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When having a job is not enough: poor-quality employment in Egypt, 1988 - 2018
No full textIn developing countries, governments are rightly concerned with generating enough jobs. However, focusing solely on the quantity delivers a partial picture, as socioeconomic sustainability and productivity also depend on job quality. This paper shows that although Egypt has experienced reasonable economic growth between 1998 and 2018, labour force participation declined and job quality appears to have worsened. Based on several Latin American case studies, this paper uses the Alkire/Foster method to measure poor-quality employment among wage-earners in Egypt. Using cross-sectional data from the Egyptian Labour Market Panel Survey (ELMPS), this paper contributes by (1) showing that this methodology can be applied to a lower-income country; (2) quantifying the proportion of deprived wage-earners and the clustering of their deprivations; (3) discussing that the 2003 labour reform likely had adverse effects on poor-quality of employment. The methodology, results and findings are relevant to other developing countries around the world
The Englishness of English Contract Law
No full textThis article examines how English judges and elite commercial lawyers view their own contract law in comparative perspective. It links English contract law’s perceived characteristics to a particular conception of Englishness—and, by extension, Britishness. That conception associates Englishness with a special concern for individual freedom, with self-reliance, with veneration of commercial exchange, and with scepticism about abstract principles of fairness. The article identifies the broader strain of discourse about Englishness before establishing the affinity between it and English contract law doctrine. As evidence, the article undertakes a close reading of judicial, extra-judicial, and scholarly claims about English contract law, particularly in debates over international and European harmonization proposals
Expert agreement on key elements of transformational adaptation to climate risks
Get PDFTransformational adaptation (TA) to climate risks has gained broad interest. While existing case studies and frameworks discuss key dimensions and elements that constitute TA to distinguish it from ‘business as usual’ or ‘incremental’ adaptation, a universally accepted definition of the concept remains elusive. Here we used a three-round Delphi study with experts from across the globe, to ascertain the level of agreement on key elements of TA, and to assess differences across expert types, geographical focus and administrative levels. We find broad agreement on 13 elements that are important in a definition of TA: root causes, climate resilience, time-horizon, diversity of knowledge, depth of change, distributive justice, context specificity, multiscale, restructuring, persistence, maladaptation, avoiding lock-ins and systemic change. However, notable differences exist in what expert subgroups value as important elements. Clarifying what TA entails is crucial for developing effective policies and strategies, ensuring meaningful progress in addressing climate change
Digital leisure or sleep priority? Strategic temporal negotiation of late-night smartphone use in China's accelerated society
No full textThis study reframes late-night smartphone use among Chinese young adults beyond pathologizing it as self-regulation failure. Integrating self-determination theory with social acceleration theory, we conceptualize this behavior as a strategic temporal negotiation to reclaim personal time. Structural equation modeling (n = 503) reveals that perceived leisure freedom and leisure satisfaction primarily drive behavioral intention, while perceived short-term risk deters it. Perceived long-term risk and guilt show no significant impact on intention. Perceived time constraint intensifies actual behavior, while social control paradoxically reinforces rather than limits it. Although self-control significantly reduces behavioral enactment, it cannot eliminate underlying motivational drivers. These findings reveal a tripartite negotiation: leisure benefits versus health risks, pleasure versus guilt, and personal autonomy versus social order. We theorize this as “strategic connected deceleration”—an adaptive response whereby individuals use technology to secure autonomous time amid systemic acceleration. Interventions should address structural time pressure rather than exclusively targeting individual discipline
Trump's new America and the question of fascism
Get PDFThe United States is undergoing a revolutionary transformation. In this article, we offer a novel and original early analysis of New America (Trump 2.0) as a contemporary political project on a protofascist trajectory. Our analysis contributes to scholarly understanding in multiple different ways. First, it grounds present American warnings about fascism in their specific historical tradition, showing how current alarm over Trump 2.0 continues, rather than departs from, long-standing American anti-fascist discourse. Second, it theorises fascism as revolutionary transformation, distinguishing it from both traditional conservatism and authoritarian populism, and further proposing a framework demonstrating how political projects may escalate towards fascism. This serves both as an analytical tool and as an early-warning system for identifying when democratic backsliding crosses certain critical thresholds. Finally, it provides an account of multiple mechanisms of ‘loyalty’ creation in Trump 2.0 that operate as an active process and are crucial to the project’s complete realisation
U.S. tariffs and Greek exports
