Search Results (30)

Economic systems face critical challenges, including widening income inequality, unemployment driven by automation, mounting public debt, and environmental degradation. This study introduces Economocracy as a transformative framework aimed at addressing these systemic issues by integrating democratic principles into economic decision-making to achieve social equity, economic efficiency, and environmental sustainability. The research focuses on two core mechanisms: Economic Productive Resets (EPRs) and Economic Periodic Injections (EPIs). EPRs facilitate proportional redistribution of resources to reduce income disparities, while EPIs target investments to stimulate job creation, mitigate automion-related job displacement, and support sustainable development. The study employs a theoretical and analytical methodology, developing mathematical models to quantify the impact of EPRs and EPIs on key economic indicators, including the Gini coefficient for inequality, unemployment rates, average wages, and job displacement due to automation. Hypothetical scenarios simulate baseline conditions, EPR implementation, and the combined application of EPRs and EPIs. The methodology is threefold: (1) a mathematical–theoretical validation of the Cycle of Money framework, establishing internal consistency; (2) an econometric analysis using global historical data (2000–2023) to evaluate the correlation between GNI per capita, Gini coefficient, and average wages; and (3) scenario simulations and Difference-in-Differences (DiD) estimates to test the systemic impact of implementing EPR/EPI policies on inequality and labor outcomes. The models are further strengthened through tools such as OLS regression, and Impulse results to assess causality and dynamic interactions. Empirical results confirm that EPR/EPI can substantially reduce income inequality and unemployment, while increasing wage levels, findings supported by both the theoretical architecture and data-driven outcomes. Results demonstrate that Economocracy can significantly lower income inequality, reduce unemployment, increase wages, and mitigate automation’s effects on the labor market. These findings highlight Economocracy’s potential as a viable alternative to traditional economic systems, offering a sustainable pathway that harmonizes growth, social justice, and environmental stewardship in the global economy. Economocracy demonstrates potential to reduce debt per capita by increasing the efficiency of public resource allocation and enhancing average income levels. As EPIs stimulate employment and productivity while EPRs moderate inequality, the resulting economic growth expands the tax base and alleviates fiscal pressures. These dynamics lead to lower per capita debt burdens over time. The analysis is situated within the broader discourse of institutional economics to demonstrate that Economocracy is not merely a policy correction but a new economic system akin to democracy in political life. Full article

The implementation of a carbon tax in the transportation sector aims to reduce carbon emissions and encourage the transition to sustainable mobility amid increasing urbanization. The transportation sector is one of the largest contributors of carbon emissions in Indonesia, requiring effective policies to reduce its environmental impacts. Therefore, this study aims to find a more optimal carbon tax formula that is in accordance with Indonesia’s socio-economic conditions. The approach used includes analysis of transportation emission data, the economic impact of different carbon tax schemes, and tax revenue allocation strategies to support green infrastructure and sustainable transportation. The results of the study indicate that an adaptive carbon tax formula in the transportation sector is able to balance the economic burden, emission reduction targets, social justice, behavioral changes, and revenue allocation for green infrastructure, thus ensuring a just and sustainable transition. A progressive carbon tax, based on vehicle emission levels and fuel types, can encourage the transition to low-emission vehicles without excessively burdening low-income communities. With this approach, carbon tax policy functions not only as a fiscal instrument but also as a transformative strategy in creating an environmentally friendly and equitable transportation system. Full article

Education is considered an investment in human capital that is gained at the cost of knowledge acquisition. This cost is borne by the beneficiary along with subsidy provided by the government, if any, that is mainly collected through tax revenues. This article aims to systematically review the utility derived and the burden experienced with educational debt borrowers across the globe as per the three types of educational loan schemes present across the globe. This study follows the PRISMA guidelines for review selection, and 47 articles published between 1994 and 2024 were included for the final review. The study results reveal that education improves the quality of life; an educational debt servicing to income ratio above 8% is considered as a financial burden. Also, the results reveal that material benefits are high after education along with an increase in the psychological burden because of repayment concerns. This study highlights the need to move towards designing a flexible repayment system in the education loan scheme based on the income contingent schemes adopted in many countries. Income contingent schemes reduce the repayment burden of the borrowers but the return to the lender is limited to the income of the borrower, and mortgage-based schemes are associated with high repayment burden. Therefore, a dynamic scheme will fix the problems associated with the repayment burden by creating a dynamic link between the benefits received and the contributions made by the borrower. Full article

