Search Results (74)

In a worldwide context marked by increasing attention to financial literacy as a factor of financial inclusion, Morocco take part of this dynamic, seeking to improve the financial skills of its population. This article does not measure financial literacy directly but aims to explore the structural conditions that enable its diffusion in Morocco, using macroeconomic indicators such as income, employability, and education, along with financial infrastructure. Adopting a mixed methodology, this study combines both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the national context, including an overview of public policies, socioeconomic characteristics, and financial literacy initiatives, with a quantitative analysis based on an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) econometric model. Bank branch density is employed as an indirect proxy for financial infrastructure, reflecting access to formal financial services in the absence of time-series literacy data. The results show that gross national income (GNI) per capita, the labor forces, and elementary school enrolment rates influence banking density, though without producing statistically significant effects in the long term. In the short term, only GNI has a temporary but not very robust impact. These results highlight the limitations of macroeconomic indicators alone in explaining financial literacy diffusion and underscore the potential role of structural factors such as digital innovation, governance, or inclusion of youth and female indicators. Full article

Employment promotion and employment realization are the core and fundamental problems in the resettlement of land-expropriated farmers transferred to citizens. To solve this problem, it is necessary to clarify the key factors and mechanisms that affect the employment behavior of “farmers to citizens” workers. Taking the labor force from land-expropriated “farmers to citizens” in the construction of Beijing city sub-center as the research object, this paper utilizes Logistic ISM to determine the key factors affecting the employment behavior of the labor force when changing from rural to urban, as well as the internal logical relationship and hierarchical structure among the influencing factors. The results show that only 40% of the migrant workers in the sample have achieved employment, while 69% of the unemployed population have a willingness to work but are limited by age, skills, and family factors. The logistic regression model identifies that the employment behavior of land-expropriated farmers is significantly affected by 10 factors, including gender, age, work experience, hobbies, employment demand, expenditure change, employment difficulty cognition, government training, policy satisfaction and social security. Among them, ISM further reveals that these factors form a three-level hierarchical mechanism of “structure–cognition–behavior”; gender, social security and policy satisfaction are the deep-root factors, and the intermediate factors, such as hobbies and government training, affect employment demand, employment difficulty cognition and other surface factors, and ultimately affect the employment behavior of land-expropriated “farmers to citizens”. Based on this, it is proposed to start from four aspects: differentiated employment guidance, policy transmission optimization, service efficiency improvement, and industrial driving, to systematically promote the realization of more comprehensive and stable employment for the rural-to-residential population, and provide institutional guarantees and practical paths for their sustainable livelihoods. Full article

High-efficiency farmland production is essential for ensuring national food security and promoting sustainable agriculture in China. This paper aims to systematically analyze the challenges in building a new-quality farmland production system driven by innovative productive forces that emphasizes large-scale operations, optimal integration of farming components, and the application of modern technologies and intangible inputs. To achieve this aim, we conducted a comprehensive review and synthesis of the current literature, national policy documents, and agricultural statistics. Our analysis identifies key challenges, including limited water and land resources, outdated machinery and practices, a shortage of skilled farmers, insufficient innovation, and underdeveloped policy and support systems. Based on this analysis, we propose a series of integrated strategies to enhance farmland productivity. These recommendations include improving soil fertility, developing new crop varieties, promoting modern management models, training farmers in advanced technologies, innovating agricultural policies and infrastructure, and establishing accessible farm credit and insurance systems. We conclude that by integrating the six key elements of quality farmland, superior varieties, skilled farmers, modern technologies, sound policies, and supportive credit systems, China can successfully transition from labor-intensive to technology- and information-intensive farming models, thereby boosting the productivity and resilience of its farmland production systems. Full article

This paper examines the impact of natural resource rents on the economic growth of Tunisia between 1990 and 2023, emphasizing the aspect of resource diversification. The annual time-series data extracted from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators were analyzed using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model to outline both the short- and long-run dynamics. The results confirm the existence of a long-term relationship between economic growth and oil, natural gas, mineral, and forest rents. Among them, oil and forest rents have strong positive long-term impacts, whereas natural gas and mineral rents contribute relatively moderately due to the structural inefficiencies and absence of value-added activities in these sectors. It was also found that the labor force participation has been affecting growth adversely with continuous impacts, which are driven by skill mismatches, low productivity, and high unemployment, hence indicating structural labor market imbalance that weakens the growth effect of labor. On the other hand, capital formation is still one of the key drivers of long-term growth. The findings highlight the rationale for diversification of the economy, governance reforms, and sustainable management of resources. However, the study suffers from some limitations due to data availability and excluded institutional variables, apart from being narrowed to a single-country case study, which might affect the generalizability of the results. Future works could consider incorporating the indicators of governance, examining nonlinear effects, or expanding the analysis into a multi-country framework. Full article

