Second Thoughts About Central Bank Digital Currencies

Sustained decline in central banks’ monetary liabilities (reserves and currency in circulation), which the emergency of cryptocurrencies may have hastened, has been enabled by technological innovations that over time have allowed financial institutions and their customers to execute transactions and settle their debts without resorting to central bank currency. Policymakers are concerned about their ability to guarantee public’s access to government-backed currency. This has implications for central banks’ balance sheet and income position, which central bank digital currency might reconstitute. But the introduction of central bank digital currency (CBDC) comes with its own risks and could be disruptive for financial markets. We believe that retaining the option to have access to government-guaranteed currency is of utmost importance, despite the sporadic demand for physical currency in the modern society, but it could be addressed within existing institutional structures without the introduction of CBDC. However, policy authorities are right in seeking oversight and regulation for cryptocurrencies to address the destabilizing potential of cryptocurrencies for financial markets, and they should continue modernizing payment infrastructures to bring retail settlement systems at par with cryptocurrencies in terms of settlement speed but without associated liquidity and credit risks. These steps would preserve the status quo and allow private sector to continue innovating while limiting central banks’ footprint in the financial markets.

A Review of the Impact of Reforms on Financial Viability and Sustainability of Tanzania’s Power Sector

In Tanzania, reforms were mooted in the 1990s to solve two intertwined problems; the financing of investment and reducing the fiscal drain on the government to the sector. This study deploys the ARDL Model and paired-sample t-statistic tests, with profitability and liquidity data from 1989 to 2020 to examine the impact of the reforms on sectoral financial condition in Tanzania. The results suggest that both profitability and liquidity did not significantly improve after reforms. Apart from commercialization policy, other variables were not statistically significant with privatization and liberalization law exerting a negative pressure on liquidity. The findings, therefore, appear to contradict the theoretical view that the reforms improve the financial condition of both the sector and the governments. The outcome can be explained by unfinished reforms manifested by continued politicization of the sector hence underpricing and underinvestment. To ensure sectoral financial viability and sustainability we recommend that the reform policies such as commercialization, corporatization, and independent regulation should be prioritized. These findings will add value to policymakers in Tanzania and beyond which are reforming their power sectors by recognizing that efficient pricing and investment are key for a viable and sustainable financial condition of the sector.

High Times for U.S. Employees: Human Resource Management Considerations in Addressing Marijuana Legalization in U.S. Organizations

Recent changes in state laws have legalized marijuana use for their state citizens. Originally by 2016, twenty-six states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had legalized marijuana for medical use (State Medical Marijuana Laws, 2016). In the 2020 elections eighteen states, two U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia legalized recreational use of cannabis. We now have thirty-six states, four U.S. territories, and D.C. who have legalized medical use of the drug use (State Medical Marijuana Laws, 2021). This however creates some major issues for Human Resource professionals due to the fact that federal law still considers marijuana use illegal. This creates a confusing situation for organizations and especially Human Resource professionals who must create and enforce policies on the use of prescription and non-prescription drugs within the work environment. The purpose of this research is to determine if medical marijuana should be protected in the workplace and under what conditions. Based on the literature three research questions were posed and three hypotheses were tested based on analyzing data from a survey questionnaire that was completed by 57 working adults. Results indicate that they support the use of medical marijuana as a viable medical treatment and companies should recognize and support this medical remedy. Results indicate employees should be protected in their use of marijuana under the FMLA. Results also indicate marijuana should also be considered for long-term and permanent illnesses under the ADA. Implications are employees see marijuana in a positive light, as a viable medical treatment, and expect human resource management to support policies that allow for use of marijuana.

Reviewer Acknowledgements

Applied Economics and Finance (AEF) would like to acknowledge the following reviewers for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Many authors, regardless of whether AEF publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review for this issue.Reviewers for Volume 8, Number 6 Albert Henry Ntarmah, Jiangsu University, GhanaAndualem Ufo Baza, Wolaita Sodo University, EthiopiaMarco Muscettola, Independent Researcher-Credit Risk Manager, ItalyOmer Allagabo Omer Mustafa, Sudan Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences., SudanRajeev Rana, APB Govt. P.G. College, IndiaRomeo Victor Ionescu, Dunarea de Jos University, RomaniaSebastian Schich, Organisation for Economic Coopertaion and Development (OECD), FranceY. Saidi, M’sila University, Algeria Nikki GibbsEditorial AssistantOn behalf of,The Editorial Board of Applied Economics and FinanceRedfame Publishing9450 SW Gemini Dr. #99416Beaverton, OR 97008, USAURL: http://aef.redfame.com

Modeling College Admission as a Signaling Game

This paper models the college admission process as a signaling game between the admissions office and a pool of heterogeneous applicants characterized by academic abilities and demonstrated interest. In the screening and selection process, applicants attempt to signal their private information through their performance on a standardized test (for academic abilities) and interview (for demonstrated interest). We show, under general conditions, that a separating equilibrium exists in which it is incentive-compatible for applicants to reveal their characteristics truthfully, and thus the admissions office does not fall victim to the problem of information asymmetry. Furthermore, we delineate how this equilibrium can be induced by setting appropriate “scoring” thresholds associated with standardized tests and interviews.

