Major Driver Of Economic Growth Research Articles

Are there limits to growth of tourism on the Caribbean islands? Case-study Aruba

Mass tourism is a major driver of economic growth in the Caribbean. One major trade-off of this economic growth model is the loss of natural areas due to tourism activities and increasing urbanization. Aruba is one of the most tourist intense destinations within the region with a total of 1.1 million stay-over tourists in 2019. Moreover, this island has one of the largest population densities in the Caribbean and high-speed urbanization takes place in this formerly rural island state. Therefore, this study aims to assess the islands' carrying capacity in relation to its limited land resources by means of a geospatial methodological analysis coupled with a correlation analysis between socio-economic indicators and statistics. First, the past and present drivers and characteristics of urbanization are analyzed. Second, the correlation between socio-economic indicators and the number of tourists was assessed. Third, two future scenarios were developed to assess the maximum carrying capacity. From 1986 till 2020, Aruba's built environment increased from ~29–60 km2 and translates to one-third of the island. Expansion was characterized by sprawl in the earlier years and changed to infilling in the latter. Furthermore, the results indicate that all socio-economic indicators are strongly positive correlated to tourism. Lastly, the possible maximum physical carrying capacity for yearly visitors and number of inhabitants was calculated to be ~1.7 million and 150.000, respectively. We conclude that the proposed methodological framework is robust and adequate to serve as a low budget decision-making tool for sustainable tourism development on islands.

Risk-Taking Ability and Organizational Resilience among Small Scale Business in Lagos State

One major feature of a successful entrepreneur is the ability to take risk in business and not just any risk but calculated risk that will improve the business organization financially. Thes study examined the impact of risk-taking ability on organizational resilience among Small and Medium- sized Enterprises (SMEs) operating in Lagos State, Nigeria. One of the major drivers of economic growth in any nation is the small and medium scale enterprise sector. This study adopts a descriptive research design using a sample size of 500 business owners from various SME sectors a self-structured questionnaire was used as the research instrument. The finding of this study shows that there is a positive correlation between risk taking ability of a business organization and organizational resilience. This implies that risk taking positively influence organizational resilience among small and medium scale enterprises in Lagos state. For business development to take place, a calculated level of risk has to be taken. Risk-taking, Organizational Resilience, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs)

Economic Growth and Policy Dynamics in Contemporary China: A Comprehensive Analysis and Future Outlook

The Chinese economy has grown dramatically over the past few decades. China's economic rise is particularly intriguing because it defies conventional economic models and has been driven by unique policies and dynamics. Nevertheless, in a world characterized by increasing protectionism, international trade tensions, and changes in investor sentiment, the sustainability of China's economic growth model has come into question. Chinese policymakers should navigate these shifts as investors reconsider their positions and countries protect their domestic industries. This paper investigates the policy dynamics that have contributed to the rapid economic growth in China. It also describes the various economic models that can describe the Chinese economic model. The paper reveals s that consumption, investments, and exports are the major drivers of economic growth in China. Consumption in retail sales is robust and is projected to keep increasing yearly into the future. Keynesian theory asserts that aggregate demand is the most important driving force in an economy. As such, the aggregate demand for consumer goods by government, businesses, and households is high in China. Investments are also a major driver in creating gross fixed capital. Investments from a neoclassical perspective show that investors are concerned with maximizing The conclusion shows that in a world where countries are increasingly protective of domestic industries and also where investors are withdrawing from China, policymakers will have to focus on internal growth and consumption as the driver of economic growth.

НОВЕЙШИЕ ИНФОРМАЦИОННЫЕ И ЦИФРОВЫЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ В СФЕРЕ ЭКОНОМИКИ

The digital economy has emerged as an innovation economy that uses digital technology and electronic communications to conduct economic and business activities across a wide range of sectors, including e-commerce, digital marketing, digital financial services, software development, computer games and cloud services. The use of digital technology and electronic communications has led to a significant shift towards online business interactions, resulting in improved user experience, faster data processing and easier access to services and products. The digital economy is recognized as a major driver of economic growth and development in many developed countries and is constantly expanding due to its significant impact on economic and business activities.

