A differences-in-differences (DID) model and financial data from Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2019 are used to empirically investigate the effects of the digital economy on corporate financial asset holdings using the "Broadband China" policy as a quasi-natural experiment. After robustness testing and heterogeneity effects are disposed of, the digital economy dramatically boosts corporate financial asset holdings. According to the channel analysis, the digital economy can reduce corporate financing constraints and boost corporate financial asset holdings, notably based on speculative demand. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the digital economy has a greater impact on corporate financial asset holdings for firms with higher market competition, small-scale firms with a short-listed age, and firms in the western region. This paper provides policy guidance for enterprises returning to the real economy.

Although docetaxel treatment yields a high survival rate for prostate cancer (PCa), resistance eventually develops in many patients. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of docetaxel resistance is essential for improving treatment strategies. Cytokines, which play a role in cell signaling and immune responses, have been implicated in drug resistance mechanisms. The study revealed that interleukin-8 (IL-8) was consistently overexpressed in both docetaxel-resistant PCa cell lines. Thus, the expression levels of cytokines released from docetaxel-sensitive (PC-3- and DU-145) and resistant (PC-3/R-DU-145/R) PCa cells were compared. IL-8 was found to be commonly expressed in resistant cell lines. This finding led to the hypothesis that IL-8 could play a key role in mediating PCa cell resistance to docetaxel. IL-8 siRNA treatment increased docetaxel sensitivity in both resistant cells. To demonstrate the mechanism of IL-8-related resistance, MDR1 expression was evaluated. After IL-8 siRNA treatment MDR1 expression was reduced in both resistant cells suggesting that IL-8 regulates the docetaxel resistance of PCa cells via modulation of multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1). By expanding the knowledge of the cytokines and their effect mechanisms, novel approaches can be developed for the treatment of docetaxel-resistant prostate cancer. Further investigations into the role of IL-8 in docetaxel resistance could offer valuable insights into the development of effective treatment strategies for PCa patients.

Objective: The paper, specifically examines whether the recently formed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) can potentially facilitate minimising the constraints to renewable energy goods exports at the regional level in Asia. Data, Methodology and Findings: Using the panel data from 11 RCEP members from 2006 to 2014, this study has applied the ‘meta frontier stochastic gravity frontier’ methodology and confirms that the establishment of RCEP has the potential to improve trade in renewable energy commodities within the RCEP region. Policy Implications: The policy implication is that when countries work together, it will lead to enormous benefits for national, regional, and worldwide prospects of a more sustainable energy future. Practical Policy Implications: In terms of practical policy implications, the developed RCEP member countries should actively engage in promoting R&D activities and protecting intellectual property rights concerning renewable energy production, which are essential for countries to integrate with the world market and to lift the export frontiers of both the developed and developing RCEP member countries to reach the unrestricted export of renewable energy technology.

This study delves into the intricate interconnections among the financial sector, macroeconomic dynamics, and the advancement of sustainable energy production in South Asia. Utilizing data from 1987 to 2022 in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the research employs the Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) method to analyze financial market responses. The findings reveal nuanced insights into the complex relationship between economic and environmental factors, fostering a comprehensive understanding of the region's intricate nexus between financial markets and sustainable energy initiatives. In the Economic Growth model, the negative coefficient for CO2 emissions underscores environmental concerns, indicating an inverse relationship with economic growth. Conversely, positive coefficients for non-fossil energy production, Gross Fixed Capital Formation, stock exchange value, and domestic credit emphasize their positive impact on economic growth. A positive GDP coefficient in the CO2 emission model signifies heightened carbon emissions with economic growth, while a negative coefficient for non-fossil energy production suggests potential environmental benefits. The nearly unitary positive coefficient for Gross Fixed Capital Formation highlights its significant role in driving carbon emissions. The Non-Fossil Energy Production model reveals an inverse relationship between GDP and clean energy, suggesting a potential reliance on fossil fuels during economic growth. Positive coefficients for CO2 emissions, Gross Fixed Capital Formation, stock exchange value, and domestic credit highlight factors influencing non-fossil energy production. Long-run stable coefficients affirm variable significance, while a negative error correction term suggests convergence in developing countries. These models offer nuanced insights into the intricate relationships among economic, environmental, and energy variables, guiding sustainable development policies in South Asia.

