completion rates were lower during periods of higher COVID-19 case counts. We describe contextual factors that led to challenges and lessons learned from recruiting during the pandemic, including the impact of US sociopolitical events. The Life+Health Study concluded recruitment during the pandemic with a lower-than-expected response rate, as also reported in 4 other US publications focused on the impact of COVID-19 on response rates in community-based studies. Our results provide an example of the impact of the pandemic and related US sociopolitical events on response rates that can serve as a framework for contextualizing other research conducted during the pandemic and highlight the importance of best practices in research recruitment with underserved populations.

Carbon footprints of lending and bank performance: international evidence from panel data.

The paper studies the interaction between a set of bank performance indicators (concentration, profitability, and risk) and the carbon footprint of bank loans. Our research builds on the panel data analysis for 37 countries during 2010-2018, adopting local projections proposed by Jordá (Am Econ Rev 95(1):161-182, 2005), a feasible alternative to panel VAR estimation in case of short time series. In order to account for potentially different patterns in the relationship among the indicators, we split the whole panel into two sub-panels, using K-means clusterization based on income level, resource abundance, and overall environmental performance. For the whole panel, the carbon footprint is driven by systemic risk, while leading the non-performing loans (NPL) ratio and Z-score. Thus, curbing systemic risk matters to reduce the carbon footprint of bank loans. Otherwise, it may amplify the effects of the latter on the NPL ratio and Z-score. Interestingly, the effect of systemic risk on the carbon footprint stems from the sub-panel consisting of developed countries, while the effect of the carbon footprint on the NPL ratio and Z-score is mainly shaped by developing and emerging market economies. The relationships between the carbon footprint of lending, concentration, and profitability are much less pronounced both for the whole panel and for the sub-panels.

Economic disasters and inequality: a note

This paper analyzes the dynamic effects of economic disasters, captured by cumulative decline in output of at least 10% over 1 or more years, on disposable income inequality of a sample of 99 countries over the annual period of 1960–2017. Based on impulse response functions derived from a robust local projections method, we find that economic disasters increase inequality by 4%, with the overall effect being statistically significant and highly persistent over a period of 20 years following the shock. When we repeat the analysis by categorizing the 99 countries based on income groups and regions, we find that the strongest effects are felt by high-income countries (8%), and in Europe, Central Asia and North America (16%) taken together, as primarily driven by ex-socialist economies. Though of lesser magnitude, statistically significant increases in inequality are also observed for low-, and upper-middle-income economies, and the regions of Latin America and Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asia, and to some extent also for Sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings have important policy implications. Our findings suggest that the avoidance of economic crises is of paramount importance to ensure the sustainability of the welfare state, which in turn would allow for sound redistributive policies to reduce inequality, which can also help in indirectly reducing the negative impact of rare disasters on asset markets. In other words, our results have both economic and financial implications.

Can nudging affect tourists’ low-carbon footprint travel choices?

PurposeThis study aims to investigate low-carbon footprint travel choices, considering both destination attributes and climate change perceptions, and examine the impacts of nudging (a communication tool to alter individuals’ choices in a predictable way) on tourists’ preferences for carbon mitigation in destinations.Design/methodology/approachA discrete choice experiment questionnaire was administered to a sample of 958 Hong Kong respondents. Hybrid choice modeling was used to examine the respondents’ preferences for destination attributes and to explain preference heterogeneity using tourists’ climate change perceptions. The respondents’ willingness to pay for the destination attributes was also calculated to measure the monetary value of the attributes.FindingsDestination type, carbon emissions and travel cost had significant effects on tourists’ choices of destination. Nudging increased tourists’ preference for low-carbon footprint choices. Tourists with higher climate change perceptions were more likely than others to select low-carbon destinations with carbon offset projects.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study provide an impetus for destination management organizations to support local carbon offset projects, implement policies that mitigate carbon emissions and develop sustainable tourism to fulfill tourists’ demand for low-carbon footprint travel choices. Based on the findings, policymakers could promote sustainable tourism by publishing relevant climate change information on social media.Originality/valueThis study addressed a gap in the literature on tourist travel choice by considering carbon emission-related attributes and climate change perceptions and by confirming the role of nudging in increasing the choice of low-carbon destinations.

Asymmetric effect of the oil price in the ecuadorian economy

This paper aims to identify if there is an asymmetric response of the output to positive and negative changes in the price of oil. We take the case of Ecuador, an oil exporter but also an importer of derivates of the same commodity. We apply the local projections methodology to estimate this asymmetric response through state-dependence impulse response function. The results put in evidence that between the positive and negative variations of oil prices, those which affect the most to the Ecuadorian GDP are the negative ones. We also show that the persistence of the effect is higher when the oil price fall, rather than when there are positive variations.

