Strong Institutions Research Articles

Conditional Effect of Environmental Degradation and Institutional Environment on Human Development in Developing Countries: Evidence from Method of the Moment-Quantile Regression with Fixed Effect

The study examines the conditional effect of environmental degradation and institutional environment on the conditional distribution of human development, using the Method of the Moment Quantile Regression (MM-QR) technique with fixed effect, Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS) and Dynamic OLS (DOLS) estimators. The study uses strongly balanced data from 20 developing countries with the full data from 1996 to 2021. The findings confirmed heterogenous effects of environmental degradation and institutional environment on human development. The results reveals that lower environmental degradation promote human development across all levels of human development, but the effect higher in countries with low human development. The study shows that institutional environment has positive effect across all levels of human development, with higher effect in countries with low human development. The findings for the control variables show that financial development, population growth and FDI promote human development across all levels of human development. However, the strength of the coefficients also increases with higher quantiles. The results also confirmed unidirectional causality running from environmental degradation and institutional environment to human development, while bidirectional causality between financial development and human development. To promote human development, policymakers at developing countries should focus on climate action policies and building strong institutions.

Documents without Borders: Beneath the Rubble

In my first few columns exploring the intricacies of international governmental information, I focused primarily on information provided by nations with strong institutions and long established international governmental organizations (IGOs). While I briefly mentioned potential flaws in information and data related to cultural preferences and willful misleading—I stayed away from discussing finding and evaluating information from nations with weak institutions. Government information specialists are well aware of the complexity of navigating a labyrinth of bureaucratic information that varies in how accessible it is, but what happens without even the assurance of that imperfect system? Nations that are mired in ongoing conflict, corruption, or whose institutions have been threatened by financial or climate crises face unique challenges in sharing or even preserving information. This column will look at examples of these situations, and strategies for accessing information that feels as though it is buried beneath the rubble.

Imitation and Innovation of Practices in Science and Technology: Lessons from Asia and Europe for Tanzania

Imitation and innovation are often seen as opposing paths to advancement in science and technology. However, this paper argues that a balanced approach that combines both imitation and innovation could accelerate Tanzania's development in these areas. This study has four specific objectives, namely, to assess: (1) The role of imitation and innovation of practices in science and technology; (2) Challenges that Tanzania faces in imitation and innovation of practices in science and technology; (3) Lessons for Tanzania in imitation and innovation in science and technology from Asia and Europe; and, (4) Strategies that Tanzania may use to benefit from imitation and innovation in science and technology lessons from Asia and Europe. By reviewing the literature on the interplay between imitation and innovation in Asia and Europe, the paper demonstrates how these regions have used both strategies to achieve rapid development in their science and technology sectors. The study found that imitation and innovation are important drivers of economic development for countries. Asia and Europe adapted strategies such as copycat, frugality, social innovation, the role of knowledge and technology transfer, innovation ecosystems, strong institutions, adapted disruption, balancing exploration and exploitation, systems of innovation, and intellectual properties for steering their development. For Tanzania, the paper recommends learning from the success of Asian countries like Japan and South Korea in imitating and improving their technology, as well as European countries like Germany and Sweden in cultivating an education culture that values innovation while taking advantage of the latest technologies and best practices from other countries. However, shortage of funding in the education system, poor infrastructure, lack of skilled workforce, and limited research and development might hamper the imitation and innovation in science and technology in Tanzania. Current government efforts are geared towards removing these bottlenecks.

Africa-China Relations: A Case of Foreign Direct Investment and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Mining Sector

Abstract Since independence, Foreign Direct Investment has been central to African Development and economic expansion. Herein, this paper traces the role and impact of the FDI in the mining sector of DRC. The analysis is based on the institutional FDI fitness theory coined by Saskia Wilhelm in 1998, which suggests that states with good governance, strong state institutions, and stable political capacity attract the most FDI in emerging economies. However, China’s mining investment in the DRC has refuted Wilhelm’s theory. As such, this research will analyze the role and impact of FDI in the mining sector of the DRC, with a focus on China’s mining investment and its impact on the country’s economic development. The institutional FDI fitness theory will serve as the conceptual framework for the research. Data collection will involve a thorough literature review and analysis of secondary data sources, such as academic journals, reports, and government documents. Furthermore, the mining profile, type of investment, and investment achievements will be assessed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic. The data will be analyzed using content and thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes that emerge from the data. Overall, a qualitative case study approach will be appropriate for this research as it will allow for an in-depth analysis of the role and impact of FDI in the mining sector of the DRC. It will also provide insights into the complexities of the relationship between FDI, governance, and economic Development in Africa. One significant finding has conceded that government fitness does not necessarily attract investment. Instead, a weak state capacity and domestic policy create easy access to investment that does not align with the host country’s development. This finding has affirmed the argument that African countries should engage in trade rather than aid since aid has kept African economies in a circle of dependency.

