Search results for: emerging countries' multinational enterprises

Authors: Djehich Mohamed Yousri

Abstract:

The national sovereignty of states is now facing a dangerous situation that has witnessed a clear exacerbation of the restrictions that this sovereignty has known for quite some time, if not since the establishment of the sovereign national state in the first place, and things have reached this way to the extent that a group of analysts and commentators are talking about the demise or disappearance of the phenomenon of sovereignty Patriotism, a judgment that some consider exaggerated, although there is agreement on the seriousness of what has afflicted the national sovereignty of medium and small states in particular. In fact, the phenomenon of national sovereignty has not completely ended, as there is still a category of countries that are able to disagree with the American will without disappearing from the world map, as happened with the Soviet Union. China, some European countries, and some countries with leading regional roles are still able to deal with This administration, with rational and complex calculations, makes the restrictions on its sovereignty minimal, or at least draws a red line in front of the vital interests of those countries that the restrictions on sovereignty cannot cross, and it is certain that strengthening internal democratic development in countries will increase their ability to challenge external restrictions. On its sovereignty to the extent that this development creates a cohesive society in the face of external hegemony attempts, as well as to the extent that it eliminates some pretexts for interference in the internal affairs of states, including the claim of a lack of democracy or lack of respect for human rights in it. What led to transformations in the international arena in the wake of globalization and its effects on international aspects, including national sovereignty and the principle of state independence. Which was marred by several currents, which led to affecting it in a negative way, and this is what poor countries suffer from at the expense of rich countries, which led us to research the extent of the presence of national sovereignty on the international arena, and the extent to which the principle of non-interference in affairs is applied or existed. The internal affairs of states, which are stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations in the modern era, the theory of sovereignty has been subjected to substantial criticism and abandonment by many on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the current conditions of the international community. In fact, the theory of sovereignty has been misused to justify internal tyranny and international chaos. This theory has hindered the development of international law, the work of international organizations and the dominance of strong states over weak ones. At the present time, the concept of sovereignty has moved towards direction, as the transformations of the international system in the economic, political and military fields have led to the decline and erosion of the idea of the sovereignty of the national state.

Keywords: sovereignty, intervention, non-interference, globalization, humanitarian intervention

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Authors: Ernest Tambo, Ghislaine Madjou, Jeanne Y. Ngogang, Shenglan Tang, Zhou XiaoNong

Abstract:

Implementing national to community-based 'One Health' surveillance approach for human, animal and environmental consequences mitigation offers great opportunities and value-added in sustainable development and wellbeing. 'One Health' surveillance approach global partnerships, policy commitment and financial investment are much needed in addressing the evolving threats and epidemics crises mitigation in African countries. The paper provides insights onto how China-Africa health development cooperation in promoting “One Health” surveillance approach in response advocacy and mitigation. China-Africa health development initiatives provide new prospects in guiding and moving forward appropriate and evidence-based advocacy and mitigation management approaches and strategies in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Early and continuous quality and timely surveillance data collection and coordinated information sharing practices in malaria and other diseases are demonstrated in Comoros, Zanzibar, Ghana and Cameroon. Improvements of variety of access to contextual sources and network of data sharing platforms are needed in guiding evidence-based and tailored detection and response to unusual hazardous events. Moreover, understanding threats and diseases trends, frontline or point of care response delivery is crucial to promote integrated and sustainable targeted local, national “One Health” surveillance and response approach needs implementation. Importantly, operational guidelines are vital in increasing coherent financing and national workforce capacity development mechanisms. Strengthening participatory partnerships, collaboration and monitoring strategies in achieving global health agenda effectiveness in Africa. At the same enhancing surveillance data information streams reporting and dissemination usefulness in informing policies decisions, health systems programming and financial mobilization and prioritized allocation pre, during and post threats and epidemics crises programs strengths and weaknesses. Thus, capitalizing on “One Health” surveillance and response approach advocacy and mitigation implementation is timely in consolidating Africa Union 2063 agenda and Africa renaissance capabilities and expectations.

Keywords: Africa, one health approach, surveillance, response

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Authors: A. Beril Tugrul

Abstract:

Demand on production and thereby the global need of energy is growing continuously. Each country has different trends on energy demand and supply according to their geopolitical and geographical locations, underground reserves, weather conditions and level of industrialization. Conventional energy resources such as oil, gas and coal –in other words fossil resources- remain dominant on primary energy supply in spite of causing of environmental problems. Energy supply and demand securities are essential within the energy importing and exporting countries. This concept affected all sectors, but especially impressed on political aspects of the countries and also global economic views.

Keywords: energy policy, energy economics, energy strategy, global trends, petro-dollar recycling

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Authors: Andreas Ahrens, Jelena Zascerinska

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Emotions are crucial in online classes in adult education. Despite that, little attention was devoted to the emotional experience of being an online teacher in the field of andragogy, and the online teacher’s emotional perspectives in ever-changing environments have to be analysed. The paper aims the analysis of teachers’ emotional experience in online classes in adult education in selected European countries. The research tends to propose implications for training teachers who work in online classes in adult education. The survey was conducted in April 2022. In the selected European countries, 78 respondents took part in the study. Among them, 30 respondents represented Germany, 28 respondents participated in the study in Greece, and 20 respondents from Italy took part in the survey. The theoretical findings allow for defining teacher emotional experience. The analysis of the elements of the respondents’ emotional experience allows concluding that teachers’ attitude to online classes has to be developed. The key content for teacher training is presented. Directions for further work are proposed.