How Poverty, Residence Status and Health Insurance Predict Unmet Healthcare Needs among Chinese Elders?

This study focuses on the variability in unmet healthcare needs among vulnerable Chinese elders and the degree to which these unmet needs are associated with socioeconomic disadvantages. We use the 2013 wave of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and a multinomial logistic model to investigate how poverty, residence status and particular health insurance schemes influence unmet healthcare needs independently and in combination. Our results show that poverty and rural residence are strong predictors of unmet healthcare needs due to financial and non-financial constraints, respectively. Although health insurance can reduce financial barriers, its influence varies with different insurance schemes, thus generating unequal healthcare access among heterogeneous vulnerable subgroups of elders and putting poor rural migrants at the highest risk for unmet healthcare needs. Our findings direct attention to the differences in resources available to various subgroups of elders and the importance of social stratification in predicting unmet health care needs.

Talent Management: An Emerging Focus on the Banking Sector of South Africa

An organisation's talent management practice is a human resource strategy aimed at identifying, developing, deploying and retaining talented and high-potential staff. Talent management is primarily among the human resource practices of employee development. By identifying and enhancing the skills of employees, it not only increases their efficiency, but also results in higher job satisfaction, increased motivation, and elevated retention rates of staff.The purpose of this research was to look into the impact of talent management on South Africa's banking sector, with reference to the retention of employees. Those included in the study were randomly selected managers and staff from FNB, ABSA and Nedbank. The study's goal was to investigate if targeted talent management influences the retention of employees within the organisation.This study used a descriptive research design. To obtain quantitative data, the researcher applied a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data produced from Cronbach alpha, Z-test and Chi-square tests. The research disclosed that the primary talent methods are motivation, regular training and employee development.However, succession planning, career mentoring, recruitment, and selection - as talent management techniques have a direct relationship with employee retention. Based on the study’s findings, it is recommended that the organisation should develop effective talent management practices aimed at increasing the retention of employees.

Transformer-Based Patent Novelty Search by Training Claims to Their Own Description

In this paper we present a method to concatenate patent claims to their own description. By applying this method, bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) train suitable descriptions for claims. Such a trained BERT could be able to identify novelty relevant descriptions for patents. In addition, we introduce a new scoring scheme: relevance score or novelty score to interprete the output of BERT. We test the method on patent applications by training BERT on the first claims of patents and corresponding descriptions. The output is processed according to the relevance score and the results compared with the cited X documents in the search reports. The test shows that BERT score some of the cited X documents as highly relevant.

Reviewer Acknowledgements

Applied Economics and Finance (AEF) would like to acknowledge the following reviewers for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Many authors, regardless of whether AEF publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review for this issue.Reviewers for Volume 8, Number 5 ALI DARUB KASSAR, Univ. of Baghdad, IraqAndrey Kudryavtsev, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley Academic College, IsraelAndualem Ufo Baza, Wolaita Sodo University, EthiopiaIan McFarlane, University of Reading, UKMarco Muscettola, Independent Researcher-Credit Risk Manager, ItalyPayal Chadha, University of Wales Prifysgol Cymru, KuwaitRajeev Rana, APB Govt. P.G. College, IndiaRichard Nguyen, Alliant International University, USASebastian Schich, Organisation for Economic Coopertaion and Development (OECD), FranceVictoria Cociug, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, MoldovaZi-Yi Guo, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., USA Nikki GibbsEditorial AssistantOn behalf of,The Editorial Board of Applied Economics and FinanceRedfame Publishing9450 SW Gemini Dr. #99416Beaverton, OR 97008, USAURL: http://aef.redfame.com

Smallholder Farmers’ Perception and Adaptation to Climate Change in Kurmuk District, Ethiopia

Ethiopia is among the countries experiencing frequent drought and highly vulnerable to climate change associated impacts. Adaptation to climate change impacts are key element for sustainable development of economy. The objective of the study was analysis determinates of smallholder farmer’s climate change perception and adaptation options in Kurmuk district. For the study both primary and secondary data sources were employed. The primary data collected from 160 randomly selected sample households. The binary logit and multinomial logit model were employed to identify the factor that determines smallholder farmers’ climate change perception and adaptation strategies respectively. Results revealed that sex, extension service, credit access, climate information and distance from market are significantly affects smallholder farmers’ perception to climate change in kurmuk district, While, sex, education, cultivated land, access to credit services, climate information, access to market, extension service, distance from farm, off-farm income and on-farm income are found statistically significant affected adaptation options of smallholder farmers. Therefore, strengthening extension services, access credit services, disseminating climate and market information, diversification of farmer’s income are among the recommendable mechanisms to advance their perception and adaptation to climate change.