World Bank Research Articles

Globalization and its Effect on the National Economy: The Albanian Case

Globalization is a widely discussed phenomenon that involves the free flow of goods, services, capital, and people across the world. It is mainly focused on economic and cultural aspects, among others. Globalization can be considered as a trend towards increasing of the interdependence and integration among the countries and regions of the globe. Globalization affects us all and leads a radical change in the human’s lives all over the planet, in the relations between them as well as in culture and other aspects related to institutions. So globalization increases incomes but simultaneously increases social inequalities, leaving some countries and groups of people behind. To put it simply, globalization can rapidly enrich a small group of capable individuals while impoverishing the larger population. This ultimately leads to a decline in living standards across the world. Globalization has both positive and negative sides, globalization also produces winners and losers, both between countries and within them, so there are losses and the lost, but the supporters of globalization do not accept this fact. In conditions when the economies are converging and that this phenomenon is generally acceptable, national governments should look forward to pay attention to the growth of domestic capital the pursuit of international financial reforms with the aim of making it possible to find solutions to help losses and the lost. National governments should have social protection policies on the top of their agenda as well as programs that will help as much as possible in the correcting of the unequal distribution, to help different groups in need. Labor migration is a negative phenomenon that caused by the globalization and damages the economy of small countries in transition as people capable of working move to developed countries for a better life than what they leave in their country of origin. The main indicators of the globalization of the national economy are producing for world markets, being part of the global financial markets, as well as foreign direct investments. Globalization is inevitable, under these conditions the duty of the national governments is to face of the pressure that leads to the subordination of the local economy to the global one. Globalization facilitates the connection of different parts of the world, reducing borders and allowing national economies to cater to global tastes. The decreased transportation costs also contribute to the intermingling of the global and local aspects, ultimately leading to the unification of regions. About globalism, there are currents for and against, while the opponents of globalism as well as those who call globalization the cause of poverty and inequality have not drawn up any alternative model for economic growth and development throughout the globe. Small countries like Albania require large international corporations or companies to invest in them to achieve comprehensive economic development, reduce unemployment, and increase well-being. Financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund also play a crucial role in this process. Received: 25 December 2023 / Accepted: 25 February 2024 / Published: 23 April 2024

Comparative evaluation of efficacy of Pippalyadi Agada as an adjuvant drug vs. standard drug therapy in the management of acute food poisoning: A Study Protocol

Antimicrobial resistance, a pressing challenge in modern medicine, arises from excessive antibiotic use in veterinary and human care. Underreporting and complex links between food contamination and illnesses have led to underestimating foodborne disease impacts. The World Bank’s 2019 analysis projected $15B annual treatment costs and $95.2B productivity loss in low- to middle-income countries due to foodborne diseases. “Agada” refers to symptom-relieving medications, like “Vishaghnakalpa.” Pippalyadi Agada, from Vishaghana plants, treats “Dooshivisha Chikitsa,” e.g., Kitibha, rashes, shwas. It has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties, aiding acute food poisoning with nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea. It is a carminative, curbing prolonged diarrhea, and anti-toxic. Pippalyadi Agada pacifies imbalanced Vata and Kapha, promising better relief than Agni and Pittastana interventions. As an Ayurvedic remedy, it is administered as Vati, 500mg twice daily with Anuapan Honey for 7 days. This study aims to comparatively evaluate the effectiveness of Pippalyadi Agada as an adjunct to standard drug therapy in managing acute food poisoning. Following a comprehensive drug analysis, a total of 60 eligible participants will be selected and assigned to two groups, each comprising 30 individuals. Group A will receive standard drug therapy, while Group B will receive standard drug therapy alongside Pippalyadi Agad, administered twice daily for 7 days. Assessments will occur on days 0, 3, 5, and 8, both before and after the intervention. The study anticipates that the use of Pippalyadi Agada as an adjunct to standard drug therapy will lead to improved symptom relief and faster recovery in individuals with acute food poisoning, as demonstrated by significant reductions in symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fever, and diarrhea. The observed outcomes will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the potential benefits of Ayurvedic interventions in managing foodborne illnesses.

