Reg. Sci. Environ. Econ., Volume 3, Issue 3 (September 2026) – 5 articles

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is a national icon, World Heritage Area, and under sustained threat from climate change and terrestrial land-use. It is also a complex AUD 95 billion asset generating 77,000 jobs and contributing AUD 9 billion annually to Australia’s economy, a 69% increase over the 2017 valuation despite climate pressures and coral bleaching events. With 1.2 million residents in the GBR catchment, reef health directly impacts local economies and communities. We propose that alignment of reef investments with collaborative regional resilience through a Great Barrier Reef Economic Zone will improve the resilience of the regions sustained by and who care for the GBR. More inclusive than standard linear mechanistic thinking, this circular approach will leverage the GBR’s international status to attract continuing investment in regional resilience and sustainable growth and improve GBR management outcomes. Full article

This paper examines the dynamic relationship between innovation, total factor productivity (TFP), and economic growth in Ghana using annual data for the period 1965–2021. Although Ghana has recorded relatively strong economic growth, concerns remain regarding the sustainability of this performance in the absence of consistent productivity improvements. The study combines growth accounting techniques with time-series econometric methods, including the autoregressive distributed lag–unrestricted error correction model (ARDL–UECM), vector error correction modelling (VECM), Granger causality tests, and two-stage least squares estimation. The results provide robust evidence of a stable long-run equilibrium relationship among innovation, productivity, and output. Innovation exerts a positive and statistically significant effect on economic growth, primarily through productivity-enhancing channels, while TFP emerges as the dominant long-run driver of growth. Short-run dynamics reveal feedback effects between innovation, productivity, and economic growth. However, growth accounting results indicate substantial volatility in TFP growth, suggesting that Ghana’s expansion has been driven largely by factor accumulation rather than sustained efficiency gains. The findings offer policy-relevant insights for productivity-centred growth strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Full article

Structural changes occurring within a country’s economy are reflected in the composition of employment across economic sectors. Employment adapts to different stages of socio-economic development and can serve as an important indicator of economic growth or crisis, since changes in the level of employment accompany overall economic development. Therefore, analyzing the sectoral distribution of employment by type of economic activity is of both theoretical and practical importance under contemporary conditions. This article examines the methodological aspects of assessing structural changes in population employment based on an analysis of broader structural transformations, which allows for the estimation of the magnitude of changes across specific types of economic activity in the Republic of Tajikistan. The analysis is based on official employment statistics published by the Statistical Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan for the period 2011–2022. The results indicate that agriculture, hunting, and forestry remained the dominant source of employment throughout the study period, although its share gradually declined, while employment increased in education, health and social services, and several service-related activities. Furthermore, this study investigates internal changes in the number of employed persons by type of activity within the overall sectoral employment composition, thereby reflecting the dynamics of changes in employment across other sectors of economic activity. Full article

Cycling infrastructure has emerged as a strategic lever for sustainable urban development in Latin America, yet the factors that determine its effectiveness remain poorly understood and dispersed across fragmented literature. This systematic review, conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines, synthesizes evidence from 16 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and January 2026 to identify the key determinants of cycling infrastructure effectiveness in Latin American cities. Five critical dimensions emerged from the analysis: physically segregated infrastructure, gender-responsive design, multimodal connectivity, environmental and public health co-benefits, and adaptation to topographical and climatic conditions. The evidence reveals that segregated bike lanes increase cycling uptake by 48–187%, multimodal integration boosts combined trips by approximately 34%, and gender-sensitive interventions increase female cycling participation by up to 89%. These findings converge on a central insight: infrastructure effectiveness is not achieved through isolated investments but through the coherent, simultaneous implementation of multiple interconnected dimensions. This review contributes an original multidimensional analytical framework to guide evidence-based public policy and investment in sustainable urban mobility across the region. Full article

This study investigates the dynamic interplay among CO₂ emissions, electricity consumption, and economic growth in Japan following the 2016 electricity market liberalization. The purpose is to determine whether the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and Energy-Environmental Kuznets Curve (EEKC) hypotheses hold when accounting for spatial dependencies across Japan’s 47 prefectures, and how the 2016 market reforms have influenced these relationships. We test two primary hypotheses: first, that Japan has surpassed the EKC turning point, resulting in a downward trajectory where CO₂ emissions decline as economic growth continues; and second, that liberalization has facilitated the adoption of renewable energy, leading to an inverted U-shaped relationship between growth and electricity consumption. Using spatial econometric methods, the analysis reveals that Japan has successfully decoupled growth from emissions, while finding an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and electricity consumption. These findings suggest that policymakers should emphasize regional integration and sector-specific green innovation to sustain this progress. Full article