Traditional Production Factors Research Articles

ICT and Agricultural Development in South Africa: An Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag Approach

The use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) forms a significant component of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This study examined the impact of ICT on agricultural development in South Africa utilizing time series data from 1995 to 2022. Agricultural development was measured through agricultural output and agriculture total factor productivity as dependent variables. Traditional factors of production (land, labor, and capital) together with ICT variables (mobile cellphone subscriptions, Internet usage, and fixed telephone subscriptions) were used. Additional variables such as inflation, human development, access to energy and climate change were used. Data analysis was performed using the ARDL approach. The findings revealed that mobile phone subscriptions and Internet usage positively affect agricultural output and ATFP in the short and long run despite having a negative effect through the second lag in the short run. Fixed telephone subscriptions negatively affect ATFP in the long run while affecting output negatively in the short run through the first lag. Land, human development index, access to energy, and capital generally exhibited an increasing effect on both agricultural output and ATFP both in the short and long run through the various models estimated. Climate change and inflation were generally found to affect both agricultural output and ATFP negatively in the short and long run. The study concluded that ICT plays a significant role in promoting agricultural output and total factor productivity growth. Recommendations included that the South African government should promote the digitalization of the agriculture sector through the provision of ICT infrastructure that can be utilized by both smallholder farmers and large-scale agricultural producers.

The Impact of Data Agglomeration on Export Structure Upgrading in Cities: A Factor Mobility Perspective

The digital economy and export upgrading are important topics of common concern for policymakers and academics during the period of high-quality economic development. From the perspective of factor mobility, this paper constructs the two-way fixed effect, mediation effect, and spatial Durbin models to analyze the impacts of data agglomeration on urban export structure upgrading. Using panel data of 280 cities at the prefecture level and above in China from 2005 to 2018, the empirical analysis reveals a positive impact of data agglomeration on urban export structure upgrading, with capital transfer and technology diffusion further reinforcing this impact. Additionally, data agglomeration promotes urban export structure upgrading by optimizing innovation resource allocation and exhibits a spatial spillover effect on urban export structure upgrading. Finally, the facilitating effect on urban export structure upgrading is heterogeneous. Consequently, it is imperative to expedite the construction of new digital infrastructure, foster the integration and symbiotic evolution of data and traditional production factors, and implement distinct innovation development pathways based on regional comparative advantages.

Has the digital transformation promoted energy-saving-biased technological progress in China’s manufacturing sector?

ABSTRACT In the context of ‘Digital China’ and the ‘Dual-Carbon’ targets, there is an escalating need for energy saving and pollution reduction in China’s manufacturing sector. By optimizing resource allocation, enhancing precision in energy consumption monitoring and fostering the integration of traditional production factors, digital elements are pivotal in steering the sector towards energy technology progress, thereby affecting overall energy usage and carbon emissions. This study leverages panel data from 2009 to 2020 to quantify the manufacturing sector’s digital transformation and its energy-saving technology progress bias. It also examines the catalytic role of digital transformation in fostering energy-saving technological progress. The findings reveal the following: (1) The trajectory of technological progress within China’s manufacturing sector has progressively improved and predominantly demonstrates an energy-saving bias. (2) Digital transformation has significantly catalysed energy-saving-biased technological progress across various manufacturing subsectors, this conclusion is still significantly credible after a series of robustness tests. (3) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that as the digital transformation progresses from collaborative innovation to comprehensive digitalization phases, it has dramatically optimized the energy-saving-biased technological progress in various industries, especially in pollution-intensive industries. These insights offer substantial implications for policy formulation and industrial evolution.

A Theory of Digital Economy Development: An Examination of the Practice of Chinese Platforms

Grasping the development trends and patterns of the digital economy and promoting the integrated development of the digital and the real economy is a strategic choice for China’s construction of new competitive advantages. Based on case studies of the growth of e-commerce, this paper develops five microeconomic propositions about the following issues: the microeconomic features of data factor that differ from traditional production factors; optimal decision-making for digital enterprises; “data + platform” architecture, data transaction governance, and digital infrastructure supply. We apply these theoretical propositions to enterprise innovative practices in different application scenarios such as driverless vehicles and manufacturing digitalization. This paper provides a systematic and consistent theoretical framework for analyzing platform business model innovation and accurately identifying issues of institutional construction that promote the integrated development of the digital and the real economy.