Local projections in business history: The case of Inditex

This article has two objectives. On the one hand, it attempts to delve into the sources of competitive advantage of Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer, by considering the evolution of the company’s strategies over the last two decades and relying on an econometric technique, Local Projections, to complement the qualitative analyses. On the other hand, the article presents and explains this quantitative technique, which can help to solve some of the problems that arise when attempting to apply quantitative methods in business history, such as small sample sizes, causality analysis or endogeneity.

Future Directions for HIV/HCV Care: Lessons Learned From Local Evaluation Projects in Texas and Connecticut and Implications for Practice and Health Promotion.

The Health Resources Service Administration (HRSA) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) project titled "Curing Hepatitis C among People of Color Living with HIV," funded two sites, University of Texas (TX) San Antonio and Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut (CT) to explore barriers and facilitators towards achieving HCV cure in the era of curative DAAs for HCV in different local contexts. Through individualized approaches that study patient, provider and system level barriers, the nine articles in this Focus Issue highlight key themes that are important in designing local implementation strategies that will enable achievement of HCV elimination goals in priority populations.

Patch-Transformer Network: A Wearable-Sensor-Based Fall Detection Method.

Falls can easily cause major harm to the health of the elderly, and timely detection can avoid further injuries. To detect the occurrence of falls in time, we propose a new method called Patch-Transformer Network (PTN) wearable-sensor-based fall detection algorithm. The neural network includes a convolution layer, a Transformer encoding layer, and a linear classification layer. The convolution layer is used to extract local features and project them into feature matrices. After adding positional coding information, the global features of falls are learned through the multi-head self-attention mechanism in the Transformer encoding layer. Global average pooling (GAP) is used to strengthen the correlation between features and categories. The final classification results are provided by the linear layer. The accuracy of the model obtained on the public available datasets SisFall and UnMib SHAR is 99.86% and 99.14%, respectively. The network model has fewer parameters and lower complexity, with detection times of 0.004 s and 0.001 s on the two datasets. Therefore, our proposed method can timely and accurately detect the occurrence of falls, which is important for protecting the lives of the elderly.

Does Thinking and Working Politically improve support for social business? Evidence from a water business in Cambodia

AbstractMotivationSocial business is business that aims primarily to achieve social ends, while at least covering its costs. Social business has been put forward as a means to achieve development aims, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thinking and Working Politically (TWP) is an approach to ensure development interventions are politically feasible and not stymied by political opposition. Are the two approaches compatible?PurposeThe article asks whether social business can ally with TWP for more effective development, taking a social business for water provision in Cambodia as a case in point.Methods and approachA review of development policy literature on social business and TWP is combined with data we collected from fieldwork in Cambodia from November 2018 to February 2019. We interviewed key informants from social business, UNICEF, and government in the capital. At two water kiosks in eastern Cambodia, one successful the other less so, we interviewed 2 kiosk operators, 20 customers, and local leaders; we held four focus groups of customers; and we observed operations at the kiosks. Data was analysed using an ethnographic, or immersive, qualitative approach.FindingsIn this case, UNICEF intuitively used TWP to connect a social business to government departments. Water kiosks depended heavily on local political dynamics. We found Commune officials mindful of their standing in local society who often had the interests of the local community in their hearts, but the compatibility of TWP and social business at the local project level is variable.Policy implicationsTWP can potentially help development actors supporting social business to make political connections, in this case to appropriate government departments and local official. The key, however, is to understand context. The danger is to view social business as a turnkey intervention that can be used without adaptation to context, without consideration of local politics. Donors supporting social business need to appraise each business, case by case.Donors might also want to consider the motivations of international companies partnering with social business, particularly when different development objectives might be in conflict.

New datings and elevations of a fossil reef in Lembetabe, southwest Madagascar: eustatic and tectonic implications

The study of geological sea-level proxies formed during previous interglacials is a common approach to assess how global sea level will evolve under warmer climate conditions. Over the last decades, technical advancements in both survey and geochronology have allowed improving our knowledge of past sea-level highstands. This is of prime importance to refine our understanding of processes contributing to sea-level changes, and ultimately to improve both local and global sea-level projections. Last Interglacial sea-level proxies in the Western Indian Ocean (and more specifically the island nation of Madagascar), have been less investigated than in other intertropical oceans over the last decades. As a result, paleo sea-level data in this region are less abundant and less precise than elsewhere. Here, we report the results of two field campaigns aimed at studying the site of Lembetabe, southwest Madagascar, where a fossil reef was first described by the researcher René Battistini more than 50 years ago. We estimate paleo relative sea level history in space and time from 15 new U-series ages from a fossil reef platform mapped with differential GNSS and drone photogrammetry. Our data suggest that, between 129 ka and 115 ka, paleo relative sea level at this location was about 3.4 ± 1.4 m above modern. Once corrected for glacial isostatic adjustment, we find that paleo global mean sea level did not exceed 3 m above modern. Only slight crustal subsidence would reconcile the peak Last Interglacial sea level measured at Lembetabe with the 5–10 m range reported in the literature.