Keywords: adult education, emotions, online classes, teacher emotional experience

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Authors: Li-Fang CHou, Chun-Jung Tseng, Sung-Chun Tsai

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Zhong-Yong represents unique values and cognitive beliefs of Chinese culture. Zhong-Yong thinking emphasizes (a) holistic thinking and perspective taking, (b) tolerance of contradictions, and (c) pursuance of a person’s interpersonal and inner harmony. With a unique way of naïve dialectical thinking based on Chinese culture, previous studies have found that people with higher Zhong-Yong thinking have more cognitive resources and resilience to make decision for dilemmas and cope stresses. Creativity is defined as the behavior to create novel and value products and viewed as the most important capital for individuals and enterprises. However, the relationship between Zhong-Yong thinking and creativity is still remaining to be unexplored. Three studies were conducted to explore the effects of Zhong-Yong thinking on creativity. In Study1, with 87 undergraduate students from a university in southern Taiwan as participants, we used questionnaire to measure Zhong-Yong thinking and processed creative task (unusual uses task) to get indicators of fluency and flexibility. After controlling background and openness to experience of Big five, the results showed that Zhong-Yong thinking had significant positive effects on fluency and flexibility. In Study 2, 97 undergraduate students were recruited to do Zhong-Yong thinking task and creative task. The result showed that, compared with control group, the participants had higher creative performance after being primed with Zhong-Yong thinking. In Study 3, we adopted questionnaire survey and took 397 employees from private enterprises in Taiwan as sample. Besides the main effects of Zhong-Yong thinking, the moderating effects on the relationship between leadership behavior and employee’s creative performance were also investigated. We found that (a) Zhong-Yong thinking was positively associated to creative performance; (b) Zhong-Yong thinking strengthened the positive effects of transformational and authoritative leadership on creative performance. Finally, the implications of theory/practice and limitations/future directions were also discussed.

Keywords: Zhong-Yong thinking, creativity and creative performance, unusual uses task, transformational leadership, authoritative leadership

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Authors: Bivek Bhusal, Ana Legrand

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Detection of crop stress is one of the major applications of remote sensing in agriculture. Multiple studies have demonstrated the capability of remote sensing using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based multispectral imagery for detection of plant stress, but none so far on Nitrogen (N) stress and PLH feeding stress on green beans. In view of its wide host range, geographical distribution, and damage potential, Potato leafhopper- Empoasca fabae (Harris) has been emerging as a key pest in several countries. Monitoring methods for potato leafhopper (PLH) damage, as well as the laboratory techniques for detecting Nitrogen deficiency, are time-consuming and not always easily affordable. A study was initiated to demonstrate if the multispectral sensor attached to a drone can detect PLH stress and N deficiency in beans. Small-plot trials were conducted in the summer of 2023, where cages were used to manipulate PLH infestation in green beans (Provider cultivar) at their first-trifoliate stage. Half of the bean plots were introduced with PLH, and the others were kept insect-free. Half of these plots were grown with the recommended amount of N, and the others were grown without N. Canopy reflectance was captured using a five-band multispectral sensor. Our findings indicate that drone imagery could detect stress due to a lack of N and PLH damage in beans.

Keywords: potato leafhopper, nitrogen, remote sensing, spectral reflectance, beans

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Authors: Benard Omogo

Abstract:

The Kenyan Constitution 2010 introduced various commissions to devolve the powers that were previously centralized through the imperial Presidency. One of the commissions that directly determine the levels of remuneration and terms of service of Kenyan workers is the Salary and Remuneration Commission (SRC). Article 230 of the Kenyan Constitution 2010 mandates this commission to regularly review the remuneration and benefits of all the state officers and to advise the national and county governments on the remuneration and benefits of all other public officers. At the same time, article 54 of the Kenyan Labor Relations Act 2007 provides for the recognition of trade unions and collective bargaining agreements. The emerging challenges, therefore, originate from the conflicts of the mandate of the Salary and Remuneration Commission, whose advice is almost adopted as the order and this undermines the outcome of the Collective Bargaining Agreements. This has seen so many trade unions in Kenya being rendered irrelevant. This research paper is therefore going to sample the various trade unions of Kenya to assess the challenges that result from the position of the Salary and Remuneration Commission. We will also extend it by purposively sampling several trade unions in Africa to determine how they handle such challenges. The results from this paper will be useful to the Kenyan Lawmakers and Africa at large and may inform them to consider reviewing the laws and acts that relate to the trade unions for prosperity.