Background: Aging populations make expanded workforce participation among older adults an economic and public health priority. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the growth of virtual work, providing new opportunities for healthy aging in the workplace through increased flexibility and less physical strain. However, digital exclusion, ergonomically challenging tasks, and social isolation can limit these opportunities for older populations. Objective: This scoping review aimed to synthesize interdisciplinary research on the relationship between remote work and labor force participation among adults aged 45 years and older, focusing on health-related outcomes, barriers, and facilitators. Methods: Following the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we conducted a comprehensive search across seven databases for peer-reviewed and gray literature published between 2000 and 2025. Of 2108 records screened, 33 studies met the inclusion criteria. Data were extracted using a standardized charting tool and analyzed thematically. Results: Most studies were published after 2020 and originated in North America (45%) and Europe (40%). Core barriers included digital exclusion, ageism, and adverse ergonomic environments. Facilitators involved flexible working hours, a supportive organizational environment, and digital skills. Health-related outcomes such as stress reduction and improved well-being were commonly reported. However, only 18% of studies assessed policy effects, and very few examined intersectionality (e.g., gender, socioeconomic status). Conclusions: Remote and flexible work options can improve the health and participation of older adults in the workforce, but technology, infrastructure, and social barriers remain. Age-inclusive policies, digital equity efforts, and inclusive workplace practices are necessary to maximize the benefits of remote arrangements for aging populations. Full article

Digital innovation is the core driving force to enhance the competitiveness of enterprises and promote sustainable development, and is a key enabler for achieving corporate ability goals. Executives with information technology (IT) backgrounds who have rich knowledge and skills in digital technology are the backbone of promoting the digital transformation of enterprises and optimizing the allocation of auditing resources. And they can lay the technological foundation for sustainable corporate development and play an important role in corporate audit decision-making. Based on the data of China’s A-share listed companies from 2015 to 2023, the impact of executives with IT backgrounds on auditor selection is empirically analyzed. The study shows that (1) the higher the proportion of executives with IT backgrounds in the executive team, the more the companies tend to choose high-quality auditors; (2) the degree of corporate digital innovation positively moderates the relationship between executives with an IT background and high-quality auditors; (3) the level of corporate internal control plays a mediating effect in the relationship between executives with an IT background and auditor selection; (4) for non-state-owned, large-scale, short executive tenures, and labor-intensive firms, executives with IT backgrounds exert a more significant influence on auditor selection. This study broadens previous research on corporate auditing behaviors from the perspective of executives with IT backgrounds, providing insights for companies to select suitable auditors, to make scientifically sound decisions regarding auditor selection in the context of digital innovation, further optimize internal management, enhance risk response capabilities, and thereby achieve sustainable corporate development. Full article

In the context of advancing new quality productive forces (NQP), the optimization of factor allocation is of critical importance. This study empirically examines how inter-firm land allocation affects the development of NQP and explores the moderating roles of labor, capital, and data factors from a perspective of factor synergy. Combining theoretical analysis with empirical investigation, the findings are as follows: (1) optimizing land allocation across firms significantly enhances the level of urban NQP, and this result remains robust after accounting for endogeneity and a series of robustness checks; (2) capital expansion and the scaling of data resources substantially reinforce the positive effect of land allocation on NQP, whereas the interregional mobility of labor—particularly high-skilled workers—exerts a negative moderating influence. The results suggest that policymakers should promote the rational allocation of land resources while leveraging the synergistic effects of labor, capital, and data to accelerate the development of NQP at the local level. Full article

The economic efficacy of logistics infrastructure is being reshaped by the dual forces of digitalization and the labor market. However, a new-era “investment return paradox” has emerged. Digitalization and an abundant labor force are theoretically positive forces, so why does their combination, when coupled with capital investment, paradoxically engender negative emergence that suppresses growth? Conceptualizing the regional economy as a Socio-Technical System (STS), this paper unravels this paradox by identifying and theorizing an “adaptive lag trap”. Using provincial panel data from China, we first provide empirical validation for this trap, identifying a significant negative three-way interaction involving labor quantity (coef. = −0.218, p < 0.05). We then demonstrate that high-skilled labor quality is the key to mitigating this trap. While its direct interactive effects are not statistically significant, our analysis uncovers a robust and theoretically potent pattern: a higher-skilled workforce systematically reverses the negative trend of the interaction effect. The split-sample test provides the clearest evidence of this pattern, showing the coefficient pivoting from negative (−0.0572) in the low-skill subsample to positive (+0.109) in its high-skill counterpart. Our findings establish that high-skill human capital is a necessary condition to circumvent the “adaptive lag trap”, underscoring the imperative for a policy shift from investing in the scale of labor to cultivating its skill structure within a co-evolutionary framework. Full article

Digital skills are increasingly vital for enhancing employability, as they equip individuals to meet the evolving demands of the modern workforce. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of digital skills on employability, focusing on the influence of both basic and above-basic levels of information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, problem-solving, digital content creation, and safety skills, considered key components of digital competence. The research employs regression analysis using secondary data extracted from the Eurostat database. Based on data from 32 European countries, the findings indicate that three proxies for digital skills, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, and safety, significantly and positively influence employability. The contribution of this paper to the existing literature on digital skills and employability is twofold. First, by evaluating the influence of five categories of digital skills across different proficiency levels on employment rates, the study sheds light on which specific digital skills have the most substantial impact on employability in today’s labor market. Second, the findings provide a foundation for formulating recommendations aimed at enhancing the digital capabilities of the labor force. Full article

