Search Results (7)

This paper explores a development strategy for peripheral economies by advocating for a paradigm shift from traditional economic models that rely on accumulating foreign reserves. It proposes the job guarantee (JG) policy, an automatic stabilizer based on a reserve pool of employed individuals, as a cornerstone for fostering sustainable and inclusive growth. Grounded in modern monetary theory (MMT), this study critiques the conventional approach that prioritizes external reserves and highlights the potential of MMT in offering a more autonomous development path for developing countries. A systematic review of the literature, using the PRISMA methodology, reveals significant divergence between MMT advocates and critics, particularly regarding monetary sovereignty and the feasibility of implementing macroeconomic policies in peripheral economies. This study emphasizes that while external constraints remain, the MMT perspective calls for flexible exchange rates, low interest rates, and capital controls as part of a broader strategy to reduce dependency on foreign currencies. The proposed approach prioritizes full employment, the mobilization of domestic resources, and structural transformation through policies like import substitution. Although the shift may involve the slower accumulation of capital, it offers a more equitable and stable development path. Ultimately, this analysis underscores the potential of MMT to expand the external constraint and enable sustainable development, despite challenges in implementation and political resistance. Full article

The 2030 Agenda serves as a guide for current economic policy. Despite this, the dominant political and economic discourse still relies on the market for success. Incentives are being developed to create business opportunities that align with the sustainable development goals. However, funding for these projects ultimately depends on their potential profitability. As a result, economic growth is seen as a necessary condition for achieving the 2030 Agenda. This approach leaves culture and the arts behind, as they are difficult to commodify. The artist job market highlights the tension between the democratic value of the arts and the values of the capitalist system. This challenge is seen in both the field of cultural economics and in discussions of culture’s role in meeting the 2030 Agenda’s sustainable development goals. To address this, the study proposes incorporating culture into a funding strategy not based on the private market by using the employer of last resort or job guarantee policy for future applications. This will redirect focus from the economic value of the arts to their value for human development, ultimately realizing the goals set by the 2030 Agenda. Full article

Energy-saving schemes are nowadays a major worldwide concern. As the building sector is a major energy consumer, and hence greenhouse gas emitter, research in home energy management systems (HEMS) has increased substantially during the last years. One of the primary purposes of HEMS is monitoring electric consumption and disaggregating this consumption across different electric appliances. Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) enables this disaggregation without having to resort in the profusion of specific meters associated with each device. This paper proposes a low-complexity and low-cost NILM framework based on radial basis function neural networks designed by a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA), with design data selected by an approximate convex hull algorithm. Results of the proposed framework on residential house data demonstrate the designed models’ ability to disaggregate the house devices with excellent performance, which was consistently better than using other machine learning algorithms, obtaining F1 values between 68% and 100% and estimation accuracy values ranging from 75% to 99%. The proposed NILM approach enabled us to identify the operation of electric appliances accounting for 66% of the total consumption and to recognize that 60% of the total consumption could be schedulable, allowing additional flexibility for the HEMS operation. Despite reducing the data sampling from one second to one minute, to allow for low-cost meters and the employment of low complexity models and to enable its real-time implementation without having to resort to specific hardware, the proposed technique presented an excellent ability to disaggregate the usage of devices. Full article