Keywords: salary, remuneration, collective, bargaining, labor laws

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Authors: Hatun Korkmaz

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Todays, the developing countries of the world widely face challenges of economic growth, political, social and human development. One of the ways to achieve economic, political and human development is good governance. Without an improvement in good governance, the objectives of human development cannot be achieved. The good governance has become a key issue over preceding two decades and it is the very important component of good economic growth and human development. This paper argues that good governance impacts positively human development with the case of Rwanda. Rwanda is a good example of this subject. In this paper, firstly we explained that what is good governance and human development and how we measure them. Then we researched the relationship between good governance and human development in case of Rwanda with the indexes of many international institutions which are researching in this topics. Rwanda has recorded the 'best progress' since the year 2000, making it the ‘most successful' about governance. Rwanda is seen as one of the top ten countries in the region in terms of relative peace, political stability and economic progress. Part of the reason for Rwanda's success is accountability, which comprises access to information, elimination of corruption and bureaucracy and transparency in public service, which variables cumulatively earned it 72.1 percent. According to this research If countries want batter growth and human development then good reforms of good governance is needed.

Keywords: human development, Rwanda, good governance, governance, development

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Authors: R. O. Babatunde, O. M. Igbalajobi, F. Matambalya

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Moderate economic growth in developing and emerging countries has led to improvement in the food consumption and nutrition situation in the last two decades. Nevertheless, about 870 million people, with a quarter of them from Sub-Saharan Africa, are still suffering from hunger worldwide. As part of measures to reduce the widespread poverty and hunger, cash transfer programmes are now being implemented in many countries of the world. While nationwide cash transfer schemes are few in Sub-Saharan Africa generally, the available ones are more concentrated in East and Southern Africa. Much of the available literature on social protection had focused on the poverty impact of cash transfer schemes at the household level, with the larger proportion originating from Latin America. On the contrary, much less empirical studies have been conducted on the poverty impact of cash transfer in Sub-Saharan Africa, let alone on the food security and nutrition impact. To fill this gap in knowledge, this paper examines the impact of cash transfer on food security in Nigeria. As a case study, the paper analysed the Ekiti State Cash Transfer Scheme (ECTS). ECTS is an unconditional transfer scheme which was established in 2011 to directly provide cash transfer to elderly persons aged 65 years and above in Ekiti State of Nigeria. Using survey data collected in 2013, we analysed the impact of the scheme on food availability and dietary diversity of the beneficiary households. Descriptive and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) techniques were used to estimate the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) and Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) among the beneficiary and control groups. Thereafter, a model to test for the impact of participation in the cash transfer scheme on calorie availability and dietary diversity was estimated. The results indicate that while households in the sample are clearly vulnerable, there were statistically significant differences between the beneficiary and control groups. For instance, monthly expenditure, calorie availability and dietary diversity were significantly larger among the beneficiary and consequently, the prevalence and depth of hunger were lower in the group. Econometric results indicate that the cash transfer has a positive and significant effect on food availability and dietary diversity in the households. Expanding the coverage of the present scheme to cover all eligible households in the country and incorporating cash transfer into a comprehensive hunger reduction policy will make it to have a greater impact at improving food security among the most vulnerable households in the country.

Keywords: calorie availability, cash transfers, dietary diversity, propensity score matching

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Authors: Peter Oyelere, Fernando Zanella

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Corporate governance is one of the most discussed and researched issues in recent times in countries around the world, with different countries developing and adopting different governance structures, models and mechanisms. While the Codes of corporate governance have been weaved into the regulatory fabrics of most countries, it is equally critically important that their mechanisms, procedures and practices be transparent, and be transparently communicated to all stakeholders. The Internet can be a very useful and cost-effective tool for the timely and voluntary communication of corporate governance matters to stakeholders. The current paper details the results of an investigation on the extent of which companies listed in the UAE are using the Internet for communicating corporate governance issues, matters and procedures. We surveyed the websites of companies listed on the two UAE Stock Exchanges – the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) – to find out their level and nature of usage of the Internet for corporate governance disclosures. Regulatory and policy implications of the results of our investigation, as well as other areas for further studies, are also presented in the paper.

Keywords: corporate governance, internet financial reporting, regulation, transparency, United Arab Emirates

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Authors: Daniel Motlhanka, Neo Kerebotswe

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The strong and long history of use of medicinal plants in Botswana to address existing and emerging health threats provides undebatable evidence for their potential as innovative therapeutic tools. The prevalence of emerging health threats, such as COVID-19 and hard-to-treat non-communicable diseases, warrants the scientific community to revisit and exploit ethnopharmacology for its potential as a source of therapeutic tools. Many studies conducted on bioactivity-guided bioassays of ethnobotanical resources have proved a number of health beneficial properties of these plants, such as free radical scavenging, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and, most importantly, the capability of medicinal plants to alleviate oxidative stress. In this work, a number of medicinal plants used in Botswana traditional medicine were investigated for both their free radical scavenging capability and total phenolic contents using the Free Radical Scavenging Power (FRSP) and Folin Ciocalteau (FC) method. At 100 micrograms/ml all the studied plants expressed above 90% Scavenging power and expressed total phenolic contents between 5000- 8890 mg/L.GAE. These plants are promising tools for engineering active therapeutic tools against life-threatening diseases of oxidative stress origin.

