Pandemic, politics and protests will roil Tunisia

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Living Conditions ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Illegal Migration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Strain ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
Social Turmoil ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Spending Cuts ◽  
Fully Functioning

Significance The impasse, which leaves Tunisia without a fully functioning government, is taking place against a backdrop of mounting popular protests over worsening economic conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic and other social crises. Ten years after the Arab Spring, Tunisia has established a flawed democracy but has failed to deliver better jobs and living conditions. Impacts Social instability will fuel more illegal migration to Europe. Spending cuts amid wider social turmoil will pressure wide sections of society, making sustained instances of protests and unrest likely. Social strain will lead to higher levels of criminality and violence.

Evaluation of Socio-Economic Conditions of Coldwater Fish Farmers: A Case Study of Sikkim

2020 ◽  
pp. 62-71
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Gini Coefficients ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
The People

ABSTRACT The study analyses the socio-economic status, degree of income inequality and perceived socio-economic conditions of the fish farmers of the four districts of Sikkim. A total sample size of 200 fish farmers was selected from the four districts depending upon the presence of the number of farmers in each district. Purposive random sampling method was used and the results were analysed from descriptive statistics such as frequency count and percentages. The degree of income inequality was analysed through Gini coefficients. The factors that determined the perceived socio-economic living conditions were analysed with a logistic regression model. The socio-economic status of the people was found to be in good condition and there were not many variations among the fish farmers of different districts. Most of the respondents had pucca houses with the combination of firewood and LPG as a source of cooking fuel and also had access to basic amenities like electricity, drinking water and sanitation facilities in the households. The study also found that income inequality was not so severe amongst the fish farmers of the three districts except for the East district which had the strongest income inequality. The per capita income, housing condition and ratio of above primary education to total members had a significant impact on the perceived living conditions of the fish farmers. Keywords

The new Zambian president faces long-term challenges

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
National Development ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Debt Restructuring ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fiscal Constraints ◽  
Reform Programme ◽  
The Social ◽  
Voter Suppression ◽  
Spending Cuts

Significance Hichilema's surprise win came despite extensive voter suppression and intimidation attributed to former President Edgar Lungu and the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) against supporters of Hichilema’s United Party for National Development (UPND). Impacts The broad scope of Hichilema’s reform programme will pose difficulties of prioritisation, particularly within current fiscal constraints. Higher copper prices may mitigate some of the social costs associated with debt restructuring and spending cuts. The cancellation of a meeting between President Joe Biden and Hichilema over LGBT rights concerns may complicate relations with Washington.

EU agreement on immigration remains a distance away

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
Illegal Migration ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Countries

Significance It has yet to win over sceptical member states in southern and Central and Eastern Europe. However, there has been some progress on immigration with countries approving the revised Blue Card Directive which should open more pathways for legal migration. Impacts A fresh spike in illegal migration could have a defining impact on elections in Germany and France. The Eastern Mediterranean will be the most vulnerable route for illegal migration over the coming years. To reduce demand for foreign workers, some EU countries could try to incentivise residents to have more children.

Even if politicians deal, Lebanon faces a bleak future

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
Financial Strain ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Food Shortages

Significance The audit and wider structural economic reforms are preconditions for urgently needed foreign aid. Economic conditions in Lebanon are still worsening, with power cuts, food shortages and rising poverty. Impacts A new government would allow reform planning to resume and temporarily stall the decline of the currency. The easing of the global pandemic will somewhat reduce the financial strain, as Lebanon reopens its economy. Soaring poverty rates could provoke large-scale ‘bread riots’ in the coming months. Further devaluation of the currency will make poor Lebanese more dependent on sectarian protection and strengthen patronage. If the situation worsens, sectarian rural areas could revert to warlordism in the medium term.

scholarly journals The performance of corporate bond issuers in times of financial crisis: empirical evidence from Latin America

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Berninger ◽  
Bruno Fiesenig ◽  
Dirk Schiereck
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Corporate Bond ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Corporate Debt ◽  
Market Reactions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financing Decisions ◽  
Theoretical Approaches

PurposeThe fundamental theory of Modigliani and Miller (1958) states that a firm's financing decisions are independent from the firm's value. Nevertheless, several empirical studies as well as theoretical approaches from the past decade impugn this relation for real markets with their immanent inefficiencies. However, these questions are rather than academic in nature: Especially the influence of macroeconomic conditions on the market perception of debt issues is from high economic importance, since the need for new liquidity usually becomes even more urgent when the economic conditions worsen.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyzes the reaction of shareholders to the issue of debt by Latin American firms under special consideration of the macroeconomic sentiment. To do so, a sample of debt issued by Latin American companies between 2003 and 2010 is empirically examined through an event study.FindingsThe authors empirically demonstrate that specifically in Latin America, debt issuing companies show a significant underperformance during recessionary periods and an overperformance during nonrecessionary periods. These findings differ from previous results for mature capital markets. The authors conclude that not only the overall economic conditions matter to explain stock market reactions on bond issues but also the maturity of the corporate debt market plays an important role.Originality/valueThe authors provide first evidence that the previously described changes in the returns on specific stocks depending on the economic sentiment (Baker and Wurgler, 2006) are under certain conditions also present in the market for corporate debt.

