Microfinance Impact on Microbusiness Development in Africa

This chapter applies the control group experiment to study whether microfinance improved microbusiness growth in Ghana. According to this approach, statistically significant difference in the outcome between treatment and control groups is an indication of impact of the microcredit on microbusiness development. Thus, this chapter compares the mean monthly sales, number of employees, business assets, and capital stock of microbusinesses that received microfinance (the treatment group) and the mean monthly sales, number of employees, business assets, and capital stock of microbusinesses that did not receive microfinance (the non-treatment group) in seven municipalities identified by various non-governmental organisations as areas of financial exclusion in the Northern Region of Ghana using survey data. Results indicate that microfinance impacted positively on microbusiness development. These findings have policy implications for the government of Ghana and agencies that are interested in using microfinance as a catalyst for economic growth in deprived communities in other countries.

Assessment of the Sustainable Utilization Level of Water Resources in the Wuhan Metropolitan Area Based on a Three-Dimensional Water Ecological Footprint Model

The shortage and overexploitation of water resources restrict the sustainable development of metropolitan areas. To evaluate the sustainable utilization level of water resources, we identified the occupancy of natural capital stock and the consumption of natural capital flow by water resources consumption and analyzed the factors influencing water resources consumption in metropolitan area development. We took the Wuhan Metropolitan Area in China from 2010 to 2019 as the research object and introduced footprint depth and size, the water ecological footprint (WEF) model was expanded into the three-dimensional WEF model. Based on this model, an evaluation system for the sustainable utilization level of water resources was constructed with five indices—water ecological deficit, water ecological surplus, water ecological pressure, WEF depth, and WEF size. Finally, the driving factors of WEF change were analyzed using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index. The evaluation of the sustainable utilization level of water resources showed that the Wuhan Metropolitan Area as a whole experienced water ecological surplus from 2010 to 2019, but there were different degrees of water ecological deficit in its inner urban areas, and the most serious cumulative deficit was 5.02 ha/cap in Ezhou. In 2011 and 2019, the sustainable utilization level of water resources in the metropolitan area reached a relatively unsustainable state. Xianning was the urban area with the most sustainable utilization level of water resources. During the study period, the metropolitan area did not occupy the natural capital stock of water resources, and the natural capital flow of water resources in the inner urban areas could meet the demand of the current consumption of the region in 2010 and 2016. The analysis of the driving factors of WEF change showed that economic development effect and population pressure effect had a positive driving effect on WEF change, while WEF intensity effect and water resources carrying capacity effect had the opposite effect. Finally, according to the research results, it can be seen that improving the efficiency of water resources utilization, protecting the natural capital stock of water resources, realizing differentiated regional development through the market economy and developing water policy can be helpful to improve the level of sustainable water resources utilization.

The Contraction of European Economic Distances through Sustainable Tourism in the Pre-Pandemic Period

The current importance of tourism leads us to analyze the extent to which the receipts from international tourism, and tourism in general, influence the capacity of European countries to reduce the development gaps of this sector in the European context and the extent to which the economic growth is sensitive to changes in tourist arrivals, tourism receipts and expenditures. Studying the GDP per capita and the receipts from international tourism for the period 1995-2017, we find that the European tourism has an important role in economy but secondary to capital stock and exports. The methodology used is a sensitivity analysis and a multiple linear regression with two models. The results show that, on short term, the gap in the European tourism sector is explained by the ability to attract income from the international tourism. The European growth of the tourism sector depends to a large extent on the amount of expenditures that tourists are making, on tourism receipts and, to a lesser extent, on tourist arrivals, but in all cases, the connection is a direct and positive one but, even so, the capital stock and the exports continue to play a very important role for the European economy. The analysis suggests that tourism is not a panacea for growth. On the contrary, it is one of the activities that stimulate growth along with investments, technology, or any other form of capital, together with exports and labor market conditions.

The Estimation of the Potential Human Capital Accumulation Rate of China in the Future

From the perspective that the change in population age structure could affect human capital accumulation, this paper introduces a concept of “the potential growth speed in human capital stock” and discusses the future of China’s human capital growth from different aspects. This paper uses the perpetual inventory method and China’s sixth national population census data to predict the maximum potential space for China’s human capital stock growth in the future. Firstly, we use the average years of schooling of the working-age population as an index to measure the human capital stock. Though decomposing the differences in human capital stock, we introduce the concept of potential growth speed in human capital stock. Secondly, by decomposing accumulation rate of human capital stock in China, differences of human capital stock between China and South Korea, and differences of human capital stock between China and Japan, this paper finds that the age structure change will have a negative factor on China’s accumulation of human capital in the next 20 years. To conclude, China will probably accumulate human capital at a much faster rate until 2040, but the human capital growth potential is fully exploited on the condition of that.

The role of foreign direct investment in growth: Spain, 1964–2013

Purpose Foreign direct investment (FDI) has played a major role in the deep process of transformation experienced by the Spanish economy since the first 1960s, which even intensified, following the integration with the now European Union in 1986. This paper aims to analyse the long-run effects of FDI in Spain by estimating a production function including the foreign capital stock over the period 1964–2013. Design/methodology/approach The author estimates a production function including the foreign capital stock over the period 1964–2013, from which the contributions of the different explanatory variables on the accumulated growth of gross domestic product (GDP) are computed. Next, the author tested for the possible presence of structural change in the previously estimated equation, by means of the tests of Bai and Perron, re-estimating the production function for the different subperiods delimited by the structural breaks found. Finally, the analysis is completed by performing Granger-causality tests on the variables GDP and foreign capital stock in a multivariate setting. Findings The author finds a significant contribution of foreign capital on the accumulated growth of GDP over the period of analysis, which seems however to have been greater during the first years of the period analysed. Foreign capital can play a positive role in the economic growth of an economy, provided that FDI inflows are stable and permanent enough, but this effect on growth seems to be more important in the first stages of a growth process. Originality/value The author presents a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between FDI and growth for a particular country, which seems to be a more promising empirical approach rather than the approach based on panel regressions, where sometimes some dissimilar experiences are added together. The Spanish economy can provide a relevant case study, given the substantial process of growth it enjoyed starting from the early 1960s, characterized by the arrival of vast inflows of foreign capital.

Quantifying the Relationship Between GDP Per Capita and Inequality in the Balkan Region

Purpose:The paper aims to estimate the effect of inequality on the economic growth of Balkan countries for the period 2001-2017. In addition, the effect of capital stock on GDP per capita (GDPpc) for the Balkan countries was estimated. The low level of financial inclusion on the Balkan region produces an underinvestment of human capital and affects the low-income households, leading to an increase in inequality. Low levels of equality and capital stock negatively impact economic growth.

Investment and Decapitalization in the Fishing Industry: The Case of the Spanish Crustacean Freezer Trawler Fleet

The objective of this work is to estimate the capital stock invested in the Spanish freezer trawler fleet dedicated to the capture of crustaceans on the African coast, for the period from 1964 to 2019. The importance of having methods for the correct measurement of the capital invested in a fishing fleet is to be able to express in monetary terms the excess catch capacity, which is a signal of overexploitation of a fishery, that is, the fleet operates at a level of effort or capacity higher than the minimum amount required to capture the desired quantity at the lowest possible cost. Following a methodology based on the permanent inventory method, we obtained a model that explains the construction value of a fishing vessel as a function of its technical characteristics. The market value in successive sales was estimated as a function of the construction value, the age of vessel and other variables. In this way, we estimated the value that the market assigns to the possible increases in individual fishing capacity and the decrease in value derived from the technical obsolescence of the vessels. Finally, we calculated the gross and net investment series and net capital stock.