No full textWe examine the effects of the 2018-2019 U.S. tariffs on Greek goods exports using industry- and firm-level data within a difference-in-differences framework. The results reveal considerable heterogeneity: eight out of seventeen products experienced declines in exports, six saw increases, and the rest showed no significant change. Firm-level analysis confirms part of this heterogeneity. While many export-oriented firms were resilient, some in specific industries experienced either export and sales declines or gains. A notable case is the aluminum sector, where firms experienced substantial increases in exports, pointing to potential sector-specific advantages. We also find modest evidence of export market substitution as a mitigating strategy. Our findings highlight the nuanced, sector-dependent effects of trade policy shifts. Policymakers should design support for affected firms through targeted trade promotion, market diversification incentives, and streamlined export procedures to enhance resilience against trade shocks
Essays in financial economics
No full textThis dissertation studies how financing shapes innovative entrepreneurship, and how promotions interact with the organization of knowledge in production. The first chapter examines how venture capital affects entrepreneurial innovation in a multi-sector occupational choice model. Agents choose to work or to become entrepreneurs depending on labor market and venture capital financing conditions. A larger venture capital sector incentivizes entrepreneurship, but at the cost of fewer talented workers in the economy and higher wages that limit innovation. When a sector becomes more productive, demand for venture capital increases, raising monitoring costs across the economy. I finally show that distortions to R&D create spillovers through the market for venture capital. Competition for a shared pool of excludable ideas leads to excessive demand for venture capital, increasing monitoring costs for entrepreneurs and lowering innovation across all sectors. The second chapter develops a model of early-stage financing in which entrepreneurs overcome uncertainty through experimentation and investors differ in scale, staging ability, and advising capability. The model shows that when investor advice and entrepreneurial effort reinforce each other by encouraging entrepreneurs to take on more risk, active investors back the most difficult ideas. When effort and advice substitute each other, investors shift to safer projects. The model helps explain the coexistence of diverse investors, the move of venture capital toward later stages, and the lack of active investors in “tough tech” sectors. The third chapter studies how promotions interact with the organization of knowledge in production. Firms organize hierarchically when managers’ expertise supports multiple workers, but prestige-driven promotion contests can distort production by diverting talent into inefficient lotteries, undermining knowledge complementarities between workers and managers across the economy. When promotion contests generate efficiency gains through, for instance, incentive effects, prestige can be socially valuable, especially in sectors with high communication costs
When less is more: emergency department staffing in Greece
No full textBackground Greece is a high-income country with over 10 million residents, approximately three times that many annual tourist visits, and about 150,000 refugees from the Middle East. Despite these demands, it has an underdeveloped Emergency Medicine (EM) system, contributing to challenges in access, care quality, system efficiency, and cost. This study aims to: (1) report current staffing in Greek Emergency Departments (EDs), (2) model ED throughput comparing EM-trained and non-EM-trained providers, and (3) propose a national EM dissemination strategy. Methods Staffing and operational data were collected from four representative public EDs in Greece: Nikaia, Volos, Lárisa, and Santorini. Facilities varied in physician coverage (0–5 attendings). We compared potential EM- versus non-EM-trained physician throughput. The only difference between provider types was compatibility with patient demand—EM-trained physicians could manage all chief complaints, while non-EM physicians handled a subset based on their specialty. Other factors like bandwidth (max concurrent patients) and speed (patients/hour) were held constant based on available and recognized standards. An expert panel was convened to propose a national strategy for EM dissemination. Results Across sites, physician-to-patient ratios ranged from 1:20 to 1:32, with 1–2% of arrivals classified as critically ill. Admission rates ranged from 16 to 20% (6% in Santorini); 23–28% of patients required specialty consultation. Average ED length of stay ranged from 4.5 to 6.2 hours. Simulations demonstrated that EM-trained staffing reduced physician needs by 53%, driven by a 10.95% increase in throughput (mean 7.83%; 95% CI: 14.2%). Fewer EM-trained attendings were needed (mean reduction 7.26%; 95% CI: 12.47%). These findings likely underestimate benefit, as downstream improvements in quality, access to specialty care, and reduced staffing burden from residents were not modeled. Notably, the lower the staffing level, the greater the benefit of EM-trained physicians. The expert panel endorsed a hub-and-spoke model centered on a national EM center of excellence, launching the first EM residency. With yearly expansion to university hospitals, this model could produce 1500 EM-trained physicians in 10–15 years. Conclusion Our model predicts that EM-trained staffing would improve operational efficiency, reduce staffing needs, and potentially yield system-wide benefits and cost savings for the Greek healthcare system
Trump promises peace in Congo: but at what price?
Get PDFPresident Trump is trying to apply his transactional approach to peace to the current conflict in eastern Congo. However, as Koen Vlassenroot, Kasper Hoffmann and Judith Verweijen write, without addressing underlying issues, the deal may not secure peace
Social media age bans will fail because they are not radical enough
Get PDFSocial media age bans are a half-measure, writes Nick Couldry. Only by banning toxic business models that seek to exploit and steer social attention can we create a healthier digital space