The Evolution, Impact and Future of the Sharing Economy

An economic approach known as the "sharing economy" facilitates resource sharing via an online platform. It is distinguished by the sharing of unwanted items or the right to utilize resources, as well as the use of technology and trust to create a sharing platform in order to realize the vision of a collaborative economy. The development of the sharing economy has had an impact on the labor market. The pressure on employment has decreased due to the rise of new informal employment models, but it has also had an effect on conventional labor relations. The laborers' ties to the platform have deteriorated, and issues like the inadequate defense of social rights and interests have come to light. Platforms for the sharing economy should adhere to the "sharing benefits and responsibilities" idea to split the cost of workers' social security and advance economic growth. A major driver of economic growth is the rise in informal employment that has been brought about by the sharing economy. Workers have more employment possibilities and flexible work schedules under the shared labor paradigm. However, there are also obstacles to the sharing economy's growth, such as ambiguous legal obligations and social security problems. In the future, the sharing economy must support social rights and interests and work with the government, businesses, and labor to further the sharing economy's sustainable growth.

Relationship Between Export and Economic Growth: Evidence from West African Countries

The export-led growth hypothesis (ELGH) postulates that export is a major driver of economic growth. This study tests this hypothesis and further analyses the determinants of exports in the case of West African countries. An annual panel data spanning from 2008 to 2018 was used. Findings from the system GMM and OLS estimations validate the ELGH in West Africa. The results also reveal that foreign direct investment, employment, remittances, land area and infrastructure are significant boosters of export while population, real effective exchange rate and taxes on international trade are detrimental to export performance in the region. The study recommends the relaxation of taxes especially on international trade to encourage businesses that produce to feed the export sectors, provide an enabling environment for businesses and also attract foreign investors. JEL Codes: F14, F21, O55

Proactiveness and Organizational Resilience among Small Scale Business in Lagos State

The focus of this study was to examine the impact of proactiveness on organizational resilience among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) operating in Lagos State, Nigeria. One of the major drivers of economic growth in any nation is the small and medium scale enterprise sector. Proactiveness is an element of entrepreneurial orientation which enables a business organization to easily identify business opportunities in the market place thereby keeping them ahead of competition for relevance in the market. This study adopts a descriptive research design using a sample size of 500 business owners from various SME sectors a self-structured questionnaire was used as the research instrument. The finding of this study shows that there is a positive correlation between business organization proactiveness and organizational resilience. This implies that proactiveness positively influence organizational resilience among small and medium scale enterprises in Lagos state. The study therefore recommends that business owners especially the start-up show always respond raptly to issues that will make them stay relevant in the market place. This include introducing innovative ideas to their business on regular basis.

Uncertainty and Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Brexit

Immigrant entrepreneurs are a major driver of economic growth, and their decisions about where to locate can greatly affect the entrepreneurial ecosystem of a country. Meanwhile, increasingly uncertain immigration environments might discourage immigrants from establishing new ventures in host countries. This paper exploits the unexpected result of the Brexit referendum to investigate the relationship between immigration uncertainty and the entry of immigrant-founded ventures of different quality. We propose a model of immigrant entrepreneurial entry and introduce a new measure of venture quality at founding. We find that a surge in uncertainty decreases the growth rate of new immigrant-founded firms by 3.2%. The reliance on other immigrant actors exacerbates the negative effect that uncertainty has on entry. Moreover, low- and high-quality firms are the most affected, while the effect for medium-quality firms is negligible. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that Brexit discouraged the entry of around 620 low-quality and 250 high-quality firms. Our model suggests that whereas founders of low-quality ventures might decide to take up employment, founders of high-quality ventures might be better off establishing their companies in another country. History: This paper has been accepted for the Organization Science Special Issue on Migration and Organizations. Funding: C. Acosta thanks EAFIT’s internal funding for research projects. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.16011 .

City-county coordination in spatial planning: a case study in Wenzhou

County-level economy is a major driver of economic growth in Zhejiang Province. However, as it develops, it poses severe challenges to the comprehensive sustainable development of the cities, particularly Wenzhou. The comprehensive spatial planning of Wenzhou should incorporate an comprehensive and coordinated plan for the protection, development, utilization and restoration of the city’s territorial spaces to tackle the problems caused by decentralized development. To this end, we propose that the spatial planning of Wenzhou should focus on integrating the main center of the metropolitan area for coordinated allocation of resources. We have developed the planning strategy of “Strong Center, Strong Network, Strong Node and New Mechanism” for the main center of Wenzhou metropolitan area to help Wenzhou boost specialization and build further upon its areas of strength. These efforts help enhance the comprehensive capacity of Wenzhou through spatial integration.

