Possibilities of Business Restructuring Under the Recession

The decrease in business activity and the fall in the production volume in the sectors of economy relying on long-term crediting is characteristic feature of the modern recessions. The pessimistic expectations of entrepreneurs concerning product demand leads to falling direct investment into business despite unlimited investment opportunities due to the developed capital markets nowadays. As a result it has created the opportunity for the development of such business restructuring types as mergers and acquisitions. Potential investors are different and their investment motivation is different, but the goal is the same--to increase the value of the business and its efficiency as a result of mergers and acquisitions. Utilizing borrowed capital for acquisitions of enterprises has many advantages. However, purchasable enterprises are exposed to several financial risk factors.

The Problems of Sustainable Development in a National Level

The goal of the paper is to discuss the explanation of commonly accepted goal of economy in a national level and the problems which threaten the goal. Though the leading economists of the 20th century have strictly supported the necessity of close link between economics and morals, the mainstream economics mostly has regarded it as a problem of secondary importance. The paper discusses the deepest meaning of the generally accepted objective of economy--sustainable development, which necessarily should take into consideration the social dimension along with the economic and environmental. The different understandings of the wellbeing concept are considered and discussed, as it lies on the basis of the explanation of the goal--not any development, but development, which makes people happier. Next follows the discussion on the concepts of sustainability and its link with environment in a broader sense. It is followed by the discussion on the manipulations with human minds. The problem of the global and local economies is considered as a part of the discussion about the sustainability of economies of all levels. This leads to conclusions that social economics should be integrated in economic science as a substantial part. The idea of local economies is considered as an alternative to the present economic paradigm. The methodology of the conclusion making is based on qualitative historical analysis and empirical evaluation of the standpoints of the scientific discussion. The paper is mainly library-based. The ideas of world famous economists are taken from their own books in a printed form or that can be found in Internet. Conclusions are based on mainly qualitative comparison of the facts that arise from the theoretical discussion and empirical evidence of the study object manifestations in real life. Quantitative methods, briefly used, are basic econometrics--conventional correlation analysis, based on the statistic data of the World Bank. The scientific discussion has been approbated in students＇ audience in the study course of macroeconomics in BA School of Business and Finance, Riga, and Ventspils University College, and has been discussed in the fifth International Conference of Latvian Economic Association and Latvian Academy of Sciences.

CSR and societal change in international financial markets of Africa

Corporate social responsibility is the foremost business strategy focus for managers who aim to have long-term success in competitive environment. Different scholars have found it difficult with its definition, explanation, application, and measurement in organizations on who and how it should be done reciprocally. The present study seeks to review societal change with contribution from corporate social responsibility in international financial markets of Africa. The study is qualitative in nature and seeks to analyze the maximum practice of CSR activities and where there is room for improvement in CSR initiatives among African firms. There are three important forms of corporate social responsibility which are aligned to the emerging social needs of community for true fulfillment and addressing the social responsibility at corporate level.

政策不确定性与企业风险承担:机遇预期效应还是损失规避效应

风险承担是经济政策不确定性影响企业行为的一条潜在渠道。基于1995-2014年中国A股上市公司数据,本文实证检验了经济政策不确定性对企业风险承担的影响。研究发现,经济政策不确定性显著提升了企业的风险承担;然而,该影响仅存在于非国有企业,但在国有企业中并不显著;同时,股权集中度显著削弱了经济政策不确定对企业风险承担的正向影响。进一步检验发现,股权集中度的负向调节作用在国有企业与非国有企业中均存在;特别是国有企业,在控制了股权集中因素之后,经济政策不确定性的影响也显著为正。上述结果表明,经济政策不确定性的"机遇预期效应"已在中国企业中发挥主导作用,而"风险承担代理问题"抑制经济政策不确定性的"机遇预期效应"。

Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Baltic Sea Region

Economic activity always has an impact on the environment, but the potential degree of this impact depends on consumption and production pattems. The aim of this paper is to analyse the environmental and well being impacts of consumption and production systems in Baltic Sea Region and draw conclusions about transferring of best practises in Latvia. This study is based on indicator analyses, focusing on data of environmental impacts from consumption and production in the region, and analyses drivers behind these impacts. The paper concludes two trends--Scandinavian countries and Germany which have more advanced economies demonstrate much higher ecoefficiency and environmental management practices compared to the new EU member states. The example of the Baltic Sea region shows that high income levels and a stable development path in the old EU member states provide grounds for technology advancement to reduce the environmental impact of production. However Baltic States and Poland on average demonstrate much more sustainable consumption patterns. But the trends in these countries are negative--they try to copy lifestyles and consumption patterns of more advanced economies with higher ecological footprint. Challenge for Latvia is to improve its ecoefficiency but at the same time develop more sustainable consumption patterns.

Evaluating the Redistributive Effect of Social Security Programs in China over the Past 30 Years

China has improved its social security system in recent decades,with the aim of achieving universal coverage and improving the equity of income distribution.Based on data from the five rounds of Chinese Household Income Project surveys from 1988 to 2018,this paper examines the long-term redistributive effects of social security programs in China.Our results show that social security programs have reduced income inequality consistently,and the positive redistributive effects have been improving for the past 30 years.Social security transfers have had an increasingly essential role in rural areas,especially after 2002 when China started to establish a comprehensive rural social safety net and expanded the coverage of the social security program.The redistributive efficiency of the social security system has also increased recently.

The Effect of Fast Internet on Employment:Evidence from a Large Broadband Expansion Program in China

Information and communication technology plays an important role in human life and social production.The existing literature has mainly studied the economic impact of such technology in developed countries;the use of broadband in developing countries has been overlooked.This paper fills the gap by examining a broadband development program in China.Difference-in-difference estimates show that the deployment of high-quality broadband promoted regional employment in the skilled service sector.The effect was larger in cities with a greater number of educated residents and cities in the west of China.We also found that broadband development stimulated firm creation and innovation.These findings imply that broadband promotes innovation and provides new impetus to the economic transition of emerging markets.

Digital literacy and financial market participation of middle-aged and elderly adults in China

Digital literacy has become increasingly important for individuals to participate in regular economic activities,including employment,consumption,and investment.This paper quantitatively defines digital literacy with recently released household survey data in China and describes the digital divide across regions and ages.We further show that digital literacy increases risky asset ownership in the financial market among the middle-aged and elderly population.In this sense,this paper identifies a novel factor that affects financial investment.These findings imply that the digital divide may lead to the asset divide and wealth inequality.Family and social assistance to improve the digital literacy of disadvantaged population groups may increase financial inclusion as well.

Bureaucratic Culture and Innovation

This study explores the effects of bureaucratic culture on innovation.We define bureaucratic culture as a culture in which power and officials are held in the highest regard.Using panel data of publicly listed Chinese manufacturing firms from 2007 to 2015,we found that bureaucratic culture negatively correlated with firms'patent output.A mechanism analysis shows that bureaucratic culture hindered corporate innovation by reducing firms'research and development inputs and decreasing innovation efficiency.Furthermore,we provided evidence that anti-corruption campaigns and the development of formal institutions could neutralize the negative impact of bureaucratic culture on corporate innovation.This study is the first to investigate quantitatively the causal effect of bureaucratic culture on corporate innovation and it can deepen the understanding of the relationship between culture and innovation in China.We speculate that promoting a creative culture,particularly one that fosters entrepreneurial spirit,is of utmost importance.