Inflation aversion in Turkey

Inflation has been at the center of policy debates in Turkey since the 1970s. Although the country experienced a rapid disinflation period during the early 2000s, Turkish inflation has always remained high compared to other developing countries. Disinflationary policies require a long-run commitment of policymakers backed by public consensus and strong institutions. In this paper, we aim to understand the factors that shape the public attitudes of Turkish citizens towards inflation for the period between 2004 and 2020 using Eurobarometer data. We find that belonging to a vulnerable class increases the probability of being inflation averse, while favorable expectations for the future, being on the right of the political spectrum, and trust in politicians decrease inflation aversion.

The effect of local institutions on the competitive strategies of exporters. The case of emerging economies in Latin America

This paper analyzes the effect of local institutions and market orientation on the export performance of Latin American firms when they implement generic competitive strategies. A specific questionnaire sent to 201 executives of exporting manufacturing and service companies in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru generates the data for this research. Then, confirmatory factor analysis is used to develop the underlying multi-item constructs, and a structural equation model tests the hypotheses. The results state that local institutions, directly and indirectly, affect export performance through the marketing orientation of firms, and marketing orientation mediates the implementation of the differentiation strategy but not the cost-based leadership strategy. The findings suggest that firms with differentiation strategies benefit more from strong local institutions.

Public governance and the demand for corporate governance: The role of political institutions

Our study explores the association between political institutions and the demand for corporate governance. Stulz (2005) suggests that government expropriation reduces the value of corporate governance realized by investors. Accordingly, we argue that strong political institutions induce higher demand for corporate governance because they constrain government expropriation. Exploring an international sample, we find that firms in countries with stronger political institutions implement more governance provisions. Mediation analysis demonstrates that political institutions work through the channel of constraining government expropriation. Moreover, government expropriation makes shareholder direct control over firms more prevalent, where political institutions influence the allocation of control rights between managers and investors, which affects the demand for corporate governance. We contribute to the corporate governance literature and the agency problem literature.

Российский парадокс религии и рождаемости. Спецификация проблемы и разработка объясняющей гипотезы

This article focuses on the specification of the hypothesis of the relationship between religiosity and fertility in Russia. On the surface, the situation looks like a paradox: (1) Churches and religions are generally known to support childbearing values; religious people are believed to have more children than non-religious people. (2) In Russia, however, religiosity has been growing in recent years, but fertility rates have been falling.Despite the fact that in contemporary Russia a large part of the population identifies with Orthodoxy and the number of such people is growing, family and marriage norms characteristic of Orthodoxy, in particular those related to the ideal of large families, are not actually being realized. This article proposes to consider mechanisms that might explain this circumstance. In order to specify the hypothesis of the potential influence of religion on fertility, a literature review was prepared, followed by the identification of key potentially important variables. Three approaches (and correspondingly three groups of texts) were identified that analyzed the relationship between religion and fertility: reduction of religion to individual religiosity; reduction of religion to a set of extra-religious variables; and analysis of religion as environment and community. Using the resources of the first two approaches does not allow us to formulate a hypothesis to explain today's Russian paradox of religion and fertility. It is possible to formulate an explanatory hypothesis based on the third class of texts. Kevin McQuillan's study is used to construct a hypothesis and to specify a vocabulary of variables about the Russian paradox. He identifies three aspects of the religious situation (pro-natalist doctrine, strong religious institutions, strong religious identity), which, in his opinion, can only work together to ensure that the principles preached by religion are actually realized. Based on the distinction made by C. McQuillan, as well as on the research of the third group of authors mentioned above, we show that contemporary Russian Orthodoxy cannot fully rely on any of these mechanisms of influence on believers, which, presumably, can explain the lack of an appropriate influence on their decisions in matters of family and marriage.

