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This study aims to assess the effects of natural disasters on food security in a sample of 40 sub-Saharan African countries. First, the authors assess the effects of natural disasters on the four dimensions of food security and second, the authors disaggregate natural disaster using the two dimensions that are most representative, namely, hydrological and biological disasters.

The regressions are based on the generalised method of moments on a data set covering the period 2005–2020. Natural disasters are measured by the total number of people affected and food security by its characteristics: access, availability, use and sustainability.

The results show that natural disasters increase the prevalence of undernourishment but reduce dependence on cereal imports. An increase in natural disasters by 1% increases the prevalence of undernourishment by the same proportion. As for import dependency, a 1% increase in natural disasters reduces dependency by 2.2%. The disaggregated effects show that hydrological disasters are more significant than biological disasters in impacting food security. Floods reduce the average energy supply adequacy but also dependence on cereal imports. Policy implications are discussed.

The study complements the extant literature by assessing the effects of natural disasters on food security in a region where food insecurity is one of the worst in the world.

Empirical literature is the primary source of understanding how policing can effectively reduce criminal activities. Spatial analyses can identify particular effects that can explain and assist in constructing appropriate regional strategies and policies; nevertheless, studies that use spatial regression methods are more limited and can provide a perspective on specific effects in a more disaggregated regional context.

This research aims to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) to understand the relationship between crime indicators and police production using spatial regression models. We consider a combination of Kitchenham and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocols as a methodological strategy in five bibliographic databases for collecting scientific articles.

The SLR suggests a limited amount of evidence that meets the criteria defined in the research strategy. Several particularities are observed regarding police and criminal production metrics, either in terms of aggregation level, indicator transformations or scope of analysis. A broader time perspective did not necessarily indicate statistical significance compared to models with a single-period sample.

The findings suggest the possibility of expanding efforts by the public sector to provide policing data with the intention of conducting appropriate research using spatial analysis. This step could allow for a more robust integration between the public sector and researchers, strengthening policing strategies, evaluating the effectiveness of public security policies and assisting in the development of strategies for future policy actions.

Limited empirical evidence meets the criteria of spatial regression models with temporal components considering police production and criminality indicators. Constructing an SLR with this scope is an unprecedented contribution to the literature. The discussion can enhance the understanding of approaches for studying the relationship between police efforts and crime prevention.

With the continuous deepening of China's mixed-ownership reform, the participants in the reform have gradually expanded from state-owned enterprises to private enterprises. Whether state-owned equity participation in private enterprises can facilitate the development of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in private enterprises is a question that needs urgent examination. This study aims to investigate the impact of state-owned equity participation on the ESG performance of private enterprises.

Using Chinese listed companies as the research sample, this study uses econometric methods such as multiple regression to analyze the relationship between state-owned equity and the ESG performance of private enterprises. Additionally, it explores the underlying mechanisms and influencing factors of this relationship.

There is a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between state-owned equity and the ESG performance of private enterprises. Mechanism analysis reveals that resource effects and governance effects play a mediating role in this nonlinear relationship. Furthermore, the authors find that environmental regulation and managers' attention to the environment positively moderate the relationship between state-owned equity participation and ESG performance.

A reasonable equity structure is crucial for enhancing corporate ESG performance. Moderate state-owned equity participation helps to leverage resource integration and governance advantages, which will assist private enterprises in maximizing ESG performance and achieving sustainable development.

In advancing the process of mixed-ownership reform, the government should maintain an appropriate proportion of state-owned equity to avoid excessive intervention in enterprise decision-making. At the same time, it should ensure that enterprises can genuinely undertake their social and environmental responsibilities while pursuing economic benefits. This is of great significance for promoting sustainable economic and social development.

This study integrates state-owned equity, ESG and nonlinear relationships into a single research framework. It explores the internal mechanisms and influencing factors of their relationship, overcoming the limitations of previous studies and provides a new perspective for understanding the impact of state-owned equity on corporate ESG performance.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of electric tugboat deployment in maritime transportation, including an in-depth assessment of its advantages and disadvantages. Along with the identification of advantages and disadvantages of electric tugboat deployment, the present research also aims to provide managerial insights into the economic viability of different tugboat alternatives that can guide future investments in the following years.

A detailed literature review was conducted, aiming to gain broad insights into tugboat operations and focusing on different aspects, including tugboat accidents and safety issues, scheduling and berthing of tugboats, life cycle assessment of diesel tugboats and their alternatives, operations of electric and hybrid tugboats, environmental impacts and others. Moreover, a set of interviews was conducted with the leading experts in the electric tugboat industry, including DAMEN Shipyards and the Port of Auckland. Econometric analyses were performed as well to evaluate the financial viability and economic performance of electric tugboats and their alternatives (i.e. conventional tugboats and hybrid tugboats).