The Influence of Nigeria's Level of Public Debt on the Country's Ability to Sustain Fiscal Stability

This research investigates the impact of public debt exposure on Nigeria's fiscal sustainability through an ex post facto research design. The study utilizes quarterly data from 1986 to 2021, comprising 36 data points sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and World Bank databases. Employing descriptive statistics, unit root analysis, Johansen cointegration, and Vector Error Correction techniques, the analysis maintains a significance level of 5%. The model exhibits a satisfactory fit with an R-squared value of 0.67 and an Adjusted R-squared value of 0.65. Key factors, including the domestic debt to GDP ratio, external debt to GDP ratio, debt servicing to GDP ratio, economic growth, exchange rate, and interest rate, undergo evaluation for their impact on Nigeria's current account balance and budget deficit/surplus. The findings highlight the external debt to GDP ratio, debt servicing to GDP ratio, economic growth, exchange rate, and interest rate as primary determinants of Nigeria's fiscal responsibility. The study recommends several measures based on these findings. These include managing external debt effectively, prioritizing debt servicing, promoting economic growth, monitoring exchange rates and interest rates, strengthening debt management practices, diversifying revenue sources, enhancing budget discipline, and improving governance.

Transport and Electricity Infrastructures and Economic Growth and Development in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries

Economic postulations suggest that the interrelationship between changes in incomes, capital and labour which can be substituted into macroeconomic neoclassical and steady-state growth theories drives economic development. Arising from the above economic axiom, this study investigated the impact of transport and electricity infrastructures on economic development and growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The study used panel data from fifteen (15) sub-Saharan African countries. Panel data were obtained from statistical bulletins of the various countries and World Bank Indicators (WBI) from 2000-2022. Data obtained were analyzed via descriptive, diagnostic and inferential statistics. Specifically, the fixed and random effects regression revealed that while there is a significant relationship between transportation and electricity infrastructures and economic growth, an insignificant relationship was found between transportation and electricity infrastructures and economic development in the selected sub-Saharan African countries. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that governments in sub-Saharan Africa needs to increase their contributions and support for electricity and transportation infrastructures; this can be done by increasing budgetary allocation for critical infrastructures in countries of sub-Saharan Africa

The Conceptualization and Measurement of Research Impact in Primary Health Care: Protocol for a Rapid Scoping Review.

The generation of research evidence and knowledge in primary health care (PHC) is crucial for informing the development and implementation of interventions and innovations and driving health policy, health service improvements, and potential societal changes. PHC research has broad effects on patients, practices, services, population health, community, and policy formulation. The in-depth exploration of the definition and measures of research impact within PHC is essential for broadening our understanding of research impact in the discipline and how it compares to other health services research. The objectives of the study are (1) to understand the conceptualizations and measures of research impact within the realm of PHC and (2) to identify methodological frameworks for evaluation and research impact and the benefits and challenges of using these approaches. The forthcoming review seeks to guide future research endeavors and enhance methodologies used in assessing research impact within PHC. The protocol outlines the rapid review and environmental scan approach that will be used to explore research impact in PHC and will be guided by established frameworks such as the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Impact Framework and the Canadian Health Services and Policy Research Alliance. The rapid review follows scoping review guidelines (PRISMA-ScR; Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews). The environmental scan will be done by consulting with professional organizations, academic institutions, information science, and PHC experts. The search strategy will involve multiple databases, citation and forward citation searching, and manual searches of gray literature databases, think tank websites, and relevant catalogs. We will include gray and scientific literature focusing explicitly on research impact in PHC from high-income countries using the World Bank classification. Publications published in English from 1978 will be considered. The collected papers will undergo a 2-stage independent review process based on predetermined inclusion criteria. The research team will extract data from selected studies based on the research questions and the CRISP (Consensus Reporting Items for Studies in Primary Care) protocol statement. The team will discuss the extracted data, enabling the identification and categorization of key themes regarding research impact conceptualization and measurement in PHC. The narrative synthesis will evolve iteratively based on the identified literature. The results of this study are expected at the end of 2024. The forthcoming review will explore the conceptualization and measurement of research impact in PHC. The synthesis will offer crucial insights that will guide subsequent research, emphasizing the need for a standardized approach that incorporates diverse perspectives to comprehensively gauge the true impact of PHC research. Furthermore, trends and gaps in current methodologies will set the stage for future studies aimed at enhancing our understanding and measurement of research impact in PHC. PRR1-10.2196/55860.

