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The authors investigate the impact of the US stock market on the economies of the BRICS and major industrialized economies (G7).

The authors construct the world economy and the vulnerability between economies using three economic integration variables: bilateral trade, bilateral direct investment and bilateral equity positions. Global vector autoregressive (GVAR) empirical studies usually adopt trade integration to estimate models. The authors complement these studies by using bilateral financial flows.

The authors summarize the results in four points: (1) financial integration variables increase the effect of the US stock market on the BRICS and G7, (2) the US shock produces similar responses in these groups regarding industrial production, stock markets and confidence but different responses regarding domestic currencies: in the BRICS, the authors detect appreciation of the currencies, while in the G7, the authors find depreciation, (3) G7 stock markets and policy rates are more sensitive to the US shock than the BRICS and (4) the estimates point out to heterogeneities such as the importance of industrial production to the transmission shock in Japan and China, the exchange rate to India, Japan and the UK, the interest rates to the Eurozone and the UK and confidence to Brazil, South Africa and Canada.

The results reinforce the importance of taking into account different levels of economic development.

The authors construct the world economy and the vulnerability between economies using three economic integration variables: bilateral trade, bilateral direct investment and bilateral equity positions. GVAR empirical studies usually adopt trade integration to estimate models. The authors complement these studies by using bilateral financial flows.

The study investigates the influence of inclusive growth on tax revenue. It validates the fiscal exchange and resource bargaining theories, which suggest that tax compliance improves when citizens perceive that their tax contributions lead to enhanced welfare and that the government negotiates with people to provide public goods and services in exchange for taxes received.

The paper employs inclusive growth measures, including an integrated GDP and equity growth measure and alternative proxies based on GDP per person employed and Asian Development Bank (ADB) inclusive growth indicators. Using 39 sub-Saharan African countries as a sample, our analysis captures spatial interactions across these contiguous countries using the Fixed-Effect model with the Driscoll and Kraay non-parametric consistent covariance matrix and the spatial Durbin Arellano–Bond linear dynamic panel generalized method of moment (Spatial GMM) approach with an interaction weight matrix to capture interactions between countries in the region.

The paper shows that inclusive growth positively influences tax revenue in the region. This validates the fiscal exchange and resource bargaining hypotheses, demonstrating that tax compliance is positively influenced by public goods provision and the government’s ability to emphasize the necessity of taxes for service provision. It indicates that citizens are more willing to pay taxes when the government effectively promotes welfare. We find a significant positive spatial spillover effect, suggesting that inclusive growth not only boosts tax revenue within a specific country but also extends its benefits to neighboring countries, aligning with the spillover theory.

The study posits that the government implements policies that guarantee effectiveness and accountability in public welfare delivery as well as sufficient tax bases and tax revenue. An inclusive growth policy that engenders GDP growth, employment and equity growth should be implemented since the rate of tax compliance of the citizens improves for every welfare provided by the government.

This study tests the validity of the fiscal exchange and resource bargaining theories in Sub-Saharan Africa. Accommodating spatial dependence and cross-border effects, the study sheds light on how inclusive growth impacts tax revenue across contiguous countries in the region. As such, the region should prioritize regional integration, fostering economic ties and harmonizing policies through knowledge sharing and cross-border investment.

The study explores the evolution of Indian domestic electronics manufacturing post-economic reforms and also investigates the lack of natural growth stages among Indian start-up/SME electronics manufactures.

The theoretical framework is inspired by Dawar and Frost's survival strategy theory that local companies may follow to overcome competitive threats from MNCs. The study adopts a qualitative methodology, more precisely, a phenomenological approach to walking through policy/regulatory reforms amid market distortions, technological gaps and colonial mindset from the perspective of Indian domestic electronics manufacturers. The study has adopted Gioia method of data analysis to inductively suggest a few research propositions.

The phenomenological approach revealed eight essential structure (essence) narratives to explore the complex issue that plague the industry: make in India, made in India, preferential market access strategy, equitable market access strategy, blue ocean strategy, competitive positioning strategy, technical capability and importance of policy/regulatory arbitrage.

