Search results for: gross national expenditures

Authors: Muhammad Ajmair

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This empirical study followed structural vector auto regression (SVAR) approach proposed by the so-called AB-model of Amisano and Giannini (1997) to check the impact of relevant macroeconomic determinants on economic growth in Pakistan. Before that auto regressive distributive lag (ARDL) bound testing technique and time varying parametric approach along with general to specific approach was employed to find out relevant significant determinants of economic growth. To our best knowledge, no author made such a study that employed auto regressive distributive lag (ARDL) bound testing and time varying parametric approach with general to specific approach in empirical literature, but current study will bridge this gap. Annual data was taken from World Development Indicators (2014) during period 1976-2014. The widely-used Schwarz information criterion and Akaike information criterion were considered for the lag length in each estimated equation. Main findings of the study are that remittances received, gross national expenditures and inflation are found to be the best relevant positive and significant determinants of economic growth. Based on these empirical findings, we conclude that government should focus on overall economic growth augmenting factors while formulating any policy relevant to the concerned sector.

Keywords: economic growth, gross national expenditures, inflation, remittances

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Authors: Riona Dighe

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This research attempts to identify an alternative approach to the measurement of Gross National Happiness (GNH). It uses artificial intelligence (AI), incorporating natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment analysis to measure GNH. We use ‘off the shelf’ NLP models responsible for the sentiment analysis of a sentence as a building block for this research. We constructed an algorithm using NLP models to derive a sentiment analysis score against sentences. This was then tested against a sample of 20 respondents to derive a sentiment analysis score. The scores generated resembled human responses. By utilising the MLP classifier, decision tree, linear model, and K-nearest neighbors, we were able to obtain a test accuracy of 89.97%, 54.63%, 52.13%, and 47.9%, respectively. This gave us the confidence to use the NLP models against sentences in websites to measure the GNH of a country.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, NLP, sentiment analysis, gross national happiness

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Authors: Zeynep Karacor, Rahime Hulya Ozturk

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In recent years, the rise of population density and the problem of aging population took attention to the health expenditures. In Turkey, some regulations and infrastructure changes in health sector have occurred. These changes are called Health Transformation Program. The productivity of health services, patient satisfaction, quality of services are tried to be improved with this program. Some radical changes are applied in Turkish economy in this context. The aim of this paper is to present the effects of Health Transformation Program on health expenditures. In the first part of the paper, some information’s about health system and applications in Turkey are discussed. In the second part, the aims of Health Transformation Program are explained. And in the third part the effects of Health Transformation Program on health expenditures are examined.

Keywords: health transformation program, Turkey, health services, health expenditures

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Authors: Ayşe Coban, Orhan Coban, Haldun Soydal, Sükrü Sürücü

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While health is a source of prosperity for individuals, it is also one of the most important determinants of economic growth for a country. Health, by increasing the productivity of labor, contributes to economic growth. Therefore, countries should give the necessary emphasis to health services. The primary aim of this study is to analyze the changes occurring in health services in Turkey by examining the developments in the sector. In this scope, the second aim of the study is to reveal the place of health expenditures in the Turkish economy. As a result of the analysis in the dataset, in which the 1999-2013 periods is considered, it was determined that some increase in health expenditures took place and that the increase in the share of health expenditures in GDP was too small. Furthermore, analysis of the results points out that in financing health expenditures, the public sector is prominent compared to the private sector.

Keywords: health, health service, health expenditures, Turkey

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Authors: Zeynep Altinkaya, Ugur Dal, Figen Dag, Dilan D. Koyuncu, Merve Turkegun

