Search Results (182)

Background/Objectives: Ustekinumab, targeting the shared p40 subunit of interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-23, is an effective therapy for Crohn’s disease (CD), yet reliable predictors of response remain lacking. Given the central role of the IL-12/IL-23 axis in intestinal inflammation, we aimed to characterize the baseline mucosal expression of IL-12/IL-23 pathway components in lamina propria immune cells, and to explore their association with clinical response and remission following ustekinumab therapy. Methods: In this prospective, single-center study, biopsy-derived lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs) were obtained from patients with CD prior to ustekinumab initiation. Gene expression of IL-12/IL-23 cytokine subunits and receptors was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR. Flow cytometry was performed to evaluate the distribution of T helper and innate lymphoid cell subsets and the expression of IL-23R and IL-12Rβ2. Clinical outcomes were assessed at week 16. Results: Fifteen consecutive patients were enrolled and included in the study. At week 16, 14/15 (93.3%) and 9/15 (60.0%) of patients reached clinical response and remission, respectively. No statistically significant differences in baseline mucosal gene expression of IL-12/IL-23 pathway components were observed between remitters and non-remitters. A trend toward higher expression of receptor subunits (IL23R, IL12RB1, IL12RB2) was observed in remitters, albeit with high variability and overlapping distributions. Similarly, cytokine subunits (IL23p19, IL12/IL23p40, IL12p35) showed no consistent differential expression pattern between the groups. In contrast, flow cytometry revealed a significantly higher frequency of IL-23R-expressing Th1 cells in remitters compared with non-remitters (20.6% vs. 6.8%, p = 0.009). Conclusions: Baseline transcriptional profiling of IL-12/IL-23 pathway components was not associated with remission following ustekinumab therapy. However, increased expression of IL-23R on mucosal Th1 cells identified a distinct immunological signature associated with clinical remission, suggesting that IL-23R expression on mucosal Th1 cells may represent a promising candidate biomarker that requires validation in larger independent cohorts. Full article

Historic residential buildings in Lingnan are affected by hot–humid and disaster-prone weather conditions, including high temperature, high humidity, intense solar radiation, monsoon winds, and typhoon-related climate stress, which challenge indoor thermal comfort, daylighting, natural ventilation, and adaptive reuse. Taking Jingzu Jiashu, a historic Chaoshan residence associated with overseas remittance culture, as a case study, this study develops a simulation workflow for climate-adaptive green retrofit. Digital documentation, architectural survey, material investigation, and climate data were integrated to establish a baseline model. PMV, DA300, and ACH/ACR were used to evaluate thermal comfort, daylighting, and natural ventilation. The baseline results show summer overheating, insufficient daylighting in deep rooms, and inadequate ventilation in representative rooms. Comfortable hours accounted for only 7.29–7.78%, thermally uncomfortable hours reached 42.84–51.53%, and the maximum PMV reached 4.65 in the rear hall and 3.54–3.65 in representative rooms. The effective daylight areas of the front and rear rooms were approximately 40% and 31%, while baseline ACH values ranged from 1.06 to 1.89 h⁻¹. An integrated retrofit strategy was proposed, including functional reorganization, envelope optimization, opening adjustment, ventilation-path organization, and courtyard/transitional-space improvement. After retrofit, comfortable hours increased to 32.00–42.45%, thermally uncomfortable hours decreased to 17.25–21.28%, maximum PMV values decreased to 1.82–1.86, daylight areas increased to 81% and 74%, and ACH values rose to 2.97–4.49 h⁻¹. The results indicate that building performance simulation can provide quantitative support for climate-adaptive green retrofit of historic Chaoshan residences in Lingnan, offering a methodological reference for healthier, lower-carbon, and more resilient reuse of similar historic dwellings. Full article

This study examines the relationship between financial inclusion and economic development in the European Union by analyzing its macroeconomic determinants across 26 countries over the period of 2004–2023. Using a balanced panel dataset, the empirical analysis employs econometric techniques that account for heterogeneity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional dependence, leading to the estimation of a Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) model. Financial inclusion is proxied by the number of automated teller machines per 100,000 adults, while the explanatory variables include GDP per capita, personal remittances, inflation, years of schooling, unemployment, and foreign direct investment. The results show that GDP per capita, remittances, inflation, and unemployment have a positive and statistically significant effect on financial inclusion, whereas education and foreign direct investment exhibit a negative and significant relationship. These findings suggest that financial inclusion in the European Union is shaped by a complex interplay of economic development, labor market conditions, and external financial flows, rather than by structural factors alone. Notably, the results reveal counterintuitive relationships that challenge conventional assumptions about the roles of education and foreign investment in promoting financial access. This study contributes to the literature by providing updated panel evidence for advanced economies and by emphasizing the multidimensional nature of financial inclusion in a context of increasing digitalization and economic integration. The findings also offer relevant policy implications, suggesting that strategies to enhance financial inclusion should go beyond expanding financial infrastructure and instead focus on improving the effective use of financial services, strengthening financial capabilities, and reducing structural disparities across countries. Full article

