Employment and development levels in rural areas of the Russian Federation

The development of agro-industrial complex is important for ensuring national food security and national health.The development of rural areas is subject to the development of agriculture and local infrastructure,as well as the availability of various services.This study selected 15 indicators in 2021 to analyze the employment and development levels in rural areas of 71 regions of the Russian Federation using the analytical grouping method.The results indicated that 20 regions(Group 1)had the highest percentage of rural population(33.10%).The percentage of population engaged in agriculture had the highest value(12.40%)in 31 regions(Group 2).Moreover,20 regions(Group 3)had the highest investments in fixed assets at the expense of municipal budget(11.80 USD/person).Increasing the investments in fixed assets carried out from the budget of the municipality can improve the employment level in rural areas.Then,we used cluster analysis to divide 14 regions of the Volga Federal District in the Russian Federation into 3 clusters.Cluster 1 covered Kirov Region and Republic of Mari El;Cluster 2 included Ulyanovsk Region,Saratov Region,Nizhny Novgorod Region,Perm Territory,Orenburg Region,Chuvash Region,and Republic of Mordovia;and Cluster 3 contained Republic of Tatarstan,Samara Region,Udmurtian Republic,Penza Region,and Republic of Bashkortostan.Results indicated that the 2 regions of Cluster 1 need to increase the availability of resources and natural gas and improve the investment attractiveness of rural areas.The 7 regions of Cluster 2 needed to develop infrastructure,public services,and agricultural production.We found the highest employment level in rural areas,the largest investments in fixed assets at the expense of municipal budget,the largest residential building area per 10,000 persons,and the largest individual residential building area in the 5 regions of Cluster 3.This study makes it possible to draw up a comprehensive regional development program and proves the need for the development of rural areas,which is especially important for the sustainable development of the Russian Federation.

The Future Trend of E-Mobility in Terms of Battery Electric Vehicles and Their Impact on Climate Change: A Case Study Applied in Hungary

The transportation sector is responsible for 25% of the total Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, whereas 60.6% of this sector represents small and medium passenger cars. However, as noted by the European Union Long-term strategy, there are two ways to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions in the transportation sector. The first way is characterized by creating more efficient vehicles. In contrast, the second way is characterized by changing the fuel used. The current study addressed the second way, changing the fuel type. The study examined the potential of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as an alternative fuel type to reduce CO2 emissions in Hungarys transportation sector. The study used secondary data retrieved from Statista and stata.com to analyze the future trends of BEVs in Hungary. The results showed that the percentage of BEVs in Hungary in 2022 was 0.4% compared to the total number of registered passenger cars, which is 3.8 million. The simple exponential smoothing (SES) time series forecast revealed that the number of BEVs is expected to reach 84,192 in 2030, indicating a percentage increase of 2.21% in the next eight years. The study suggests that increasing the number of BEVs is necessary to address the negative impact of CO2 emissions on society. The Hungarian Ministry of Innovation and Technologys strategy to reduce the cost of BEVs may increase the percentage of BEVs by 10%, resulting in a potential average reduction of 76,957,600 g/km of CO2 compared to gasoline, diesel, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs).

Modelling and Optimization of Clean and Affordable Electricity Solution for Small-Scale Savings and Credit Cooperatives(SACCOs)

Renewable energy exploitation is among the development strategies set by the government of Rwanda on the roadmap to 2023/2024 universal electricity access and theUnitedNations plans by 2030.Numerous previous studies oncleanenergy technologies inRwandahavemostly focusedonhouseholds’usagebut there are currentlynostudies describing the feasibility of clean energy technologies for financial institutions.The skepticism on renewable energy in Africa was previously reported by some personnel.Having realized that most SACCOs(Savings and Credit Co-Operatives)in Rwanda use diesel technology for backup/emergency electricity supply,taking consideration of abundant solar resources in Rwanda,having seen the viability and feasibility studies from other countries of renewable energy for different institutions(financial included);thiswork uses theHOMEREnergy Software and the electricity load profile of a typical SACCO in Rwanda to analyse the affordability and viability of on-site renewable energy generation for SACCO in Rwanda.The results reveal that a solar PV systemwith storage can be the optimal solution(with levelized cost of electricity(LCOE)of 0.713$/kWh which is cheaper than 0.73$/kWh for diesel technology)for SACCOs located in both off-grid areas and grid-connected areas(with 0.041$/kWh LCOE which is lower than the current electricity tariff in Rwanda).The findings in this work can serve as basic tools/materials for policy drafters in Rwanda on how financial institutions can contribute to climate change mitigation through self-renewable energy exploitation.