Human factor inputs are key to promoting agricultural modernisation. Traditional economic theory suggests that improving human capital is the key to boosting agricultural productivity, but can this conclusion hold in China's dualistic economic structure? We use Chinese provincial panel data from 2000-2017 to examine the impact of rural human capital inputs on agricultural total factor productivity. We find that, on the whole, rural human capital inputs have a negative effect on agricultural total factor productivity, and that there is a "rural human capital trap". Mechanism analysis reveals that rural human capital inputs, on the one hand, cause labour loss and reduce the quality of agricultural workers, while on the other hand, they may promote the application of mechanization, which has both positive and negative effects on agricultural total factor productivity. Heterogeneity analysis finds that this negative effect is more pronounced in the central region of China because of the serious loss of rural labour. This study provides new policy insights for further improving the structure of rural education inputs and promoting human capital accumulation in agriculture.

This paper presents an operational framework for assessing the trajectories of production, energy, emissions, and capital accumulation to ensure the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The framework combines widely used methodologies (STIRPAT, system dynamics, and optimization) to simulate the pathways of variables until a target year. The CO-STIRPAT dynamic system allows us to identify the spillover pathways from carbon policy to economic growth based on output optimization principles; to conduct a more systematic analysis of the interconnections between the main drivers that determine carbon emissions; to develop a cost-effective climate policy mix that is a backbone for the right combination of carbon pricing, energy efficiency, and carbon intensity; and to assess NDC targets with respect to ambition gaps, implementation gaps, and feasibility.

This paper provides a thorough review of the shifting landscape of economic analysis, spotlighting recent trends and predicting future paths. While traditional economic models remain key for interpreting economic activity, they are being supplemented by fresh methods and cross-disciplinary viewpoints. The increased attention to inequality studies, using advanced statistical techniques and unique data sources, underscores the growing emphasis on fairness and distribution within economic analysis. The incorporation of behavioral elements into economic models also expands our comprehension of economic decision-making and market results. Notably, the emergence of computational economics-integrating artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and machine learning into economic scrutiny-represents a major development. Often referred to as ’smart economics,’ this field employs technology to formulate, address complex economic dilemmas, and perceive economic activity in unconventional ways. Yet, the application of AI and machine learning in economics introduces new hurdles around data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the transparency of model outcomes. The impact of the digital revolution on economic analysis is significant, as the advent of computational economics and the surge of big data are transforming research techniques and policy implications. Concurrently, the advent of the circular economy indicates a radical shift in our perspective on economic sustainability, carrying considerable implications for environmental policy and business tactics.  In the future, it’s anticipated that these trends will further modify the realm of economic analysis, with AI and machine learning integration, emphasis on sustainability and fairness, and the influence of big data becoming more pronounced. As these changes take place, it’s imperative for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to remain adaptable and flexible, prepared to capitalize on the opportunities and tackle the challenges these trends present.

