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This paper examines the dynamics of structural transformation in Morocco since 1970 by analyzing input-output tables expressed in terms of employment and output levels across 24 sectors.

This study employs a twofold methodological approach. Firstly, it examines the evolution of sectoral employment shares over time using World Bank data. Secondly, it utilizes Input-Output analysis to examine structural shifts in Morocco's economy, focusing on sector-specific output and employment data. The primary data source is the Eora Global Supply Chain Database, covering the years 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2015. Additionally, to transition from production-based to employment-based input-output tables, the study leverages employment and output data from the Penn World Tables to calculate the diagonal labor coefficient matrix.

First, our analysis reveals that Morocco's economic transformation has been slower compared to high-income countries. Structural changes, as evidenced by the evolution of employment shares by sector, show a gradual decline in agricultural employment share over the period 1991-2019, accompanied by a shift towards the services sector. This shift, driven by favorable conditions in the services sector and increased capital use in agriculture, has resulted in premature deindustrialization. The industrial sector's employment share has remained stable due to its capital-intensive nature. Second, Input-Output analysis reveals a pronounced premature tertiarization of the Moroccan economy. Between 1990 and 2000, the tertiary sector saw a dramatic rise in both backward (167%) and forward (68%) linkages, while the primary sector's backward linkages fell by 33% during the same period. Although the primary sector’s linkages increased by 10% from 2000 to 2015, the secondary sector experienced a consistent decline in backward linkages, dropping 12% from 1990 to 2000 and an additional 10% from 2000 to 2015. Employment linkage analysis further underscores this shift, with a 12% increase in the tertiary sector’s backward linkages from 1990 to 2000, contrasted by significant declines in the primary (51%) and secondary (7%) sectors. These trends highlight an unsustainable move towards services without concurrent industrial development, challenging balanced economic development.

As it is unanimous, the structural transformation of Morocco remains relatively slow and characterized by a shift of the labor factor from the primary sector to the tertiary sector, with a limited job creation by the secondary sector considered as the pillar of any structural transformation. This paper advances the field of research on structural transformation by elucidating the premature tertiarization of the Moroccan economy and the slowness pace at which the transformation of its economic fabric is occurring, thereby filling the empirical gap.

The paper is devoted to modeling a pricing policy of competitive firms in a “closed” economy framework.

The proposed model can be regarded as an analog to CGE model and is based on the intersectoral balance methodology incorporating linear demand functions for goods and services.

By performing different model experiments, we show that a certain degree of competition can bring more profit to all competing firms, than in case of complete absence of such competition, what is also supported by empirical investigation. This finding implies that monopolies may perform worse than competitive firms, what contradicts with the modern provisions of economic theory, stating that monopoly is the most lucrative type of market structure for a producer. The discovered effect occurs due to the aggressive pricing policy, adopted by monopolies, spurring up the inflation spiral, which is most obvious if monopolies are strongly interdependent in terms of production matrix. This inflation spiral drives prices too high, what negatively reflects on firms’ costs and, consequently, results in monopolies receiving less profit.

The proposed model can also be useful for understanding and assessing various economic consequences after different external or internal shocks, what is especially crucial when conducting monetary or fiscal policy.

This study aims to present an innovative predictive methodology that transitions from traditional efficiency assessment techniques to a forward-looking strategy for evaluating working capital management(WCM) and its determinants by integrating data envelopment analysis (DEA) with artificial neural networks (ANN).

A slack-based measure (SBM) within DEA was used to evaluate the WCME of 1,388 firms in the Indian manufacturing sector across nine industries over the period from April 2009 to March 2024. Subsequently, a fixed-effects model was used to determine the relationships between selected determinants and WCME. Moreover, the multi-layer perceptron method was applied to calculate the artificial neural network (ANN). Finally, sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the relative significance of key predictors on WCME.

Manufacturing firms consistently operate at around 50% WCME throughout the study period. Furthermore, among the selected variables, ability to create internal resources, leverage, growth, total fixed assets and productivity are relatively significant vital predictors influencing WCME.

The integration of SBM-DEA and ANN represents the primary contribution of this research, introducing a novel approach to efficiency assessment. Unlike traditional models, the SBM-DEA model offers unit invariance and monotonicity for slacks, allowing it to handle zero and negative data, which overcomes the limitations of previous DEA models. This innovation leads to more accurate efficiency scores, enabling robust analysis. Furthermore, applying neural networks provides predictive insights by identifying critical predictors for WCME, equipping firms to address WCM challenges proactively.

Recently, there has been a shift toward the embodied energy assessment of buildings. However, the impact of material service life on the life-cycle embodied energy has received little attention. We aimed to address this knowledge gap, particularly in the context of the UAE and investigated the embodied energy associated with the use of concrete and other materials commonly used in residential buildings in the hot desert climate of the UAE.

Using input–output based hybrid analysis, we quantified the life-cycle embodied energy of a villa in the UAE with over 50 years of building life using the average, minimum, and maximum material service life values. Mathematical calculations were performed using MS Excel, and a detailed bill of quantities with >170 building materials and components of the villa were used for investigation.

For the base case, the initial embodied energy was 57% (7390.5 GJ), whereas the recurrent embodied energy was 43% (5,690 GJ) of the life-cycle embodied energy based on average material service life values. The proportion of the recurrent embodied energy with minimum material service life values was increased to 68% of the life-cycle embodied energy, while it dropped to 15% with maximum material service life values.

The findings provide new data to guide building construction in the UAE and show that recurrent embodied energy contributes significantly to life-cycle energy demand. Further, the study of material service life variations provides deeper insights into future building material specifications and management considerations for building maintenance.