The advantages of electric tugboats encompass decreased emissions, reduced operating expenses, improved energy efficiency, lower noise levels and potential for digital transformation through automation and data analytics. However, high initial costs, infrastructure limitations, training requirements and restricted range need to be addressed. The electric tugboat alternative seems to be the best option for scenarios with low interest rate values as increasing interest values negatively impact the salvage value of electric tugboats. It is expected that for long-term planning, the electric and hybrid tugboat alternatives will become preferential since they have lower annual costs than conventional diesel tugboats.

The outcomes of this research provide managerial insights into the practical deployment of electric tugboats and point to future research needs, including battery improvements, cost reduction, infrastructure development, legislative and regulatory changes and alternative energy sources. The advancement of battery technology has the potential to significantly impact the cost dynamics associated with electric tugboats. It is essential to do further research to monitor the advancements in battery technology and analyze their corresponding financial ramifications. It is essential to closely monitor the industry’s shift toward electric tugboats as their prices become more affordable.

The maritime industry is rapidly transforming and facing pressing challenges related to sustainability and digitization. Electric tugboats represent a promising and innovative solution that could address some of these challenges through zero-emission operations, enhanced energy efficiency and integration of digital technologies. Considering the potential of electric tugboats, the present study provides a comprehensive review of the advantages and disadvantages of electric tugboats in maritime transportation, extensive evaluation of the relevant literature, interviews with industry experts and supporting econometric analyses. The outcomes of this research will benefit governmental agencies, policymakers and other relevant maritime transportation stakeholders.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the implementation of digital banking services (mobile applications) by globally systemically important banks (G-SIBs) affects banks’ performance in the USA and Europe from 2005 to 2022.

The study employs advanced econometric methods to analyze the link between deposits and banking performance, utilizing linear regressions and multivariate Bayesian regressions.

Our results indicate that customer deposits positively impact a bank’s performance after the introduction of the mobile application feature of check deposits, whereas social risk negatively impacts banking financial performance. These findings support the hypothesis that technology implementation improves the profitability and growth of traditional banks.

While findings are robust econometrically in linear and Bayesian regressions, variables reflecting the digitalization of banks remain limited. For instance, the number of mobile users or the volume of digital transactions per bank since the implementation of the mobile app is not available.

In a rapidly growing technology and constantly changing customers behaviors, this research has practical implications from bankers’ perspective to continue the technological innovation efforts and from regulators’ perspective to strengthen requirements for the digital banking services.

We provide empirical evidence that including a banking app for smartphones’ users for remote banking services benefit the financial performance of banks. However, the social risk remains significant for banks in terms of customers' satisfaction, data privacy and cybersecurity.

This paper employs an innovative approach to create a mobile app “discriminatory” factor and examine the relationship between deposits and banks’ performance before and after the introduction of a mobile app for too-big-to-fail banks in Europe and the USA. Additionally, we consider the social risk component of the ESG score, as a bank’s decision to implement mobile applications and technology for its customers potentially affects social risks associated with customer satisfaction and technology usability.

Land is the basis for economic development as well as tourism development. There is a close relationship between tourism development and the land market. However, research on the effect of tourism development on land prices is insufficient. This paper aims to investigate the effect and mechanism of tourism development on land prices.

The econometric paradigm is the main research method. Fixed effect models, instrumental variable models and mediating effect models are introduced to examine the impact of tourism development on land prices. The data include three types: land transaction data, city-level data and scenic spot data. More than 360,000 samples of land transactions for 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2021 are applied.

Tourism development can significantly increase land prices. This conclusion holds after using instrumental variables to address endogeneity and testing for robustness. Meanwhile, tourism development’s effect on land price is influenced by land type, city type, city tier and city location. The land price increase effect of tourism is more significant for tourism land, tourist cities, central cities and Western cities. The paper also reveals the mechanisms of the public service enhancement effect, infrastructure upgrading effect and environmental optimization effect in tourism development’s effect on land price.

The study contributes to the literature on the relationship between tourism development and land market. The generality and specificity of tourism development’s effect on land price are revealed from the micro and macrolevel research level. The findings enrich the literature on tourism price effects, point to rational ways to optimize and regulate land prices and provide new ideas for land-market development.

This paper aims to empirically investigate the dynamic interlinkages among globalization, digitalization and economic development in the top 75 most globalized countries from 2000 to 2019. The selection of the 75 most globalized developing countries is based on the overall scores of the KOF Globalization Index (2021).

The research design is based on secondary data collected from the World Bank (2021), the International Telecommunication Union (2021) and the KOF Globalization Index (2021). The study uses panel unit root tests followed by the panel cointegration techniques. Further, the estimation uses panel fully modified ordinary least squares and panel dynamic ordinary least squares methods.