The situation of Indian electronics manufacturing units is comparable to the bonsai tree situation, where natural evolution in business stages does not exist; they are born and die as start-ups/MSMEs. The study advocates for equitable market access by removing market distortions. The long-term solution may lie in making available locally manufactured products as a dependable alternative to the imported products or produced locally by MNC OEMs in terms of cost, quality, technology, volume, after-sale service and integrated supply chain.

While the favorable FDI policies, digital India and make-in India initiatives have strengthened domestic electronics production, it is yet to significantly impact India's position in global trade, including manufacturing and exports.

This article employs a panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model to examine the relationship between digital financial inclusion (DFI), economic growth (EG), and gender equality (GE) across different levels of financial development.

Based on the current financial development dynamics, this study applies the PVAR method to two groups of countries: the first group represents the high financial development group, and the second group represents the low financial development group, during the period from 2015 to 2021.

The findings from impulse response functions reveal that digital financial inclusion fosters economic growth in nations with advanced financial systems, while simultaneously mitigating gender inequality. Conversely, in countries with less developed financial infrastructures, digital financial inclusion stimulates economic growth but exacerbates gender disparities. Moreover, the variance decomposition analysis indicates that the linkage between economic growth, digital financial inclusion, and gender inequality is more intertwined in countries with limited financial development than in those with well-established financial systems.

Effective deployment of new technologies relies heavily on technological infrastructure. This policy focuses on constructing and developing information technology infrastructure to create favorable conditions for the implementation of new DFI technologies. This study also emphasizes promoting equitable education and training by ensuring that both women and men have equal opportunities to access quality education and training. This may involve investing in early childhood education, providing access to primary education, and offering scholarships to women in technology, science, and engineering fields.

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the “Postliteracy” program on the qualification of beneficiaries for socioeconomic integration. This qualification is achieved first through the consolidation of the achievements of individuals freed from illiteracy, and then through their support in creating income-generating activities by providing them with technical, economic, legal and institutional knowledge to ensure their conscious and responsible participation in local and regional development efforts.

To evaluate the impact of the “Postliteracy” program, this paper uses quasi-experimental methods with a control group (participants of the “Literacy” program 2020 / 2021) and a treatment group (participants of the “Postliteracy” program 2021 / 2022). Skill acquisition is measured through pretest and posttest evaluations using a questionnaire aligned with the National Agency for the Fight Against Illiteracy (ANLCA)-adopted curriculum. The survey occurred at the beginning and at the end of the program, providing sufficient time for skill development. The questionnaire includes three sections covering socioprofessional characteristics, technical and economic domains and legal and institutional aspects. These sections contribute to a score reflecting the acquired skills for successful socioeconomic integration.

The results of the study demonstrate that the “Postliteracy” program has a positive impact on the acquisition of competences necessary for improved socioeconomic integration of the beneficiaries. The various matching techniques reveal a score difference ranging from 12 to 14 points in favor of program participants compared to those who did not participate. The Difference-in-Differences method confirms the positive and significant impact of the program.

The findings highlight the importance of the “Postliteracy” program in national literacy policy, underlining the need to further strengthen its presence within the programs deployed by ANLCA, notably by increasing the number of beneficiaries targeted by this program. To achieve this, it would be advisable to increase the funds allocated to it within ANLCA's budget.

The originality of this work is a unique research of the case of Morocco based on a microeconometric study for which the authors evaluate the impact of adult education by applying impact evaluation methods in the field of adult literacy.

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.

Despite the huge financial resources associated with oil, Nigeria has consistently recorded poor growth performance. Therefore, this study aims to examine how corruption and oil rent influence Nigeria’s economic performance during the 1996–2021 period.

Various estimation techniques were used. These include the bootstrap autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds-testing, dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), the fully modified OLS (FMOLS) and the canonical cointegration regression (CCR) estimators and the Toda–Yamamoto causality.

The bounds testing results provide evidence of a cointegrating relationship between the variables. In addition, the results of the ARDL, DOLS, CCR and FMOLS estimators demonstrate that oil rent and corruption have a significant positive impact on growth. Further, the results indicate that human capital and financial development enhance economic growth, whereas domestic investment and unemployment rates slow down long-term growth. Additionally, the causality test results illustrate the presence of a one-way causality from oil rent to economic growth and a bi-directional causal relationship between corruption and economic growth.