Keywords: oxidative stress, non-communicable diseases, total phenolics, ethnobotanicals

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Authors: Giorgi Goguadze, Jakub Zajączkowski

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This paper is written due to overview the connection between fragile states and non-state actors, we should take into account that fragile states may vary from weak, failing and failed. In this paper we will discuss about two countries, one of them is weak (Colombia/ second one is already failed- Somalia. We will try to understand what feeds ill non-state actors such as: terrorist organizations, criminal entities and other cells in these countries, what threats are they representing and how to eliminate these dangers in both national and international scope. This paper is mainly based on literature overview and personal attitude and doesn’t claim to be in scientific chain.

Keywords: fragile States, terrorism, tribalism, Somalia

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Authors: Nuhu Mohammed Gali, Kenichi Matsui

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Climate change poses a significant threat to agriculture and food security in Africa. The UNFCC recognized the need to address climate change adaptation in the broader context of sustainable development. African countries have initiated a governance system for adapting and responding to climate change in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Despite the implementation limitations, Africa’s adaptation initiatives highlight the need to strengthen and expand adaptation responses. This paper looks at the extent to which South-South cooperation facilitates the implementation of adaptation actions between nations for agriculture and sustainable development. We conducted a literature review and content analysis of reports prepared by international organizations, reflecting the diversity of adaptation activities taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our analysis of the connection between adaptation and nationally determined contributions (NDCs) showed that climate actions are mainstreamed into sustainable development. The NDCs in many countries on climate change adaptation action for agriculture aimed to strengthen the resilience of the poor. We found that climate-smart agriculture is the core of many countries target to end hunger. We revealed that South-South Cooperation, in terms of capacity, technology, and financial support, can help countries to achieve their climate action priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We found that inadequate policy and regulatory frameworks between countries, differences in development priorities and strategies, poor communication, inadequate coordination, and the lack of local engagement and advocacy are some key barriers to South-South Cooperation in Africa. We recommend a multi-dimensional partnership, provisionoffinancialresources, systemic approach for coordination and engagement to promote and achieve the potential of SSC in Africa.

Keywords: climate change, adaptation, food security, sustainable development goals

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Authors: Muhammad Asim

Abstract:

Background: Less than half of women in South Asia (SA) use any modern contraceptive method which leads to a huge burden of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths, and socioeconomic loss. Women empowerment plays a pivotal role in improving various health seeking behaviours, including contraceptive use. The objective of this study to explore the association between women's empowerment and modern contraceptive, among rich and poor segment of population in SA. Methods: We used the most recent, large-scale, demographic health survey data of five South Asian countries, namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The outcome variable was the current use of modern contraceptive methods. The main exposure variable was a combination (interaction) of socio-economic status (SES) and women’s level of empowerment (low, medium, and high), where SES was bifurcated into poor and rich; and women empowerment was divided into three categories: decision making, attitude to violence and social independence. Moreover, overall women empowerment indicator was also created by using three dimensions of women empowerment. We applied both descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression techniques for data analyses. Results: Most of the women possessed ‘medium’ level of empowerment across South Asian Countries. The lowest attitude to violence empowerment was found in Afghanistan, and the lowest social independence empowerment was observed in Bangladesh across SA. However, Pakistani women have the lowest decision-making empowerment in the region. The lowest modern contraceptive use (22.1%) was found in Afghanistan and the highest (53.2%) in Bangladesh. The multivariate results depict that the overall measure of women empowerment does not affect modern contraceptive use among poor and rich women in most of South Asian countries. However, the decision-making empowerment plays a significant role among both poor and rich women to use modern contraceptive methods across South Asian countries. Conclusions: The effect of women’s empowerment on modern contraceptive use is not consistent across countries, and among poor and rich segment of population. Of the three dimensions of women’s empowerment, the autonomy of decision making in household affairs emerged as a stronger determinant of mCPR as compared with social independence and attitude towards violence against women.

Keywords: women empowerment, contraceptive use, South Asia, women autonomy

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Authors: Nicola Rubino

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This paper presents an analysis of a group of commodity exporting countries' nominal exchange rate movements in relationship to the US dollar. Using a series of Unrestricted Self-exciting Threshold Autoregressive models (SETAR), we model and evaluate sixteen national CPI price differentials relative to the US dollar CPI. Out-of-sample forecast accuracy is evaluated through calculation of mean absolute error measures on the basis of two-hundred and fifty-three months rolling window forecasts and extended to three additional models, namely a logistic smooth transition regression (LSTAR), an additive non linear autoregressive model (AAR) and a simple linear Neural Network model (NNET). Our preliminary results confirm presence of some form of TAR non linearity in the majority of the countries analyzed, with a relatively higher goodness of fit, with respect to the linear AR(1) benchmark, in five countries out of sixteen considered. Although no model appears to statistically prevail over the other, our final out-of-sample forecast exercise shows that SETAR models tend to have quite poor relative forecasting performance, especially when compared to alternative non-linear specifications. Finally, by analyzing the implied half-lives of the > coefficients, our results confirms the presence, in the spirit of arbitrage band adjustment, of band convergence with an inner unit root behaviour in five of the sixteen countries analyzed.