Determinants of the Use of Big Data Technologies by Organizations in Russian Regions

A scientific discussion is unfolding around data as a new factor of production that contributes to the transformation of traditional sectors of the economy, industrial integration, and ensures interregional interaction. At the same time, the question of the relationship with such traditional production factors as labor and capital needs to be answered. The study aims to identify the determinants of organizations' use of Big Data at a regional level. The main hypothesis of the study suggests that the key determinants of organizations' use of big data technologies are digital labor, digital capital and the socio-economic characteristics of regions. In the study we proposed a modified knowledge production function which was tested on open data from the Federal State Statistics Service for 85 regions of Russia in 2021-2022. Panel models were constructed using the method of least squares, generalized feasible least squares. The study presents illustrative material made using cartograms and graphical methods. The results of the study distinguished the spatial heterogeneity in the use of Big Data technologies in Russia's regions and differentiation of the regions by volume of digital capital and digital labor. Panel data models with random effects confirmed the positive impact of digital labor and digital capital on organizations' use of Big Data. Among the socio-economic characteristics of regions as determinants of the use of big data technologies, significant effects were obtained for the share of urban population, gross regional product and share of innovation costs. The study identifies the determinants of the development of the data economy in Russian regions, considering geographic, technological, and economic differentiation. The theoretical significance of the study lies in the proposal of the author's concept of a modified knowledge production function, which can be used as a fundamental basis for the development of the theory of data economics. The practical significance of the study lies in the validity of the value of Big Data, the use of which can help institutions and government authorities find new opportunities for the development of the data economy, taking into account regional differentiation, improving the methodology for monitoring the use of digital technologies by organizations, and identifying the key factors influencing the use of Big Data technologies by organizations.

Оценка ресурсной обеспеченности: от ЕАЭС к Большому евразийскому пространству

Considering the transformation of global economic relations, Russia strives to strengthen cooperation within the Greater Eurasian space (GES) on the basis of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The study aims to develop an approach to assessing the resource provision of the GES development. The Balassa method and the analysis of documents were used to distinguish five institutional levels (beyond the EAEU) of the GES development: I — countries that have a free trade zone agreement with the EAEU; II — countries that have other agreements; III — cooperation is elaborated; IV — negotiations were conducted; V — countries interested in cooperation. According to 4 traditional production factors, 8 types of resource provision were revealed: raw, agroclimatic and food, labour, intellectual, production capacity, transport infrastructure, innovation, financial. For their assessment, the following statistical and authors’ indicators can be used: number of employees in a certain sector, added value in the manufacturing segment, number of researchers in the group of countries, 3-year state budget exceeding the public debt, fossil fuel reserves, etc. The assessment showed that the share of the Greater Eurasian space in the global gross domestic product, natural rent, industry (including high-tech), patent generation, investments, freight traffic, significantly increased in 2000–2021. The most significant contributions to the development of the Greater Eurasian space are: land, transport infrastructure, budget safety from the EAEU; labour, land, GDP from countries except China; labour, production capacity, transport infrastructure, technology, international reserves from China. Such resource allocation strengthens cooperation within the GES, which is necessary to develop, introduce and promote advanced production technologies. Research results can be used to choose mechanisms and tools of international economic cooperation, as well as to simulate the movement of goods, services and production factors between the GES countries.

СУТНІСНА ПРИРОДА І КЛЮЧОВІ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ КРЕАТИВНОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ