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Obesity is defined as abnormal fat-tissue accumulation as a result of imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. Since 50-70% daily energy expenditure of sedantary individuals is consumed as resting energy expenditure (REE), it takes an important place in the evaluation of new methods for obesity treatment. Also, it is known that walking is a prevalent activity in the prevention of obesity. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the resting and walking energy expenditures of individuals with different body mass index (BMI). In this research, 4 groups are formed as underweight (BMI < 18,5 kg/m2), normal (BMI=18,5-24,9 kg/m2), overweight (BMI=25-29,9 kg/m2), and obese (BMI ≥ 30) according to BMI of individuals. 64 healthy young adults (8 man and 8 woman per group, age 18-30 years) with no known gait disabilities were recruited in this study. The body compositions of all participants were measured via bioelectric empedance analysis method. The energy expenditure of individuals was measured with indirect calorimeter method as inspired and expired gas samples are collected breath-by-breath through a special facemask. The preferred walking speed (PWS) of each subject was determined by using infrared sensors placed in 2nd and 12th meters of 14 m walkway. The REE was measured for 15 min while subjects were lying, and walking energy expenditure was measured during subjects walk in their PWS on treadmill. The gross REE was significantly higher in obese subjects compared to underweight and normal subjects (p < 0,0001). When REE was normalized to body weight, it was higher in underweight and normal groups than overweight and obese groups (p < 0,0001). However, when REE was normalized to fat-free mass, it did not differ significantly between groups. The gross walking energy expenditure in PWS was higher in obese and overweight groups than underweight and normal groups (p < 0,0001). The regression coefficient between gross walking energy expenditure and body weight was significiant among normal and obese groups (p < 0.05). It accounted for 70,5% of gross walking energy expenditure in normal group, and 57,9% of gross walking energy expenditure in obese group. It is known that obese individuals have more metabolically inactive fat-tissue compared to other groups. While excess fat-tissue increases total body weight, it does not contribute much to REE. Therefore, REE results normalized to body weight could lead to misleading results. In order to eliminate fat-mass effect on REE of obese individuals, REE normalized to fat-free mass should be used to acquire more accurate results. On the other hand, the fat-mass increasement raises energy requirement while walking to retain the body balance. Thus, gross walking energy expenditure should be taken into consideration for the evaluating energy expenditure of walking.

Keywords: body composition, obesity, resting energy expenditure, walking energy expenditure

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Authors: Ashique Mahmud, MD. Ataul Gani Osmani, Shoria Sharmin

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In the first quarter of the twenty-first century, the most substantial global concern is environmental contamination, and it has gained the prioritization of both the national and international community. Keeping in mind this crucial fact, this study conducted different statistical and econometrical methods to identify whether the gross national income of the country has a significant impact on electricity production from nonrenewable sources and different air pollutants like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane emissions. Besides, the primary objective of this research was to analyze whether the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis holds for the examined variables. After analyzing different statistical properties of the variables, this study came to the conclusion that the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis holds for gross national income and carbon dioxide emission in Bangladesh in the short run as well as the long run. This study comes to this conclusion based on the findings of ordinary least square estimations, ARDL bound tests, short-run causality analysis, the Error Correction Model, and other pre-diagnostic and post-diagnostic tests that have been employed in the structural model. Moreover, this study wants to demonstrate that the outline of gross national income and carbon dioxide emissions is in its initial stage of development and will increase up to the optimal peak. The compositional effect will then force the emission to decrease, and the environmental quality will be restored in the long run.

Keywords: environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, carbon dioxide emission in Bangladesh, gross national income in Bangladesh, autoregressive distributed lag model, granger causality, error correction model

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Authors: Yustina Trihoni Nalesti Dewi

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Gross violations of human rights consisting of crime against humanity, genocide and war crime, are serious international crimes. Prohibition such crimes have obtain to the level of international norms of jus cogens based on conventions and customary international law. Therefore, the duty of the state to punish the crimes is obligatory. The legal consequence of jus cogens is obligation erga omnes which are a matter of state responsibility. When a state is not willing or neglects to do so in its national law, it results in state responsibility to be imposed by international human rights and humanitarian law. This article reviews the concept of jus cogens and obligatio erga omnes that appear as two sides of the same coin. It also explains how international human rights and humanitarian law set down the duty of the state to punish gross violations of human rights.

Keywords: duty of states, gross violations of human rights, jus cogens, obligatio erga omnes

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Authors: R. Santos Alimi

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Using time-series techniques, this study empirically tested the validity of existing theory which stipulates there is a nonlinear relationship between government size and economic growth; such that government spending is growth-enhancing at low levels but growth-retarding at high levels, with the optimal size occurring somewhere in between. This study employed three estimation equations. First, for the size of government, two measures are considered as follows: (i) share of total expenditures to gross domestic product, (ii) share of recurrent expenditures to gross domestic product. Second, the study adopted real GDP (without government expenditure component), as a variant measure of economic growth other than the real total GDP, in estimating the optimal level of government expenditure. The study is based on annual Nigeria country-level data for the period 1970 to 2012. Estimation results show that the inverted U-shaped curve exists for the two measures of government size and the estimated optimum shares are 19.81% and 10.98%, respectively. Finally, with the adoption of real GDP (without government expenditure component), the optimum government size was found to be 12.58% of GDP. Our analysis shows that the actual share of government spending on average (2000 - 2012) is about 13.4%.This study adds to the literature confirming that the optimal government size exists not only for developed economies but also for developing economy like Nigeria. Thus, a public intervention threshold level that fosters economic growth is a reality; beyond this point economic growth should be left in the hands of the private sector. This finding has a significant implication for the appraisal of government spending and budgetary policy design.