Keywords: transition regression model, real exchange rate, nonlinearities, price differentials, PPP, commodity points

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Authors: Ilham Benali, Nasser Hajji, Nawfal Acha

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Given the fact that the pharmaceutical industry is a commonly studied sector in the context of innovation, the majority of innovation research is devoted to the developed markets known by high research and development (R&D) assets and intensive innovation. In contrast, in developing countries where R&D assets are very low, there is relatively little research to mention in the area of pharmaceutical sector innovation, characterized mainly by two principal elements which are the presence of foreign-owned firms and licensed manufacturing agreements between local firms and multinationals. With the scarcity of research in this field, this paper attempts to study the effect of these two elements on the firms’ innovation tendencies. Other traditional factors that influence innovation, which are the age and the size of the firm, the R&D activities and the market structure, revealed in the literature review, will be included in the study in order to try to make this work more exhaustive. The study starts by examining innovation tendency in pharmaceutical firms located in developing countries before analyzing the effect of foreign-owned firms and licensed manufacturing agreements between local firms and multinationals on technological, organizational and marketing innovation. Based on the related work and on the theoretical framework developed, there is a probability that foreign-owned firms and licensed manufacturing agreements between local firms and multinationals have a negative influence on technological innovation. The opposite effect is possible in the case of organizational and marketing innovation.

Keywords: developing countries, foreign owned firms, innovation, licensed manufacturing agreements, pharmaceutical industry

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Authors: María Jesús Luengo-Valderrey, Mónica Moso-Díez

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In the knowledge-based economy, innovation is considered essential in order to achieve survival and growth in organizations. On the other hand, knowledge management is currently understood as one of the keys to innovation process. Both factors are generally admitted as generators of competitive advantage in organizations. Specifically, activities on R&D&I and those that generate internal knowledge have a positive influence in innovation results. This paper examines this effect and if it is similar or not is what we aimed to quantify in this paper. We focus on the impact that proportion of knowledge workers, the R&D&I investment, the amounts destined for ICTs and training for innovation have on the variation of tangible and intangibles returns for the sector of high and medium technology in Spain. To do this, we have performed an empirical analysis on the results of questionnaires about innovation in enterprises in Spain, collected by the National Statistics Institute. First, using clusters methodology, the behavior of these enterprises regarding knowledge management is identified. Then, using SEM methodology, we performed, for each cluster, the study about cause-effect relationships among constructs defined through variables, setting its type and quantification. The cluster analysis results in four groups in which cluster number 1 and 3 presents the best performance in innovation with differentiating nuances among them, while clusters 2 and 4 obtained divergent results to a similar innovative effort. However, the results of SEM analysis for each cluster show that, in all cases, knowledge workers are those that affect innovation performance most, regardless of the level of investment, and that there is a strong correlation between knowledge workers and investment in knowledge generation. The main findings reached is that Spanish high and medium technology companies improve their innovation performance investing in internal knowledge generation measures, specially, in terms of R&D activities, and underinvest in external ones. This, and the strong correlation between knowledge workers and the set of activities that promote the knowledge generation, should be taken into account by managers of companies, when making decisions about their investments for innovation, since they are key for improving their opportunities in the global market.

Keywords: high and medium technology sector, innovation, knowledge management, Spanish companies

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Authors: Muhammad Asim

Abstract:

Background: Less than half of women in South Asia (SA) use any modern contraceptive method which leads to a huge burden of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths, and socioeconomic loss. Women empowerment plays a pivotal role in improving various health seeking behaviours, including contraceptive use. The objective of this study to explore the association between women's empowerment and modern contraceptive, among rich and poor segment of population in SA. Methods: We used the most recent, large-scale, demographic health survey data of five South Asian countries, namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The outcome variable was the current use of modern contraceptive methods. The main exposure variable was a combination (interaction) of socio-economic status (SES) and women’s level of empowerment (low, medium, and high), where SES was bifurcated into poor and rich; and women empowerment was divided into three categories: decision making, attitude to violence and social independence. Moreover, overall women empowerment indicator was also created by using three dimensions of women empowerment. We applied both descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression techniques for data analyses. Results: Most of the women possessed ‘medium’ level of empowerment across South Asian Countries. The lowest attitude to violence empowerment was found in Afghanistan, and the lowest social independence empowerment was observed in Bangladesh across SA. However, Pakistani women have the lowest decision-making empowerment in the region. The lowest modern contraceptive use (22.1%) was found in Afghanistan and the highest (53.2%) in Bangladesh. The multivariate results depict that the overall measure of women empowerment does not affect modern contraceptive use among poor and rich women in most of South Asian countries. However, the decision-making empowerment plays a significant role among both poor and rich women to use modern contraceptive methods across South Asian countries. Conclusions: The effect of women’s empowerment on modern contraceptive use is not consistent across countries, and among poor and rich segment of population. Of the three dimensions of women’s empowerment, the autonomy of decision making in household affairs emerged as a stronger determinant of mCPR as compared with social independence and attitude towards violence against women.