The article is devoted to the systematization of theoretical problems of the creative economy and their key characteristics. It is emphasized that the creative economy, from the point of view of the influence of intellectual capital and investments in human capital on the dynamics of competitive development of national economies, is the highest form of development of the new economy, capable of producing creative products with more than 50% of the specific weight of the creative component in their intangible value. The innovation-technological paradigm of the creative economy is determined by the accelerated dynamization of global technological progress, in which production, turning into a platform for technological application and a continuous flow of innovative developments, puts science and education among the priority factors of global economic development. As international practice shows, it is precisely the cultural aspect of the creation of economic activity that is the most difficult to understand, since in the cultural sphere, as in no other, the prevailing concepts in most cases require the greatest adjustments in order to adequately reflect the specific methods of organization and development of the economic system of society, presented in products of material and spiritual labor, the system of social norms and institutions, as well as the attitude of individuals to nature, to each other and to themselves. The article emphasizes the cultural paradigm of the theoretical design of the creative economy, which is characterized by the multifacetedness of the cultural phenomenon, which makes it possible to significantly expand the methodological ideas about the nature and driving forces of creative production based on the inclusion of economic activity that goes beyond the artistic sphere itself. The fundamental transformations that the world economic system has undergone in recent decades include radical changes in the nature and forms of organization of economic activity with the loss of traditional reproductive factors of production of their leading role in the competitive development of companies, states and entire regions. Under such conditions, their maintenance of high competitive positions on the market is decisively determined by creative resources, which, although they cannot be evaluated in traditional value categories, are actively introduced into the process of social reproduction based on the generation of new creative ideas by economic entities and their large-scale market commercialization.

КОНЦЕПТУАЛЬНИЙ ДИЗАЙН КРЕАТИВНОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ

The article systematizes modern theoretical approaches to defining the essence of the category "creativity", reveals the key factors of its formation and development in the conditions of globalization. It is proven that the fundamental transformations that the world economic system has undergone in recent decades include radical changes in the nature and forms of organization of economic activity with the loss of traditional reproductive factors of production of their leading role in the competitive development of companies, states and entire regions. Their retention of high competitive positions on the market is decisively determined by creative resources, which, although they cannot be evaluated in traditional value categories, are actively introduced into the process of social reproduction based on the generation of new creative ideas by economic entities and their large-scale market commercialization. The creative economy makes new demands on the workforce, production infrastructure and institutional environment compared to the industrial economy. This sector is becoming an important strategic tool for revitalization and transformation. The epistemological-psychological paradigm of the theoretical design of the creative economy has been clarified. Despite the lack of a single and generally accepted definition of the category "creativity" within the epistemological-psychological paradigm of the theoretical design of the creative economy, its essential content can be identified as a unique cognitive property of the human mind, thanks to which an individual can carry out socially important activities and generate non-standard solutions based on the combination and synthesis of new ideas and systematic generalization of publicly available data. The dominance of the transdisciplinary level of creativity research at the intersection of art, political economy, philosophy, business activity, technology, education, culture, media and sociology is proven. It has been updated that different forms and levels of creative activity represent fundamentally different spheres of socially important activity (technological and innovative (invention), financial and economic (entrepreneurship), artistic and cultural activity), which, although developing in an autonomous mode, nevertheless demonstrate a high level of convergence and accelerate each other's development.

MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF INNOVATION PROCESS IN THE FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF IT SPHERE ENTERPRISES

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the priority of increasing the management efficiency of innovative process of IT sphere as a factor contributing to the Ukraine’s economic growth taking into account the current opportunities and limitations.The study substantiated that maintaining a competitive advantage in the innovation space through the development of digitalization processes in Ukraine requires continuous improvement of the management of the innovative process in the IT sphere, and increasing the efficiency of implementing new technical, organizational and marketing solutions. It is shown that under the influence of an unstable external environment, there is a need to develop and implement a management system that would provide an opportunity to obtain competitive advantages in the IT sphere and maintain a competitive position of the Ukrainian IT business in the market. The priority of development is long-term growth, the driving force of development is innovation and modern technologies, as well as highly qualified human and institutional capital. At the same time, traditional factors of production (land, natural resources, labour) are losing their importance. The basic priorities of managing the innovation development of the IT sphere have been determined. The implementation of an innovation policy in the IT sector of Ukraine, based on the current opportunities and constraints, will ensure a systematic and sustainable increase in the efficiency of innovative development in this area and will contribute to the increase of the national economy of Ukraine.The results of the study should be implemented for the development of the theory and methodology of innovative development at the macro- and meso-levels, as well as in stimulating model of innovative process in Ukraine based on the status of its leading economic sectors, in particular, the IT sphere.