Indirect Water Consumption:The Scope 3 of Water?Estimation of This Indicator in Sectors Relying on Agriculture

The aim of this research project is to assess indirect water consumption,that represents the water consumed in the upstream part of the production life cycle.Estimations are provided for agriculture related companies,as agriculture represents 70%of water consumption on Earth.This consumption varies greatly according to the countries where supply chain is located.The estimation is attempted for 27 European listed companies in sectors relying on agriculture in its supply chain.A data is estimated for 22 companies,showing that indirect water consumption is much more important than direct one.Strategic questions raised through the estimation of indirect water consumption in various subsectors show the interest in this data,which represents the equivalent of Carbon Scope 3 for water issues.

Factors Influencing Price of Agricultural Products and Stability Countermeasures

Factors leading to rise of prices of agricultural products mainly include tension of supply-demand relationship,promotion of production cost and circulation cost,and speculation of Refugee Capital(Hot Money).Factors leading to low price and difficult sales of agricultural products mainly include asymmetry of supply-demand information,lack of risk management tools for prices of agricultural products and decentralized and small-scaled operation of farmers.On the basis of these factors,this paper presents following countermeasures and suggestions for stabilizing prices of agricultural products:firstly,building long-effect mechanism for production and sales of agricultural products;secondly,expand the production and increase supply of agricultural products;thirdly,control the rising range of production cost for agricultural products;fourthly,enhance organization level of farmers;fifthly,promote innovation and development of risk management tools for prices of agricultural products.

Implementation Effect of Farmland Protection in Urumqi-Changji Economic Zone,China

A multi-level evaluation index system is established with farmland protection as the target layer,farmland quantity,farmland quality andfarmland sustainable development as the criterion layer.And the index layer includes the quantity change of farmland,per capita farmland area,multiple cropping index,total grain yield,unit grain yield,per capita grain security coefficient,and unit machinery dynamical input.Both expert eval-uation method and factor analysis method are used to determine the weight of index.According to the data in farmland area,grain yield and eco-nomic development in Urumqi-Changji Economic Zone in the years 1996-2007,a comprehensive evaluation model of intensive farmland use inUrumqi-Changji Economic Zone is established after data standardization.The overall implementation effect of farmland protection policy is ana-lyzed by integrating the farmland quantity,farmland quality and sustainable development.Result shows that implementation effect of farmland pro-tection shows an upward trend in general in Urumqi-Changji Economic Zone in the years 1996-2007,with a fluctuation in the years 2000-2003and a stable rising phase from 2004 till now.The maximum value is 0.779 in the year 2007;the minimum value is 0.242 in the year 1996;and themean value in the years 1996-2007 is 0.454.Farmland protection at first strictly controls the farmland quantity,then pays attention to farmlandquality,and finally focuses on the sustainable use of farmland.

On suburban leisure and tourism development: a case study of Wangcong Shrine in Chengdu

Suburban leisure and tourism are important supplements to the suburban economic development and urban tourism and of great significance under the background of urban-rural integran＇on Wangcong Shrine in Chengdu is still in the initial stage. Regarding the development Of tcowns the advantage of environment, transportation, Tourism development of Wangcong Sluine lands＇cape, architecture, content, identity, and publicity as well. Development of suburban leisure travel is one direction of tourism development of Wangcong Shrine. The people of Chengdu are main target tourists of a one-day trip, And various parks, Farmer＇s House Tour, leisure villa and other suburban attractions are its competitors. To developing Wang- cong Shrine tourism, increase of historical contents is its focus. The positioning of the civilization of ancient Shu should be shifted to Shu civilization; and renewal of the Huangcheng （Imperial City） is necessary to attract more Chengdu people for short tour and leisure.

Regularization and Choice of the Parameter for the Third Kind Nonlinear Volterra-Stieltjes Integral Equation Solutions

The article is considering the third kind of nonlinear Volterra-Stieltjes integral equations with the solution by Lavrentyev regularizing operator. A uniqueness theorem was proved, and a regularization parameter was chosen. This can be used in further development of the theory of the integral equations in non-standard problems, classes in the numerical solution of third kind Volterra-Stieltjes integral equations, and when solving specific problems that lead to equations of the third kind.

A study of the factors affecting mobile money penetration rates in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) compared with East Africa

According to the 2017 Global Financial Inclusion(Global Findex)database,the average penetration rate of mobile money accounts in East Africa is higher than that of the WAEMU.This study attempts to understand the factors driving the adoption and the use of mobile financial services in the WAEMU compared to East Africa.To achieve this,micro-level data from the 2017 Global Findex database are used to perform probit and multinomial logit estimations.The findings reveal that the same determinants influence the adoption and use of mobile money accounts across the populations of both groups of countries,specifically those related to the least vulnerable social categories(i.e.,males,older,more educated,richer and part of the workforce).Therefore,in comparison to East Africa,the delay in the penetration of mobile money accounts observed in the WAEMU may be attributed to insufficient policies for increasing the awareness of the benefits of mobile financial services.The study recommends that governments in WAEMU countries promote the use of mobile money accounts among the working-age population(adults aged between 25 and 64)through the improvement of individual income level,and the introduction of incentives into the education system to encourage their population to attain higher levels of education.

