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1 – 10 of 89The use of economic sanctions has grown dramatically in recent decades. Nevertheless, many arguments are presented in the public policy space regarding their effects on target…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of economic sanctions has grown dramatically in recent decades. Nevertheless, many arguments are presented in the public policy space regarding their effects on target populations. The author presents the first systematic analysis of the effects of sanctions on living conditions in target countries.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides a comprehensive survey and assessment of the literature on the effects of economic sanctions on living standards in target countries. The author identifies 31 studies that apply quantitative econometric or calibration methods to cross-country and national data to assess the impact of economic sanctions on indicators of human and economic development. The author provides in-depth discussions of three sanctions episodes—Iran, Afghanistan and Venezuela—that illustrate the channels through which sanctions affect living conditions in target countries.
Findings
Of the 31 studies, 30 find that sanctions have negative effects on outcomes ranging from per capita income to poverty, inequality, mortality and human rights. The author provides new results showing that 54 countries—27% of all countries and 29% of the world economy— are sanctioned today, up from only 4% of countries in the 1960s. In the three cases discussed, sanctions that restricted the access of governments to foreign exchange limited the ability of states to provide essential public goods and services and generated substantial negative spillovers on private sector and nongovernmental actors.
Originality/value
This is the first literature survey that systematically assesses the quantitative evidence on the effect of sanctions on living conditions in target countries.
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Ana Gutiérrez, Jose Aguilar, Ana Ortega and Edwin Montoya
The authors propose the concept of “Autonomic Cycle for innovation processes,” which defines a set of tasks of data analysis, whose objective is to improve the innovation process…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors propose the concept of “Autonomic Cycle for innovation processes,” which defines a set of tasks of data analysis, whose objective is to improve the innovation process in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors design autonomic cycles where each data analysis task interacts with each other and has different roles: some of them must observe the innovation process, others must analyze and interpret what happens in it, and finally, others make decisions in order to improve the innovation process.
Findings
In this article, the authors identify three innovation sub-processes which can be applied to autonomic cycles, which allow interoperating the actors of innovation processes (data, people, things and services). These autonomic cycles define an innovation problem, specify innovation requirements, and finally, evaluate the results of the innovation process, respectively. Finally, the authors instance/apply the autonomic cycle of data analysis tasks to determine the innovation problem in the textile industry.
Research limitations/implications
It is necessary to implement all autonomous cycles of data analysis tasks (ACODATs) in a real scenario to verify their functionalities. Also, it is important to determine the most important knowledge models required in the ACODAT for the definition of the innovation problem. Once determined this, it is necessary to define the relevant everything mining techniques required for their implementations, such as service and process mining tasks.
Practical implications
ACODAT for the definition of the innovation problem is essential in a process innovation because it allows the organization to identify opportunities for improvement.
Originality/value
The main contributions of this work are: For an innovation process is specified its ACODATs in order to manage it. A multidimensional data model for the management of an innovation process is defined, which stores the required information of the organization and of the context. The ACODAT for the definition of the innovation problem is detailed and instanced in the textile industry. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques required for the ACODAT for the innovation problem definition are specified, in order to obtain the knowledge models (prediction and diagnosis) for the management of the innovation process for MSMEs of the textile industry.
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Aldo Salinas and Cristian Ortiz
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the productive structure and the size of the informal economy in Latin American countries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the productive structure and the size of the informal economy in Latin American countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs econometric techniques for panel data covering the period from 2002 to 2017 and considering 17 Latin American countries. The evidence presented is based on the informal economy data generated by Medina and Schneider (2018) who estimate the size of the informal economy using a structural equation model and the share of manufacturing in total employment as a measure of the size of the manufacturing sector. Also, the study addresses the possible endogeneity bias in the relationship studied and makes the conclusions more robust, thus avoiding spurious correlations that weaken the findings.
Findings
The results indicate that most industrialized Latin American countries are associated with a smaller size of the informal economy.
Practical implications
The findings have important policy implications, as they suggest that Latin American economies need to switch the structure of the economy toward more sophisticated productive structures if they want to reduce the size of the informal economy. Thus, more efforts should be deployed to policies to diversify and upgrade economies.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature on the informal economy by connecting the country’s productive structure and informality. Specifically, the results show that the productive structure of countries is a plausible explanation for the size of the informal economy.
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Rizky Yudaruddin and Dadang Lesmana
This study aims to investigate the market reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, specifically in the banking sector.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the market reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, specifically in the banking sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The research uses an event study and cross-sectional analysis, with market reaction measured by cumulative abnormal return (CAR). The sample comprised 1,126 banks.
Findings
The results show that the market reacted negatively to the invasion both before and after its announcement. Developed and emerging markets saw a negative impact from the invasion, while frontier markets experienced only a slight impact. The authors also find that the banking markets of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members reacted significantly and negatively both before and after the invasion was announced. This demonstrates that the negative market reaction of NATO members was more impactful than that of other markets. Overall, this study shows that investors in the banking market are very sensitive to war.