Keywords: public expenditure, economic growth, optimum level, fully modified OLS

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Authors: Ibrahim Halil Korkmaz, Eren Özceylan, Cihan Çetinkaya

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Logistics function has great potential for increasing sustainable competitive advantage, profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction and decreasing costs in all sectors. The performance of logistics sector, which has such great influence on the overall performance of the economy, attracts more attention of both researchers and sector representatives day by day. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of research and development expenditures which spent by enterprises operating in the transportation and storage sectors on Turkey’s logistic performance index (LPI). To do so, research and development investment expenditure among the years 2009-2015 of Turkish transportation and storage firms data from the Turkish Statistical Institute and Turkeys country points in the World Bank logistics performance index in the same years data were examined. As the result of the parametric evaluation, it is seen that the research and development expenditures made have a positive effect on the logistic performance of Turkey.

Keywords: logistics performance index, R&D investments, transportation, storage, Turkey

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Authors: T. Holecki, J. Wozniak-Holecka, P. Romaniuk

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Due to the highly centralized model of financing health care in Poland, local self-government rarely undertook their own initiatives in the field of public health, particularly health promotion. However, since 2017 the possibility of applying for a subsidy to health policy programs has been allowed, with the additional resources to be retrieved from the National Health Fund, which is the dominant payer in the health system. The amount of subsidy depends on the number of inhabitants in a given unit and ranges about 40% of the total cost of the program. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of newly implemented solutions in financing health policy on the management of public finances, as well as on the activity provided by local self-government in health promotion. An effort to estimate the amount of expenses that both local governments, and the National Health Fund, spent on local health policy programs while implementing the new solutions. The research method is the analysis of financial data obtained from the National Health Fund and from local government units, as well as reports published by the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Pricing, which holds substantive control over the health policy programs, and releases permission for their implementation. The study was based on a comparative analysis of expenditures on the implementation of health programs in Poland in years 2010-2018. The presentation of the results includes the inclusion of average annual expenditures of local government units per 1 inhabitant, the total number of positively evaluated applications and the percentage share in total expenditures of local governments (16 voivodships areas). The most essential purpose is to determine whether the assumptions of the subsidy program are working correctly in practice, and what are the real effects of introducing legislative changes into local government levels in the context of public health tasks. The assumption of the study was that the use of a new motivation tool in the field of public management would result in multiplication of resources invested in the provision of health policy programs. Preliminary conclusions show that financial expenditures changed significantly after the introduction of public funding at the level of 40%, obtaining an increase in funding from own funds of local governments at the level of 80 to 90%.

Keywords: health care system, health policy programs, local self-governments, public health management

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Authors: Usman A. Usman

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Undeniably, unlike the Classical side, the Keynesian perspective of the aggregate demand side indeed has a significant position in the policy, growth, and welfare of Nigeria due to government involvement and ineffective demand of the population living with poor per capita income. This study seeks to investigate the effect of Government Final Consumption Expenditure, Financial Deepening on Households, and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure using data on Nigeria from 1981 to 2019. This study employed the ADF stationarity test, Johansen Cointegration test, and Vector Error Correction Model. The results of the study revealed that the coefficient of Government final consumption expenditure has a positive effect on household consumption expenditure in the long run. There is a long-run and short-run relationship between gross fixed capital formation and household consumption expenditure. The coefficients cpsgdp financial deepening and gross fixed capital formation posit a negative impact on household final consumption expenditure. The coefficients money supply lm2gdp, which is another proxy for financial deepening, and the coefficient FDI have a positive effect on household final consumption expenditure in the long run. Therefore, this study recommends that Gross fixed capital formation stimulates household consumption expenditure; a legal framework to support investment is a panacea to increasing hoodmold income and consumption and reducing poverty in Nigeria. Therefore, this should be a key central component of policy.