This study aims to examine gaps in the current AML framework related to cryptocurrency and digital assets. We focused on money laundering typologies involving the conversion of illicit funds into clean value through cryptocurrency-based purchases of vouchers, gift cards, and other non-traditional instruments. We examined the existing literature on cryptocurrency and digital assets to identify gaps in detection and classification by mapping platform features and transaction pathways using an original dataset. The work adopts the Placement Layering Integration model. It conceptualises a laundering pathway that operates outside regulated intermediaries via crypto acquisition, voucher purchases on low Know Your Customer (KYC) platforms, redemption into goods, and informal resale for cash. The analysis revealed that most platforms required minimal verification for transactions, and many supported privacy coins that can hide the flow of funds from standard detection techniques. These features create conditions for cross-border money transfers that may fall outside law enforcement oversight. Such mechanisms can lead to undeclared remittance and potential tax evasion. This study contributes to the understanding of cryptocurrency related financial crime within broader money laundering typologies. It contributes to AML frameworks by identifying a shadow payment architecture, proposing targeted reforms to extend AML coverage to voucher intermediaries, and highlights areas for future research and policy improvements. Full article

This paper studies the topic that has been rather less explored until now—the internal diversification of trading. Unlike looking at aggregate measures of financial development such as market capitalization and liquidity, the study focuses on trading diversification, defined as the portion of trading volume attributed to firms other than the ten most actively traded (VTX). The empirical analysis is based on the World Bank’s Global Financial Development database. It covers an unbalanced cross-country dataset of 2004–2021. Due to limited data availability, the resulting database became smaller and has an unbalanced panel structure. Four main independent variables in the core regression specification are related to financial structure (bank deposits) and financial integration (remittances, international public debt), as well as external measures of financial development (market capitalization, excluding firms within VTX). A broad range of control variables are introduced into the model to account for macroeconomic conditions, financial development, market size, liquidity, and participation. Lagged regressors are introduced to address persistence, delays, and potential endogeneity issues. The methodology relies on panel data econometrics, hierarchical clustering, and machine learning. The findings show that market structure and remittances positively affect trading diversification, whereas banks’ dominance and international public debt contribute to its concentration. The results persist across alternative specifications and robustness tests. The country-level analysis shows a core–periphery pattern, while machine learning demonstrates the critical importance of market structure. Full article

This article presents a structured literature review of remittances, migration and economic policymaking in countries of origin, with a focus on Kenya, Kerala (India), and Sri Lanka. It examines three linked bodies of scholarship: migration as a driver of economic growth, the political economy of migration policymaking, and evidence-informed policymaking (EIPM). Conducted with a scoping orientation, the review focuses on contemporary academic and policy literature published since 2000 and shows that the evidence base on the economic value of international remittances in the context of labour migration is extensive, including findings on poverty reduction, macroeconomic stability, financial inclusion and diaspora engagement. However, this evidence is unevenly integrated into policymaking. The review finds that under-utilisation is not simply a problem of insufficient data or weak analytical capacity. Rather, it reflects structural, political and epistemic dynamics that shape how evidence is produced, legitimised, filtered and used in origin-country settings. It further shows that destination-centred perspectives continue to dominate migration scholarship, while gender and digitalisation are best understood as cross-cutting features of evidence systems rather than peripheral themes. The article concludes that strengthening the developmental contribution of migration and remittances requires greater attention to the institutional and political conditions under which economic evidence becomes policy-relevant and actionable. Full article

This article examines remittances not only as financial transfers but also as datafied political objects shaped by measurement, modelling and presentation infrastructures. Using the UK–Romania corridor, we compare observed personal remittance receipts published by the National Bank of Romania (NBR) with model-based bilateral estimates associated with World Bank/KNOMAD data. The article develops an analytical framework that links quantification, metric power, algorithmic governmentality, hybrid media circulation and emerging bottom-up social policies. It then shows how nominal values, real values at constant 2021 prices, year-by-year changes, moving-average smoothing, employment-scaled scenarios and transfer-balance indicators generate different representations of diaspora contribution, welfare substitution and national economic performance. Rather than assigning final authority to one dataset, the article demonstrates how calculation and presentation choices become communicative interventions. The conclusion emphasises methodological transparency and the need to connect remittance statistics to both political communication and community-level welfare practices. Full article