Explaining the Role of Domestic Factors in Shaping Foreign Policies: India and Pakistan in Comparative Perspective (2014-2020)

Since 2014, India's domestic and foreign policies have reflected violent religious fanaticism and hyper-nationalism. If elected to power, Modi often stated that India would pursue a tough stance against Pakistan and would put Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) directly under the control of the Indian central government. This did not paint a positive picture. Since 2014, India's primary goal in foreign policy has remained to encircle Pakistan on all of its borders and isolate it from the rest of the world. Nearly all of the world's superpowers and the Muslim nations have encouraged diplomatic relations with India. India strategically employs all of the regional nations and global powers it has close ties to fight Pakistan. Without any regional or international pressure, it unilaterally changed the special constitutional status of Indian-occupied Kashmir. The reactionary foreign policy of Pakistan, on the other hand, did not rely on pre-emptive measures to fight India's foreign policy, which is primarily built on plotting against Pakistan. India consistently takes advantage of Pakistan's weak and nebulous international policies. This study aims to give a detailed analysis of the elements, in particular the internal or domestic ones that were responsible for influencing foreign policy decision-making in India and Pakistan between 2014 and 2020. Using Allison’s models of foreign policy has identified the factors accountable for Pakistan's unproductive and responsive external policy in contrast to India's proactive and forceful external strategy. One of the crucial findings that this study identified is that the democratic system and political continuity in India are the significant elements providing a strong base for effective policy making and building strong institutions as compared to Pakistan where the absence of both these elements are contributing to institutional crisis as well as weak and passive decision making.

Parents-Children Communication: Islamic Approach

This study intends to review pertinent literature on embracing Islamic values which are significantly relevant in strengthening parents-children relationship in the modern world. The prominent Qur’anic verses on communication values among humankinds in general, parenting roles, parenting skills, child-to-parents mannerism and the rights of children to communicate in a family are covered broadly with the intention to provide a better insight and perspectives on the subject matter. As parenting has never been easy back then and modern-days, this study also aims to give sufficient emphasis on the significance Islamic values have on the Muslim parents in communicating with family members – children in particular. This study concluded that the six primary values of Islamic teaching in family communication: Qaulan Sadida, Qaulan Ma‟rufa, Qaulan Baligha, Qaulan Maysura, Qaulan Layyina, and Qaulan Karima would definitely produce a great communication mode, affectionate parents-children relationship, and ultimately develop an excellent youth personality in society. This is also a must-have-skill each Muslim parents acquire towards nurturing strong and beneficial family institution.

CHALLENGES OF THE PANDEMIC AND WAR: ASPECTS OF HEALTH AND MENTAL WELL-BEING-2030

The article deals with challenges, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. Aspects of health and mental well-being 2030 are in the focus of the research. The major challenges in the healthcare systems through the prism of their resilience and emergence are examined. The study emphasises that the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the healthcare sector is possible through the application of the principle of universal access to healthcare services. This approach ensures the integration of Goal 3 "Good Health and Well-being" with other SDGs, namely: poverty eradication (SDG 1), economic growth and decent work for all (SDG 8), achieving inclusive and equitable education (SDG 4), equality and empowers women and girls (SDG 5), peace, justice and building strong institutions at the national and global levels (SDG 16). The Polish experience in organizing anti-epidemic measures to combat COVID-19 is described as a useful example for Ukraine because of the similarity of the initial conditions for the functioning of the healthcare industry at the national level. Considerable attention is paid to the healthcare system of Ukraine during the war, in particular, aspects of public administration. The data presented in the article are the legal acts of the UN and WHO and legal acts of the countries of the European region (Ukraine, Poland), which are freely available on the Internet.

Foreign bias in institutional portfolio allocation: The role of social trust

We study the role of social trust in the equity allocation decisions of global investors using a large sample of institutionally managed portfolios of 8,088 investors from 33 countries over the 2000 through 2017 period. The negative relationship between social trust and foreign bias suggests that institutional investors from high-social trust countries are less prone to underinvesting in foreign equity. Our results provide credence to an information-based explanation, indicating that social trust reduces foreign bias by compensating for the lack of information about foreign stock markets. Moreover, the effect of social trust on foreign bias is stronger if host-country institutions are weak, while it vanishes when the host country is characterized by strong institutions. The informal institution of social trust compensates for the lack of well-functioning formal country-level institutions in international portfolio decisions. Finally, the allocation effect resulting from social trust is different from “blind” trust. The portfolios of high-trust investors exhibit higher cross-country diversification and an enhanced portfolio risk-return trade-off.

