Effectiveness of Public Spending before and during COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic of COVID-19 influences all sectors of the economy. It caused decreasing in produced Gross domestic product (GDP) and higher unemployment. As it is known, to overcome this negative tendency, it is possible to put in practice monetary and fiscal instruments. During the pandemic, the government tried to slow down negative economic results through public spending. With them, the government looks to be increased aggregate demand in the economy and as a result-GDP raises and unemployment reduces. The research is based on created original model for testing the impact of total public spending, capital, salary, social insurance and care, for maintenance by a consolidated fiscal program on the value of GDP. The changes of GDP measure the effectiveness of public spending. The period of research is before and during the COVID-19 crisis (2019-2020) in the case of Bulgaria. Before the pandemic the analysis shows coefficient of determination for capital spending is more significant compare with all other types of public expenditure and these cost predetermine economic growth. During the pandemic of COVID-19 public spending has used as the main instrument to overcome the negative results for the economy. For this period it found an extremely strong impact of labor costs and social care expenditure on aggregate demand. They bring more positive results to be solved health issues, but not for faster recovery of the economy.

Social Enterpreneurs: Emerging Trend in Health Sector of Pakistan

The term Social Entrepreneurs is relatively new in the country like Pakistan. These groups try to overcome the existing social problems and derive sustainable social change in the economy through their innovative ideas and plans. The purpose of this study is to compare and explore the emerging trends of social entrepreneurs with the government in the health sector of Pakistan. This study tries to cover the research gap in the area of social entrepreneurship and highlight the growing role of social entrepreneurs in providing healthcare services to the people of Pakistan. For empirical evidence, three different healthcare institutions are selected. They include: Indus Hospital, Sindh Institute of Urology Transplantation and Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital. The services provided by these Healthcare Institutions are compared over the period of time. Trend analyses are carried out to study the role of these institutions by using various healthcare indicators and quantify the contribution of these organizations towards health improvement facilities in Pakistan. Some financial variables are also used to investigate resource mobilization in the sector. The result of the analysis revealed that these institutions are providing quality healthcare services to the people of Pakistan that are increasing with the passage of time.

The The Impact of the Exchange Rate Volatility on Stock Markets Dynamics in Tunisia and Turkey: An Artificial Neural Network Analysis

The present research provides an overview of links between exchange rate volatility and the dynamics of stock market returns in order to identify the influence of several macroeconomic variables on the volatility of stock markets, useful for political decision makers as well as investors to better control the portfolio risk level. More precisely, this research aims to identify the impact of exchange rate volatility on the fluctuations of stock market returns, considering two countries that belong to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) zone: Tunisia and Turkey. Previous works in the literature used very specified and short periods of study, many important variables were neglected, and most of the earlier research was concentrated on the developed countries. In this research, we integrate several control variables of stock market returns that have not been simultaneously studied before. In addition, we spread out our research period up to 15 years including many events and dynamics. Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and multiple regression models are first employed. Then, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used and compared with the results of the multiple regression. Hence, the results show that for both Tunisia and Turkey, exchange rate volatility has a significant effect on stock market fluctuations.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Dutch Criminal Justice System

This paper tries to ascertain the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Dutch criminal justice system. In the Netherlands, the first case of COVID-19 was reported in February 2020. On March 16, 2020, the Netherlands went into its first lockdown which lasted until approximately June 15, 2020. The effect of the COVID-19 crisis on crime is ambiguous. Whereas less crime was expected in the physical world, more crime was expected in the online world due to the crisis. During the first lockdown all government offices were closed, including the court buildings. Only urgent criminal cases were handled by the courts. Urgent criminal cases refer to those cases where the rights of suspects were violated or the safety of victims was endangered. During the first lockdown, the backlog of court cases increased, which adversely affected all criminal justice institutions that were responsible for executing court verdicts, like the prison and probation services. This paper assesses the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on crime and the criminal justice system. First, the effect of COVID-19 on crime is assessed by performing a regression analysis on monthly crime data. Second, using a long-standing forecasting model for the criminal justice system, an estimation is made of the long term impact of the changes in the level of crime, of the shifts towards different types of crime, as well as of the reduction of the prosecutor and court backlogs, and of a possible economic downturn and increasing unemployment for the complete criminal justice system.

COVID-19 Pandemic and the Rising Gig Economy: An Emerging Perspective

The Gig economy refers to short term jobs, contract or freelance work and flexi timing jobs as opposed to traditional full-time labor, which has witnessed a rapid growth in the last decade across the globe. Digital platforms have largely developed a free market system where independent workers connect with the buyers of the services. The Platform or Gig economy has grown at a much faster pace than ever before from the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. Since the COVID-19 lockdown, the labor market has been affected in a drastic way and a trend towards short-term and temporary jobs has become commonplace. The Economic Survey, 2020-21 highlights the growing importance of Gig economy in India amid the pandemic-induced lockdown which has led to an immense growth in the online retail business. The employers began layoffs and instead engaged freelancers or flexi staff to bring down their overhead costs. Many studies have been conducted now on assessing the impact of the ongoing pandemic on the economy and stock markets, however, very few studies focus on the influence the pandemic had on the Gig economy. The present study attempts to fill this gap by evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on the Gig economy by assessing whether the increase in new COVID-19 cases lead to an increase in the number of gig workers in the Indian economy, or in other words, exerts a significant impact on the Indian gig economy or not.