Many of Keynes´s ideas and concepts are proven correct in this paper. The demand side, mainly business investments, drives the economy. Business firms steer the business cycle via profit expectations and animal spirits. Injections to and withdrawals from the circular flow of income are multiplied throughout the economy in accordance with Keynes´s multiplier. A sudden and sharp rise in households´ saving rates has a detrimental effect on aggregate demand, in line with Keynes´s paradox of thrift. Finance, not saving in the S=I sense, is the necessary condition for business investments and economic growth to be realized. Keynes´s finance motive thus makes money endogenous, contradicting the textbook result that exogenous money steers aggregate demand, contradicting the mainstream loanable funds theory and putting into question the Keynesian theory of sticky prices as a condition for real growth. However, a crucial omission in Keynes´s productive writings is the lack of an accelerator tying income to investment. Some of his followers such as Paul Samuelson tried to remedy that by developing multiplier-accelerator models. The problem with them is that the accelerator lacks micro foundations, in specific disregarding business confidence. Linking macro accounting identities with empirical national accounts data for five major economies produces the finding that business firms explain more than all aggregate expenditure growth during a 25-year period. Thus, it is concluded that business confidence is the root of the business cycle. Making the accelerator account for business confidence casts new light on the perhaps most well-known Keynesian “truth”: active fiscal policy as a main force stabilizing the business cycle. With business confidence being the endogenous and ubiquitous variable driving the business cycle, it turns out that any exogenous factor has the possibility to affect it. Policy needs to be viewed as a competing factor to the factor(s) driving the cycle in the other, destabilizing direction. The more powerful those factors are (e.g., a deadly virus), the tougher it gets for policy to “win” the competition, turning business confidence around. This leads up to the paper´s main conclusion: the worse the economy, the stronger is the case for active fiscal policy, but the lesser is the chance for it to succeed.

Credit markets around the world are undergoing digital transformation which has led to the rise in FinTech and BigTech lending. FinTech and BigTech lending is the provision of credit by FinTech and BigTech providers who have more capital, cutting-edge IT systems, worldwide recognition, greater online presence and are able to handle more big data on computers and mobile phones than traditional banks. FinTech and BigTech lending is growing in importance, but the determinants of FinTech and BigTech lending have received little attention in the literature. This study investigates the determinants of FinTech and BigTech lending. The study focused on the effect of financial inclusion and financial development on FinTech and BigTech lending. Using data for 18 countries from 2013 to 2019 and employing the difference-GMM and 2SLS regression methods, the findings reveal that financial inclusion and financial development are significant determinants of FinTech and BigTech lending. Financial development is a positive determinant of FinTech and BigTech lending while financial inclusion has a significant effect on FinTech and BigTech lending. Also, FinTech and BigTech lending lead to greater banking sector stability and also poses the risk of rising nonperforming loans. There is also a significant positive correlation between financial development and FinTech and BigTech lending. These findings add to the emerging literature on the role of FinTech and BigTech in financial intermediation. This research is significant because it provides insights into the role of financial inclusion and financial development in the digital transformation of credit markets.

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) may, in the coming decades, result in tens of thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars in additional economic activity. While much of the discussion surrounding AAM focuses on the technical aspects of the nascent industry, estimates of the potential economic impact vary significantly. Much less attention has been paid in the literature to potential externalities, positive and negative, and how these externalities may impact estimates of economic impact. We argue that much work remains to be done before policy advisors and decisions makers can formulate and implement strategies based on the projections of future economic impact of AAM.

The answer to how to stop economic growth must be political rather than economic. Economic growth made by men has an impetus which can only be stopped by a deliberate choice. It takes national and international decisions to stop it. In order to organize a moratorium on economic growth (which eventually must lead to a stop on growth) I suggest to create blocks of nations in the world. The European Union can function as a model for such a block. The E.U. is on its way of becoming a supra-national government which was created to ensure a level playing field for its members. Now it is meant to create economic growth for its members, in the future its administration should be used to stop it. Blocks should agree on the targets to reach a durable economy. Globally or between certain more advanced blocks a date should be set to stop economic growth after that date. Each block should implement the goals to reach a durable economy and prevent products reaching its market that violate the goals of durability. Blocks in developing countries cannot be expected to stop economic growth. They need that growth for two reasons. Eventually they must reach the level of existence in the more advanced block and secondly they must have the time to improve the standard for durability of their products. They need the aid of the developed countries to reach a higher but also more durable level of production, but this aid comes with a quid pro quo, In the meantime they must do their utmost to stop wars in their regions and conduct a responsible population-policy to reduce the growth of their population and let it reduce on the long term.

