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In this work, the authors analyze the dynamic interdependencies between military expenditures and the real economy for the period 1970–2018, and the authors' approach allows for the existence of dominant economies in the system.

In this study, the authors employ a Network General Equilibrium GVAR (global vector autoregressive) model.

By accounting for the interconnection among the top twelve military spenders, the authors' findings show that China acts as a leader in the global military scene based on the respective centrality measures. Meanwhile, statistically significant deviations from equilibrium are observed in most of the economies' military expenses, when subjected to an unanticipated unit shock of other countries. Nonetheless, in the medium run, the shocks tend to die out and economies converge to an equilibrium position.

With the authors' methodology the authors are able to capture not only the effect of nearness on a country's military spending, as the past literature has documented, but also a country's defense and economic dependencies with other countries and how a unit's military expenses could shape the spending of the rest. Using state-to-the-art quantitative and econometric techniques, the authors provide robust and comprehensive analysis.

The rising concern for the accuracy of residential valuations in Nigeria has created the need for key stakeholders in the residential property markets in the study areas to know the level of accuracy of valuations in order to make rational residential property transactions, amongst other purposes.

A blend of descriptive and causal designs was adopted for the study. Data were collected via structured questionnaire administered to 179 estate surveying and valuation (ESV) firms in the study areas using census sampling technique. Analytical techniques such as median percentage error (PE), mean and relative importance index (RII) analysis were employed in the analysis of data collected for the study.

The study found that valuation accuracy is greater in the residential property market in Abuja than in Minna, with inappropriate valuation methodology as the most significant cause of valuation inaccuracy.

The practical implication of this study is that a reliable databank should be established for the property market to provide credible transaction data for valuers to conduct accurate valuations in these cities. Strict enforcement of national and international valuation standards by the regulatory authorities as well as retraining of valuers on appropriate application of valuation approaches and methods are the recommended corrective measures.

No study has comparatively examined the accuracy of valuations in two extremely different residential property markets in the country using actual valuation and transaction prices.

This study aims to examine the impact of socioeconomic factors on electricity usage and assess the feasibility of implementing a mini-grid system in Kasangazi, Malawi. The primary aim is to understand the community’s current and potential utilisation of electrical equipment.

A mixed-methods approach was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Information was gathered through structured questionnaires, and energy audits were conducted among 87 randomly selected households from 28 Kasangazi communities. Data analysis relied on descriptive statistics using IBM SPSS version 28.

The study indicates that every household in Kasangazi uses non-renewable energy sources: 60 households use disposable batteries for lighting, 20 for radios and all use firewood, freely sourced from local forests, for cooking and heating water. The study shows that firewood is the community’s preferred energy source, illustrating the challenges faced in the fight against deforestation. Most household income comes from farming, with smaller contributions from businesses, employment and family remittances. Access to higher education is scarce, with only one out of 349 family members receiving tertiary education. Despite the constraints of low education levels and income, there is a demand for larger electrical appliances such as stoves and refrigerators. This underscores the need for mini-grid solutions, even in less technologically advanced, agriculture-dependent communities.

This study underscores that in Sub-Saharan Africa, factors like household size, income and education levels do not significantly influence the electricity demand but should be taken as part of the fundamental human rights. Rural populations express a desire for electricity due to the convenience it offers, particularly for appliances like refrigerators and stoves. Mini-grids emerge as a viable alternative in regions where grid electricity provision is challenging. It is concluded from this paper that the issue of using renewable energy should not only be taken for environmental preservation but also to promote energy access, augmenting efforts in supplying electricity to the remotest parts of the country.

We present the results of one of the only in-depth studies of a police agency’s internal and external response to the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 (COVID-19). This study emphasizes the importance of law enforcement agencies conducting comprehensive case studies and after-action assessments to prepare, prevent and respond to prolonged public health crises and showcases the profound (and lingering) effects of COVID-19 on police organizations.

This multi-method case study combines document analysis, a workforce survey, a community survey, interviews and analysis of administrative data to detail and assess the agency’s internal and operational responses to the pandemic and the reactions of employees and community members to those responses.

Despite agency strategies to mitigate the pandemic’s effects, employees cited very high stress levels one year after the pandemic and a third of sworn officers considered leaving the policing profession altogether during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several policies intended by the agency to protect employee health and maintain staffing needs kept workforce levels steady but may have increased feelings of organizational injustice in both sworn and non-sworn individuals, with variation across racial and gender groups. A jurisdiction-wide community survey indicated general support for the police department’s responses but a preference for in-person rather than telephone-based responses to service calls. Officers, however, preferred continuing remote responses even after the pandemic subsided.

To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the only in-depth case studies that examine a police agency’s internal and external responses to COVID-19 and the sworn, non-sworn and community reactions to those responses.

The conflict between institutionalism and neoclassicism in the 20th century has been investigated by scholars over the years. Many of them believe that in the postwar period, neoclassicism triumphed while institutionalism largely disappeared. The present chapter takes a very different view. The late 20th century represents a broad synthesis of neoclassical and institutional themes in a methodology we call pragmatic empiricism. That approach combines the mathematical model building and theoretical formalism of neoclassical economics with the institutional economist’s data-driven statistical analysis and concern for developing institutional forms. We use as a case study the history of American locational economics from the 1930s to the present. The mixing of institutional and neoclassical themes is quite evident in the work of three young scholars at Harvard who effectively initiated American locational economics. In the postwar period, we find a series of outstanding, well-published papers that capture the spirit of the “founders.” These papers do use more modeling, but they also focus on major institutional developments. A broader review of locational works is consistent with the pragmatic empiricism label. The history of locational economics supports the claim that institutionalism, far from disappearing, continues to provide fundamental questions and techniques for modern pragmatic empiricism.