Assessing the Contribution of Ecotourism to Economic Growth and Rural Development Offered by Wildlife Resources to People Living in Communities around Matusadonha National Park

Ecotourism is one of the major drivers of economic growth and rural development in many countries involved in wildlife resource management. The objective was to assess the contribution of ecotourism to economic growth and rural development offered to people living in communities around Matusadonha National Park. A total of 140 participants were interviewed and questionnaires were administered to the same number of people. Data were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Results show that the majority of participants (57%) were females. Safari operations were the major (54.7%) ecotourism activity in Matusadonha National Park. Above half (58.8%) of participants indicated that ecotourism contributed toward economic growth in communities around Matusadonha National Park. Most people (343) were employed on a part-time basis from 2000 to 2022. Participants indicated that the standard of living in most communities increased by more than 50%. Above 50% of participants were satisfied with the contribution of ecotourism towards rural development. It can be concluded that ecotourism has the potential to improve economic growth and rural development if close monitoring and accountability of funds are monitored closely. Local people should be included in the accountability of funds and management of wildlife resources to improve economic benefits to local people.

The nexus between tourism development, environmental quality and economic growth. Does renewable energy help in achieving carbon neutrality goal?

PurposeThe current study aims to ascertain the association between tourism development, economic growth and environmental quality by using the short-run and long-run autoregressive distributive lag model.Design/methodology/approachTourism development has a major role to play in improving a nation’s economic growth. However, it is also blamed for exacerbating environmental pollution because of its massive use of energy (non-renewable energy).FindingsThe major findings of this research show that renewable energy (RE) use and gross domestic product (GDP) negatively impact carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in South Africa. Tourism arrivals and CO2 emissions negatively impact GDP, while capital positively impacts GDP in the long run.Practical implicationsThis research recommends the use of RE, since it reduces carbon emissions, and capital, as it remains the major driver of economic growth.Originality/valueThe originality of the current research is that it uses long-period annual time series data from 1971 to 2019 of South Africa, one of the largest tourist nations in Africa. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies have examined South Africa in this context and minimal research has been conducted to ascertain the impact of the tourism industry on the environment, despite the accusations directed toward it.

Labour precarity in the visitor economy and decisions to move out

This article examines social disadvantage in tourist sites through the lens of labour geography by focusing on the residential trajectories of a sample of workers in Barcelona (N = 8,651) over a decade (2008–2019). Contrasting with the common view that tourism growth brings prosperity to local communities, it suggests instead that buoyant destinations may be prone to leaving their workforces behind. Path analysis modelling reveals that tourism sector workers are at a higher risk of residential displacement. Our analysis unearths stratifications in such results, pointing to different tactics to cope with housing market pressure depending on sex, age, and nationality. Residential displacement and the self-imposed devaluation of housing conditions are introduced in this paper as key avenues leading to social exclusion. In this sense, we contribute to the concern of critical tourism geographies with the inequality and disadvantage ingrained in tourist space production, bridging to the domain of labour geography and social mobility. The city of Barcelona offers a template for other urban contexts that have been reliant on tourism as a major driver of economic growth in recent decades. Following the call for closer attention to labour in the debate on transitions to sustainability in tourism, our results hint at future research avenues that extend their interpretation.

Effect of Customers’ Credit-risk Behavior on Financial Performance of Deposit-Taking SACCOs in Kenya

Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) are the major drivers of economic growth in developing countries and promise future growth and departure from poverty among the low economic regions. In Kenya, there was an increase in total assets from 556.7 billion in 2020 to 627.7 billion in 2021, which represented a 12.7% growth. The gross loans grew from 419.6 billion in 2019 to 474.8 billion in 2020 representing a 13.2% increase. However, SACCOs have continuously faced with large membership withdrawals, withholding of deposits and reduced share contributions. Previous studies concentrated on investigating the facilities offered by SACCOs, number of customers among the main factors in determining the SACCOs financial performance. Some other factors affecting the financial performance of SACCOs emanate from behavioral finance aspects which has received little focus on. This study sought to establish the effect of customers’ credit-risk behavior on financial performance of deposit taking SACCOs in Kenya. A correlational research design was used to establish the association between credit risk behavior and the financial performance of the deposit-taking SACCOs. The study population was 175 deposit-taking SACCOs licensed to undertake deposit-taking business in Kenya. The study used census method of sampling and a total of 150 deposit-taking SACCOs were analyzed. Reliability was tested using the Levin-Lin-Chu unit root test and data was found to be stationary, while face validity was ensured using experts judgment and the tool was approved as valid. Both descriptive and inferential data analysis methods were used in the analysis, Linear and multiple regression analysis was also used. Results were presented using graphs and tables. Results revealed that customer credit risk behavior has a positive and significant effect (B=0.687, p=0.000) on financial performance of deposit-taking SACCOs in Kenya. This implies credit risk behavior positively and significantly affects financial performance. The study recommended that SACCOs encourage more transactions and confidence among managers but take more precautions in lending. It is expected that the findings may be substantial for the scholars and will aid the stockholders improve their behavioral financial management to boost returns on their shares.