Keywords: women empowerment, modern contraceptive use, South Asia, women autonomy

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Authors: Anuj Kumar Vaksha

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In the post cold war era the foreign direct investments have come to be considered as one of the most critical factors for economic development of a country particularly for the capital scarce countries like the developing and the under developed countries. The rush for foreign direct investments have led to intense competition between the countries treaties to attract foreign investments by entering into alluring Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). The Bilateral Investment Treaties are the intergovernmental legal framework for the promotion of private investments from one country to other. With more than 3000 BITs, the web of such BITs are the most dominant development of International Law in the post cold war era. The essence of all these BITs are bilateral cooperation for economic development and thus it is actually the theme of economic development around which the International Law had developed most dominantly in the post cold war era. Within the framework of two generally accepted premises that foreign direct investments are critical for economic development and the bilateral investment treaties are critical for promotion of foreign direct investments, the research paper seeks to explore the perspectives and paradigms on economic development as embodied in various Bilateral Investment Treaties. It seeks to address how and in what manners the perspectives on economic development as embodied in bilateral investment varies between the developed, developing and underdeveloped countries. It goes without saying that economic development is a very broad, complex and operationally intricate concept. In the paradigm of International Law it becomes much more complex and intricate. Understanding the concept of economic development from the perspectives of Bilateral Investment Treaties is a novel idea with far reaching significance. Such a perspective on economic development would help in enriching the contemporary International Law perspectives and paradigms on economic development.

Keywords: bilateral investment treaties, economic development, international Law, perspectives

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Authors: Maria Khan

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Framing good core Human Resource Management (HRM) functions like recruitment, selection, training and development, which if executed effectively, can become a strategic advantage for a company. HRM policies related to mid-level managers can depend on the type of top management. This may be due to the difference in perception of effective HRM policies of an expatriate and local leadership. This comparative case study assesses how local mid-level managers are managed in leading multinational telecom companies in Pakistan. Core HRM functions related to managers were analysed through field research based on semi-structured interviews with relevant Human Resource Managers. Results suggest that recruitment and selection practices are not too different and are in compliance with best HRM practices. However, there is a difference in the effective implementation of Training and Development policies. Changing global management trends and skill development dictate that MNCs continuously develop the local talent effectively for local and international success.

Keywords: recruitment, selection, training, development, core HRM, human resource management, subsidiary, international staffing, managers, MNC, expatriate

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Authors: Moh’d A. AL-Shboul

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Recently, and due to Arab spring and terrorism around the globe, pushing and driving most governments potentially to harmonize their border measures particularly the regional and an international transit trade within and among Customs Unions. The main purpose of this study is to investigate and provide an insight for monitoring and controlling the trade supply chain within and among different countries by using technological advancement (i.e. an electronic tracking system, etc.); furthermore, facilitate the local and intra-regional trade among countries through reviewing the recent trends and practical implementation of an electronic transit traffic and cargo that related to customs measures by introducing and supporting some case studies of several international and landlocked transit trade countries. The research methodology employed in this study was described as qualitative by conducting few interviews with managers, transit truck drivers, and traders and reviewing the related literature to collect qualitative data from secondary sources such as statistical reports, previous studies, etc. The results in this study show that Jordan and other countries around the globe that used an electronic tracking system for monitoring transit trade has led to a significant reduction in cost, effort and time in physical movement of goods internally and crossing through other countries. Therefore, there is no need to escort transit trucks by customs staff; hence, the rate of escort transit trucks is reduced by more than ninety percent, except the bulky and high duty goods. Electronic transit traffic has been increased; the average transit time journey has been reduced by more than seventy percent and has led to decrease in rates of smuggling up to fifty percent. The researcher recommends considering Jordan as regional and international office for tracking electronically and monitoring the transit trade for many considerations.

Keywords: electronic tracking system, facilitation system, regional and international corridor, supply chain security, transit trade

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Authors: Kathleen Cravero, Amanda Nace, Samantha Ski

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The Violence Against Children Surveys (VACS) is nationally representative surveys of male and female youth ages 13-24, designed to measure the burden of sexual, physical, and emotional violence experienced in childhood and adolescence. As of 2019, 24 countries implemented or are in the process of implementing a VACS, covering over ten percent of the world’s child population. Since the first article using VACS data from Swaziland was published in 2009, several peer-reviewed articles have been published on the VACS. However, no publications to date have analyzed the breadth of the work and analyzed how the data are represented in the peer-reviewed literature. In this study, we conducted a literature review of all peer-reviewed research that used VACS data or discussed the implementation and methodology of the VACS. The literature review revealed several important findings. Between 2009 and July 2019, thirty-five peer-reviewed articles using VACS data from 12 countries have been published. Twenty of the studies focus on one country, while 15 of the studies focus on two or more countries. Some countries are featured in the literature more than others, for example Kenya (N=14), Malawi (N=12), and Tanzania (N=12). A review of the research by gender demonstrates that research on violence against boys is under-represented. Only two studies specifically focused on boys/young men, while 11 studies focused only on violence against girls. This is despite research which suggests boys and girls experience similar rates of violence. A review of the publications by type of violence revealed significant differences in the types of violence being featured in the literature. Thirteen publications specifically focused on sexual violence, while three studies focused on physical violence, and only one study focused on emotional violence. Almost 70% of the peer-reviewed articles (24 of the 35) were first-authored by someone at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were very few first authors from VACS countries, which raises questions about who is leveraging the data and the extent to which capacities for data liberation are being developed within VACS countries. The VACS provide an unprecedented amount of information on the prevalence and past-year incidence of violence against children. Through a review of the peer-reviewed literature on the VACS we can begin to identify trends and gaps in how the data is being used as well as identify areas for further research.