Cross-layer approach in media access control (MAC) layer will address interference and jamming problems. Hybrid distributed MAC can be used for simultaneous voice, data transmissions in wireless sensor network (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Choosing the correct objective function in Nash equilibrium for game theory will address fairness index and resource allocation to the nodes. Game theory optimization for distributed may increase the network performance. The purpose of this study is to survey the various operations that can be carried out using distributive and adaptive MAC protocol. Hill climbing distributed MAC does not need a central coordination system and location-based transmission with neighbor awareness reduces transmission power.

Distributed MAC in wireless networks is used to address the challenges like network lifetime, reduced energy consumption and for improving delay performance. In this paper, a survey is made on various cooperative communications in MAC protocols, optimization techniques used to improve MAC performance in various applications and mathematical approaches involved in game theory optimization for MAC protocol.

Spatial reuse of channel improved by 3%–29%, and multichannel improves throughput by 8% using distributed MAC protocol. Nash equilibrium is found to perform well, which focuses on energy utility in the network by individual players. Fuzzy logic improves channel selection by 17% and secondary users’ involvement by 8%. Cross-layer approach in MAC layer will address interference and jamming problems. Hybrid distributed MAC can be used for simultaneous voice, data transmissions in WSN and IoT applications. Cross-layer and cooperative communication give energy savings of 27% and reduces hop distance by 4.7%. Choosing the correct objective function in Nash equilibrium for game theory will address fairness index and resource allocation to the nodes.

Other optimization techniques can be applied for WSN to analyze the performance.

Game theory optimization for distributed may increase the network performance. Optimal cuckoo search improves throughput by 90% and reduces delay by 91%. Stochastic approaches detect 80% attacks even in 90% malicious nodes.

Channel allocations in centralized or static manner must be based on traffic demands whether dynamic traffic or fluctuated traffic. Usage of multimedia devices also increased which in turn increased the demand for high throughput. Cochannel interference keep on changing or mitigations occur which can be handled by proper resource allocations. Network survival is by efficient usage of valid patis in the network by avoiding transmission failures and time slots’ effective usage.

Literature survey is carried out to find the methods which give better performance.

The purpose of this study is to understand the investment decision-making of real estate investors in housing, highlighting the interplay between rational and irrational factors. In this study, investment satisfaction was a mediator, while reinvestment intention was the dependent variable.

A quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive research design was used, gathering data from a sample of 550 residential real estate investors using a multi-stage stratified sampling technique. The partial least squares structural equation modelling disjoint two-stage approach was used for data analysis. This methodological approach allowed for an in-depth examination of the relationship between rational factors such as location, profitability, financial viability, environmental considerations and legal aspects alongside irrational factors including various biases like overconfidence, availability, anchoring, representative and information cascade.

This study strongly supports the adaptive market hypothesis, showing that residential real estate investor behaviour is dynamic, combining rational and irrational elements influenced by evolutionary psychology. This challenges traditional views of investment decision-making. It also establishes that behavioural biases, key to adapting to market changes, are crucial in shaping residential property market efficiency. Essentially, the study uncovers an evolving real estate investment landscape driven by evolutionary behavioural patterns.

This research redefines rationality in behavioural finance by illustrating psychological biases as adaptive tools within the residential property market, urging a holistic integration of these insights into real estate investment theories.

The study reshapes property valuation models by blending economic and psychological perspectives, enhancing investor understanding and market efficiency. These interdisciplinary insights offer a blueprint for improved regulatory policies, investor education and targeted real estate marketing, fundamentally transforming the sector’s dynamics.

Unlike previous studies, the research uniquely integrates human cognitive behaviour theories from psychology and business studies, specifically in the context of residential property investment. This interdisciplinary approach offers a more nuanced understanding of investor behaviour.

This research paper explores customer experience (CX) among low-literate customers in organized retail environments. It integrates theories from customer literacy, CX and patronage literature to understand CX comprehensively.

The study gathered data from 470 respondents using mall intercept and snowball sampling. Data analysis employed partial least squares (PLS) modeling.

The results indicate that all the dimensions do not have the same effect on CX. Answering calls for future research, the results establish CX's nomological validity by showing its positive influence on retail reputation, retail quality and satisfaction. However, it does not directly affect patronage but has an indirect influence through retail quality and satisfaction. Also, the authors conclude that retail quality and satisfaction are consequences of CX and not previously conceptualized proxies for it.

Conducting primary research with low-literate customers (LLCs) has its own set of limitations that give rise to further research directions. While acknowledging limitations, the study suggests avenues for future research by surveying LLCs with an objective questionnaire, contributing to limited empirical research in this segment.

The findings highlight the multidimensional nature of CX. In summary, this research paper provides insights into CX dimensions and outcomes for LLCs in organized retail. It contributes to marketing literature, assisting retailers in improving CX and driving patronage across customer segments.

The paper contributes to marketing literature by studying LLCs, testing a comprehensive CX model, confirming antecedents in retail patronage and exploring reciprocal relationships in retailing.