Effects of Globalization on Third World Development: The Nigerian Experience

The study examines globalization and its effects on third world development with emphasis on the Nigerian state. The growing global economy was fastened mostly by information technology, international trade, culture, political, and social activities across the globe. It has no doubt created a global dual phenomenon where third world countries continued to experience economic and political development at the expense of western world. Thus, third world countries are fully incorporated into the global capitalist economy but the accrued benefits are not evenly distributed. Globalization is another form of colonization of third world countries achieved through the use of exploitative instruments like World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, multinational corporations and other international financial institutions in order to capture the world in the name of globalization. These aforementioned instruments in the name of globalization are diversionary and plausible because there is no country in the world that is in the process of development as a result of globalization or that has developed as a product of globalization. The pro-globalizers deceive third world countries, that globalization is a path to development in which all third world countries are supposed to follow in order to become developed. Nigeria, in the current wind of globalization remains a clientele economy in the competitive global market. The study adopts documentary research methods and relied majorly on secondary data and modernisation theory was adopted as the theoretical foundation of the study. The study revealed that underdevelopment in Nigeria resulted from the negative effects of globalization are to explore the political impacts of globalization and imposition of foreign rule in Nigeria, to explore the economic impacts of globalization and unequal terms of trade in Nigeria and to identify the role of Nigeria as giant of Africa in global markets. The study, however suggest economic diversification and exportable capacity of the third world economy in the global market, regulation of international capitalist structure through applicability of market friendly policies devoid of stringent market policies placed on third world countries by the developed countries and Improving bank regulations of the third world countries nations banks are well regulated to their boost economic growth. The study concludes that there is interconnectedness between globalization and development in Nigeria, which in turn increases the rate of unemployment of masses and hinders political and economic development in Nigeria.

Beyond Schools: Multisensory Learning and Knowledge Acquisition in Informal Contexts—Perspectives from Rural Indonesia

It is not a new finding that much human learning takes place implicitly outside of educational institutions in informal, everyday contexts, yet these learning processes receive comparatively little systematic attention within the current anthropology of learning, education and schools. Based on long-term social anthropological research in a peasant community in rural Indonesia (Sulawesi), the article will address the complex multisensory forms of learning through which children acquire a large part of their competencies and their extensive environmental and agricultural knowledge. I will focus on the mixed-age “communities of practices” in which this knowledge is transmitted and acquired and show that affective bonds to peers and adults influence to a large extent which out-of-school areas of competence a child acquires. Building on the “embodied capital theory.” I argue that children in rural areas obtain a complex form of “ecological literacy” that encompasses not only a rich knowledge about the local ecosystems and agri- as well as horticultural processes but also a particular formation of the senses and the physical body in general (muscle size and memory, physical strength, coordination, balance, and motor skills). I shall conclude with some critical reflections on the general devaluation of the extra-curricular, non-formal, and environmental forms of learning, which can be observed not only in Indonesia but also worldwide and seems to be closely related to the global spread of Western psychological theory models about the healthy socio-emotional and cognitive development of children, supported by global institutions like UNICEF, World Bank, and Save the Children. For years, a constant increase of early childhood development programs can be observed, which aim at improving children’s school readiness, particularly in low-income countries, in order to enhance the future prospect of children. These programs, however, go hand in hand with the devaluation and oppression of indigenous knowledge systems and thus often worsen the future prospects of younger people.