The empirical results reveal that the effect of globalization on economic development is sensitive to different estimation procedures; in some cases, but not in every case, the effect is positive and significant. However, the positive and significant effect of digitalization on economic development is robust across all estimated models. Long-run equilibrium relationships and bidirectional causalities strongly affirm the nexus among globalization, digitalization and economic development, substantiating the interconnectedness among 75 developing economies.

The study reinstates that the forces of globalization and digitalization will be instrumental in shaping the selected most globalized economies in the long run. Adopting various econometric methodologies takes care of the time-specific and cross-sectional dynamics, as evident in the panel framework considered in this study. The empirical findings truly ascertain the theoretical synergy among the forces of globalization leading to more digitalization and economic development. This makes the empirical interplay highly conducive to framing long-term policies to expand the information communication network in terms of its access and reach.

The primary objective of this research is to explore the potential of utilizing Global Consciousness Project (GCP) data as a tool for understanding and predicting market sentiment. Specifically, the study aims to assess whether incorporating GCP data into econometric models can enhance the comprehension of daily market movements, providing valuable insights for traders.

This study employs econometric models to investigate the correlation between the Standard & Poor's 500 Volatility Index (VIX), a common measure of market sentiment and data from the GCP. The focus is particularly on the largest daily composite GCP data value (Max[Z]) and its significant covariation with changes in VIX. The research employs interaction terms with VIX and daily returns from global markets, including Europe and Asia, to explore the relationship further.

The results reveal a significant relationship with the GCP data, particularly Max[Z] and VIX. Interaction terms with both VIX and daily returns from global markets are highly significant, explaining about one percent of the variance in the econometric model. This finding suggests that variations in GCP data can contribute to a better understanding of market dynamics and improve forecasting accuracy.

One limitation of this study is the potential for overfitting and P-hacking. To address this concern, the models undergo rigorous testing in an out-of-sample simulation study lasting for a predefined one-year period. This limitation underscores the need for cautious interpretation and application of the findings, recognizing the complexities and uncertainties inherent in market dynamics.

The study explores the practical implications of incorporating GCP data into trading strategies. Econometric models, both with and without GCP data, are subjected to an out-of-sample simulation where an artificial trader employs S&P 500 tracking instruments based on the model's one-day-ahead forecasts. The results suggest that GCP data can enhance daily forecasts, offering practical value for traders seeking improved decision-making tools.

Utilizing data from the GCP is found to be advantageous for traders as noteworthy correlations with market sentiment are found. This unanticipated finding challenges established paradigms in both economics and consciousness research, seamlessly integrating these domains of research. Traders can leverage this innovative tool, as it can be used to refine forecasting precision.

This paper analyses and assesses the effect of firm-specific determinants (FSDs) on supply-chain performance (SCP) and export performance (EP). It examines SCP’s influence on EP and its mediating effect on the relationship between FSD and EP.

This paper develops a theoretical framework based on the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic-capability theory to understand SCP’s role in the FSD-EP link while empirically validating using the Indian automobile industry segments (IAIS) data. The sample frame comprises all listed firms in IAIS between the financial year 2010-11 and 2021–22, with continuous data availability throughout the considered timeline. The paper employs factor analysis for dimension reduction, a panel-data-fixed-effect model to analyze the relationships, bootstrap to test the mediation effect and focus-group discussion for validating the results obtained through statistical analyses.

FSD directly influences SCP’s efficiency aspect and EP. Distribution efficiency and inventory efficiency characteristics of SCP directly impact EP and completely mediate the relationship between FSD and EP.

This study provides significant insights into how firms can increase EP by focusing on firm-specific and SCP-related factors. To improve EP, firms should concentrate on enhancing distribution and inventory efficiencies. Firms must focus on critical firm-level factors like age, size and raw-material import capability to increase their ability to solve SC-specific barriers and improve SCP, resulting in enhanced exports.

This study investigates the impacts of FSD on SCP and EP and examines the mediating effect of SCP on the relationship between FSD and EP. Such a mediating role of SCP has rarely been probed in the literature.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of tax incentives provided by the Ethiopian government in spurring private investment and job creation, using unique administrative and survey data.

The study employs a dataset covering large- and medium-scale manufacturing in Ethiopia from 2012 to 2018, combined with administrative data on actual tax payments and statutory obligations to gauge the impact of tax incentives. Regression analysis using the generalized method of moments (GMM) is used to examine the relationship between tax incentives and employment, taking into account variations in production, distribution and financial costs.

The study finds that tax incentives do not significantly affect employment at conventional significance levels. The incentive elasticity of employment appears to diminish as production, distribution and financial costs increase. Consequently, the incentives provided by the government have not had a substantial impact on employment generation within the manufacturing sector.

This study is unique for its comprehensive analysis of tax incentives in the Ethiopian manufacturing sector using both administrative and survey data. It highlights that increasing production and financial costs can offset the employment benefits of these incentives, emphasizing the need for a more favorable business environment for private investors.