The aim of this study was to ascertain what can be done by the informal finance sector to close the credit gap in order to improve access to finance by SMEs. SMEs are the backbone of many economies as a result of generating employment and improving GDP. Despite playing such a major role in African economies, SMEs have been excluded from the financial systems. The informal finance sector plays a vital role by providing finance to small businesses. The study employed a literature survey with a primary focus on empirical studies that have been conducted in the African context. The study found that, generally, there are two circumstances under which most small businesses depend on informal finance. Firstly, informal finance is used as a last resort by SMEs that fail to access credit from the formal finance sector, owing to, among other issues, information asymmetry, lack of collateral security and perceived high default rates. Further, low financial literacy and the absence of credit bureaus in developing countries also contribute to the failure to access finance from formal institutions. Secondly, some entrepreneurs opt for informal finance even if they are eligible for formal finance as a result of its flexibility, convenience and simple administrative procedures. Notwithstanding the above benefits of informal finance, informal lenders are regarded as exploiting the clients by charging high interest rates. In addition, this sector suffers from limited resources; hence, it fails to fully service SMEs that require larger funding and are not eligible for formal finance. Invariably, all the studies that have been carried out confirm that access to finance is a major obstacle to the growth and development of SMEs. The development and empowerment of SMEs cannot be ignored as an important driver of the developmental agenda of most economies globally. The main policy recommendations that flow from this study, based on the policy syndrome of improving access to finance (financial inclusion) by the SME sector, include (1) the establishment of a suitable regulatory framework which will nurture the informal finance sector while promoting consumer protection, and (2) linking the formal and informal sector. On the other hand, SMEs should improve their risk management practices and also embrace FinTech platforms in order to access credit. Full article

Household harvesting of wild fish and game contributes to food security in indigenous communities across the Arctic, and in some regions plays an important role in cultural identity of indigenous peoples. The degree to which the state regulates harvesting and restricts distribution of country foods varies widely, however, and this intervention in local economies can affect livelihood opportunities. The paper hypothesizes that where state policy has contributed to harvesting remaining a culturally embedded livelihood strategy, its contribution to the quality of life may influence people to remain in rural communities, despite potentially lower material living standards. Lacking such a cultural linkage, harvesting may become the employer of last resort for people unable to find paying jobs or leave declining communities for a better life elsewhere. The paper examines the association between Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA) respondents’ intent to remain in their community of residence and household harvesting, cash income from work, and other relevant factors. The results include both similarities and differences for residents of arctic Alaska, arctic Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka. Systematic differences found appear consistent with the hypothesis about the role of household harvesting and state policy toward harvest and distribution of country foods. Full article

Colistin is considered as the last-resort treatment for multiantibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections in humans. However, the oral administration of colistin to livestock and poultry results in the introduction of large amounts of colistin to the surrounding environment via urine and feces, potentially inducing the prevalence of colistin-resistant bacteria and the impact on the ecological environment. We established a quantitative mass spectrometry (MS) based method to measure colistin in contents recovered from the gastrointestinal segments of piglets and broilers, as well as colistin in feces from the animals. The mean recoveries of colistin from different matrices were between 73.2% and 103.9%. The quantitation limit values for different matrices ranged from 0.37 to 1.85 ng/g. In colistin-treated swine samples, the highest concentration of colistin was detected in feces samples at a level of 1248.3 ng/g. However, the highest concentration of colistin in broiler samples was around 4882.9 ng/g, which was found in the contents derived from broilers’ ceca. The employment of the proposed method to assess colistin in animals’ gastrointestinal tracts might help to understand the colistin absorption in animals’ guts and the potential impact of colistin on the emergence of resistant bacteria in animals’ gut flora and the ecological environment. Full article

Fishing livelihoods are under stress in many regions of the world, including the lower Mekong river basin. Building on research on the socio-economic impacts of hydroelectric development, this paper explores the spatial dimensions of livelihood diversifications. Research in 2016 and 2017, involving 26 semi-structured interviews in nine upstream, downstream, tributary and relocated villages in the vicinity of the Pak Mun hydroelectric dam, provides insight into how villagers have coped and adapted fishing livelihoods over time. Results are consistent with other research that has detailed the adverse effects of hydroelectric development on fishing livelihoods. Interviewees in the nine communities in the Isan region of Thailand experienced declines in the abundance and diversity of fish valued as food, and engaged in other household economic activities to support their families, including rice farming, marketing of fishing assets and other innovations. Stories of youth leaving communities (rural-urban migration) in search of employment and education were also shared. Although exploratory, our work confronts theories that fishing is a livelihood practice of “last resort”. Narratives suggest that both fishing and diversification to other activities have been both necessary and a choice among villagers with the ultimate aim of offsetting the adverse impacts and associated insecurity created by the dam development. Full article