Keywords: data to action, global health, implementation science, violence against children surveys

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Authors: Ibrahim Alshalan

Abstract:

The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the greatest and most powerful countries, not only in the Arabian Gulf but in the entire Middle East region. However, the Iranian regime, which came to power as a result of the 1979 revolution that resulted in overthrowing the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, has been the biggest source of threat to the stability of the Middle East since the revolution until this day. It has ambitions to dominate the neighboring Arab countries, especially Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Bahrain. Iran has bad relationships with countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. The main objective of this paper is to shed light on the deteriorating political relations between the Iranian regime on one hand and the GCC on the other, especially Saudi Arabia which is witnessing more challenges as a result of Iran's determination to develop its nuclear program. Another important objective of this paper is to identify the Iranian role in the creation of the hotbeds of conflict in addition to its responsibility for some of the region's problems. It also aims to answer the question; why does Iran insist on developing its controversial nuclear program?

Keywords: Iran, GCC, Gulf, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Piotr Romaniuk, Krzysztof Kaczmarek, Adam Szromek

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Background: A number of approaches to assess the performance of health system have been proposed so far. Nonetheless, they lack a consensus regarding the key components of assessment procedure and criteria of evaluation. The WHO and OECD have developed methods of assessing health system to counteract the underlying issues, but they are not free of controversies and did not manage to produce a commonly accepted consensus. The aim of the study: On the basis of WHO and OECD approaches we decided to develop own methodology to assess the performance of health systems in Central and Eastern European countries. We have applied the method to compare the effects of health systems reforms in 20 countries of the region, in order to evaluate the dynamic of changes in terms of health system outcomes.Methods: Data was collected from a 25-year time period after the fall of communism, subsetted into different post-reform stages. Datasets collected from individual countries underwent one-, two- or multi-dimensional statistical analyses, and the Synthetic Measure of health system Outcomes (SMO) was calculated, on the basis of the method of zeroed unitarization. A map of dynamics of changes over time across the region was constructed. Results: When making a comparative analysis of the tested group in terms of the average SMO value throughout the analyzed period, we noticed some differences, although the gaps between individual countries were small. The countries with the highest SMO were the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia, while the lowest was in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Georgia, Albania, and Armenia. Countries differ in terms of the range of SMO value changes throughout the analyzed period. The dynamics of change is high in the case of Estonia and Latvia, moderate in the case of Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia, Russia and Moldova, and small when it comes to Belarus, Ukraine, Macedonia, Lithuania, and Georgia. This information reveals fluctuation dynamics of the measured value in time, yet it does not necessarily mean that in such a dynamic range an improvement appears in a given country. In reality, some of the countries moved from on the scale with different effects. Albania decreased the level of health system outcomes while Armenia and Georgia made progress, but lost distance to leaders in the region. On the other hand, Latvia and Estonia showed the most dynamic progress in improving the outcomes. Conclusions: Countries that have decided to implement comprehensive health reform have achieved a positive result in terms of further improvements in health system efficiency levels. Besides, a higher level of efficiency during the initial transition period generally positively determined the subsequent value of the efficiency index value, but not the dynamics of change. The paths of health system outcomes improvement are highly diverse between different countries. The instrument we propose constitutes a useful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of reform processes in post-communist countries, but more studies are needed to identify factors that may determine results obtained by individual countries, as well as to eliminate the limitations of methodology we applied.

Keywords: health system outcomes, health reforms, health system assessment, health system evaluation

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Authors: Harry Aginta

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Using Phillips curve framework, this paper seeks for new empirical evidence on the relationship between inflation and output in a major emerging economy. By exploiting sub-national data, the contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it resolves the issue of using on-target national inflation rates that potentially causes weakening inflation-output nexus. This is very relevant for Indonesia as its central bank has been adopting inflation targeting framework based on national consumer price index (CPI) inflation. Second, the study tests the relevance of mining sector in output gap estimation. The test for mining sector is important to control for the effects of mining regulation and nominal effects of coal prices on real economic activities. Third, the paper applies panel econometric method by incorporating regional variation that help to improve model estimation. The results from this paper confirm the strong presence of Phillips curve in Indonesia. Positive output gap that reflects excess demand condition gives rise to the inflation rates. In addition, the elasticity of output gap is higher if the mining sector is excluded from output gap estimation. In addition to inflation adaptation, the dynamics of exchange rate and international commodity price are also found to affect inflation significantly. The results are robust to the alternative measurement of output gap