Dynamic Evaluation of Rationality of Land Use Structure in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Area

The rationality of land use structure was evaluated with dynamic TOPSIS method based on changing data of land use from 2008 to 2011 in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area. The results showed that during 2008- 2011,the rationality of land use structure was totally high,the dynamic value hi of Changsha,Zhuzhou,Xiangtan and the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area was 0. 7954,0. 7821,0. 8245 and0. 8186,respectively; the value Ci( tk) reflecting the rationality of land use structure at different time points was rapidly increased,and the gap between regions was not big and shrinking. According to the grey relational analysis,the change of different land use types had different effects on the rationality of land use structure: transportation land,the land for cities,towns and villages and the land for mining and industry are most highly correlated with the rationality of land use structure,while arable land,woodland,water area and water conservancy facility land have also an important impact on the rationality of land use structure; controlling the excessive growth of transportation land,the land for cities,towns and villages and the land for mining and industry,protecting arable land,forest land,water area and water conservancy facility land,and moderately increasing the garden plot,plays a decisive role in optimizing the land use structure in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area.

Executive Stock Option, Mediation of Agency Costs and Allocation of Power in Levered Firms

The relationship between options and agency costs in levered firms is studied by modeling the effect of executive stock options on the manager's investment strategy in levered firms. Stock options do not necessarily aggravate agency costs in levered firms. The corporate governance affects agency costs greatly. If debt-holders were entitled to design executive stock options together with stockholders, by allocating power properly between stockholders and debt-holders, firm value could be enhanced greatly. The following way of allocating power between the two parties is proposed: the exercise price should be the weighted average of the stockholders' and debt-holders' suggested exercise prices. The weight allocated to debt-holders is positively related to the amount of debts that debt-holders lend to stockholders.

Optimization of PERT Network and Compression of Time

In the traditional methods of program evaluation and review technique （PERT） network optimization and compression of time limit for project, the uncertainty of free time difference and total time difference were not considered as well as its time risk. The authors of this paper use the theory of dependent-chance programming to establish a new model about compression of time for project and multi-objective network optimization, which can overcome the shortages of traditional methods and realize the optimization of PERT network directly. By calculating an example with genetic algorithms, the following conclusions are drawn： （ 1 ） compression of time is restricted by cost ratio and completion probability of project; （2） activities with maximal standard difference of duration and minimal cost will be compressed in order of precedence; （3） there is no optimal solutions but noninferior solutions between chance and cost, and the most optimal node time depends on decision-maker＇s preference.

Systemic Risk of Conventional and Islamic Banks: Comparison with Graphical Network Models

The main aim of this paper is to compare the stability, in terms of systemic risk, of conventional and Islamic banking systems. To this aim, we propose correlation network models for stock market returns based on graphical Gaussian distributions, which allows us to capture the contagion effects that move along countries. We also consider Bayesian graphical models, to account for model uncertainty in the measurement of financial systems interconnectedness. Our proposed model is applied to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region banking sector, characterized by the presence of both conventional and Islamic banks, for the period from 2007 to the beginning of 2014. Our empirical findings show that there are differences in the systemic risk and stability of the two banking systems during crisis times. In addition, the differences are subject to country specific effects that are amplified during crisis period.

Consumers＇ Preferences for Quality and Safety Attributes of Milk Products in Niger： A Best-Worst Scaling Approach

The overall objective of this research was to determine consumers＇ preferences for quality and safety attributes of milk products using advances in the best-worst scaling approach. A list of 16 quality and safety attributes of milk products based on previous studies was compiled and used in this study. The balanced incomplete block design technique was used to build the questionnaire administered to respondents in the data collection. The multinomial mixed logit was employed to analyze the data. Results suggest that nutritive value, shelf life, availability, purity and safety are the most important attributes of milk product; while origin, fat content, food miles, packaging and handling convenience are the least importance attributes of milk products to consumers The study concludes that demand for dairy products can be significantly stimulated in the study area when these most important attributes have been considered by producers, processors and marketers.

Information Measures of Wages and Employment: Application to Senegal

This paper develops an information theoretic estimator of wage and employment shifts that provides quantification of and inference about type of employment (full time, part time, seasonal, unemployed) and industry share of employment. It is applied to determine the effects of two United States Agency for International Development (USAID) projects on employment in villages in the Tambacounda and Kedougou provinces in Senegal. The projects support the development of local forest-based production and processing industries. The results demonstrate statistically significant and positive effects on employment and the industry composition of employment.

