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Primary Conditions for Institutional Trust in Ukraine during the Conflict
Get PDFUsing Ukraine as an example, this study explores how performance-based and ideational factors interact in shaping institutional trust under wartime conditions. Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) is employed to analyse their joint presence in configurations associated with high and low levels of trust in state institutions. The findings suggest that trust is primarily shaped by performance indicators—economic satisfaction, perceived corruption, and personal safety—while ideational factors such as national identity, war-related ideologies, and democratic values play a secondary role. However, misalignment with dominant ideational narratives tend to exacerbate distrust during conflict, especially when institutional performance is perceived as weak. These results are used to argue that a divergence may appear between regime and institutional legitimacy in conflict-affected regions
Understanding anti-consumption and consumer reluctance toward foreign agri-food products: country of origin and perceived value in times of image crisis
Get PDFPurpose – Globalization has increased the importance of understanding consumer behavior, including anticonsumption tendencies, toward agri-food products, particularly in contexts where a sector or country faces an image crisis. This study aims to identify the key factors influencing consumer reluctance to buy (RTB) foreign agri-food products – a form of anti-consumption – with a specific focus on the role of country of origin in decision-making. By analyzing these variables, the research seeks to provide insights that can help businesses and policymakers develop more effective strategies to address consumer concerns and improve market positioning.
Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model is proposed suggesting that RTB foreign agri-food products can be mitigated by consumer affinity toward a foreign country and other key variables such as country image and perceived value, counteracting consumer ethnocentrism, notably when image crises affect a country product. The empirical study focuses on the Spanish agri-food sector, using data from 335 German consumers.
Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyze the relationships within the model.
Findings – Results indicate that affinity toward a foreign country and perceived value significantly reduce RTB offoreign agri-food products, whereas consumer ethnocentrism increases RTB. Moreover, the study reveals that image crises moderate these relationships.
Originality/value – This study provides original insights by investigating the agri-food sector and the nuanced impact of country image and consumer affinity in mitigating RTB, a manifestation of potential anticonsumption, within this context. Notably, it offers novel empirical evidence on how image crises concerning a country-product dynamically moderate the influence of these key variables
A Theory of Portfolio Choice for Heterogeneous Investors
Get PDFThe Merton framework has difficulty explaining empirical phenomena in household finance and life-cycle patterns. This paper proposes a continuous-time heterogeneous agent model with common noise to study portfolio choice for heterogeneous investors. Households pay an "asset-exposure premium" (AEP) based on their wealth for bearing common financial risk. The AEP effect serves as a non-monotonic third term in optimal portfolio choice. For households near the borrowing constraint, the AEP effect is large and negative, overwhelming other motives and explaining limited participation. As wealth increases, the AEP effect turns positive before disappearing at high wealth, resulting in a hump-shaped profile of risky holdings. The AEP enables households to identify the risk characteristics of their portfolio, explaining why the low wealth exhibits underdiversification and why middle-to-high wealth households hold diversified portfolios. Furthermore, this paper introduces a steady state and solves the degeneration problem of the wealth distribution in the continuous-time ABH framework
A Shrinkage Factor-Augmented VAR for High-Dimensional Macro–Fiscal Dynamics
Get PDFWe propose a ridge-regularized Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregression (FAVAR) for forecasting macro–fiscal systems in data-rich environments where the cross-sectional dimension is large relative to the available sample. The framework combines principal-component factor extraction with a shrinkage-based VAR for the joint dynamics of observed macro–fiscal variables and latent components. Applying the model to Greece, we show that the extracted factors capture meaningful real and nominal structures, while the ridge-regularized VAR delivers stable impulse responses and coherent short- and medium-term dynamics for variables central to the sovereign debt identity. A recursive out-of-sample evaluation indicates that the ridge-FAVAR systematically improves medium-term forecasting accuracy relative to standard AR benchmarks, particularly for real GDP growth and the interest–growth differential. The results highlight the usefulness of shrinkage-augmented factor models for macro–fiscal forecasting and motivate further econometric work on regularized state-space and structural factor VARs
Evaluating Remote and Office-Based Work: A Multidimensional Analysis of Employee Outcomes in the Evolving Workplace
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to evaluate how the implementation of working from home, as opposed to traditional office-based work, has influenced employee productivity, work-life balance, job satisfaction, communication effectiveness, and emotional wellbeing. A mixed-methods approach was employed, using data collected through structured surveys of two hundred professionals across various industry sectors, along with semi-structured interviews with the same participants. Quantitative analysis involved the application of descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, and the construction of a productivity and wellbeing index. Qualitative responses were examined through directed content analysis. The findings indicate that remote work generally enhances productivity, autonomy, and work-life balance, particularly among younger, digitally proficient employees in sectors such as information technology and finance. However, remote work also presents disadvantages, including communication gaps, social isolation, and reduced visibility within teams. In contrast, traditional office work fosters stronger team cohesion, real-time feedback, and integration into organizational culture, though it may lack flexibility and contribute to stress due to structured schedules and commuting demands. The study underscores the increasing relevance of hybrid work models as a strategic approach that integrates the strengths of both work modalities. Grounded in stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and systems theory, the research offers a multidimensional perspective on how work environments influence organizational outcomes and employee experiences. The study concludes that future-oriented organizations must design work systems that are flexible, inclusive, and adaptive, aligning operational efficiency with ethical and strategic considerations
Gobierno electrónico, economía y desigualdad.