This paper evaluates the fit-for-purpose of the monetary policy measures implemented by the Bank of Ghana in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We examine the effectiveness of the BoG’s policy interventions in the context of vector autoregressions augmented with macroeconomic and financial indicators. We demonstrate that the BoG’s monetary policy measures have had nominal, real, and financial effects. The monetary interventions have been successful, as evidenced by the gradual reduction in the sovereign spread, improved financial stability, and increased real economic activity. Our findings suggest that balance sheet actions are less effective and should be moderated in the conduct of monetary policy in jurisdictions without zero lower bound constraints. However, the analysis indicates that in times of crisis, central banks should deploy both standard and non-standard tools to stabilize dysfunctional financial markets and avoid a deflationary spiral. The historical and variance decomposition of the data reveal that monetary policy shocks have historically made the largest contributions to the targeted macro-financial aggregates during the pandemic episodes.

The recent interest rate policy decisions of the South African Reserve Bank have been criticized significantly by left-leaning political parties and civic society organisations for being anti-poor, anti-labour, and pro-capital because of their implications for household debt. Existing literature has established that interest rates and house prices are insignificant determinants of household debt dynamics in South Africa. Taking advantage of additional data for the period 2013-2022, and contrary to the previous studies, the paper maintains that house prices and the central bank policy rate play a crucial role in household debt dynamics. Applying a Markov Switching regression to quarterly data for the period 1981Q1 to 2022Q1, the paper finds that house prices and the policy rate have a significant influence on household debt dynamics. It establishes the existence of a ‘house price boom, low policy rate burden’ regime and a ‘high policy rate burden, low house price’ regime. The coexistence of the ‘house price boom’ and the ‘low policy rate’ explains the debt euphoria characterised by significant household leveraging.

Major economic and financial contractions usually go hand-in-hand with muted inflation. This has been true for the Great Depression, the Global Financial Crisis, as well as the Covid-19 crisis. In this paper, we theoretically highlight and discuss the evolution of instruments and approaches monetary-policy decision makers at the Federal Reserve have in lifting inflation to desired levels in times of the zero-lower bound, paying particular focus on more rigorous developments like asymmetric average inflation and temporary price-level targeting.

The digital transformation provides an opportunity for the development of a green and low-carbon economy. This study used panel data collected from 30 Chinese provinces between 2011 and 2018, and assessed the impact of digitization (Dig) on environmental efficiency (EE). Quantile regression is employed to scrutinize the evolution of the marginal effect. From the perspectives of population and institutional factors, this study empirically investigates nonlinear relationships and potential mechanisms using Hansen threshold and mediation models. The findings reveal several key insights. Overall, levels of digitization and environmental efficiency (EE) are increasing with regional dispersion expansion, indicating a “polarization” characteristic. The impact of digitization on EE exhibits noticeable stage and regional heterogeneity. Analysis of population factors reveals that population structure, population size, and human capital trigger a sharp “marginal increase” of positive effects with single thresholds of 0.8155, 7.2284, and 11.0497, respectively. Analysis of institutional factors highlights the significance of fiscal policy quality (tax proportion), education expenditure, and tax system structure as important intermediaries. Finally, this paper presents corresponding policy implications.

Traditionally, conditions of sustainability of the public debt have long been related quite exclusively to fiscal policy and to budgetary parameters. However, the interaction between fiscal and monetary policies regarding the fixation of the interest rate is fundamental. Indeed, a simple analytical modelling shows that if the nominal interest rate increases exponentially with the public debt, because of a default (credit) risk premium, if the confidence of investors is fundamental, conditions of sustainability of the public debt could be much more difficult to comply with. Indeed, if the interest rate is risk-free, values for which the public debt can be sustainable are less constraining if the long-term GDP growth rate is high, or if the long-term risk-free nominal interest rate is small. They are also less constraining if the country decides to turn to a non-negligible primary budget surplus in case of a high public debt. However, if the interest rate exponentially increases with the public debt level, in case of a significant importance of the default (credit) risk premium, these parameters have very limited consequences on sustainable and equilibrium public debt levels. The sustainable public debt that a government should target is then much smaller than in absence of this risk premium.