Investigation and Analysis of Henan Province Focused on Small and Medium-sized Private Enterprises Financial Present Situation

China’s small and medium-sized private enterprises plays a very important role in the process of development of the national economy in, to the development of the national economy also plays a vital role, but with the development of the times, small and medium-sized private enterprises funds, technology, personnel and other contradictions have become increasingly prominent. China’s small and medium-sized private enterprises to want to, in the face of intense competition today, seeking a seat on the development, dredge fi nancing channel is the most important, he can affect the enterprise production and management, foreign investment and the adjustment of the capital structure. So properly solve the enterprise fi nancing problems is of great signifi cance. Henan Province as a new rising big province, its economic potential without limit, in this paper, based on the fi nancing situation of small and medium-sized private enterprises in Henan Province and fi nancing diffi cult problem of, and combined with related literature, to explain its existing problems and analysis to explore the related reasons, the proposed for solving measures.

Driving factors and innovation paths of rural tourism transformation and upgrading under the background of industrial integration:From the perspective of ecological integration of culture and tourism

This paper analyzes the interactive process of the integration of ecological agriculture and cultural tourism industry from the aspects of rural tourism products,technology and market,and points out that the integration of tourism products constitutes the basis of industrial integration;The integration of technology plays a role in the whole process of industrial integration development;Market level integration is the core goal of industrial integration development.Then,it explains the driving factors of the integrated development of the two industries from two aspects:the relevance of the two industries,the diversification of demand and the diversity of investment constitute the internal driving force of the integration of cultural tourism industry and ecological agriculture under the background of rural revitalization;Multiple factors,such as policy guidance,economic drive and technological innovation,together constitute the external driving force for the integration of cultural tourism industry and ecological agriculture under the background of rural revitalization.On this basis,it puts forward the path of the integrated development of innovative cultural tourism industry and ecological agriculture from six aspects:first,the government actively guides and constructs a perfect policy support system;Second,the development of industrial projects create basic conditions for industrial integration;Third,to strengthen publicity and promotion,strengthen industrial integration and form brand effect;Fourth,to encourage scientific and technological innovation and provide technical support for industrial integration;Fifth,to build industrial alliance and help industrial integration through multi-dimensional cooperation;Sixth,to promote the construction of legal system and build a perfect market access system.

Core Competitiveness Evaluation of Financial Institution with Rough Sets and Gray Correlation Analysis

The comprehensive evaluation method of enterprise core competitiveness is proposed by combining rough sets and gray correlation theories. Firstly,the initial index is screened through rough set attribute reduction algorithm,and the evaluation weight of each index is obtained through the rough set theory. Then,based on the gray correlation theory, an evaluation model is built for empirical analysis. The 30 financial institutions on the Yangtze River Delta are examined from the theoretical and empirical perspective.The result demonstrates not only the feasibility of rough set attribute reduction algorithm in the core competitiveness index system of the financial institution,but also the accuracy of the combination of these two methods in the comprehensive evaluation of corporate core competitiveness.

An Integrated Bipolar Picture Fuzzy Decision Driven System to Scrutinize Food Waste Treatment Technology through Assorted Factor Analysis

Food Waste(FW)is a pressing environmental concern that affects every country globally.About one-third of the food that is produced ends up as waste,contributing to the carbon footprint.Hence,the FW must be properly treated to reduce environmental pollution.This study evaluates a few available Food Waste Treatment(FWT)technologies,such as anaerobic digestion,composting,landfill,and incineration,which are widely used.A Bipolar Picture Fuzzy Set(BPFS)is proposed to deal with the ambiguity and uncertainty that arise when converting a real-world problem to a mathematical model.A novel Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation-Stable Preference Ordering Towards Ideal Solution(CRITIC-SPOTIS)approach is developed to objectively analyze FWT selection based on thirteen criteria covering the industry’s technical,environmental,and entrepreneurial aspects.The CRITIC method is used for the objective analysis of the importance of each criterion in FWT selection.The SPOTIS method is adopted to rank the alternative hassle-free,following the criteria.The proposed model offers a rank reversal-free model,i.e.,the rank of the alternatives remains unaffected even after the addition or removal of an alternative.In addition,comparative and sensitivity analyses are performed to ensure the reliability and robustness of the proposed model and to validate the proposed result.

Measuring Causal Effect with ARDL-BART: A Macroeconomic Application

Modeling dynamic systems with linear parametric models usually suffer limitation which affects forecasting performance and policy implications. This paper advances a non-parametric autoregressive distributed lag model that employs a Bayesian additive regression tree (BART). The performance of the BART model is compared with selection models like Lasso, Elastic Net, and Bayesian networks in simulation experiments with linear and non-linear data generating processes (DGP), and on US macroeconomic time series data. The results show that the BART model is quite competitive against the linear parametric methods when the DGP is linear, and outperforms the competing methods when the DGP is non-linear. The empirical results suggest that the BART estimators are generally more efficient than the traditional linear methods when modeling and forecasting macroeconomic time series.