The Impact of the Platform Economy on Urban–Rural Integration Development: Evidence from China

As a new economic system composed of data-driven, platform-supported, and network-coordinated economic activity units, the platform economy provides a new impetus for the integrated development of urban and rural areas. This paper uses China’s provincial panel data from 2011–2021 to measure the development level of the platform economy and the urban–rural integration development index using the entropy weight method and empirically tests the direct and indirect effects of the platform economy on urban–rural integration development. The research finds that (1) the platform economy has a significant role in promoting the development of urban–rural integration. After introducing a series of robustness tests such as instrumental variables estimation, the results are still significant. (2) Regional innovation capability is an important transmission mechanism for the platform economy to enable urban–rural integrated development. The platform economy can indirectly promote urban–rural integrated development by improving regional innovation capability. (3) There is a significant mesomeric effect between the traditional factors of production and the platform economy and the mesomeric effect of capital, technology, land, and labor factors increased in turn. (4) The digital twin platform is a kind of digital land generated in the platform economy and has become an important place and value source for products in the digital era.

Research on forestry labor input measurement and forestry industry development in China

PurposeAt present, China’s forestry development is mainly driven by the traditional production factors such as forestry labor force, land resources and capital and thus the top priority of forestry development is to optimize forestry production factors. Scientific and effective forestry labor input has a significant role in promoting the development of forestry industry. Given that the actual input to forestry labor is not clear, the accuracy of the forestry industry development may be slightly affected. Based on the monitoring project of collective forest tenure reform (RCFT), this paper uses the survey data of 3,500 rural households in seven provinces of China from 2010 to 2014 and 2016 to 2017 to measure the actual labor force in China, and empirically analyzes and studies the factors influencing the development of forestry industry based on the provincial data of forestry in China, and further discusses the heterogeneous impact of forestry production factors on the development of forestry industry.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the generalized least squares estimation model is used to calculate the actual number of forestry labor in China, and then the Cobb–Douglas production function is selected to explore the influencing factors of forestry industry development.FindingsThe results show that the actual number of forestry labor force in China continues to decline and the degree of reduction varies from different regions. The forestry labor is a major factor that promotes the development of the forestry industry, but this promotion is affected by the low matching degree between the forestry production factors and thus further inhibits the development of the forestry industry. Due to the time lag of the reform, the implementation of RCFT first weakens and then promotes the development of forestry production. Further on, the forestry labor input is heterogeneous in land resource endowment, forestry investment source and the proportion of management personnel.Originality/valueTherefore, researches show that the feasible way to promote the development of forestry industry is to expand the scale of forestry labor force, optimize the mutual allocation of forestry production factors, enhance the input of human capital in forestry and deepen the RCFT.

A Study on the Economic Drivers of the Data Element

As the development of information technology has entered a new stage, data has become a novel factor of production in the digital economy. With its unique and fundamental economic characteristics, data participate in the production process and brings an innovative driving force to the economy. Thus, how data factors act on production and contribute to economic growth need further study. This article analyses the economic characteristics unique to the data element from the perspective of its causes. In the following parts, we propose three ways in which the data element can be combined with traditional factors of production to drive productive development: value multiplication, input substitution, and resource optimization. Furthermore, the article extends the Cobb Douglas function to investigate the possible paths of the data element economic growth model, and initially constructs a production function model including the data factor to deepen the understanding of the function of the data factor.

The Role of Library and Information Services in Achieving Sustainable Development: Issues and Challenges

The library serves as the nucleus of development and is crucial to achieving sustainable development objectives. That assertion is so because the information is the fundamental component that can be processed to produce meaningful development. In essence, information is a driver of growth and the characteristic that sets the world's industrialized economy apart from its developing counterparts. Information has been recognized as the fifth factor of production because it has a significant impact on how individuals decide to combine the four traditional factors of production. The difference between the developed World and the Third World economies was based on the availability and use of information for projection purposes. Several world developmental projections that have failed can be traced to the amount of information made available to achieve the objectives that were to be realized. Therefore, the challenges that libraries and librarians face were discussed and the library's role as a valuable information hub equipped to achieve the goals of sustainable development.