New data and descriptor for crowdfunding and renewable energy

AbstractThis work exhibits an extensive panel dataset and data descriptor on the crowdfunding-renewable energy nexus. This new source of data may find large use in energy economics, econometrics and policy, as well as financial and microfinance analysis. The referred dataset is made of 4704 observations to related to crowdfunding campaigns from 2009 to 2021. Data can be used for diverse energy econometrics studies and data analysis, especially for socioeconomic and environmental aspects of energy innovation and efficiency investigations. The contribution offered by this paper is the correlation between two salient aspects for the first time. We have cross-referenced the data related to crowdfunding campaigns with the sustainable orientation of the countries. The extrapolated data from two datasets—i.e., Zephyr Bureau Van Dijk and the World Bank’s World Development Indicators—form a new dataset that serves as a tool, as well as a guide, for future studies related to renewable energy, fintech, economic, innovation and entrepreneurship issues. Moreover, this contribution may stimulate the development of new policies and strategies aimed at supporting the transition towards the circular economy and sustainable development by creating positive externalities on a large scale by increasing social welfare and resilience applications.

Tobacco packaging and labeling policies in the WHO African Region: Progress 15 years after adoption of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 11 Implementation Guidelines.

Article 11 of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) requires Parties to adopt and implement effective tobacco packaging and labeling policies to communicate health risks and reduce tobacco consumption. The goal of this study was to assess adoption of these policies in the WHO African Region (AFRO). We reviewed tobacco packaging and labeling policies adopted in AFRO from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' Tobacco Control Laws database (w w w.tobaccocontrollaws.org). We assessed these policies based on WHO FCTC Article 11 and its Implementation Guidelines examining three sub-policy areas (health warning labels [HWLs], descriptive constituents and emissions information, and misleading packaging and labeling). We developed a scoring system to rank AFRO countries individually and by World Bank's income-level groups and documented the progress during 1985-2023. Forty (of 47) AFRO countries adopted national laws, of which a majority adopted large rotating pictorial HWLs and banned misleading descriptors; only Cote d'Ivoire and Mauritius adopted standardized packaging. The higher a country is in the World Bank's income-level group, the stronger their packaging and labeling policies are. This observation was not present in the sub-policy area of HWLs. Prior to approving the WHO FCTC Article 11 Implementation Guidelines, only 23 countries adopted text-only HWLs whereas 26 countries adopted pictorial HWLs after the approval. Several AFRO countries have adopted tobacco packaging and labeling policies that align with the WHO FCTC Article 11 Implementation Guidelines. More efforts could be directed toward the low-income group and disseminating standardized packaging throughout AFRO. In the WHO African Region (AFRO), the number of tobacco users is increasing, highlighting the need for tobacco packaging and labeling policies aligned with WHO FCTC Article 11 and its Implementation Guidelines as these are proven tobacco control strategies. This study provides a country-level and income-level group ranking of tobacco packaging and labeling policies and documents the evolution of health warning labels adopted in AFRO. It also identifies regional and income-level group successes and gaps in tobacco product packaging and labeling policies and provides recommendations to further align with WHO FCTC Article 11 and its Implementation Guidelines.

Forecasting Inflation in Kenya Using ARIMA Model

This study was to investigates the dynamics of inflation in Kenya through the application of advanced time series modeling techniques, specifically Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) analysis. Inflation is a critical economic indicator that directly influences monetary policy, investment decisions, and overall economic stability. Given the dynamic of inflation in emerging economies such as Kenya, a fine understanding of its patterns and the ability to make accurate forecasts are imperative for policymakers, businesses, and investors. The ARIMA (2,2,2) model was employed to capture the underlying trend and seasonality in the inflation data, providing insights into the historical behavior of inflation in Kenya. In this study, we used R programming software and STATA to analyze and generate meaningful information from the data. The data was obtained from World Bank for a period from 1960 to 2022.