Post-pandemic Employment Opportunities in Georgia's Hospitality Industry

The hospitality sector is a major driver of economic growth and job creation. The jobs created in the sector are important for women, young people and migrant workers, which make up a large share of workers in the field. The coronavirus pandemic has greatly slowed the development of the hospitality industry. This study aims at identifying post-pandemic employment problems and opportunities in Georgia’s hospitality sector of business. The survey was performed using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Interviews were conducted with Georgian experts. Online questionnaires were conducted to determine the level of job satisfaction. Observations showed the most difficult situation of travel and hospitality industry since the pandemic, caused by industry pauses and/or shutdowns, when employees were able to use their skills and move to other industries. The results showed more or less satisfaction with working conditions and relationship. But long working hours and low salary lead to employee dissatisfaction. The employer sees the solution to the problem in communication with the educational space and the need to promote professional education, which leads to the solution of the problem, at least in low-ranking positions

Post-pandemic Employment Opportunities in Georgia's Hospitality Industry

The hospitality sector is a major driver of economic growth and job creation. The jobs created in the sector are important for women, young people and migrant workers, which make up a large share of workers in the field. The coronavirus pandemic has greatly slowed the development of the hospitality industry. This study aims at identifying post-pandemic employment problems and opportunities in Georgia’s hospitality sector of business. The survey was performed using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Interviews were conducted with Georgian experts. Online questionnaires were conducted to determine the level of job satisfaction. Observations showed the most difficult situation of travel and hospitality industry since the pandemic, caused by industry pauses and/or shutdowns, when employees were able to use their skills and move to other industries. The results showed more or less satisfaction with working conditions and relationship. But long working hours and low salary lead to employee dissatisfaction. The employer sees the solution to the problem in communication with the educational space and the need to promote professional education, which leads to the solution of the problem, at least in low-ranking positions.

Linking Financial Development and Environment in Developed Nation Using Frequency Domain Causality Techniques: The Role of Globalization and Renewable Energy Consumption

The topic of whether globalization, energy consumption and financial development can substantially reduce emissions during the globalization era remains unanswered. In this context, this research highlights empirical indications supporting this theoretical discord; assessing the effect of globalization, energy consumption and financial development on the CO2 emissions in Japan (utilizing a dataset that spans between 1990 and 2019). The study employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique and frequency domain causality to probe these relationships. Unlike other conventional causality tests, the frequency domain causality test can capture causality at different frequencies. The findings from the ARDL analysis disclosed that globalization and renewable energy contribute to the mitigation of CO2 emissions while fossil fuel, economic growth and financial development caused an upsurge in CO2 in Japan. Furthermore, the frequency domain demonstrated that all the exogenous variables can forecast CO2 mostly in the long-term which implies that any policy initiated based on the exogenous variables will impact emissions of CO2. Based on the results obtained, Japan has to improve its financial systems and increase its use of renewable energy. Furthermore, Japan needs to restructure its policy regarding globalization owing to the fact that it contributes to the degradation of the environment. Since globalization is a major driver of economic growth, the government should concentrate on luring and licensing investors that use environmentally beneficial (net-zero) technology.

International student mobility tends in Asian countries: Are students moving from the west to the east?

In the PricewaterhouseCoopers report The World in 2050: Will the shift in global power continue?, the authors estimate that in just a few decades, the world will be very different from what it is today in terms of global ranking of national economies and the major drivers of economic growth. The old certainties of western countries dominating the world are being challenged by emerging countries in Asia and Southeast Asia, what the political commentator Fareed Zakaria calls “the rise of the rest.”