The Impacts of Digital Economy on Balanced and Sufficient Development in China: A Regression and Spatial Panel Data Approach

The digital economy can change the proportions and types of production factors, gradually replace traditional backward production factors, reconstruct the division of labor and cooperation system, and improve productivity, which is an important basis for balanced and sufficient development. This paper measures the comprehensive level of the digital economy and balanced and sufficient development, by using Chinese provincial panel data from 2013 to 2021, and uses the panel fixed effect model, mediation effect model, and spatial econometric model to examine the digital economy’s effect on balanced and sufficient development as well as the digital economy’s mechanism. The results show that the digital economy has significantly promoted balanced and sufficient development, though there are obvious regional heterogeneity and spatial spillover effects, and the relevant conclusions are still valid after an endogenous treatment and a robustness test. The total factor productivity is an important mechanism for the digital economy to affect balanced and sufficient development.

Does the Digital Economy Increase Green TFP in Cities?

COVID-19 accelerated the growth of the digital economy and digital transformation across the globe. Meanwhile, it also created a higher demand for productivity in the real economy. Hence, the correlation between the digital economy and green productivity is worth studying as COVID-19 prevention becomes the norm. The digital economy overcomes the limitations imposed by traditional factors of production on economic growth and empowers innovative R&D and resource allocation in all aspects. This study delved into the digital economy by focusing on its green value at different levels of development. The study gathered the green-productivity indices and the principal components of the digital economy for each prefecture-level city in China from 2011 to 2019 and meticulously portrayed their trends in spatial and temporal figures. Meanwhile, regression models were used to verify the mechanism through which digital-economy development influences the changes in green productivity. The results showed that: (1) a higher level of digital economy helps to increase urban green total-factor productivity (GTFP) and that the conclusions of this paper still held after potential endogeneity problems were solved through the instrumental-variables approach; (2) the digital economy will drive an increase in urban GTFP by upgrading firms' production technologies and that digital-economy development encourages green patent applications from firms; and (3) as the digital economy develops, it will also drive urban GTFP increases by removing polluting enterprises from the market and that the higher the level of digital-economy development, the greater the number and probability of polluting enterprises exiting the market. In view of this study's results, the government should increase the importance of the digital economy, strengthen the role of the digital economy in promoting urban green development, and provide more guidance on regional green development with the help of the digital economy.

Retrospective analysis of innovative activity of business entities in the conditions of transformation

Objective. To conduct a theoretical analysis of the categories “innovation” and “innovative activity”. To prove, from the standpoint of historical dialectics, that innovation is an endogenous source of economic growth. Methods. The study used a systematic approach, retrospective analysis, abstract-logical analysis, grouping, comparison, factor analysis. Results. In the current conditions of instability of the world economy, the issue of its further development, including from a technological point of view, is relevant. In historical retrospect, the emergence of technological innovations on the market had a positive impact on the process considered in the study. The recognition of innovation as an endogenous source of economic growth is due to the nature of the post-industrial economic structure, characterized by the decline in the role of traditional factors of production in the formation of competitive advantages of individual producers, as well as the formation of a qualitatively new type of progressive macroeconomic dynamics. In these conditions, the innovative activity of business entities becomes particularly relevant. The article considers various approaches of scientists and representatives of various economic schools to the definition of the concepts of “innovation” and “innovative activity”. Conclusion. Based on a retrospective analysis of a number of scientific papers devoted to innovation, it is concluded that in order to ensure the successful and dynamic development of an enterprise producing high-tech products, it is necessary first of all to widely apply various methods of innovation management, which should include simultaneous and coordinated use of technological, scientific, personnel, commercial and other policies that provide a systematic solution to the problems of innovative development.