Relationship between banking infrastructure, innovation and economic growth in Kazakhstan

Today, the development of financial technologies and their application in the banking sector have changed the processes of economic growth in general and commercial banks in particular, giving them an innovative orientation. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the banking infrastructure, innovation, and economic growth in Kazakhstan based on panel data. The study relies on information extracted from annual publications issued by the National Bank of Kazakhstan, the World Bank Database, and the Bureau of the National Statistics of Kazakhstan from 2004 to 2022, and also uses a regression model. Within this framework, variables used in the study, the number of ATMs, the number of bank branches, and the share of innovative products, are explanatory variables, and the gross domestic product per capita is the dependent variable. The study showed that both business innovations and the prevalence of ATMs have a significant and noticeable impact on the economic landscape of Kazakhstan, as evidenced by the impressive value of the R-square of 0.890. Moreover, the regression model demonstrates reliable stability and reliability, which is confirmed by the p-value of 0.001. In light of these findings, it is important to contribute valuable insights and evidence-based recommendations to enhance Kazakhstan’s economic growth strategy by leveraging the synergistic potential of its banking infrastructure and innovation ecosystem. AcknowledgmentsThe study was funded by the Committee Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Investigating the impact of macroeconomic, political, and digital processes on financial sustainability of Kazakhstan” No. AP19674948.

Impact of a free trade agreement on unemployment and productivity growth in Nigeria

This research investigates the impact of a free trade agreement on unemployment and productivity growth in Nigeria over the period 1981–2019. Data was collected from the World Bank Development Indicators (WDI) online database as of 2020. The study employed various analytical methods, including unit root tests, autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound tests, error correction models (ECM), and cumulative sum (CUSUM) and cumulative sum of squares (CUSUMSQ) tests to assess data stability. The ARDL bound test statistics (F-statistics) of 4.26914 and 7.680624 exceeded the critical values for both I(0) and I(1) bounds, indicating a meaningful relationship between the variables. In the long run, physical capital, human capital development, and economic growth were found to have a negative impact on unemployment, with statistical significance. Additionally, sectoral productivity growth negatively influenced aggregate productivity growth. The error correction model (ECM) indicated a weak speed of adjustment, suggesting that the disequilibrium takes around 13% of the time to return to equilibrium annually. Based on these findings, the study recommends the implementation of safeguards to protect vulnerable industries, particularly in manufacturing and agriculture. Additionally, the government should focus on fostering human capital development by ensuring the availability of suitable support measures.

Addressing Thalassaemia Management from Patients' Perspectives: An International Collaborative Assessment.

Background and Objectives: The effective management of chronic diseases, particularly hereditary and rare diseases and thalassaemia, is an important indicator of the quality of healthcare systems. We aimed to assess healthcare services in different countries for thalassaemia patients by using publicly available health indicators and by surveying thalassaemia patients and their caregivers. Materials and Methods: We reviewed official worldwide databases from the WHO, World Bank, and scientific resources, and we used a structured patient-tailored self-completed questionnaire to survey thalassaemia patients and their caregivers in 2023. Results: A total of 2082 participants were surveyed (mean age, 27 years; males, 42%). About 1 in 4 respondents did not complete high-school education, while 24% had a bachelor's degree. About a third of respondents were married and were in either full- or part-time employment. The vast majority (~80%) had initiated transfusion therapy between 1 and 4 years of age. Only 42% reported no delays in receiving blood transfusion, while 47% reported occasional delays and 8% serious delays. About half of patients reported being very satisfied (11%) or satisfied (38%) with the quality of services provided, while 1 in 3 patients reported being unsatisfied or very unsatisfied, and that their access to treatment was difficult or very difficult due to traveling expenses and the high cost of treatment. Conclusions: Important improvements in the care of thalassaemia patients have been documented during the past few decades. Nevertheless, additional focus is required through national healthcare systems to effectively address the many unmet needs revealed by our recent survey, as well as to achieve satisfactory patient outcomes.