Existing studies focused on the effects of either oil rent or corruption on growth in Nigeria. Little attention has been paid to the exploration of how the rent from oil and the pervasiveness of corruption contribute to the performance of the Nigerian economy. Based on the outcome of this study, strategies and policies geared towards reducing oil dependence and the pervasiveness of corruption, enhancing human capital and financial development and reducing unemployment are recommended.

This study aims to investigate the effect of total external debt stock on economic growth of the East African Community (EAC) bloc.

The study applies balanced panel data for seven of the eight EAC member states, spanning the period from 2013 to 2022, and uses panel data models, i.e. pooled ordinary least squares, random and fixed effects models.

The findings reveal a significant positive correlation between total external debt stock and economic growth, supporting the economic theory that reasonable levels of borrowing can stimulate economic growth, particularly when funds are channeled into productive activities. However, the relationship between foreign direct investment and economic growth lacks statistical significance, indicating challenges in attracting sufficient investment for substantial growth within the EAC bloc. Trade openness shows a negative and statistically insignificant correlation with economic growth. Additionally, the study finds a positive and significant correlation between the unemployment rate and economic growth, while the inflation rate demonstrates a positive but statistically insignificant relationship with economic growth.

The study recommends improvements in debt management practices, enhancements in the business environment, infrastructure investments, a reassessment of trade policies and initiatives to stimulate job creation and SME development. More importantly, governments should focus on expanding the tax base in ways that stimulate growth, thereby reducing reliance on external debt.

This study is unique as it revisits the effect of external debt stock on economic growth following Somalia’s recent membership in EAC bloc.

The aim of this research is to elucidate the correlation between open innovation, digital strategies and networking in enhancing agricultural enterprises within the new perspective of Agrifood 5.0. As such, it contributes to making businesses more competitive, especially in the Italian agricultural sector, where small and medium-sized enterprises are highly fragmented. Numerous studies have asserted that the competitiveness of actors operating within a specific territory is closely linked to local identity and image enhancement. Agricultural organizations are undergoing a profound transformation, with technological assets emerging as catalysts for new synergies. Advanced technologies such as robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT) and automation (AI) are emerging as differentiating elements capable of further advancing the agricultural sector, transitioning it from Agrifood 4.0 to Agrifood 5.0. The empirical analysis of the research shows a positive correlation between a collaborative attitude and a propensity for innovation. Indeed, the data demonstrated that digital strategies and open innovation positively influence competitiveness in agricultural SMEs.

The methodology employed in this study is mixed, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The quantitative aspect involves analysis of the dataset from the Italian Statistical Institute (ISTAT) through logistic regression, while the qualitative component entails analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with a sample of 174 agricultural cooperatives in southern Italian regions (Campania). This approach allows for a comprehensive understanding of the research topic, capturing both numerical trends and nuanced insights from interviews.

After analyzing the data from the 7th General Census of Agriculture conducted by ISTAT, a clear understanding of the sector has emerged, revealing several potential research avenues. It is evident that innovation in the agricultural sector is often driven by the largest and best-capitalized production entities, primarily located in Italy. Conversely, smaller agricultural entities can benefit from networking as new technological assets act as catalysts for new synergies, innovation and competitiveness.

Enhancing the relational contribution within the network and humanizing a fragmented sector are crucial elements for promoting open innovation. Network structuring facilitates the transmission of managerial knowledge, contributing to an overall increase in the intellectual and relational capital of the agricultural sector. These factors, combined with open innovation, enhance the competitiveness of individual firms and elevate the brand of the entire sector, creating a conducive environment for transitioning toward Agrifood 5.0. This transition is characterized by increased interconnection, continuous innovation and overall prosperity. Specific studies on this topic are lacking in Italy, particularly in the southern regions. Therefore, this contribution focuses on investigating the Campania region.

The novelty of this study lies in its investigation of the relationship between agricultural enterprises and innovation in the context of enterprises networking strategies (i.e. associationism and/or cooperation), promoting competitiveness. The limitations of this study are related to the dimension of the sample selected and its relationship with other productive sectors.