Retrospective analysis of innovative activity of business entities in the conditions of transformation

Objective. To conduct a theoretical analysis of the categories "innovation" and "innovative activity". To prove, from the standpoint of historical dialectics, that innovation is an endogenous source of economic growth. Methods. The study used a systematic approach, retrospective analysis, abstract-logical analysis, grouping, comparison, factor analysis. Results. In the current conditions of instability of the world economy, the issue of its further development, including from a technological point of view, is relevant. In historical retrospect, the emergence of technological innovations on the market had a positive impact on the process considered in the study. The recognition of innovation as an endogenous source of economic growth is due to the nature of the post-industrial economic structure, characterized by the decline in the role of traditional factors of production in the formation of competitive advantages of individual producers, as well as the formation of a qualitatively new type of progressive macroeconomic dynamics. In these conditions, the innovative activity of business entities becomes particularly relevant. The article considers various approaches of scientists and representatives of various economic schools to the definition of the concepts of "innovation" and "innovative activity". Conclusion. Based on a retrospective analysis of a number of scientific papers devoted to innovation, it is concluded that in order to ensure the successful and dynamic development of an enterprise producing high-tech products, it is necessary first of all to widely apply various methods of innovation management, which should include simultaneous and coordinated use of technological, scientific, personnel, commercial and other policies that provide a systematic solution to the problems of innovative development.

Повышение значимости интеллектуального капитала организации в процессе формирования и развития экономики знаний

The article highlights the process of transition from material to non-material factors of production in modern economic conditions. The organization’s intellectual capital is designated as a key intangible resource ensuring its competitiveness in the market and high performance factors. It has been inferred that it is necessary to form detailed understanding of the intellectual capital in order to implement the effective managerial impact on it aiming to form and develop the knowledge economy principles. The research and publications that show the concept of the knowledge economy are analyzed. The main characteristics of the knowledge economy are formulated, which provides for substantiating the intellectual capital as its key source. The main differences between traditional factors of production and intangible factors of production are identified, among which the lack of a developed methodology of assessment in relation to intangible factors of production has been emphasized. There has been determined the current state of the scientific research of using non-material factors of production aimed at forming and developing the knowledge economy. Placing too much emphasis on the aspect of influencing the investments into intangible assets on the organization’s performance by using the methods of mathematical statistics is considered as the main drawback of the foreign research. The excessive theoretical data, abstract and fragmented interpretation of the knowledge economy concepts and intellectual capital as its key resource are considered as the important shortcoming of the domestic research. It has been found that it is necessary to form a general organizational scheme for the impact of intellectual capital elements on the formation and development of the knowledge economy.

Where smart meets sustainability: The role of Smart Governance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in cities

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to achieve economic, social, and environmental progress globally. However, trade-offs among these three pillars might occur, particularly in the context of cities. We argue that these trade-offs exist because the traditional factors of production for economic welfare are not always relevant to the other dimensions of city sustainability. Consequently, additional factors are needed to facilitate the progress of the 2030 agenda. We make a case for smart governance, a factor that we associate with the quality of governance. We explore these ideas by examining the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of 128 cities worldwide. Our results indicate that the traditional factors of production (labor, land, and capital) are positively associated with the economic dimension but weakly associated with the social and environmental dimensions. However, smart governance is positively associated with the various dimensions of urban sustainability. JEL CLASSIFICATION: Q01; Q28; Q53; Q56; O18; Z13

Measurement and analysis of technical efficiency in the production of wheat and barley crops in Erbil Governorate for the agricultural season 2020-2021

The study aimed to measure the technical efficiency in the production of crops (wheat and barley) in Erbil Governorate. Using the stochastic frontier analysis method and Maximum-Likelihood (ML) Model, which combines both stochastic frontier and the effects of inefficiency models. based on preliminary data collected randomly for a sample of 58 farms in Erbil Governorate. The study used the Cobb-Douglas production function using four traditional production factors, which are (land, labor, machinery, and fertilizers) in addition to a dummy variable (D1), which represents supplementary irrigation, to estimate the parameters of the stochastic frontier model. As for estimating the parameters of the inefficiency effects model, two variables were used, namely, rainfall rates and farmer’s level of education. The results of estimating technical efficiency showed that the overall average efficiency in the study sample amounted to 60%, and it was also found that supplementary irrigation is the most important and most effective factor on grain production, followed by the land factor The study also found that about (100%) of the deviations from the production frontier are due to the inefficiency in the use of resources. One of the most important suggestions of the study is to expand the role of Agricultural guidance in educating farmers to apply modern agricultural techniques in production to raise their production efficiency.