The implications of economic freedom and gender ideologies on women's opportunity-to-necessity entrepreneurship

PurposeThis study explores the relationship between economic freedom and gender ideologies on the allocation of women’s opportunity-to-necessity entrepreneurship across countries. Opportunity entrepreneurship is typically understood as one’s best option for work, whereas necessity entrepreneurship describes the choice as driven by no better option for work. Specifically, we examine how economic freedom (i.e. each country’s policies that facilitate voluntary exchange) and gender ideologies (i.e. each country’s propensity for gendered separate spheres) affect the distribution of women’s opportunity-to-necessity entrepreneurship across countries.Design/methodology/approachWe construct our sample by matching data from the following country-level sources: the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s Adult Population Survey (APS), the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom Index (EFI), the European/World Value Survey’s Integrated Values Survey (IVS) gender equality index, and other covariates from the IVS, Varieties of Democracy (V-dem) World Bank (WB) databases. Our final sample consists of 729 observations from 109 countries between 2006 and 2018. Entrepreneurial activity motivations are measured by the ratio of the percentage of women’s opportunity-driven total nascent and early-stage entrepreneurship to the percentage of female necessity-driven total nascent and early-stage entrepreneurship at the country level. Due to a first-order autoregressive process and heteroskedastic cross-sectional dependence in our panel, we estimate a fixed-effect regression with robust standard errors clustered by country.FindingsAfter controlling for multiple macro-level factors, we find two interesting findings. First, economic freedom positively affects the ratio of women’s opportunity-to-necessity entrepreneurship. We find that the size of government, sound money, and business and credit regulations play the most important role in shaping the distribution of contextual motivations over time and between countries. However, this effect appears to benefit efficiency and innovation economies more than factor economies in our sub-sample analysis. Second, gender ideologies of political equality positively affect the ratio of women’s opportunity-to-necessity entrepreneurship, and this effect is most pronounced for efficiency economies.Originality/valueThis study offers one critical contribution to the entrepreneurship literature by demonstrating how economic freedom and gender ideologies shape the distribution of contextual motivation for women’s entrepreneurship cross-culturally. We answer calls to better understand the variation within women’s entrepreneurship instead of comparing women’s and men’s entrepreneurial activity. As a result, our study sheds light on how structural aspects of societies shape the allocation of women’s entrepreneurial motivations through their institutional arrangements.

Rural household vulnerability and COVID-19: Evidence from India.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected vulnerable households' livelihoods in developing countries. Using high-frequency phone survey data from the World Bank, we assess rural Indian households' vulnerability and poverty status during the pandemic. Results reveal that over three-fifths of Indian rural households are vulnerable to poverty in the context of COVID-19, despite India's evident progress in mitigating poverty in the pre-pandemic era. Poverty plays a major role in accounting for variations in household vulnerability; however, the impact of risks on household welfare is not negligible. On average, households with more members, older household heads, and more outmigrants are more vulnerable to poverty during the pandemic. The impacts of the gender of the household head, access to masks, consumption loans, and COVID-related information are nevertheless insignificant. Results stress the urgent necessity of deploying concerted interventions to strengthen household vulnerability in rural India.

Analisis pengaruh perang dagang AS-China bagi kondisi ekonomi ASEAN-4 periode 2017-2020

International trade is the exchange of goods and services between citizens of two or more countries by mutual agreement. However, the increasingly intensive trade can trigger conflicts during trade, which are called trade wars. The current trade war between the United States and China is playing with each other's trade tariffs. This research analyzed the influence of the US-China Trade Balance, ASEAN balance of payments, and imports related to ASEAN-4 economic conditions. This observation selects secondary data from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and CEIC Data. The data used in this research is panel data on 4 ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand, in 2017-2020. Meanwhile, the analysis technique uses the Common Effect Model (CEM) approach. The final calculation results show that the US-China trade balance and import variables influenced ASEAN-4 economic conditions in 2017-2020.