Institutional quality and renewable energy capital flows in Africa

This paper investigates the linear and nonlinear relationship between institutional quality and renewable energy capital flows across 20 African countries between 2002 and 2017. The empirical evidence is based on the generalised method of moments estimation technique. The findings suggest that institutional quality has a significant and propelling effect on renewable energy capital flows, implying that strong institutions induce investments in renewable energy in Africa. From an extended analytical exercise, the study further shows a nonlinear inverted U-shaped relationship between institutional quality and energy capital flows. This indicates that the enhancing effect of institutional quality on energy capital flows is achieved at a certain threshold level. In the extreme case, the impact of institutional quality on energy capital flows diminishes. The study recommends that African countries initiate reforms to tame any adverse effect of institutional quality on renewable energy investments in its extreme case. Thus, African countries should develop strong institutions and reinforce their regulatory frameworks because strong institutions can improve societal welfare by reducing political, social and economic unpredictability while boosting trust and investment in renewable energy.

Political violence and financial markets in Tsarist Russia

There is little research studying the effects of political violence on financial markets over decades, especially in an atmosphere where the violence manifested itself in heterogeneous and geographically widespread ways. This article examines the authoritarian edifice of Tsarist Russia in the nineteenth century to examine the way in which capital markets perceived political instability in a country which had paradoxically strong financial institutions but weak political ones. Using a novel database on political violence in Russia in the nineteenth century matched to monthly financial data from Russian equity markets, this article provides strong evidence that Russia's financial markets were negatively affected in the long run by political violence. Consistent with modern views of financial information, the effects of political violence were quickly incorporated into asset prices, but the specific magnitude of such violence was different depending on where the violence occurred and in what manner. Overall, it appeared that political violence was perceived very negatively by investors in Russian equity markets.

HOW CORRECT ARE THE CLAIMS OF GOODNESS OF ASSOCIATIONALISM?

Discussions about how associational life is understood in western societies typically center on the relationship between its robustness and strong democratic institutions. Associations provide the dispersed persons a sense of rootedness. The backdrop of democratization and the introduction of other concepts and categories to understand the significance of associativeness and its connections to democracy are the problems, though. Furthermore, using associations to achieve ones own or communal interests is more essential than whether a person is a associated self since it shows initiative and leadership on the part of the individual. Overall, the relationship could be viewed as a dynamic process where associational actions are considered as an essential component of the state rather than as something separate from or outside of it.

Artificial intelligence for Sustainable Development Goals: Bibliometric patterns and concept evolution trajectories

AbstractThe development of artificial intelligence (AI) as a field has impacted almost all aspects of human life. More recently it has found a role in addressing developmental challenges, specifically the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, there are not enough systematic studies on analysis of the role of AI research towards the SDGs. Therefore, this article attempts to bridge this gap by identifying the major bibliometric trends and concept‐evolution trajectories in the area of AI applications for sustainable‐development goals. The research publication data for the last 20 years in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and so forth, is obtained and computationally analysed using a framework comprising bibliometrics, path analysis and content analysis. The findings show an incremental trend in overall publications on the application of AI for SDGs across the different regions of the world. SDGs 3 (good health & well‐being) and 7 (affordable and clean energy) are found as the areas with the most applications of AI. In SDG3, the literature reflects application of AI techniques such as deep learning for precision and personalised medicine while in SDG7, a number of studies have employed AI techniques for the integration of systems for efficient generation of solar power and improving the energy efficiency of a building. Furthermore, SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) are the other SDGs where AI approaches and techniques are applied. The analytical results present a detailed insight of application of AI for achieving the SDGs.