Converging crime rates among European countries? A note

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 524-534
Author(s):  
Christos Kollias ◽  
Theodosia Leventi ◽  
Petros Messis
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Traits ◽  
Convergence Process ◽  
Unemployment And Crime ◽  
Empirical Methodology

Purpose Social change and modernization theories postulate that as countries grow they gradually move toward a condition of similarity in various spheres exhibiting similar economic and social traits. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a process of convergence in terms of criminality levels is present in the case of European countries. Design/methodology/approach The research question at hand is tackled through conventional s and ß-convergence methodologies and a battery of unit root tests in the case of 16 European countries over the period 1972-2012. Findings The findings reported, herein, are quite uniform irrespective of the empirical methodology employed to investigate the issue at hand. The result points to a process of convergence in terms of crime rates. However, this convergence process, although present and statistically traceable, is a rather gradual one as this is depicted both by the value of the β-coefficient as well as by the trend of the coefficient of variation. Originality/value Most of the studies in this strand of the literature focus on investigating the association between economic conditions such as unemployment and crime or on the effectiveness of crime thwarting policies. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first paper that addresses the issue of convergence in terms of crime rates in the case of European countries.

Is CSR reporting always favorable?

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 1506-1525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bilal Al-Dah ◽  
Mustafa Dah ◽  
Mohammad Jizi
Keyword(s):  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Outside Directors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Performance ◽  
Moderating Variables ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
High Participation ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Macroeconomic Environment

Purpose In addition to their profit maximization objective, firms are often challenged to meet environmental and social demands. The purpose of this paper is to test whether a firm’s macroeconomic environment moderates the efficiency of its social and environmental disclosures. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the Bloomberg database to collect data on the FTSE 350 listed firms for the years 2007-2012. The sample is split into crisis and post-crisis periods, to study the investor reaction to social disclosures under different economic conditions. Findings The results suggest that the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on future firm performance depends on the surrounding macroeconomic environment. During tight economic situations, market participants become more self-centered and penalize firms diverting scarce resources toward non-profitable societal engagements. Moreover, the findings indicate that firms with a high participation of outside directors and low accounting profit experience negative future performance when engaging in social disclosures during times of crisis. Practical implications Corporate governance is a system of interconnected practices that is affected by various firm and environmental characteristics. The results are in line with the premise that, depending on macroeconomic changes and specific firm attributes, CSR reporting may have dissimilar implications across different situations and conditions. Social disclosures and engagements are not always favorable, and should only be utilized in non-recessionary periods by firms possessing certain characteristics in terms of board composition and accounting profitability. Originality/value This study identifies key moderating variables which present additional obstacles for firms engaging in CSR during adverse economic conditions. Outsiders’ inferior firm-specific expertise, along with the firm’s poor accounting performance, present additional financial constraints for firms engaging in CSR activities during economic downturns.

Ethnic disparity in financial fragility in Malaysia

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-46
Author(s):  
Selamah Abdullah Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Character Trait ◽  
Ethnic Disparity ◽  
Financial Fragility ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Financial Vulnerability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Outcomes ◽  
Social Instability

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of financial fragility and its disparity across ethnic groups in Malaysia. Disparities related to income and wealth are major concerns as they breed conflict and social instability. The study also compares the level of financial fragility of Malaysians with their neighboring Asian counterparts. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the World Values Survey to construct two financial fragility measures. Descriptive analysis is used to compare the level of financial fragility of Malaysia with other Asian countries. Ordinary least squares and generalized ordered logit regressions are applied to determine the existence of ethnic disparity in financial fragility in Malaysia. Findings There exist ethnic differences in financial vulnerability in Malaysia where Malay and Indian are in a more financially fragile situation compared to Chinese. Other socio-economic factors and character trait also impact financial fragility. Compared to neighboring countries, the level of financial fragility in Malaysia is low. Nevertheless, over 40 percent of the Malaysians are just getting by in terms of their expenditure relative to income. They may be at risk to financial shocks without adequate savings or funds. Social implications Ethnic disparity in financial vulnerability added to the inequality in income and wealth can pose a serious threat to Malaysia which attempts to achieve long-lasting social harmony and sustainable development. Originality/value This is the first study that attempts to compare the level of individual financial fragility across Asian countries. It also makes use of a larger scale survey and a more representative sample to examine ethnic disparity in financial fragility in Malaysia. In addition, character trait is included in the analysis to provide a better understanding of human behavior in affecting financial outcomes.

Analysis of socio-economic conditions for rural development

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
M. G. Lescheva ◽  
T. N. Steklova ◽  
A. S. Khusainova
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Private Business ◽  
State Support ◽  
Support Measures ◽  
The City

The article is devoted to the analysis of the results of observing the living conditions of the rural population, assessing the scale and effectiveness of state support measures aimed at the development of rural territories. The development of engineering infrastructure (gasification and water supply), provision of improved housing, accessibility of means of communication, educational and medical services in rural areas was considered. A comparative assessment of the level and structure of household income in the city and the countryside has been carried out. Living conditions have been identified as factors in the deterioration of the socio-economic situation in rural settlements. The directions of improvement of socio-economic conditions of development of rural territories, which involves increase of state support financing within the framework of federal targeted projects and programs, increase of interest of private business and activity of the local community, have been defined.

Kazakhstan curbs oil output but eyes future growth

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Total Output ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
Public Investments ◽  
Market Impacts ◽  
Oil Exports ◽  
Oil And Gas Sector ◽  
Future Growth

Significance The oil sector's contribution to GDP fell last year, but this was due only to the market impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kazakhstan continues to depend heavily on oil exports for tax revenue and consequently for recurrent government spending and large public investments. Impacts Rising production at the Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan fields will increase their share of total output from 63% in 2020 to 72% in 2025. The continued concentration of foreign investment in the oil and gas sector will thwart attempts at economic diversification. Slowing production at old deposits in western and southern Kazakhstan is fraught with risks of social instability and unrest.

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