Keywords: household, government expenditures, vector error correction model, johansen test

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Authors: E. Kam, G. Karahan, H. Aslıyuksek, A. Bozkurt

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This study aims to determine the natural radioactivity levels in some foodstuffs produced in Turkey. For this purpose, 48 different foods samples were collected from different land parcels throughout the country. All samples were analyzed to designate both gross alpha and gross beta radioactivities and the radionuclides’ concentrations. The gross alpha radioactivities were measured as below 1 Bq kg^-1 in most of the samples, some of them being due to the detection limit of the counting system. The gross beta radioactivity levels ranged from 1.8 Bq kg^-1 to 453 Bq kg^-1, larger levels being observed in leguminous seeds while the highest level being in haricot bean. The concentrations of natural radionuclides in the foodstuffs were investigated by the method of gamma spectroscopy. High levels of ⁴⁰K were measured in all the samples, the highest activities being again in leguminous seeds. Low concentrations of ²³⁸U and ²²⁶Ra were found in some of the samples, which are comparable to the reported results in the literature. Based on the activity concentrations obtained in this study, average annual effective dose equivalents for the radionuclides ²²⁶Ra, ²³⁸U, and ⁴⁰K were calculated as 77.416 µSv y^-1, 0.978 µSv y^-1, and 140.55 µSv y^-1, respectively.

Keywords: foods, radioactivity, gross alpha, gross beta, annual equivalent dose, Turkey

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Authors: Masri Baharom

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The purpose of the study is to identify the age group of children 9 who have experienced delays in gross motor development. Instrument used in this study is Test Gross Motor Development / TGMD-2 (Ulrich, 2000) which was adopted at the international level. Gross motor development data were obtained by video recording (Sony (DRC-SR42 with a 40x optical zoom capability, and software Ultimate Studio 14) on locomotor and manipulative skills. A total n = 192 persons, children of 9 years (9.30 ± .431) at Sekolah Kebangsaan Mutiara Perdana, Bayan Lepas, Penang were involved as subjects. Children age 9 years experienced delays AELS (4.61 ± .69), AEMS (5:52 ± .62) and GMDQ (7.26 ± .2.14). The findings based on descriptive rating indicated that the performance of children age 9 years acquired low levels of AELS, MSS, AEMS and very low in LSS and GMDS.

Keywords: gross motor development score, locomotor standard score, age equivalent locomotor score, manipulative standard score, age equivalent manipulative score

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Authors: Ahmad Hashim, Masri Baharom

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The purpose of the study is to identify the age group of children 9 who have experienced delays in gross motor development. Instrument used in this study is Test Gross Motor Development / TGMD-2 (Ulrich, 2000) which was adopted at the international level. Gross motor development data were obtained by video recording (Sony (DRC-SR42 with a 40x optical zoom capability, and software Ultimate Studio 14) on locomotor and manipulative skills. A total n = 192 persons, children of 9 years (9.30 ± .431) at Sekolah Kebangsaan Mutiara Perdana, Bayan Lepas, Penang were involved as subjects. Children age 9 years experienced delays AELS (4.61 ± .69), AEMS (5:52 ± .62) and GMDQ (7.26 ± .2.14). The findings based on descriptive rating indicated that the performance of children age 9 years acquired low levels of AELS, MSS, AEMS and very low in LSS and GMDS.

Keywords: gross motor development score, locomotor standard score, age equivalent locomotor score, manipulative standard score, age equivalent manipulative score

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Authors: Eman Shady, Ray Langsten

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In Egypt, girls have traditionally been educationally disadvantaged. This disadvantage, however, has been focused on the failure to enter school. Increasingly it is recognized that girls who ever-enroll are at least as likely to complete primary and secondary education as boys. Still the belief persists that girls, especially those from poor families, will be disadvantaged in terms of school expenditures and the transitions to secondary and higher education. We use data from the 2005-06 Egypt Household Education Survey to examine expenditures on tutoring during the final year of preparatory school, and the transition to specific tracks of secondary education. Tests during the last year of preparatory largely determine a student’s educational future. Results show that girls, even girls from poor families, are not disadvantaged in terms of expenditures, whether for tutoring, fees or general expenses. Moreover, girls are more likely than boys to advance to general secondary education, the track that leads to higher education.