Originality/value
This is the first study to provide international evidence, specifically on the banking sector's reaction during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Gabriela Santiago and Jose Aguilar
The Reflective Middleware for Acoustic Management (ReM-AM), based on the Middleware for Cloud Learning Environments (AmICL), aims to improve the interaction between users and…
Abstract
Purpose
The Reflective Middleware for Acoustic Management (ReM-AM), based on the Middleware for Cloud Learning Environments (AmICL), aims to improve the interaction between users and agents in a Smart Environment (SE) using acoustic services, in order to consider the unpredictable situations due to the sounds and vibrations. The middleware allows observing, analyzing, modifying and interacting in every state of a SE from the acoustics. This work details an extension of the ReM-AM using the ontology-driven architecture (ODA) paradigm for acoustic management.
Design/methodology/approach
This work details an extension of the ReM-AM using the ontology-driven architecture (ODA) paradigm for acoustic management. In this paper are defined the different domains of knowledge required for the management of the sounds in SEs, which are modeled using ontologies.
Findings
This work proposes an acoustics and sound ontology, a service-oriented architecture (SOA) ontology, and a data analytics and autonomic computing ontology, which work together. Finally, the paper presents three case studies in the context of smart workplace (SWP), ambient-assisted living (AAL) and Smart Cities (SC).
Research limitations/implications
Future works will be based on the development of algorithms for classification and analysis of sound events, to help with emotion recognition not only from speech but also from random and separate sound events. Also, other works will be about the definition of the implementation requirements, and the definition of the real context modeling requirements to develop a real prototype.
Practical implications
In the case studies is possible to observe the flexibility that the ReM-AM middleware based on the ODA paradigm has by being aware of different contexts and acquire information of each, using this information to adapt itself to the environment and improve it using the autonomic cycles. To achieve this, the middleware integrates the classes and relations in its ontologies naturally in the autonomic cycles.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this work is the description of the ontologies required for future works about acoustic management in SE, considering that what has been studied by other works is the utilization of ontologies for sound event recognition but not have been expanded like knowledge source in an SE middleware. Specifically, this paper presents the theoretical framework of this work composed of the AmICL middleware, ReM-AM middleware and the ODA paradigm.
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Mohd Arshad Ansari, Mohammad Rais Ahmad, Pushp Kumar, Arvind Kumar Yadav and Rajveer Kaur Ritu
This study aims to examine the impact of oil consumption on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and total factor productivity (TFP) in highly oil-consuming countries of the world from…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of oil consumption on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and total factor productivity (TFP) in highly oil-consuming countries of the world from 1995 to 2019.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) are applied.
Findings
FMOLS and DOLS models reveal that oil consumption, human capital, population, trade openness and nonrenewable energy have a significant positive effect on CO2 emissions. While information and communication technology (ICT), as proxied by mobile and natural resources, has a significant negative effect on CO2 emissions. In the case of TFP, oil consumption, ICT and natural resources have a significant positive effect on the TFP. On the other hand, trade openness, population, human capital and nonrenewable energy have a significant negative effect on TFP. The results of this study can help to provide policy recommendations to reduce CO2 emissions in studied highly oil-consuming countries of the world.
Originality/value
Due to the threat to sustainable development, climate change has become a major topic for debate around the world. The influence of oil consumption on CO2 emission and TFP is less known in the available literature. Another significance of this study is that many researchers considered aggregate energy consumption to study this relationship, but the authors have studied the effect of energy consumption, particularly from oil in the top oil-consuming countries, which is a significant shortcoming of the present research.
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Rahman Ullah Khan, Karim Ullah and Muhammad Atiq
This study aims to synthesize the existing literature with insights gained from interviews conducted with regulatory experts. The objective is to analyse the challenges associated…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to synthesize the existing literature with insights gained from interviews conducted with regulatory experts. The objective is to analyse the challenges associated with incorporating cryptocurrencies into regulatory frameworks and to explore constraints in the regulatory institutionalization of cryptocurrencies.
Design/methodology/approach
The study methodology consists of two steps. The first step is to identify regulatory constraints in the literature review and in the next step, interviews are conducted with officials of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The study used a qualitative case study methodology, in which a single case (regulatory constraint) was selected as a unit of analysis.
Findings
The findings show that lack of traceability, legal status, lack of governmental control due to decentralization, difficulty enforcing laws, volatility, lack of skills with regulators and difficulty integrating cryptocurrencies into the current financial system are the main obstacles to the introduction of a regulatory framework. Thus, on a broader conceptual level, the findings can be grouped into opportunism, lack of strategic capability and fragmented global laws.