ПАНДЕМІЯ COVID-19 У БІЗНЕС-ЦИКЛАХ СВІТОВОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ

Despite the significant amount of papers on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of the global economy, its place in business cycles remains unstated, that limits the ability to predict its impact on the global economy within cycle development theory. That is why this study focuses on the analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic dynamics and its place in the business cycles of the world economy. The study conducted a brief review and identified the main features of the pandemic impact on various sectors of the economy. The most probable directions of further development of the world economy are determined. The results of the study show that the pandemic has caused the great damage to some industries. However, significant progress has been made in the other fields that could be a major driver of economic growth in the 21th century. In the paper econometric models developed for analysis and forecasting of pandemic impact on economic development of different countries are considered. The article investigates the role of the modern pandemic in small, medium and long cycles. Based on statistics of some post-socialist countries, the place of the pandemic in the Kitchin and Juglar cycles has been demonstrated. Particular attention is paid to the periodization of K-cycles, as one of the most controversial issues in the theory of business cycles, and the authors’ vision of the place of the current stage of development of the world economy in long cycles is stated. The study of the place of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kondratiev's large cycles gives the authors reason to claim that it occurred at the end of the 5th K-cycle and significantly deepened the existing problems of world development, although it should be noted that some scientists believe that 6 The K-cycle has already begun. Although the scale of the decline in development is significant, studies of so-called "mini-cycles" pushed by the tightening of epidemiological constraints show that easing constraints is accompanied with a rapid economic recovery. The analysis show how soon we can expect a significant revival of business activity.

One Market to Rule Them All: How Financial Integration Influenced Inequality in the European Union

Abstract Financial integration is seen as a major driver of economic growth and wealth. Its effects on income inequality have been analyzed for the bank branch deregulation in the USA and foreign bank entry in India. Another prominent example of financial integration and liberalization, so far, has been ignored: the introduction and progression of the European Single Market. By using a difference-in-difference design, we investigate the effects of the Single Banking License introduced in 1993 on economic growth and several inequality measures. This directive abolished any cross-country restrictions on banks in EU Member States and allowed them to freely branch into other Member States. This constitutes a fundamental change in the competitive environment of financial markets. We show that the European Single Financial Market positively influenced economic growth across a variety of subsamples of EU Member States. The effects on income inequality indicate that inequality across states was reduced. Additional regressions with the unemployment rate and top and bottom 20% income shares support this finding and show a reduction of unemployment in previously less developed countries accompanied by an increase in the bottom income shares across all Member States. (JEL codes: D63, E44, G21 and O11).

The technostress questionnaire: a pilot study

Information and communication technologies (ICT) represent one of the major drivers of economic growth and collective evolution, with positive repercussions on the world of labor. Despite several benefits, technology is substantially altering the nature and organization of work, posing possible psychosocial, organizational and ergonomic risks as outlined by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and current strategic documents of the European Commission. The novel COVID-19 pandemic has further accentuated the burden of the use of ICT, emphasizing the importance of occupational safety and health practices. Nevertheless, the topic of digital stress is not yet carefully considered in the Italian context. The purpose of this exploratory study is to create a new psychometric tool aimed at investigating the key dimensions of technostress. In particular, the psychometric properties of each scale (reliability and dimensionality) were preliminarily analyzed. The spread of ICT modifies the characteristics of traditional stressors (e.g. job demands) while contributing to the spread of new stressors (e.g. privacy and pervasiveness), leading to what is called “technostress”. Since the first definition of technostress introduced by Brod (1984), the construct has been operationalized according to different perspectives and is now consensually recognized as a major threat to the health of workers. For the realization of the items and the identification of the areas of investigation, the concepts of stress, work-related stress and technostress were examined together with the main theoretical models and pre-existing psychometric tools. The items belonging to each dimension were then generated according to a deductive path. The qualitative analyses regarding content validity led to a total of 80 items and 15 scales (usefulness/usability, reliability, technology self-efficacy, role, multitasking, job control, job demands, pace of change, pervasiveness/work- life balance, privacy/monitoring, employability, supervisor support, colleague support, involvement and training) which were administered to a sample of 235 subjects. Reliability analyses and exploratory factor analyses (EFA) (principal axis factoring (PAF) with suppression of factor loadings below 0.30 and promax rotation) were performed for each scale. The internal consistency analyses showed values ranging from fairly good (α = 0.60) to excellent (α = 0.88) depending on the scale, providing encouraging results for a future in-depth analysis of the instrument. The exploratory factor analyses provided good initial results, yielding to a two-factor solution only in the case of the “multitasking” scale. Given the exploratory nature of the study, the validation process was limited to the analysis of reliability and dimensionality. Future studies will need to further analyze the structure of the scales in order to identify which model best represents the constructs, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) methods to evaluate the goodness of this version. The practical implications concern the creation of specific policies at company, sectoral and national level with a focus on an advanced workplace risk assessment. Once validated, the questionnaire could be used for tailor-made organizational diagnoses and targeted interventions.