The functionalities of tourist destinations as regional innovation systems (RIS) still show substantial deficits. Especially for destinations in developing countries (DC), this incurs a wicked problem when it comes to unfolding the potentials of tourism for social innovation and sustainable regional development. Determining factors for these weaknesses are manifold, complex, multi-causal and prone to inherent system-dynamics making it difficult for destination management organisations to proactively monitor and control them in the long term. Backed by empirical comparative findings from rural destinations in Azerbaijan and Ecuador, this chapter tracks down selected major drivers of this wicked problem both from a monocausal-linear and multi-causal-dynamic analytical perspective. As a primary outcome, a set of suitable indicators will be presented to serve as a monitoring framework for a social innovation governance of DC destinations.

This study aims to enhance our understanding of sustainable water management in construction through a life-cycle embodied water assessment of a villa in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It provides insights and recommendations for improving the water efficiency by identifying areas for potential embodied water saving and reduction in environmental impacts in the construction industry.

This study uses a life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach and focuses on a UAE villa as a case study. It analyses the embodied water consumption during construction (initial embodied water) and maintenance (recurrent embodied water) using an input–output-based hybrid analysis. Additionally, it compares the embodied water observations with the operational water usage and comprehensively evaluates the water consumption in the villa’s life-cycle.

The initial (28%) and recurrent embodied water (42%) represent significant proportions of a building’s life-cycle water demand. The structural elements, predominantly concrete and steel, contribute 40% of the initial embodied water consumption. This emphasises the importance of minimising the water usage in these materials. Similarly, internal finishes account for 47% of the recurrent embodied water. This emphasises the importance of evaluating the material service life.

These findings indicate the efficacy of using durable materials with low embodiment and water-efficient construction methods. Additionally, collaborative research between academia, industry, and the government is recommended in conjunction with advocating for policies promoting low embodied-water materials and transparency in the construction sector through embodied water footprint reporting.

Previous studies focused on the operational water and marginally addressed the initial embodied water. Meanwhile, this study highlights the significance of the initial and recurrent embodied water in the life-cycle water demand. It emphasises on the need for adaptable buildings with reduced embodied water and more durable materials to minimise the requirement for frequent material replacements.

This paper aims to examine the unique Chinese context by analyzing the city labels (e.g. smart city and eco city) used by Chinese local governments at or above the provincial capital level to represent themselves (adopted city labels) and the developmental pathways they actually pursued (adopted developmental pathways).

The authors compared the city brand choices to those anticipated based on their geographic and economic contexts (predicted city labels and developmental pathways) as well as the directives outlined in national planning documents (imposed city labels and developmental pathways). The authors identified ten main categories of city labels used to designate themselves and establish the frequency of their use based on municipal plan documents, economic and geographic data and national plan documents and policy reports, respectively.

The authors discovered that both local economic development and geographic factors, as well as top-down administrative influences, significantly impact city branding strategies in the 38 Chinese cities studied. When these models fall short in predicting adopted city labels and pathways, it is often because cities favor a service-oriented reputation over a manufacturing-focused one, and they prefer diverse, multifaceted industrial images to uniform ones.

The originality and value of this paper lie in its contribution to the academic literature on city branding by developing a predictive model for brand development at the municipal level, with explicit attention to the national-local nexus. The paper’s approach differs from existing research in the first cluster of city branding by not addressing issues of stakeholder involvement or adoption and implementation processes. Additionally, the paper’s focus on the political power dynamics at the national level and urban governance details at the municipal level provides a unique perspective on the topic. Overall, this paper provides a valuable contribution to the field of city branding by expanding the understanding of brand development and its impact on the socioeconomic environment.

The study attempts to examine the impact of the US-China trade war on Vietnamese exports to the United States, which has consistently served as a key market for Vietnamese goods and services in recent decades. The heterogeneous effects of the trade war on different export sectors are also evaluated.

The secondary data on Vietnamese exports to the US at a 6-digit level is collected from UN Comtrade. Besides, the difference-in-differences (DiD) method is employed to analyze the impact of the trade war on exports from Vietnam to the United States.

The findings revealed a 14% increase in total Vietnamese exports to the United States due to the trade war. Examining heterogeneous effects, certain industries, such as plastics, iron or steel articles, textiles and garments, and machinery and mechanical appliances, experience significant benefits. However, the study did not identify statistically significant effects on other sectors, such as electrical machinery products, agricultural and forestry, and furniture.

The paper is one among limited studies considering the causal effects of the trade war on a developing country, accounting for the heterogeneous effects on different export sectors.

Sustainable development is inseparable from rational and responsible use of resources and promotion of green entrepreneurship. The contemporary green development agenda encompasses climate, economic, technical, social, cultural, and political dimensions. International efforts to greening the global development are conducted by the major economies, including China as the world’s largest consumer of energy and the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. China is aware of its environmental problems, as well as of its part of the overall responsibility for the accomplishment of the sustainable development goals. By means of the decarbonization efforts, the latter are integrated both into the national development agenda (the concept of ecological civilization) and China’s international initiatives (the greening narrative within the Belt and Road Initiative). Over the past decade, China has made a breakthrough on the way to promoting green entrepreneurship and greening of its development (better quality of air and water, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and organic farming). On the other hand, emissions remain high, agricultural land loses productivity, and freshwater resources degrade due to climate change. In conventional industries (oil, coal mining, and electric and thermal energy), decarbonization faces an array of impediments. In this chapter, the authors summarize fundamental provisions of China’s approach to building an ecological civilization and measures to reduce emissions and achieve the carbon neutrality status within the nearest decades. The analysis of obstacles to the decarbonization of the economy and possible prospects for the development of green entrepreneurship summarizes China’s practices for possible use in other countries.