No full textThe present paper has the objective to analyze the influence of the policy of e-government through the digital government index related to the income concentration. The theoretical connection to establish this approximation derives from the ideas of new public management and the strengthening of governance from the improvement in the flows of communication, information and interactions of the relation State-Society as a result of the implementation of the information technology in the public administration. The methodology consists of a set of panel-data regressions which considers the Gini coefficient and the digital government index, and also a number of covariates associated to the macroeconomic context in each department. The results evidence that the index is statistically significant to explain the income concentration and its inverse relation across estimations, the process of implementation of the information technology which strengthen the governance at a departmental level tend to reduce the concentration, finally the rate of occupation, inadequate employment and sector added-value tend also to reduce the phenomena of income concentration
Balassa-Samuelson Effect in Emerging Market Economies- An Empirical Examination
No full textThis study revisits the Balassa-Samuelson (B-S) hypothesis for 16 inflation-targeting emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) to test whether their inflation differential with the advanced economies (AEs) could be explained through the productivity channel. The study finds positive and significant impact of total factor productivity (TFP) and labour productivity (LP) growth differentials on inflation differentials between AEs and inflation targeting EMDEs. The B-S effect is estimated in the range 1.6-2.5 percentage points for India. The average B-S effect for the inflation targeting EMDEs, however, is found at a lower level at 0.5-0.8 percentage points. This difference in the B-S effect between India and EMDEs arises from India’s higher TFP growth (vis-à-vis AEs) compared to the EMDEs. The sectoral level analysis also corroborates these findings. Our findings provide an empirical support to the role of productivity growth differential in explaining the inflation differential between AEs and major EMDEs in the medium term
Benchmark on Underlying Asset Value for Islamic Banking Product: A Practitioner’s Perspective
Get PDFIn current Islamic banking products particularly in financing facility, the purpose of financing could be for asset acquisition or to obtain cash. In addition, financing may be given on secured or clean basis. For financing with secured asset, normally the value of security asset will match the financing amount whereas for unsecured facility, the underlying asset is merely to facilitate the transaction in which the value may not match the financing amount. In other words, the contracting parties may enter into transaction using an asset in which the price may be higher or lower than the actual market value. Such arrangement may lead to the issue on the permissibility to transact asset at different price than the actual cost or market value. This paper discusses on the Shariah and operational concerns in relation to possible benchmark on underlying asset value for Islamic banking transaction. This article is based on qualitative research approach which is purely based on primary data gathered through library research and observation from practitioner perspective. The outcome from the literature review can be applied as the possible asset value benchmark
The Consequences of Working from home on Well-Being: Evidence from the French Workforce
Get PDFThe global transition to working from home, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has fundamentally transformed traditional work patterns. In France, where work-life balance is culturally emphasized, this change presents unique challenges This study analyzes data from 66,839 French workers (2010-2015) to explore the impact of remote work on employee well-being, with a particular focus on anxiety levels and work-family balance.Contrary to conventional wisdom, working from home itself does not significantly affect anxiety levels. Instead, well-being is primarily influenced by factors such as age, gender, education level, and family size. Specifically, age exhibits a U-shaped relationship with anxiety, men report lower anxiety levels, higher education is negatively correlated with anxiety, and larger family size is positively correlated with well-being.The impact varies significantly across demographic groups, especially for employees with young children and self-employed individuals. This study reveals nuanced effects of remote work and highlights the moderating role of demographic and occupational factors, contributing to the literature on working from home.It also underscores the importance of France's unique cultural context in shaping working from home experiences. These findings indicate that organizations should implement customized support systems and develop targeted mental health resources, moving away from generic policies to effectively address the diverse needs of employees
The Evolution of Italy's Wholesale and Retail Trade Sector: Economic Trends and Policy Implications (2014-2023)
Get PDFThe wholesale and retail trade sector in Italy represents a crucial pillar of the national economy, contributing significantly to GDP, employment, and investment. This study analyzes the sector's performance from 2014 to 2023, highlighting the trends, challenges, and opportunities that have shaped its evolution. The sector has experienced steady growth, with value added increasing by 36.32% over the period, despite disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a sharp decline in 2020. Key drivers of growth include digital transformation, supply chain optimization, and shifts in consumer behavior. Government policies, including financial incentives and regulatory reforms, have played a crucial role in supporting the sector’s resilience and recovery. However, challenges remain, such as rising operational costs, regulatory complexities, and the need for sustainable business practices. The study underscores the importance of enhancing digital infrastructure, improving financial accessibility for SMEs, and investing in workforce development to sustain long-term growth. Policymakers are encouraged to adopt targeted strategies to enhance competitiveness, sustainability, and innovation within the sector. By addressing these challenges, Italy can ensure the continued contribution of the wholesale and retail trade sector to economic prosperity and social well-being