This study delves into the complex relationship between China's international trade and economic growth, specifically focusing on emission intensity and its environmental ramifications within the context of energy efficiency. The primary objective is to provide a comprehensive understanding of how China's international trade dynamics influence economic growth, emphasizing emission intensity and employing a model that considers the nonlinear impact of trade on output. Through this model, structural breakpoints are identified, revealing distinct outcomes for China amidst positive and negative shocks from 1972 to 2021. The study uncovers the dual nature of the energy sector, acting both as a source of environmental degradation and a potential avenue for positive change through increased efficiency. Complex interplays among economic activities, inflation, and investment on carbon intensity are revealed. Additionally, the varying effects of export volume on carbon emissions intensity across lag thresholds underscore the significance of global trade dynamics for environmental sustainability. The study concludes by emphasizing the importance of balancing economic prosperity with environmental responsibility, advocating for carefully balanced policies that foster sustainable growth. Recommendations include considering the dual nature of the energy sector and implementing policies promoting increased efficiency. Policymakers are urged to adopt growth models prioritizing environmental responsibility, balancing economic activities, inflation, and investment to mitigate carbon intensity while acknowledging the diverse effects of global trade dynamics on environmental sustainability.

The goal of this paper is to provide an overall presentation of corruption as occupational fraud building on the findings of an empirical study conducted in Greece. As uncertainty leads to increased levels of corruption, Greece was chosen due to the prolonged period of uncertainty the country faces, caused by the 2010 financial crisis and followed by the Covid pandemic crisis. 400 questionnaires reviewing corruption perception were gathered and analyzed by gender, age, marital status, education level, position, occupation, and monthly income, as well as urban vs rural area of residence. The findings of the study were compared with and critically evaluated against those of the previous studies for Greece. Respondents in age group 36-49 believe that if appropriate measures are taken it is possible to tackle corruption in the public sector, in contrast to people aged 18-35 who disagree completely. Residents of rural areas do not consider corruption to be a serious problem and are more willing to whistleblowing (in contrast to residents of urban areas). The study findings have important practical implications in the context of designing effective corruption reduction policies.

Understanding the economic trends and demographic dynamics of a country is crucial for policymakers and researchers to formulate effective strategies and policies. This study aims to examine the GDP trends and aging index dynamics in Portugal from 2011 to 2021, with a focus on regional disparities and their implications for demographic challenges. The findings highlight the relationship between regional GDP and the aging index, indicating that regions with higher GDP values tend to have a relatively younger population, while regions with lower GDP values have a relatively older population. The study contributes to the existing literature on population aging by providing insights into the demographic, economic, and social implications of an aging society. It provides valuable insights into the demographic, economic, and social implications of population aging in Portugal. The findings contribute to the existing literature and can inform policymakers and stakeholders in developing targeted strategies and policies to address the specific challenges faced by each region.

Even though policy coordination is one of the oldest challenges that governments have to confront, as problems evolve and "New Public Management" concepts emerge, it has become even more essential. The current literature on policy coordination among government agencies, however, shows little regarding the way coordination is managed under centralized political systems. This study, based on the science and technology (S&T) policy documents issued by China's central government agencies between 1978 and 2020, provides a quantitative and dynamic analysis of the coordination of policies in China and presents a comprehensive overview of policy coordination paths and processes in centralized political systems. As a result, it provides a way that contributes to the analytical methods available for quantitatively analyzing policy documents. On the other hand, the key findings of the study show that, first, state council-administered ministries have taken the lead in coordinating policy while other types of organizations have collaborated in more subordinate capacities. Second, national themes that are democratic and driven by demand have been the core concern of coordination activities, such as social development, high-tech industrialization, and rural S&T. Third, policy coordination has evolved continuously and has mostly contributed to interpreting macrostrategies and implementing more specific implementation measures.