Keywords: Phillips curve, inflation, Indonesia, panel data

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Authors: Elnaz Entezar, Reza Ezzati

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In recent decades, trade flows, capital, workforce, technology and information have increased between international borders and the globalization has turned to an undeniable process in international economics. Meanwhile, despite the positive aspects of globalization, the critics of globalization opine that the risks and costs of globalization for developing vulnerable economies and the world's impoverished people are high and significant. In this regard, this study by using the data of KOF Economic Institute and the World Bank for 113 different countries during the period 2002-2012, by taking advantage of panel smooth transition regression, and by taking the gross domestic product as transmission variables discuss the nonlinear relationship between research variables. The results have revealed that globalization in low regime (countries with low GDP) has negative impact whereas in high regime (countries with high GDP) has a positive impact. In spite of the fact that in the early stages of growth, control of corruption has a positive impact on economic growth, after a threshold has a negative impact on economic growth.

Keywords: globalization, corruption, panel smooth transition model, economic growth, threshold, economic convergence

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Authors: Aleksandra Ibragimow, Moritz Albrecht, Eerika Albrecht

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Close international cooperation between all countries within a river basin has become one of the key aspects of sustainable cross-border water management. This is due to the fact that water does not stop at administrative or political boundaries. Therefore, the preferred mode to protect and manage transnational water bodies is close cooperation between all countries and stakeholders within the natural hydrological unit of the river basin. However, past practices have demonstrated that combining interests of different countries and stakeholders with differing political systems and management approaches to environmental issues upstream as well as downstream can be challenging. The study focuses on particular problems and challenges of water management in international river basin districts by the example of the International Oder River Basin District. The Oder River is one of the largest cross-border rivers of the Baltic Sea basin passing through Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Attention is directed towards the activities and the actions that were carried out during the Districts' first management cycle of transnational river basin management (2009-2015). The results show that actions of individual countries have been focused on the National Water Management Plans while a common appointment about identified supra-regional water management problems has not been solved, and conducted actions can be considered as preliminary and merely a basis for future management. This present state raises the question whether the achievement of main objectives of Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) can be a realistic task.

Keywords: International River Basin Districts, water management, water frameworkdirective, water management plans

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Authors: Simon Oga Egboja

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In Africa, particularly in Nigeria, unemployment is a serious issue of concern to every citizen. Hence, this paper focuses on the employment situation and trends in Nigeria. It also investigated the causes why unemployment persists in the country. Prominent among them is the population explosion and rapid expansion of education opportunities all over the country without a corresponding increase in industrial establishment. The paper also discusses the way of reducing the rate of unemployment by encouraging graduates of tertiary institutions in Nigeria to read professional courses and also to indulge in the habit of establishing small-scale enterprises so that after them school they can be self-employed rather than relying solely on government for employment.

Keywords: causes, population, remedy, unemployment

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Authors: Abdullah Alotaiq, David Wallom, Malcolm McCulloch

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This study presents an archetype-based approach to designing effective strategies for low-carbon transitions in the power sector. To achieve global energy transition goals, a renewable energy transition is critical, and understanding diverse energy landscapes across different countries is essential to design effective renewable energy policies and strategies. Using a clustering approach, this study identifies 12 energy archetypes based on the electricity mix, socio-economic indicators, and renewable energy contribution potential of 187 UN countries. Each archetype is characterized by distinct challenges and opportunities, ranging from high dependence on fossil fuels to low electricity access, low economic growth, and insufficient contribution potential of renewables. Archetype A, for instance, consists of countries with low electricity access, high poverty rates, and limited power infrastructure, while Archetype J comprises developed countries with high electricity demand and installed renewables. The study findings have significant implications for renewable energy policymaking and investment decisions, with policymakers and investors able to use the archetype approach to identify suitable renewable energy policies and measures and assess renewable energy potential and risks. Overall, the archetype approach provides a comprehensive framework for understanding diverse energy landscapes and accelerating decarbonisation of the power sector.

Keywords: fossil fuels, power plants, energy transition, renewable energy, archetypes

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Authors: Gheorghe Braniste

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It is a matter of common knowledge the fact that the International Olympic Movement is characterized by dynamism and adaptability to the challenges of modern society. A significant proof of this is the establishment of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team in 2016, at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a practice continued in Tokyo in 2020 and with a great chance to be successfully repeated in subsequent editions: Paris 2024 and Dakar 2026. This phenomenon is all the more welcome as, after the global refugee crisis of 2015, when the whole world has seen millions of people in the world displaced, we are now experiencing the negative effects of the war that started in February 2022 in Ukraine; which caused the exodus of the population to neighboring countries. Therefore, the international Olympic community must decide how to integrate Ukrainian athletes with refugee status into the Olympic system. Until the establishment of an internationally agreed policy, Romania and the Republic of Moldova, as countries directly involved in this process, must find urgent solutions to allow athletes to continue their Olympic careers. This article proposes a description of the strategies adopted both at the national level and at the level of sports clubs and an analysis of their impact on the performance of athletes.

Keywords: olympic movement, olympic games, refugees, performance, integration

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