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The author augments an otherwise standard business cycle model with a richer government sector and adds money-in-utility (MIU) considerations to study economic fluctuations.

More specifically, real money balances enter in a non-separable way with consumption and leisure. This specification is then calibrated to Bulgarian data after the introduction of the currency board (1999–2020) gives a role to money in accentuating economic fluctuations.

This novel mechanism allows the framework to reproduce – better than the real business cycle (RBC) model – the observed variability and correlations among model variables, and those characterizing the labor market in particular. In addition, money is non-neutral and affects aggregate economic activity.

This is the first micro-founded monetary-DSGE (dynamic stochastic general equilibrium) model on Bulgaria trying to explain the role of money for economic fluctuations.

This study explored the tax evasion and corruption–economic development nexus in Ghana and the moderating role of institutional quality in this relationship.

To achieve this objective, this study employed the structural equation modelling (SEM) strategy and maximum likelihood (ML) estimation method on selected quarterised data from 1996 to 2020.

The study found that tax evasion has a positive impact on GDP per capita and urbanisation but a negative impact on the Economic Freedom of the World Index (EFWI). The study revealed that corruption has a positive relationship with GDP per capita but relates with EFWI inversely. Finally, the study found that institutional quality moderates the nexus between tax evasion and corruption and economic development.

The findings imply that the quality of state institutions has a significant impact on the government's ability to control tax evasion and corruption in order to drive economic development.

One novelty of the study is the examination of the combined effects of tax evasion and corruption as exogenous variables in a single econometric model. Again, to moderate the multivariate relationships of the study, the principal component analysis (PCA) was used to create an institutional quality index. The study recommends that policymakers implement comprehensive tax evasion and corruption reduction strategies simultaneously in order to increase tax revenues for economic development and SDGs achievement.

India’s historical fiscal performance has featured elevated deficit levels. Driven by the imperative need for fiscal stimulus measures in response to the crisis, efforts toward fiscal consolidation from 2003 to 2008 were reversed in 2008–2009 due to the financial crisis. These stimulus actions are believed to have wielded a notable influence on inflation dynamics. Presumably, a high inflation rate hinders growth and inflicts severe welfare costs. Accordingly, the principal objective of this paper is to scrutinise the threshold effects of fiscal deficit on inflation within the context of the Indian economy.

We employed the Smooth Transition Autoregressive (STAR) Model, a robust tool for capturing non-linear relationships, to discern the specific threshold level of fiscal deficit. Our analysis encompasses annual data spanning from 1971 to 2020. Additionally, we have leveraged the Toda-Yamamoto causality test to establish the existence and direction of a causal connection between fiscal deficit and inflation in the Indian economy.

Our analysis pinpointed a critical threshold level of 3.40% for fiscal deficit, a value beyond which inflation dynamics in India undergo a marked transition, signifying the presence of significant non-linear effects. Moreover, the results derived from the Toda-Yamamoto causality test offer substantiating evidence of a causal relationship originating from the fiscal deficit and leading to inflation within the Indian economic framework.

The findings of our study carry significant implications, particularly for the formulation and execution of both fiscal and monetary policies. Understanding the threshold effects of fiscal deficit on inflation in India provides policymakers with valuable insights into achieving a harmonious balance between these two critical economic variables.

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to empirically investigate threshold effects of fiscal deficit on inflation in India from a non-linear perspective using the Smooth Transition Autoregression (STAR) model.

The unsustainable public debt of most African economies adversely affects their economic growth and stability. This study aims to explore the influence of cross-country indicators of governance from African countries on public debt accumulation.

The study deployed a quantitative research design technique. Secondary data was used in this study. The frequency of the data is annual, and it is available from 1996 to 2022 for 48 countries in Africa. The study deployed the system generalized method of moments for the estimation.

The study finds that countries with high regulatory quality standards, control corruption and ensure effective governance accumulate less government debt while countries that abide by the rule of law instead accumulate more government debt. The study also finds that economic growth and government revenue reduce government gross debt while government expenditure and investments increase public debt.

Due to data unavailability, other factors which are likely to influence government debt accumulation were not included in the study as control variables. This is the limitation of the study.

African governments should strive to maintain high regulatory quality standards through the formulation and implementation of sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development, and ensure quality and accountability of public and civil services. Governments are also urged to control corruption and enact good laws so that the enforcement of these laws will not worsen the risk of becoming debt-distressed.

Recent studies on governance and public debt were focused on the Arabian Gulf countries, countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and a combination of high and low-income countries. This study scrutinizes exclusively the effects of the quality of governance indicators on public debt accumulation, in the context of Africa.

Cambodia's sustained and robust growth performance since the post-reform era in 1993 has been attributed to the boom in inward foreign direct investment (FDI) attracted to the country's labor-intensive industries, where it has comparative advantages. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it aims to assess the consistency between Cambodia's revealed comparative advantage in exports and its sectoral inward FDI. Second, it examines the relationship between industry-level FDI and growth performance by accounting for heterogeneity across industries.

The paper uses descriptive methods and an industry-level dataset provided by the Council for the Development of Cambodia to elucidate the issue. Additionally, it applies instrumental variable two-stage least squares (IV-2SLS) regression to investigate the impact of industry-specific FDI on economic growth from 1994 to 2017, which also aims to address the endogeneity issue.

On the one hand, our research finds that Cambodia's FDI has been attracted to sectors in which it has a comparative advantage during the aforementioned period. On the other hand, both FDI and the comparative advantage index significantly impact economic growth in Cambodia. The greater the flow of foreign investment into sectors with comparative advantage, the stronger the impetus for growth.