Covid-19 Pandemic and Severity of Economic Impacts: The Indonesian Case

This study tends to examine the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Indonesian economy with the focus on economic growth, poverty, income distribution, unemployment, tourism sector, and businesses. More specifically, this study tries to answer the following two questions. First, how serious has been the negative shock of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Indonesian economy, especially on economic growth, employment, wages, poverty, inequality, tourism activities and businesses? Second, what were the main economic transmission channels through which the Covid-19 pandemic have caused that negative shock? It adopted an exploratory methodology with a comprehensive review of available literature, including policy documents, research papers, and reports and secondary data analysis. Data used was from the National Bureau of Statistics (BPS). It reveals that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the Indonesian economy through four main channels: (i) declined domestic demand as a direct consequence of the "anti-Covid-19 impact" policy; (ii) declined export; (iii) declined imports of processed raw materials and auxiliary materials; and (iv) increased poor people as many employees have been laid off, or their wages were cut. As a result, the country's economy experienced a growth contraction of 2.07 percent, the number of foreign tourists visited Indonesia dropped significantly, the unemployment rate as well as the percentage of poor people increased, the Gini ratio experienced an increase, and many companies have suffered huge losses, especially in the tourism sector and also those whose businesses were very dependent on this sector such as transportation and food and beverage companies, as well as hotels and other accommodation provider companies.

How Do Police Officers Perceive the Challenges Posed by Covid-19: A Qualitative Case Study from Jammu Region in India

Police is an agency characterized by multi-functionality, to handle civic problems and to fight crime like robbery, murder, etc. As they are among the first ones to respond to an emergency, they have been classified as public safety personnel (PSP) such as medical officials and firefighters. The police personnel struggle hard to handle issues related to law enforcement functions, which consumes the bulk of their time. This paper discusses the main challenges faced by J & K Police officials (In incharge Police posts, Station House Officers and newly recruited Sub-Inspectors) posted in the Jammu region, during COVID-19. Such a study was needed due to the unanticipated situation created by COVID-19 and the unprecedented scale to which it affected people in general and front-line workers in particular. A qualitative approach has been used to present findings. Results show that during COVID-19, J & K police personnel have pursued their day-to-day activities quite zealously. Even if they do not have a day off and cannot celebrate festivals like other people, they are contented with whatever they have been able to do for society at large. Their families are supportive and do understand the toughness of their job, though at times, their preoccupation with a 24 × 7 job puts their personal relations at stake. They have efficient coping strategies. Despite experiencing physical and mental fatigue, they consider serving the nation as their prime duty. Health issues are common, but ignored by them. However, handling the public and keeping them indoors has been the biggest challenge faced by them. Many of them have reported the arrogance of the public, including the educated people, when asked for maintaining social distance and the reasons for coming out. This experience, coupled with extra efforts to be made by them in a crisis situation disheartens them.

Fourth Industrial Revolution and Future of Work in Asia

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has significant implications on the future of work and skills required in the gig economy. In the recent past, a large supply of young workers had led to rapid economic transformation in many Asian countries through well-suited education systems to create skills needed for employment. However, the old model of education and production will no longer sustain rapid growth in the decades ahead due to the rapidly changing demand for skills. Against the above backdrop, the paper has analyzed Asian experiences in technological transition, skills mismatches and labour market outcomes in the context of existing technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems. What are the challenges and opportunities of the 4IR for skill development through TVET in Asia? The paper has suggested a model for 4IR compatible skill development for the future of the work and draws the implications for the future. 4IR induced massive job losses calls for adequate skills development or retraining of displaced workforce and new entrants in foundational skills to enable them to tap the opportunities of new technologies. This requires robust TVET systems to equip workers with new skills for emerging jobs, which can be possible by increasing the quality of program structure to meet the needs of labour market. The technical training should be integrated into with the secondary education through education reforms to impart skills to thrive in the knowledge economy. The system of quality apprenticeships should be evolved with the active collaboration of potential employers in the curriculum development of TVET programs.

Technological Disruptions, Youth Unemployment and Vocational Education Challenges in South Asia: A Short Report

The main objectives of the study have been to analyze the situation of youth unemployment and employment in South Asia, challenges of skills gaps and job opportunities for youth in the context of technological changes, and draw policy implications to address youth employment challenges by reorienting the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to leverage youth employment potential in changing demographic-economic-technological dynamics of South Asia. The study has drawn the secondary data from the two major databases of the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. Data triangulation method has been used to the relevant data and the short-listed data has been analyzed through simple descriptive statistics and deductive content analysis to evaluate the data more comprehensively and scientifically. Theoretical triangulation method has been used to support the conclusions drawn from the findings and to lower the threat of wrong interpretation of research outcomes by a deeper and broader analysis. In the South Asian region, youth unemployment rate (YUR) has been estimated at 18.8% in 2020, which is projected to increase to 18.9% in 2021. High youth unemployment levels in South Asia have been due to a lack of appropriate skills through the TVET than the lack of jobs. In South Asian countries, skills for work have been largely provided at secondary and tertiary levels through TVET programs besides non-formal training programs in public and private institutions, including employers, but still, the skills mismatches are huge in the context of new technological changes and innovations. Therefore, robust policy actions are needed to address the skills gaps and meet the youth employment challenges by reorienting TVET programs to ensure that the skills taught in TVET are demanded and valued in the labor market.

Implication of Human Capital Development on Economic Growth by Using Cointegration and Error Correction Modelling in Pakistan

The study examined human capital development and Pakistan economic growth in the quest to evaluate various policy grounds upon which capital development exist among nations and its nexus and effect it will have on the domestic economy, this paper cross-examined the objective purpose of capital development as a measure of economy development the vector error correction approach was adopted as an estimation technique to reveal the short and long term disequilibrium in the study. Findings from the study show that there is a direct influence between the subject matter of human capital and economic growth in Pakistan by these findings, the study recommends that the government of Pakistan should continue the level of spending for the two sectors of health and education which are the underlying sectors for attaining capital development and purposeful growth and development in the Pakistan economy.