Bureaucratic Representation and Gender Mainstreaming in International Organizations: Evidence from the World Bank

Bureaucratic Representation and Gender Mainstreaming in International Organizations: Evidence from the World Bank

Envisioning the future of agri-tourism in Ukraine: from minor role to viable farm households and sustainable regional economies

Agritourism is known to play a pivotal role when providing diversification of farm activities, making in such way for sustainable regional and local development. However, it should be stated that in Ukraine agritourism has not received proper attention in the pre-war and current period. This paper explores the landscape of agritourism in Ukraine across pre-war and current periods, assessing its potential for the country advancement. The research involves the analysis of data on agriculture and tourism obtained from the World Bank, Ukrainian authorities, and agritourism association leaders. We also delve into 62 Ukrainian legislative and program documents to highlight institutional barriers and existing issues. The findings reveal that agritourism occupies minor position within robust agricultural sector in Ukraine, accompanied by notable regulatory gaps, nevertheless it possesses significant institutional and policy implications. We demonstrate that fostering agritourism in Ukraine can play a vital role in enhancing the sustainability of farms by broadening their range of activities. This holds particular importance in the context of the post-war economic recovery in Ukraine. Agritourism, operating at the intersection of agriculture and tourism, has high potential to generate positive effects in Ukraine not only on the agricultural sector but also on the country sustainable development. As a result of the investigation, the paper substantiates possible institutional changes (at the macro-, regional, and local levels) necessary to relaunch agritourism in Ukraine successfully.

National culture, religiosity, and audited financial statements of small-scale MNCs

Purpose The research objective starts from the argument that small-scale multinational corporations’ (SMNCs’) managerial behavior toward auditing decisions is influenced by their personal value, especially when the auditing process is not mandatory. This study aims to examine how national culture-religiosity affects that decision. The authors further examine how foreign-owned MNCs might behave differently from local MNCs, although the host country’s cultural-religiosity value might influence that decision. Design/methodology/approach This study obtains the data from three sources: Hofstede Framework, Pew Research Center and World Bank Enterprise Survey in cross-sectional mode. The final sample consists of 8,590 SMNCs from 45 countries as the observations. This study uses robust regression analysis to test the effects of culture, religiosity and controlling shareholders on the audited financial statements decision. Findings The regression results support the hypothesis, whereas cultural-religiosity values are associated with the audited financial report. The findings confirm stakeholder theory and institutional theory. Originality/value This study fills a gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence on the cultural and religiosity effects on the accounting decision of SMNCs. The results can be used as the foundation for future research related to MNCs’ managerial behavior toward accounting policies, especially with the psychosocial factors.

How popularising higher education affects economic growth and poverty alleviation: empirical evidence from 38 countries

The popularisation of higher education supports UNESCO’s aim of developing inclusive and equitable quality education to achieve the fourth Sustainable Development Goal. However, the effect of popularising higher education on economic growth and poverty alleviation remains unexplored. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of higher education and adult education within populations (popularisation of higher education) on economic growth (gross domestic product; GDP) and the poverty line using panel data from 38 countries. OLS and quantile regression were performed using data for the period 1995–2021 extracted from the OECD and World Bank databases. The results showed that the population segments with higher education had a significantly positive impact on GDP growth. Moreover, an increased proportion of the population with higher education, of working age, was found to be a contributing factor to GDP growth. Popularising higher education also played a positive role during the initial stage of social and economic development. This study also highlighted that popularising higher education play a key role to influence a country’s educational development and scientific and technological innovation drives the deepening of a country’s economy. It suggested that both national and local governments worldwide should pay much attention to the popularisation degree of higher education to greatly improve the innovative ability of talents and scientific and technological innovation in higher education for both the economic growth and poverty alleviation.