Do corruption and inequality shape sustainable development? Evidence from the post-soviet countries

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the role of corruption and income inequality in three-dimensional sustainable development in the post-Soviet countries.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is based on dynamic panel regression with the fixed effects approach.FindingsThe authors' findings depict that increasing corruption and income inequality undermine sustainable development. Specifically, increasing corruption and income inequality negatively affect sustainable development. Moreover, unemployment and trade liberalization negatively impact sustainable development, whereas foreign direct investments (FDIs) positively affect sustainable development.Practical implicationsPolicy implications enclose galvanizing strong institutions and redistributive policy mechanisms that the bottom income groups enjoy in promoting sustainable development to keep away the distressful phase of corruption and income inequality.Originality/valueThis is the first paper on corruption, income inequality and sustainable development in the post-Soviet countries employing a sustainable development index (SDI), which is calculated by considering three factors including economic, social and environmental development.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0065

Exploring network-based dependencies between country-level sustainability and business risks

The concept of sustainability has gained prominence in the global discourse, with increasing recognition of its impact on business risk. By integrating sustainability considerations into their strategies and operations, national policymakers and businesses can mitigate business risks and contribute to national sustainability goals. The objective of this study is to explore dependencies among the risks associated with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), introduced by the United Nations in 2015, and country-level business risk. In particular, this study aims to identify critical SDGs that can influence business risk based on the two extreme performance states (i.e., best and worst scenarios) of individual SDGs. A data-driven Bayesian Belief Network model is developed using two datasets on country-level sustainability performance and business risk assessment. On the one hand, ‘quality education’, ‘no poverty’, ‘affordable and clean energy’ and ‘sustainable cities and communities’ are identified as the most critical SDGs based on the negative impact of their associated risks on business risk. On the other hand, low risk (high performance) associated with the ‘peace, justice and strong institutions’, ‘life on land’ and ‘industry, innovation and infrastructure’ SDGs can reduce business risk. Strong dependencies are found between individual SDG risks and business risk, implying policymakers need to consider the implications of their sustainability initiatives on the risks and uncertainties surrounding their country's business environment.

Assessing Regional Variation in Support for the Radical Right-Wing Party ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD)—A Novel Application of Institutional Anomie Theory across German Districts

The paper at hand aims to address a research gap by examining the spatial impact of economic and non-economic institutions on regional variation in the support for the German populist far-right party ‘Alternative for Germany (AfD)’. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach and drawing on institutional anomie theory, the study explores the relationship between economic dominance—economic inequality and economic strength—and regional AfD vote share, as well as the role of non-economic institutions in shaping support for the party. Using various regional indicators, the study assesses the strength of different institutions and their impact on the AfD’s electoral results in the year 2021 across 401 German districts (NUTS 3-level). The results point to significant differences between eastern and western Germany in the analysis of regional populist voting patterns. Economic dominance emerges as a stronger predictor of the AfD’s vote share in eastern regions. However, the findings on the protective effect of strong non-economic institutions against AfD voting are ambiguous and partly contrary to theoretical expectations. Overall, the study’s findings show that the newly introduced indicators deduced from institutional anomie theory contribute to the existing literature to help better understand regional variances in AfD support. Furthermore, the study contributes to the existing literature on the rise of contemporary radical right movements by employing Karl Polanyi’s framework of ‘disembedded’ markets. In doing so, it sheds light on the complex interplay between social change, anomic tendencies, and the growth of radical right movements in capitalist societies.

SDGs and fictional energy utopias: Gauging sustainable energy transitions against Ecotopia (1975) and The Ministry for the Future (2020)

Strategic narratives about the transition to sustainable energy systems, including those influenced by the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs), frequently incorporate utopian elements. These ambitious targets encapsulate future-oriented visions and postulate implications of technological advancements; they also often underrepresent or even bypass the multifaceted nature of socioeconomic diversities, planetary constraints, and persistent energy disputes. The genre of utopian science fiction can offer a valuable heuristic to elucidate the heterogeneous and occasionally unsatisfactory projections that emerge from the SDGs. Two seminal novels—Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia (1975) and Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future (2020)—which we classify as “fictional energy utopias” (FEUs), present incisive critiques of contemporary energy mechanisms and practices and envisage equitable, resilient, and robust renewable energy systems and socio-technical structures. Through an approach that combines narrative and discourse analyses, these literary works are juxtaposed with selected indicators of three SDGs. The ensuing study underscores the primacy of the topic of energy in policy and its concomitant narratives in fostering collective endeavors toward sustainable development. It also amplifies the pivotal interconnections between SDG 7 “Affordable and Clean Energy,” SDG 13 “Climate Action,” and SDG 16 “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.” Employing FEUs to evaluate sustainability policies can substantially benefit researchers, policy architects, and public engagement coordinators by highlighting lacunae and limitations within prevailing strategic narratives and proposing potential enhancements to fortify their capacity to motivate collective action.