The unexpected consequences of engaging tourists in destination social responsibility through check-out-charity: the case of ski resorts in the French alps

ABSTRACT This study investigates the effectiveness of check-out charity (COC) campaigns, a fundraising strategy where customers donate at the point of sale, as a method for promoting destination social responsibility (DSR) in tourist destinations. Employing interviews, polls, and case studies in Alps ski resorts, it explores whether tourists perceive donations to local projects as a means of participating in DSR, and the impact on their attitudes towards the destination. Despite tourists' willingness to support local causes, the findings suggest COC requests aren't consistently perceived as beneficial to the destination due to a triadic relationship between the cause, the store, and the destination, causing confusion about the donation beneficiary. Moreover, COC requests can unintentionally lead to negative outcomes, including unwillingness to donate and feelings of annoyance.

Restoration of the Church of St. Nicholas Fort Ricasoli: The Process of Conserving Our Heritage

Restoration programmes aid in preserving local building heritage for futuregenerations. Documentation of these restoration programmes is a fundamental taskin conserving and reserving significant cultural cultural buildings. Documenting anddeveloping a conservation strategy for a historical structure is quite a complex task andrequires not only planning the interventions required to conserve a building but also forfuture maintenance to enhance the effectiveness of such work. This paper is divided intofive sections. The first section, the introduction, gives a description and overview of thesubject being studied. In the second section, the existing literature study evaluates differentparadigms of protecting existing significant historic buildings. This is followed by anexplanation of the historical context and the history related to the subject studied. Finally,research on the documentation process is also reviewed. The third section describes themethodological approach that aided the analysis of this studys research questions in thefourth section. The fifth section gathers the primary and secondary data analysed and sumsup everything in accordance with the proposed research questions of this study. In order toconduct this research, the Church of St. Nicholas at Fort Ricasoli was used as the main casestudy. A detailed investigation of the church to identify the significance of conserving suchbuildings and an investigation of the existing conditions of the church were conducted. Thisaided in establishing the documentation process prior to the actual interventions on thefabric. In order to carry out such a process, different methods of documentation were used,such as laser scanning surveys, photogrammetry, and documentation of the existing stateof the building to aid in the process of deciding on future interventions. As a result of sucha process, considerations of appropriate uses of such methods and proposals were givenand, additionally, considerations of successful conservation after the actual conservation arehighlighted. The proposal for the conservation of the church of St. Nicholas at Fort Ricasolialso aims to set guidelines for other conservation programmes within the fort, amongstother local restoration projects. Conservation of abandoned structures will enhance thelocal context in various aspects. Finally, conservation programmes will give potentialbenefits to the Maltese islands. Giving back these historically significant monuments to thegeneral public will aid the Maltese islands economy.

Long-term trends from Citizen Scientists: 24 years of breeding success data of African Oystercatchers Haematopus moquini in the Garden Route

Long-term data on breeding success in beach-nesting birds in southern Africa are scarce. Citizen science projects have risen to the forefront of large dataset collection efforts globally, with several local projects helping us unpack long-term trends for species in southern Africa. A long-term monitoring project on African Oystercatcher Haematopus moquini breeding success in parts of the Garden Route on the south coast, conducted by the Lakes Bird Club, enables us to determine whether conservation efforts are positively influencing the species there. Since the onset of the study in 1997/1998, there has been a steady increase in the number of breeding pairs at Knysna and Sedgefield, but not at Brenton-on-Sea. A similar increase in hatching success is recorded, with an overall increase in the number of fledglings per adult pair over the area throughout the study. Collectively, this indicates that some local and national conservation efforts, such as the beach driving ban and awareness campaigns like #ShareTheShores, have been successful, leading to positive trends in these parameters for this species. This article highlights the usefulness of long-term datasets for corroborating outcomes from other large datasets, like the Southern African Bird Atlas Project 2.