Keywords: gender, tutoring, track, Egypt

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Authors: Samuel Onyekachi Chidi

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Nigeria today faces more internal threats stemming from ethnic and religious conflicts than external sources. This article seeks to examine the ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria from 2015 to 2021 and their impact on national security. The research was guided by six objectives. The theoretical framework adopted for this study is Structural Conflict Theory, which provides an adequate explanation, a predictive rationale for the frequent occurrence of ethno-religious conflicts and a tendency to provide the necessary insight for their resolution. The results of the study revealed that there is a strong relationship between ethnicity, religion, conflict and national security and that the ethno-religious conflicts experienced in Nigeria have gross implications for national security. The study recommends that the secularity of the Nigerian state be restored and preserved and that the state of origin be removed and replaced by the state of residence in all our national documents, as this will reduce ethnic identity, which is in opposition to nationalism. Religious leaders, traditional rulers, the media and other stakeholders should support the government in its fight to reduce ethno-religious conflict by sensitizing its youth, preaching unity and peaceful coexistence, and discouraging the use of violence as a means of settling disputes between groups and individuals.

Keywords: ethnicity, religion, conflict, national security

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Authors: Abdelkader Guendouz, Fatima Zohra Adel

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Since about two decades, the Algerian government created a new instrument in the field of its fiscal policy, which is the FRR (Fonds de Régulation des Recettes). The FRR is a sovereign fund, which the initial role was saving the surplus generated by the fixation of a referential oil price to establish the state budget in the aim equilibrium between budgetary incomes and public expenditures. After a while, the government turns to use this instrument in boosting the public investment more than keeping for funding a deficit budget in periods of crisis. This lead to ask some justified questions about the efficiency of this sovereign fund and its real role.

Keywords: FRR sovereign fund, public expenditures, public investment, efficiency

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Authors: Gylych Jelilov

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This paper investigates the effect of foreign debt on economic growth. Example has been chosen from Africa, Nigeria. By conducting cointegration test we have tested for a long-run relationship between. GDP = Real gross domestic product, EXTDEBT = External debt, INT = Interest rate, CAB = Current account balance, and EXCHR = Real exchange rate over the period 1990 to 2012. It was found out by the study that there is a negative but insignificant relationship between external debt and real gross domestic product. While a positive relationship exists between external debt and economic growth. Also, showed a negative and significant relationship between interest rate and real gross domestic product and there was a positive but insignificant relationship between current account balance and real gross domestic product.

Keywords: economic growth, foreign debt, Nigeria, sustainable development, economic stability

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Authors: Thiwanka Weerakkody, Lakmali Handagiripathira, Poshitha Dabare, Thisari Guruge

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The determination of gross alpha and beta activity in water is important in a wide array of environmental studies and these parameters are considered in international legislations on the quality of water. This technique is commonly applied as screening method in radioecology, environmental monitoring, industrial applications, etc. Measuring of Gross Alpha and Beta emitters by using iSolo alpha beta counting system is an adequate nuclear technique to assess radioactivity levels in natural and waste water samples due to its simplicity and low cost compared with the other methods. Twelve water samples (Six samples of commercially available bottled drinking water and six samples of industrial waste water) were measured by standard method EPA 900.0 consisting of the gas-less, firm wear based, single sample, manual iSolo alpha beta counter (Model: SOLO300G) with solid state silicon PIPS detector. Am-241 and Sr90/ Y90 calibration standards were used to calibrate the detector. The minimum detectable activities are 2.32mBq/L and 406mBq/L, for alpha and beta activity, respectively. Each of the 2L water samples was evaporated (at low heat) to a small volume and transferred into 50mm stainless steel counting planchet evenly (for homogenization) and heated by IR lamp and the constant weighted residue was obtained. Then the samples were counted for gross alpha and beta. Sample density on the planchet area was maintained below 5mg/cm. Large quantities of solid wastes sludges and waste water are generated every year due to various industries. This water can be reused for different applications. Therefore implementation of water treatment plants and measuring water quality parameters in industrial waste water discharge is very important before releasing them into the environment. This waste may contain different types of pollutants, including radioactive substances. All these measured waste water samples having gross alpha and beta activities, lower than the maximum tolerance limits for industrial waste water discharge of industrial waste in to inland surface water, that is 10-9µCi/mL and 10-8µCi/mL for gross alpha and beta respectively (National Environmental Act, No. 47 of 1980). This is according to extraordinary gazette of the democratic socialist republic of Sri Lanka in February 2008. The measured water samples were below the recommended radioactivity levels and do not pose any radiological hazard when releasing the environment. Drinking water is an essential requirement of life. All the drinking water samples were below the permissible levels of 0.5Bq/L for gross alpha activity and 1Bq/L for gross beta activity. The values have been proposed by World Health Organization in 2011; therefore the water is acceptable for consumption of humans without any further clarification with respect to their radioactivity. As these screening levels are very low, the individual dose criterion (IDC) would usually not be exceeded (0.1mSv y⁻¹). IDC is a criterion for evaluating health risks from long term exposure to radionuclides in drinking water. Recommended level of 0.1mSv/y expressed a very low level of health risk. This monitoring work will be continued further for environmental protection purposes.