This paper examines how remittances-to-GDP are conditionally associated with GDP growth upswings and downturns in four lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) in mainland Southeast Asia—Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV)—over 2000–2021, conditional on other external inflows including foreign direct investment (FDI), official development assistance (ODA), and trade openness. Employing a nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (N-ARDL) model with a Dynamic Fixed Effects (DFE) estimator, this study estimates short- and long-run regime-differentiated associations between GDP growth regimes and remittances to GDP, controlling for foreign direct investment (FDI), official development assistance (ODA), and trade openness. GDP growth is decomposed into above- and below-median regimes, allowing the model to examine whether remittance dynamics differ across growth upswings and downturns. Panel estimates are complemented with dynamic multipliers that trace conditional adjustment paths over different horizons. The results reveal a high-growth-driven regime pattern rather than formal statistical evidence of unequal high- and low-growth coefficients. In the long run, above-median growth significantly reduces remittances to GDP (${\widehat{\theta }}_1=-0.130$, very strong evidence), consistent with the household insurance motive; below-median growth has no significant long-run association (${\widehat{\theta }}_2=-0.127$, no evidence). In the short run, above-median growth is positively associated with remittances (${\widehat{\tilde{\beta }}}_1^{+}=0.033$, very strong evidence), while below-median growth again shows no significant short-run response (${\widehat{\tilde{\beta }}}_1^{-}=0.051$, no evidence). Formal Wald tests do not reject equality between the high- and low-growth coefficients in either horizon; therefore, the findings should be interpreted as a regime-differentiated significance pattern within a nonlinear specification, not as formal proof of coefficient asymmetry. Taken together, these responses are consistent with a one-sided counter-cyclical interpretation of remittances: remittances to GDP decline when domestic growth is above the median, while no significant adjustment is observed during below-median growth episodes. The pattern documented here is therefore driven by the high-growth regime and should not be read as evidence of an active counter-cyclical surge during downturns. Trade openness and ODA exhibit significant positive short-run co-movement with remittances, whereas FDI shows a strong positive long-run association with remittances to GDP. The novelty of this study lies in providing new panel evidence on regime-differentiated remittance–growth associations for CLMV within a nonlinear N-ARDL and dynamic multiplier framework, while transparently reporting that formal Wald tests do not reject equality between high- and low-growth coefficients. Policy implications center on facilitating reliable remittance channels—reducing transfer costs and expanding financial inclusion—without assuming that remittance inflows automatically rise during downturns. Full article

Despite increasing academic interest in return migration, limited understanding remains of how individual resources, workplace experiences, and perceptions of the origin country interact to shape return migration intention among migrant workers in major industrial destinations. This study investigates return migration intention among Myanmar migrant workers in Samut Sakhon Province, Thailand, using a multilevel framework that links micro-level individual and household characteristics, meso-level workplace and social experiences, and macro-level assessments of conditions in Myanmar. A quantitative research design was employed, with data collected from 506 Myanmar migrant workers using proportional stratified random sampling. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests, and binary logistic regression. The results indicate that the majority of respondents did not intend to return to Myanmar within the next 10–15 years. Workplace discrimination emerged as the strongest positive predictor of return migration intention, while higher income and annual remittance behavior also increased the likelihood of intending to return. Conversely, having family in Thailand, perceived opportunities for job change or promotion, satisfaction with wages and welfare, and perceived safety in Myanmar reduced the likelihood of return migration intention. The findings suggest that future mobility plans cannot be explained solely by economic calculation. They are also shaped by family arrangements, workplace treatment, and migrants’ assessments of the feasibility and desirability of return. The study advances return migration scholarship by demonstrating the pivotal role of workplace discrimination within a multilevel explanation of return migration intention. Full article

The study documents the impact of the external sector on movements of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), covering conventional and Islamic indices. Selected variables include international trade, foreign investment, remittances, oil, gold, and currency markets, as well as the KSE-100 and KMI-30 indices. The sample period covers the latest 130 months, from 2015/01 to 2025/10. Results are documented through descriptive statistics, pairwise correlations, and OLS regression. Stability of coefficients during the review period is checked by calculating BTC-Var and switching Var. Outstanding momentum is evident in market indices (in the final phase), accompanied by growth in remittances, while the national currency has experienced an alarming depreciation. The combined impact of the external sector is not in the higher range for either index (adjusted R-square values are low). A group of four variables (remittances, oil, gold, and currency markets) was significant for the conventional index, while a group of three variables (oil, gold, and currency markets) was significant for the Islamic index. All significant variables contribute positively to stock index movements, except the exchange rate. BTC-Var and switching var suggest instability of relationships and regime-dependent var dynamics. The findings are beneficial for managers and investors in predicting index movements and portfolio diversification, as well as for relevant authorities in making policy decisions that promote prudent exchange-rate management and facilitate remittances. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is among the few that jointly examine the impact of external-sector variables on stock market movements. Full article