Every economy’s prosperity is determined by the quantity of tax income it receives. Over the years, studies have demonstrated that inflows from foreign investments and openness to international trade are important contributors to a country’s tax income. Based on this assumption, this study seeks to examine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and open trade on tax income in a number of sub-Saharan African nations. The World Bank Development Indicators data on tax revenue, FDI, exports, imports, and exchange rates from 1990 to 2022 are used in the study. We also use the pooled mean group/panel autoregressive distributed lag approach to examine the data gathered for this inquiry. The results reveal that, in the long term, FDI has a significant negative impact on tax income; nevertheless, in the short run, Ghana’s tax revenue collection suffers while other nations profit from FDI. The results reveal that Nigeria’s exporting is detrimental to tax revenue collection, but South Africa’s export of goods and services is beneficial. However, imports and currency rates benefit Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa in the near term. Thus, the research suggests improving tax rules and administration to prevent the movement of resources by foreign investors out of the host countries in order to avoid the imposition of huge tax burdens on their firms. Countries with low exports, such as Nigeria, are urged to enhance local manufacturing to meet international export standards in order to alleviate the continual negative balance of payments, which is primarily fixed by the adequate export of products and services. Full article

The tax burden significantly influences corporate sustainability, making the study of the impact of supply chain transaction volatility on corporate tax burden crucial for alleviating tax pressures and promoting healthy corporate development. Using a sample of A-share listed companies in China from 2013 to 2019, we find the following: (1) Overall, supplier transaction volatility significantly increases corporate tax burden, while customer transaction volatility does not have an effect, a finding that remains robust under various tests for endogeneity. (2) Mechanism analysis reveals that supplier transaction volatility raises the level of corporate tax burden by increasing operational risk and relationship maintenance costs. (3) Further analysis indicates that the volatility of major supplier transactions exacerbates corporate income tax burdens, while the impact of customer transaction fluctuations on the tax burden is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises, and state-owned enterprises experience a suppressive effect on value-added tax from customer transaction volatility. This study clarifies the tax burden dynamics among supply chain firms, expands the literature on the determinants of corporate tax burdens and the economic consequences of transaction volatility, and provides insights for promoting corporate sustainability. Full article

We apply a static oligopolistic general equilibrium model to investigate the effects of an environmental tax on labor incomes, capital incomes, profits, and the distribution of income. The study is motivated by the fact that environmental taxation is one main political tool to realize environmental sustainability and support sustainable development. However, to ensure social and economic sustainability, the taxes applied must be perceived as fair by the majority of the civil society. Moreover, efforts to determine a fair taxation policy would ensure, inter alia, responsible consumption and production, and lower inequality in the economy, which are one of the two priorities of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 10 and 12). Therefore, it is necessary to determine the tax incidence to inform policymakers regarding the distribution of the tax burden. To examine environmental policy, we assume the government applies a policy objective to realize strong environmental sustainability, as proposed by the Dutch economist Rofie Hueting. The main result is that oligopolistic firms can shift the whole tax burden resulting from environmental taxes to workers and capital owners. Consequently, we show that environmental taxes can lead to more income inequality, and the more concentrated the markets, the bigger the social and economic inequality. Noting that addressing environmental problems is a priority of the UN SDGs, our analysis shows that approaching the issue using just environmental tax propositions is not advisable. These results of the analysis also provide a justification of why many members of the society tend to oppose environmental taxes. Full article

Based on the samples of 207 prefecture-level cities in China from 2002 to 2010, this study uses the exogenous shock of China’s first incorporation of environmental regulations into the assessment of local officials as a quasi-natural experiment, and applies the continuous difference-in-differences (DID) method to examine the impact of environmental regulation assessment pressure on local fiscal revenue. We find that the target pressure of environmental regulations for local officials has contributed to the growth of local fiscal revenue, and for each 0.01 increase in the targets of pollution emission reduction, local fiscal revenue increases by 0.204%. This result demonstrates a strong robustness. Our mechanism analysis further confirms that local governments employ various strategies to alleviate the financial burden induced by environmental regulations. These strategies include (1) not only adopting the “grabbing hand” approach, which involves extracting fiscal revenues from the market by reducing the fixed asset investment of local governments and enhancing the collection of pollution fees from enterprises, (2) but also utilizing the “helping hand” approach to augment financial resources, such as improving tax administration efficiency by cracking down on profit under-reporting and income tax evasion among enterprises. Moreover, the heterogeneity analysis suggests that the impact of environmental regulations on fiscal revenue is contingent upon the level of local fiscal self-sufficiency. This article offers empirical evidence to assist governments in devising effective environmental policies that aim to achieve a harmonious balance between economic growth and environmental protection. Full article