Keywords: drinking water, gross alpha, gross beta, waste water

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Authors: Veronika Solilová, Danuše Nerudová

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The paper examines the interaction between the environmental taxation, size of government spending on environmental protection and greenhouse gas emissions and gross inland energy consumption. The aim is to analyze the effects of environmental taxation and government spending on environmental protection as an environmental policy instruments on greenhouse gas emissions and gross inland energy consumption in the EU15. The empirical study is performed using a VAR approach with the application of aggregated data of EU15 over the period 1995 to 2012. The results provide the evidence that the reactions of greenhouse gas emission and gross inland energy consumption to the shocks of environmental policy instruments are strong, mainly in the short term and decay to zero after about 8 years. Further, the reactions of the environmental policy instruments to the shocks of greenhouse gas emission and gross inland energy consumption are also strong in the short term, however with the deferred effects. In addition, the results show that government spending on environmental protection together with gross inland energy consumption has stronger effect on greenhouse gas emissions than environmental taxes in EU15 over the examined period.

Keywords: VAR analysis, greenhouse gas emissions, environmental taxation, government spending

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Authors: Eileen K. Africa, Karel J. van Deventer

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Neuro-typical children develop the motor skills necessary to play, do schoolwork and interact with others. However, this is not observed in children who have learning or behavioural problems. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often referred to as clumsy because their body parts do not work well together in a sequence. Physical Activity (PA) has shown to be beneficial to the general population, therefore, providing children with ASD opportunities to take part in PA programmes, could prove to be beneficial in many ways and should be investigated. The purpose of this study was to design a specialised group intervention programme, to attempt to improve gross motor skills of selected children diagnosed with ASD between the ages of eight and 13 years. A government school for ASD learners was recruited to take part in this study, and a sample of convenience (N=7) was selected. Children in the experimental group (n=4) participated in a 12-week group intervention programme twice per week, while the control group continued with their normal daily routine. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2), was administered pre- and post-test to determine the children’s gross motor proficiency and to determine if the group intervention programme had an effect on the gross motor skills of the experimental group. Statistically significant improvements were observed in total motor skill proficiency (p < 0.05), of the experimental group. These results demonstrate the importance of gross motor skills interventions for children diagnosed with ASD. Future research should include more participants to ensure that the results can be generalised.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, children, gross motor skills, group intervention programme

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Authors: Adegboyega Adedolapo Ola

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Globally, a country’s maritime security has a significant impact on its national development because it serves as a major source of a commercial contact and food supply. However, the country has been faced with a number of problems, such as piracy, kidnapping, illegal bunkering and oil theft. As such, the study examined the contribution and the relationship between maritime security and Nigeria’s development, as well as the prospects and challenges of maritime security in Nigeria. The study utilized a questionnaire and focused group discussion/interview as instruments for data collection. The method of analysis employed in the study is descriptive. A total of Three Hundred and Ninety (390) respondents were randomly selected. The result of the study showed that maritime security contributes to national development in Nigeria by guaranteeing food security in Nigeria, creating employment opportunities as well as increasing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the economy. It was also found that maritime security is yet to provide sufficient support for national development in Nigeria. It is further established that it has prospects for development through the creation of employment opportunities, increase in foreign earnings, and fostering improved living standards for citizens. The study concluded that the high level of corruption, piracy and kidnapping, lack of political will by the government and the porosity of the Nigerian borders are serious obstacles, among others. In attempting to solve the problem of piracy and kidnapping in Nigerian maritime, to contribute to National development, it is primordial to address the cancer of corruption, poverty, and youth unemployment. In view of this, the study recommends: among other things, that the maritime industry should be well secured by removing its constraints/bottlenecks so as to enhance its contributions to national development.