This study fills a gap in the literature and contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between FDI and economic growth in Cambodia. It is the first paper to investigate the heterogeneity of industry-specific FDI and provides practical recommendations for policymakers to effectively harness foreign investments and avoid malign FDI inflows.

Standard economic theory predicts that any increase in public spending is accompanied by a rise in inflation in an economy. This paper presents empirical proof that prices do not always rise with an increase in public expenditure but only up to a certain threshold level. The primary aim of this paper is to unearth the government size-inflation nexus in India for the period from 1971 to 2019.

The logistic STAR (smooth transition autoregression) model is employed to unravel the government size-inflation nexus for the Indian economy from a non-linear perspective.

The finding of our study confirm the non-linear relationship between the size of the government and inflation in India. The estimated threshold level for government size is precisely found to be 9.27%. The size of the government exerts a negative influence on inflation until it reaches the optimal or threshold level. Any further increase in the size of government beyond this threshold level would result in a rise in inflation.

The findings have implications for the conduct of fiscal policy. Policymakers can increase government spending in a regime of small government size without having any inflationary impacts by generating revenues from taxes and other sources instead of relying much on the central bank. In the regime of a large-sized government, adhering strictly to the discipline in the conduct of fiscal and monetary policies would help curb inflation and enhance growth synchronously, hence alleviating any loss of welfare.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is an attempt to revisit the government size-inflation nexus in India from a non-linear perspective using the Smooth Transition Autoregression (STAR) model for the first time.

This paper aims to explore how the role of the perception of good public governance reduces tax evasion (TE). Besides, this study investigates whether the nexus of public governance and TE differs between developed and developing economies.

Apart from the ordinary least squares (OLS) model, this study uses the linear mixed modeling technique. The World Governance Indicators and the multiple causes estimation (MIMIC) method are used to measure public governance. The shadow economy is used as a proxy for TE.

The results show that people's perceptions of public governance and the quality of government institutions are core elements that influence tax-evasion behavior. Besides, the rule of law (RoL) and political stability (PS) significantly impact tax-evasion behavior in developing countries. Nevertheless, the RoL, the control of corruption and PS are the most critical tax-evasion determinants among public governance indicators for developed countries. Regulatory quality shows a substantial positive relationship with TE in developed but not developing countries.

This paper provides a guide for policymakers on reducing tax-evasion behavior by paying more attention to maintaining the RoL and PS and fighting corruption. Additionally, this study highlights the importance of people's perceptions of the government's pursuit of the above policy-related improvements, which, in turn, affect their tax behavior.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the role of people's perceptions of improvements in public governance and how this can reduce TE behavior in developed and developing economies. Unlike prior studies, this study used the linear mixed model method, which is more advantageous than OLS and produces robust estimators.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the Ottoman Empire’s net interest payments and foreign debt were sustainable or not in terms of their burden on budget revenues, using the method of historical econometric analysis.

In this study, the period between 1847 and 1882 of the Ottoman Empire is analyzed for sustainability analysis. Within the framework of the study, unit root tests and econometric analysis methods frequently used in the literature were used to analyze the sustainability of public debt. In the econometric analysis, in addition to various unit root tests, current econometric analysis methods, in particular Fourier expansion, were also used.

The results of econometric analyses showed that the burden of interest payments and foreign debt on the budget of the Ottoman state was unsustainable. This situation clearly shows the reason for the official bankruptcy of the Ottoman Empire, which was declared in 1875.

Although this study reveals the bankruptcy process of an important structure such as the Ottoman Empire in the historical process through econometric analyses, it also gives a very important message to today’s states. Accordingly, today’s state policies and decision-making mechanisms should take these results into account and strive to make the burden of public interest payments sustainable. It is believed that the study will shed light on the public finance policies of today’s states by drawing lessons from the collapse process of the Ottoman state.

Unlike the historical assessments in the literature on the decline of the Ottoman Empire, this study presents a cliometric approach by applying current econometric analysis techniques to past historical data. The study explains the unsustainability of the Ottoman Empire’s interest payments and external debt burden in the period under consideration in a way that, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, has not been done before.

This paper aims to derive a compatible Shariah opinion on the permissibility of using cryptocurrencies by Muslims by reviewing the opinions expressed by Shariah scholars on the permissibility of cryptocurrencies.

This is a qualitative desk review research where the opinions expressed by the Shariah scholars on the permissibility of cryptocurrencies and the issues related to it have been analyzed using the literature. All the Shariah parameters checked pertaining to currencies have been studied and assessed to derive the Shariah opinion.

The research findings suggest that cryptocurrencies do not fully meet the characteristics of money according to Shariah principles. Scholars debate their classification as a medium of exchange due to concerns about volatility, intrinsic value and governance. The treatment of cryptocurrencies varies, and their decentralized nature prevents monopolization. Governance and resistance to manipulation are facilitated by blockchain technology. Classifying cryptocurrencies as hard money and their recognition as the primary unit of account face challenges. While they can be a store of value, price volatility and regulations must be considered. The network effect is crucial for their success, and their supply is controlled through complex protocols. These findings have implications for policymakers in Islamic finance.

The differences in Shariah opinions on using cryptocurrencies have been a major debate in the Islamic financial industry. A clear and comprehensive study is not found on the differences in the Shariah opinions on their reasonings, which is important for researchers and professionals in the field. Therefore, this research provides valuable insights for policymakers, scholars and practitioners in Islamic finance, contributing to the understanding of applying Islamic principles to cryptocurrencies.