Rising energy costs have led to increased discussion about the social impact of the energy transition in Germany in recent years. In 2021, a gradually increasing CO₂ tax was introduced. This paper analyzes the question of whether a CO₂ tax can be socially just. Using data analysis and desk research, correlations between income and energy consumption in Germany are shown. In a short analysis, it is investigated which additional burdens different types of private households have to expect in the coming years due to the introduction of CO₂ pricing on energy. In particular, the introduction of a per capita flat rate fed by CO₂ tax revenues could be a suitable way to reduce the burden on low-income households. Full article

Farmers face an increasing administrative burden as agricultural policies and certification systems of trade partners ask for more sustainability reporting. Several indicator frameworks have been developed to measure sustainability, but they often lack empirical operationalization and are not always measured at the farm level. The research gap we address in this paper is the empirical link between the data needs for sustainability reporting and the developments in data management at the farm level. Family farms do not collect much data for internal management, but external demand for sustainability data can partly be fulfilled by reorganizing data management in the farm office. The Farm Financial Accounts (FFAs) and Farm Management Information Systems (FMISs) are the main data sources in the farm office. They originate from the same source of note-taking by farmers but became separated when formalized and computerized. Nearly all European farms have a bank account and must keep financial accounts (e.g., for Value-Added Tax or income tax) that can be audited. Financial accounts are not designed for environmental accounting or calculating sustainability metrics but provide a wealth of information to make assessments on these subjects. FMISs are much less frequently used but collect more technical and fine-grained data at crop or enterprise level for different fields. FMISs are also strong in integrating sensor and satellite data. Integrating data availability and workflows of FFAs and FMISs makes sustainability reporting less cumbersome regarding data entry and adds valuable data to environmental accounts. This paper applies a design science approach to design an artifact, a dashboard for sustainability reporting based on the integration of information flows from farm financial accounting systems and farm management information systems. The design developed in this paper illustrates that if invoices were digitized, most data-gathering needed for external sustainability reporting would automatically be done when the invoices is paid by a bank transfer. Data on the use of inputs and production could be added with procedures as in current FMISs, but with less data entry, fewer risks of differences in outcomes, and possibilities of cross-checking the results. Full article

Iriai forests are an example of communal forest management in Japan. Local institutions have never been static in governing iriai forests and the external environments of iriai forests have changed significantly over time. This study examines the management challenges of forest producers’ cooperatives (FPCs) and authorized neighborhood associations (ANAs) as the two most important contemporary forms of iriai forest management. Data from nine FPCs and three ANAs in the Fukuoka and Saga prefectures of Kyushu Island are used. Surveyed topics included basic information about FPCs and ANAs, recent management activities, financial conditions, and member perceptions of forest management. Some FPCs suffered from disadvantageous forestry circumstances, including low timber prices, decreased number of members, and tax burdens; at the same time, some FPCs greatly profited from non-forestry income or assets, e.g., by leasing or selling forestland. In most cases, basic forest management operations had been conducted by both FPCs and ANAs, and members had maintained attachment to and responsibility for iriai forests and a sense of public contribution. Policy recommendations include making legal settings and administrative supports more compatible with contemporary realities, providing greater financial support for management activities, and pursuing multi-level governance to open the commons to wider society. Full article

Whether environmental impacts, natural capital depreciation, and effective governance have impacted progress in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030 has become a significant policy topic. We determine estimates of the changes in net welfare that indicate progress over 2000–2019 in terms of meeting the 17 SDGs for 99 EMDEs. We compare these estimates with the environmental impacts associated with SDGs 11–15, natural resource depletion as a share of national income, and average institutional quality. Net SDG welfare gains over 2000–2019 were often accompanied by adverse environmental impacts, natural capital depletion, and poor-quality institutions. This is especially the case for low- and lower-middle-income economies. Higher net SDG welfare gains are correlated with reduced losses associated with SDGS 11–15, and larger welfare gains from attaining SDG 1 No Poverty are associated with better governance. These results suggest that long-term progress towards the SDGs in EMDEs hinges on improved management of natural capital and the environment, as well as more effective governance. Three policies can be implemented to achieve these objectives without additional financing or imposing fiscal burdens: fossil fuel subsidy swaps, tropical carbon taxes, and improved management and distribution of resource revenues. Full article