Keywords: maritime security, national development, terrorism, piracy

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Authors: Khaled Ramadan Elbeydi

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This study is carried out to provide an insight into the analysis of the impact of selected macro-economic variables on gross fixed capital formation in Libya using annual data over the period (1970-2010). The importance of this study comes from the ability to show the relative important factors that impact the Libyan gross fixed capital formation. This understanding would give indications to decision makers on which policy they must focus to stimulate the economy. An Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) modeling process is employed to investigate the impact of the gross domestic product, monetary base, and trade openness on gross fixed capital formation in Libya. The results of this study reveal that there is an equilibrium relationship between capital formation and its determinants. The results also indicate that GDP and trade openness largely explain the pattern of capital formation in Libya. The findings and recommendations provide vital information relevant for policy formulation and implementation aimed to improve capital formation in Libya.

Keywords: ARDL, bounds test, capital formation, co-integration, Libya

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Authors: Mohammad Azam

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This work is an endeavor to empirically investigate the Gross Domestic Product-Growth as mediating variable between various factors and portfolio returns using a broad sample of 522 financial and non-financial firms enlisted on Pakistan Stock Exchange between January-1993 and June-2022. The study employs the Structural Equation modeling and Ordinary Least Square regression to determine the findings before and during the Covid-19 epidemiological situation, which has not received due attention by researchers. The analysis reveals that market and investment factors are redundant, whereas size and value show significant results, whereas Gross Domestic Product-Growth performs significant mediating impact for the whole time frame. Using before Covid-19 period, the results reveal that market, value, and investment are redundant, but size, profitability, and Gross Domestic Product-Growth are significant. During the Covid-19, the statistics indicate that market and investment are redundant, though size and Gross Domestic Product-Growth are highly significant, but value and profitability are moderately significant. The Ordinary Least Square regression shows that market and investment are statistically insignificant, whereas size is highly significant but value and profitability are marginally significant. Using the Gross Domestic Product-Growth augmented model, a slight growth in R-square is observed. The size, value and profitability factors are recommended to the investors for Pakistan Stock Exchange. Conclusively, in the Pakistani market, the Gross Domestic Product-Growth indicates a feeble moderating effect between risk-premia and portfolio returns.

Keywords: asset pricing puzzle, mediating role of GDP-growth, structural equation modeling, COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan stock exchange

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Authors: Zahra Karimi

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Money is not the only medium of economic exchanges, but also affects the national identity of citizens and national sovereignty of the government. Hence, money can be used as a tool to strengthen the national and political identity of nations. In other words, the value of the national currency can be affecting citizen’s view to the economic situation of their country and national identity. Government with the maintenance of the value of the national currency must increase the confidence of its citizens into national currency and prevents that "currency substitution phenomenon" occurred and people turn to foreign currencies. Hence, this article intends to explain the zeros elimination from the national currency and study of experience of other countries and discussion history analyzed benefits and harms of zeroes elimination from the national currency, And then to evaluate the effect or lack of effect of removing of zeros from the national currency on inflation answer the question whether it is appropriate and on time to delete three zeros from the Riyal of Iran is or not?

Keywords: zeros elimination from the national currency, value of the national currency, Riyal, inflation, Iran, money, government

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Authors: Vasilios Kanellopoulos

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The present paper examines the effect of innovation efficiency on the production of new knowledge from a firm level perspective. It resorts to the Greek version of community innovation survey (CIS 2012-2014 microdata) and employs 1274 firms of the manufacturing, which constitutes the main sector of examination. It assumes a knowledge production function (KPF) and finds that R&D spillovers related to the expenditures on innovation activities, internal R&D, external R&D, skilled labor, and the expenditures in the acquisition of machinery have a positive and significant effect on the production of new knowledge when OLS techniques are applied. However, innovation efficiency comes from a Banker and Morey (1986) data envelopment analysis (DEA) with categorical variables has a statistically insignificant impact on the production of new knowledge measured by firm’s turnover.