This study investigates the potential effects of Mobile Money (MM) and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) on the average transaction costs of remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with a focus on Nigeria. While much of the current literature highlights the theoretical benefits of CBDCs in reducing intermediation costs, empirical evidence remains limited. The analysis combines descriptive statistics and regression models to examine the role of MM in reducing remittance fees across SSA. In addition, the Synthetic Control Method (SCM) is applied to assess the post-launch impact of Nigeria’s CBDC, the eNaira, on inward remittance costs. Results show that MM adoption is associated with significant reductions in remittance costs, reinforcing its importance as a tool for financial inclusion and efficiency. In contrast, the eNaira is not yet associated with transaction fee reduction and has not displaced the bank-dominated remittance channels, which are the most expensive. These findings suggest that while CBDCs hold promise, their effectiveness in emerging markets depends on complementary digital infrastructure and policies that support competition and interoperability. This paper offers one of the first empirical assessments of a CBDC’s economic impact on remittance costs, moving beyond largely theoretical or technical discussions. Jointly analyzing MM and CBDCs provides novel insights into their interaction and highlights policy considerations for emerging markets piloting CBDCs or expanding MM infrastructure. Full article

This study analyzes the determinants of gross saving in Jordan over the period 1991–2023, with particular attention paid to the role of macroeconomic and demographic factors in shaping saving behavior. The empirical analysis employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to examine both short-run and long-run relationships between gross saving, the age dependency ratio, real per capita GDP growth, real interest rates, and unemployment. The results indicate rapid short-run adjustment dynamics in saving behavior and a stable long-run association between saving and its key determinants. In contrast to standard theoretical predictions, a higher dependency ratio is found to increase gross saving. This outcome appears to reflect Jordan’s socio-demographic context, precautionary saving motives, family-based support mechanisms, limited social security coverage, and the role of remittances. Income growth has a positive effect on saving, while unemployment exerts a negative effect. The real interest rate exhibits limited and transitory short-run effects, while remaining insignificant in the long-run. From a policy perspective, the findings underscore the importance of job creation, sustained income growth, and the development of broader saving instruments. Full article

Migration is often viewed through an economic lens, but it also drives a profound transfer of intangible resources, including ideas, attitudes, beliefs, practices, values, and norms. This review examines the emerging literature on social remittances across post-transition economies. These countries are characterized by their shift from socialist planning to market-oriented systems. Based on an analysis of twenty-six publications, this literature review examines the mechanisms through which intangible resources are acquired, transferred, and implemented among migrants, their communities of origin, and even their destination societies. The evidence reveals that migrants often act as agents of change, transferring knowledge and practices that influence areas from entrepreneurship and politics to science, gender norms, and everyday life. Future research should analyze the social networks, structural constraints, and digital tools that facilitate these knowledge transfers across the skill spectrum. Such work is important for developing holistic policies that can leverage the social remittances of diverse migrant groups as a sustained resource for social innovation and development in evolving economies. Full article

This paper investigates whether participation in Zambia’s social cash transfer programme (SCTP) improves household dietary diversity among ultra-poor rural households. While cash transfers are widely implemented across sub-Saharan Africa as social protection measures, empirical evidence regarding their impact on nutritional status remains mixed. This study focuses on dietary diversity, a proxy for nutrition quality, and uses data from the 2015 Rural Agricultural Livelihood Survey (RALS). The analysis employs propensity score matching to control for demographic differences between recipient and non-recipient households, followed by a regression analysis to examine the association between SCTP participation and dietary diversity scores. The findings reveal no statistically significant association between receiving social cash transfers and higher household dietary diversity. In contrast, positive predictors of dietary diversity included household remittances, own production of animal-source foods, and maize sales. Notably, households that relied on foraging exhibited significantly lower dietary diversity, suggesting foraging may be a coping strategy among food-insecure households. These results imply that while the SCTP may enhance household income stability, it does not necessarily translate into improved diet quality. This study contributes to the ongoing policy debate on the effectiveness of cash-based interventions in improving nutrition outcomes. It highlights the need to complement cash transfers with interventions that support food production and access, particularly in rural settings where market and infrastructure limitations persist. Full article