Inequities caused by a unilateral climate policy may threaten the sustainability of CO₂ emission reduction efforts by countries and firms, thus endangering sustainable development for humans and the eco-environment. However, few studies have conducted ex-post evaluations on whether environmentally regulated firms receive external compensation such as subsidies, tax reductions, and loan support. Thus, this study investigates whether firms experiencing inequitable conditions under China’s Energy-Saving Quota Policy (ESQP) are financially compensated. It develops a balanced panel of data from 6189 ESQP-regulated and 6189 unregulated firms from 2010 to 2013, and combines a probit model with the difference-in-differences method to conduct empirical analysis. The results show that ESQP-regulated firms receive more subsidy income and lower tax rates than unregulated firms. Of the ESQP-regulated firms, companies with higher energy-saving burdens receive larger subsidies and lower financial expense ratios than those with lower burdens. Additionally, firms that complete their energy-saving quotas are compensated with larger subsidies and/or lower financial expense ratios and tax rates than those that fail to complete them. Finally, state-owned firms receive more subsidies than private ones. Unlike the emission trading schemes implemented worldwide that formulate an exemption mechanism (i.e., free or over-allocated allowances), the ESQP does not exempt regulated firms from their energy-saving responsibilities. Rather, regulated firms receive a greater amount of external compensation in exchange for their reductions in energy consumption. Full article

The sustainability of agriculture in the common market of the European Union is mainly influenced by the income of agricultural enterprises, which reflects the development potential of the entire sector. The present contribution deals with the importance of income indicators for the long-term sustainability of agricultural enterprises. We aimed to identify and quantify statistically significant determinants of the main income indicators of agricultural enterprises in individual countries of the European Union—namely, the net added value of the farm expressed per unit of agricultural work, the family farm income per family work unit, and the net farm income. We performed a linear regression analysis, in which the statistical significance of independent variables was gradually tested, including economic and environmental indicators, the economic size of the enterprise, total subsidies per hectare, depreciation, taxes, and wages. The established goal was complemented by a correlation analysis tracking the dependence between the economic size of enterprises—which is presented in the literature as a decisive indicator—and the tax burden in EU countries. We used the Farm Accountancy Data Network’s harmonised database for 2009–2018. The regression analysis results confirmed the environmental indicators’ statistical significance. Furthermore, the results of the correlation analysis confirmed the proposed hypothesis that the size of the company is a strong indicator and affects the tax burden of agricultural enterprises. Full article

With the development of blockchain, big data, cloud computing and other new technologies, how to achieve innovative development and green sustainable development in digital transformation has become one of the key issues for enterprises to obtain and maintain core competitiveness. However, little of the literature has paid attention to the impact of digital transformation on enterprise green innovation. Using the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2020, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of enterprise digital transformation on green innovation and its transmission mechanism, by constructing double fixed-effect models. The results show that digital transformation has remarkably promoted the green innovation of enterprises. R&D investment, government subsidies, and income tax burden have played a conductive role between digital transformation and enterprise green innovation. Furthermore, digital transformation can significantly promote the high-quality green innovation of enterprises and also plays a more significant role in promoting the green innovation of high-tech enterprises and state-owned enterprises. A robustness test is carried out by using the lag data and changing the measurement methods of the dependent variable and independent variables, and the research conclusions are still valid. Based on resource-based theory and dynamic capability theory, this paper reveals the impact path of digital transformation on enterprise green innovation, further expanding the research field of digital transformation and enriching the research on the influencing factors of enterprise green innovation. This paper provides policy suggestions for the government to improve the enterprise green innovation level by increasing government subsidies and providing tax incentives and also provides reference for digital transformation enterprises to accelerate green innovation by increasing R&D investment, obtaining government subsidies, and acquiring tax policy support. Full article

The low-carbon supply chain is key to promoting sustainable development and solving environmental pollution. Government policies related to lowering carbon emissions deeply affect supply chains. This paper builds a supply chain decision-making model under three different regulatory policies: a pure carbon tax, a pure low-carbon subsidy, and a mixed policy with both a carbon tax and a low-carbon subsidy, then compares and analyzes the impacts of these three different regulatory policies on carbon emissions, manufacturer and retailer income, and marginal profit in order to determine the best course of action with respect to supply chain decision-making. Our results indicate that the supply chain decision-making model under the mixed carbon tax and low-carbon subsidy policy results in a unique Nash equilibrium solution between the retailer subsidy rate and the manufacturing carbon reduction rate in a non-cooperative game. Although a carbon tax is beneficial to the ecological environment, retailer income increases slightly as the carbon tax coefficient increases before declining rapidly. Manufacturer income has a negative linear relationship with carbon tax, and an excessive amount of carbon tax increases the burden on companies. Therefore, the government must establish reasonable standards for carbon tax collection while offering moderate low-carbon subsidies at the same time as a means of optimizing social welfare. Full article