Research limitations/implications
This study could inform global cryptocurrency regulation discussions, sharing a developing country’s views on balancing the government, central banks, the financial sector and public interests. This could guide countries to consider cryptocurrency adoption in similar situations. This could affect the cryptocurrency market, impacting demand, supply and investor trust in Pakistan.
Practical implications
The study has implications for policy making officials. The research aims to offer valuable insights to the SBP and other regulatory authorities, helping them identify potential risks and create an effective regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
Social implications
The study has implications for society in knowing about the volatile nature of cryptos and anonymity of their issuers, which poses regulatory constraints. This then implies its harmfullness to its traders and the huge losses that may arise from their trading due to its volatile nature.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on the constraints, responsibilities and consultation framework of cryptocurrency regulations.
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Gouda Abdel Khalek and Amany Rizk
This paper aims to obtain a recent estimate of the cost of precautionary foreign reserve accumulation that emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) had to endure to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to obtain a recent estimate of the cost of precautionary foreign reserve accumulation that emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) had to endure to protect themselves against the risks of financial globalization. In addition, the study estimates the cost of excess reserves in emerging market economies (EMEs) using various reserve adequacy indicators that reflect potential sources of foreign exchange drains and vulnerability in EMEs' balance of payments.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper begins by explaining the accumulation of foreign reserves in EMDEs as a self-protection strategy against the risks of financial globalization. Next, it sheds light on the different types of economic costs of foreign reserve accumulation. Finally, it estimates the cost of foreign reserve accumulation in EMEs during the period (1990–2018) and in EMDEs during the period (1990–2015) due to data availability.
Findings
Results indicate that the cost of accumulating foreign reserves as a self-protection strategy in EMDEs and EMEs' was huge compared to their development financing needs. Applying various reserve adequacy measures demonstrates that many of the EMEs were holding inadequate precautionary reserves in 2018. Actually, this reflects the significant increase in external short term debt that many of the EMEs have witnessed since the eruption of the global financial crisis (2008). Thus increasing reserves in EMEs with weak reserve buffers and higher external debt is critical as they are more vulnerable to external shocks and capital flow reversals. Also given the estimated huge costs of accumulating foreign reserves, EMDEs should accompany it by other complementary self-protection policies and liquidity management policies to free up resources for productive investment.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature by estimating the cost of precautionary foreign reserve accumulation imposed on EMDEs during an extended period of time that covers a decade after the onset of the global financial crisis. Also to the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that estimates the cost of excess reserves in EMEs using various reserve adequacy indicators including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessing reserve adequacy (ARA) approach.
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Khadijeh Hassanzadeh, Kiumars Shahbazi, Mohammad Movahedi and Olivier Gaussens
This paper aims to investigate the difference between the impacts of indicators of trade barriers (TBs) on bankrupt enterprises (BEs), new enterprises (NEs) and other enterprises…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the difference between the impacts of indicators of trade barriers (TBs) on bankrupt enterprises (BEs), new enterprises (NEs) and other enterprises (OEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper has used a multiple-step approach. At the first stage, the initial data has been collected from interviews with 164 top managers of SMEs in West Azerbaijan in Iran during two periods of 2013–2015 and 2017–2019. At the second step, multiple correspondence analysis has been used to summarize the relationships between variables and construct indices for different groups of TBs. Finally, the generalized structural equation model method was used to examine the impact of export barriers.
Findings
The results showed that the political legal index is the main TBs for BEs and NEs, but it had a more significant impact on BEs; the financial index was the second major TBs factor for BEs, while OEs did not have a problem in performance index, and the financial index was classified as a minor obstacle for them. All indicators of marketing barriers (except production index) had a negative and significant effect on all enterprises; the most important TBs for NEs was the information index.
Originality/value
The results indicated that if enterprises have a strong financial system and function, they can lessen the impact of sanctions and keep themselves in the market.
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This paper aims to study the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) channels in improving local firms' productivity. Two transmission channels of knowledge spillovers are…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) channels in improving local firms' productivity. Two transmission channels of knowledge spillovers are empirically investigated. The study focuses on the role of high-growth firms (HGFs) that are assumed to have a higher absorptive capacity.
Design/methodology/approach
A threshold regression model that considers country and sector fixed effects is applied to investigate 8525 firms across 50 sectors in 12 developing countries in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region.
Findings
The author's findings indicate that first, larger firms with external market linkages are more productive. Second, high-growth enterprises are powerful engines of job creation; however, the firms do not outperform other firms in terms of capacity in absorbing FDI spillovers and do not have higher productivity.
Research limitations/implications
The findings highlight the necessity of rethinking public policy priorities to support firm growth. Policies to maximize the gains from FDI spillovers are discussed.
Originality/value
This is the first study to investigate the strength of FDI spillover channels across different sectors, and the channels' impact on the productivity of local enterprises in the EAP region. This study also explores the potential role of high-growth firms (HGFs) in this interaction via job creation and improving output growth rate.
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