Keywords: firms, innovation efficiency, production of new knowledge, R&D spillovers

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Authors: Shivam Adhikary

Abstract:

Sports stadiums are not merely public amenities for entertainment and recreation for a city. They are buildings with extremely high construction investment and running costs which holds the supreme responsibility of social integration, nation building and financial upliftment of the community apart from its primary motive of conducting and promotion of the sports. But the present scenario of sports performances at international events and growing physical inactivity among the youth in India show that the sports facilities are far behind in achieving these goals. A pilot study of Indira Gandhi Sports complex in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh gave an indication of underutilization of sports stadia in India. This probed a crying need for the assessment of the present usage and functioning of the major sports (non-cricketing) facilities within the country. This paper assesses the sustainability of stadiums built for national and international sporting (non-cricket) events in terms of sporting, socio-cultural and financial sustainability by mainly focusing on their usage in non-event days. The criteria for the assessment and comparison of the stadiums within the nation is done using World Stadium Index and GDI (Gross Domestic Income) while with international counterparts using WSI and GNI (Gross National Income). The pilot case of India Gandhi Sports complex in Vijayawada is further investigated for a deeper understanding of the present usage, the existing issues for its underutilization and the way-forward (at least a few) to reach its sustainable potential. The paper finally concludes with the discussion on whether sports stadiums are being utilized to its financial potential and if it is at par with its international counterparts.

Keywords: economic sustainability, social sustainability, sports infrastructure, stadium efficiency

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Authors: Ben-Caleb Egbide, Iyoha Francis, Egharevba Mathew, Oduntan Emmanuel

Abstract:

The prosperity of any nation is determined not just by the availability of resources, but also by the discipline exercised in the management of those resources. This paper examines the functional association between adherence to budgetary estimates or budget discipline (BDISC) and national prosperity proxied by Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) and Relative Poverty Index (RPI)/Human Development Index (HDI). Adopting a longitudinal retrospective research strategy, time series data relating to both the endogenous and exogenous variables were extracted from official government publications for 36 years’ (1980-2015 in the case of RGDP and RPI), and for 26 years (1990-2015 in the case of HDI). Ordinary Least Square (OLS), as well as cointegration regressions, were employed to gauge both the short term and long term impact of BDISC on RPI/HDI and RGDP. The results indicated that BDISC is directly related with RGDP but indirectly related with RPI. The implication is that while adherence to budgetary estimate can enhance economic growth, it has the capacity to slow down the rate of poverty in the long run. The paper, therefore, recommend stricter adherence to budgets as a way out of economic under performance in Nigeria and engender the process of promoting human development and national prosperity.

Keywords: budget discipline, human development index, national prosperity, Nigeria

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Authors: Alexander Vaninsky

Abstract:

The objective of this paper is finding the way of economic restructuring - that is, change in the shares of sectoral gross outputs - resulting in the maximum possible increase in the gross domestic product (GDP) combined with decreases in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. It uses an input-output model for the GDP and factorial models for the energy consumption and CO2 emissions to determine the projection of the gradient of GDP, and the antigradients of the energy consumption and CO2 emissions, respectively, on a subspace formed by the structure-related variables. Since the gradient (antigradient) provides a direction of the steepest increase (decrease) of the objective function, and their projections retain this property for the functions' limitation to the subspace, each of the three directional vectors solves a particular problem of optimal structural change. In the next step, a type of factor analysis is applied to find a convex combination of the projected gradient and antigradients having maximal possible positive correlation with each of the three. This convex combination provides the desired direction of the structural change. The national economy of the United States is used as an example of applications.

Keywords: economic restructuring, input-output analysis, divisia index, factorial decomposition, E3 models

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Authors: Shilpi Tyagi, D. K. Nauriyal

Abstract:

This study investigates the firm level determinants of profitability of Indian drug and pharmaceutical industry. The study uses inflation adjusted panel data for a period 2000-2013 and applies OLS regression model with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors. It has been found that export intensity, A&M intensity, firm’s market power and stronger patent regime dummy have exercised positive influence on profitability. The negative and statistically significant influence of R&D intensity and raw material import intensity points to the need for firms to adopt suitable investment strategies. The study suggests that firms are required to pay far more attention to optimize their operating expenditures, advertisement and marketing expenditures and improve their export orientation, as part of the long term strategy.

Keywords: Indian pharmaceutical industry, profits, TRIPS, performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 416