The specifics of the coverage of the topic of creative industries in federal and district media

The subject of the study is the specifics of the coverage of the topic of creative industries in federal and district media. The object of the research is creative industries as a subject of journalistic creativity. In our country, there is an increasing interest in the field of creative industries, as a sector of the economy that has high development opportunities. In this regard, the role of journalism is also increasing, which not only informs readers about this area, but also attracts the attention of investors, the state, and business to it. Therefore, an effective presentation of the topic of creative industries on the pages of the media is a fairly new and urgent task for both federal and regional communities. Moscow and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra are currently examples of successful development of the creative industries in the country. The article analyzes the materials published in the newspapers "Evening Moscow", "Arguments and Facts", "News of Ugra" and "Arguments and Facts – Ugra" from October 2022 to May 2023. The authors come to the conclusion that 1) in the federal media, when choosing a genre, preference is given to such a genre as news, the main goal is to entertain the reader, to demonstrate the level of support for local initiatives by the authorities. 2). In the district media, on the contrary, creative industries are often covered in the genre of reportage, immersing the reader in a creative atmosphere, familiarity occurs not only with the product, but also with the process of its creation, with the emotions that interaction with the product gives. 3). In the federal media, there is a tendency to focus on the consumer properties of the creative product, the profitability indicators of the project, the possibilities of using the product in a new area, compliance with trends. 4). There is a tendency in the district media to increase interest in local projects that are based on historical and cultural heritage and art.

Gendered analysis of development induced displacement in the Global South: A systematic review

This comprehensive study on gender and development-induced relocation examines 98 papers from the Scopus.com collection. Between June and July 2022, a search of the academic literature was conducted using a set of preliminary key words. Mendeley Desktop 1.19 has been used to expedite this electronic search. In order to minimize bias in the identification, selection, synthesis, and summary of literature, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis for protocols 2015 checklist is utilized in this study. Comparative case studies at the local project level, qualitative cross-sectional surveys, reviews, and mixed technique research are the most effective among a variety of studies carried out in various nations, even though there is no overt methodological bias. The main deprivations that displaced women suffer from more frequently than their male counterparts are a lack of access to land, housing, and employment; loss of access to public property; marginalization; a lack of capacity for making decisions; a lack of social cohesion; and unequal labor division. Because of internalized discrimination, women may find it more difficult to overcome these barriers. The authors of this study produce policy recommendations by carefully analyzing the empirical literature.

Local government project risk management maturity measurement model for leveraging effectiveness of local government project risk management

Project risk measurement is a critical driver of local government project implementation. It aids identification of the level of the effectiveness and maturity of project risk management to bolster the seamless process of local government project implementation. Unfortunately, empirical facts imply local government project risk measurement is not yet well developed to the extent of leveraging successful local government project implementation. As these explain why some local government projects are often marred by risks to only fail as others fail to get completed, this research evaluates the level of local government project risk measurement maturity in the South African local government. To accomplish that, the study used interpretivist research paradigm, exploratory research design and qualitative research method entailing the usage of content analysis. Content analysis was used to evaluate the existing information and data in the local government repositories about the process used for measuring and mitigating local government project risks as well as their associated limitations. Findings that were thematically analysed revealed the effectiveness of the process of risk identification and mitigation is often still marred by poor risk management culture, poor governance and lack of proactive initiatives to identify and mitigate all forms of risks. Failure to proactively identify and mitigate all risks was found to have caused late interventions that affect identification and mitigation of all risks in their early stages. Such risks were found to include poor governance, corruption and fraud that affect optimisation of the limited financial resources as well as supply chain risks, ecological and health and occupational risks. Given the fact that a model for measuring project risk measurement was also found to be a challenge, the study extracted and suggested the local government project risk management maturity measurement model (LoG-PRiMMM-Model) as one of the new insights and contribution of the study that can be replicated for leveraging project risk measurement and mitigation in the contemporary local government sphere

The USSR as an Attempt to Implement a Global Alternative to the West

Introduction. The Soviet Union, created as a socialist alternative to the capitalist world, did not have the opportunity to implement a socialist global project before World War II. The decisive contribution of the USSR to the victory over fascism forced the West to recognize for the USSR the right to a sphere of influence. The USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe, within the framework of CMEA, drew up a socialist integration project The purpose of this article is to consider the prospects for the transformation of CMEA from a local socialist project into a mechanism of foreign economic activity, alternative to the Bretton Woods system. Materials and Methods. The article analyzes the conditions for formalizing a socialist integration project. Methods of interaction between socialist countries and their results are considered. The nature of the impact on the CMEA countries of the world situation is assessed. The article is based on published documents and Soviet papers, characterizing the directions and results of socialist cooperation. Results. The CMEA had no prospects to be an alternative to the Bretton Woods system. It was developed through the consumption of Soviet resources provided at prices much lower than the world ones. As CMEA members increased, this led to a senseless depletion of the USSR’s resources, while moving it into the paradigm of the resource-producing economy. Discussion and Conclusion. In the CMEA the USSR being a donor for the countries of Eastern Europe, limited their sovereignty. Such a model of economic relations had no prospects and needed a serious adjustment. The USSR could not count on victory in the global confrontation with the West, without having a universally acceptable model of international economic relations.