Having the proper infrastructure is crucial because it fosters prosperous enterprise and a skilled labor force capable of solving environmental issues. There are worries about the potential negative effects of human capital centered on innovation, despite studies showing benefits. This study examines how contextual factors such as business environment, infrastructure, and human capital, influence South Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Multiple Regression Technique was used for analysis. Findings showed that each of the three factors has a remarkable impact, with business environment showing the highest positive relationship to the Ecosystem Index. The results highlight the significance of focusing on sustainable activities when developing human capital. To promote a more sustainable entrepreneurship environment, the study suggests that policymakers should implement incentives, allocate finances for infrastructure, and establish educational and knowledge-sharing initiatives to encourage the sustainability of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Future research directions will focus on investigating how additional contextual factors affect ecosystems in various regions and industries. The study also suggests the evaluation of gender equality in access to financial and business assistance. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and the phenomenon of brain drain in Greece during the period 2020–2024. In the context of economic uncertainty and demographic shifts, the emigration of skilled professionals has posed serious challenges to the country’s labor market and long-term development. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative data from national labor force surveys and HR statistics with qualitative insights gathered through semi-structured interviews with HR professionals and expatriates. The study applies descriptive and inferential statistical methods, including regression analysis, to examine how key HRM dimensions—such as workplace flexibility, career development, and performance-based incentives—affect employee retention. Results reveal a significant inverse relationship between HRM quality and brain drain rates, with workplace flexibility and career development emerging as critical predictors. The findings highlight the need for strategic HRM reforms tailored to the Greek context and offer evidence-based recommendations for mitigating talent outflows. This research contributes to both academic discourse and policy design by clarifying the role of HRM in supporting workforce stability in crisis-prone economies. Full article

This study aims to analyze online job postings using machine learning-based, semantic approaches and to identify the expertise roles and competencies required for big data professions. The methodology of this study employs latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), a probabilistic topic modeling technique, to reveal hidden semantic structures within a corpus of big data job postings. As a result of our analysis, we have identified seven expertise roles, six proficiency areas, and 32 competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) necessary for big data professions. These positions include “developer”, “engineer”, “architect”, “analyst”, “manager”, “administrator”, and “consultant”. The six essential proficiency areas for big data are “big data knowledge”, “developer skills”, “big data analytics”, “cloud services”, “soft skills”, and “technical background”. Furthermore, the top five skills emerged as “big data processing”, “big data tools”, “communication skills”, “remote development”, and “big data architecture”. The findings of our study indicated that the competencies required for big data careers cover a broad spectrum, including technical, analytical, developer, and soft skills. Our findings provide a competency map for big data professions, detailing the roles and skills required. It is anticipated that the findings will assist big data professionals in assessing and enhancing their competencies, businesses in meeting their big data labor force needs, and academies in customizing their big data training programs to meet industry requirements. Full article

The digital economy is emerging as a transformative force for advancing inclusive sustainable development in rural China, particularly in addressing gender disparities in non-agricultural employment. Using the Digital Inclusive Finance Index and China Family Panel Studies data, this paper analyzes the digital economy’s impact on the gender gap in rural non-agricultural employment. It finds that the digital economy boosts women’s employment and wage, narrowing the gap. This effect is more obvious among groups with medium-high human capital, younger people, married people, and those with kids. The digital economy narrows the gap through the following three mechanisms: reshaping skill demands, reducing info-search cost, and promoting domestic labor socialization. It is an engine for growth and a force for gender equality in rural employment. Full article

In the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) environment, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is a key engine for shaping supply chain resilience (SCR). This study employs the entropy method to develop an evaluation index system for SCR, incorporating two key dimensions: resistance and recovery capacity. Using a sample of Chinese-listed enterprises from 2009 to 2022, this study reveals that AI significantly enhances SCR, and CEOs’ sports experience can positively moderate the association between AI and SCR. Mechanism examination shows that AI promotes SCR through operational efficiency optimization, information, and knowledge spillover in the supply chain. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive impact of AI is more significant in firms with a high-skilled labor force, firms with high heterogeneity of the executive team’s human capital, high-tech industries, and regions with strong digital infrastructure. Moreover, the AI application has a diffusion effect on the upstream and downstream enterprises of the supply chain, improving AI adoption levels. Our research not only augments the existing literature on the economic ramifications of AI adoption and the strategic value derived from CEOs’ extramural experience but also offers both theoretical frameworks and empirical insights for executive recruitment and fortifying SCR. Full article

An in-depth understanding of the impact of green innovation on the urban–rural income gap is essential for developing countries seeking to address urban–rural imbalances and promote sustainable economic development. This study focuses on China, utilizing provincial panel data from 2007 to 2022, and employs the two-way fixed effects model, the mediating effects model, and the moderating effects model. The study’s key findings are: (1) Green innovation positively reduces the urban–rural income gap. Specifically, the regression results indicate that a one-unit increase in green innovation corresponds to a 0.017-unit reduction in the urban–rural income gap. (2) The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effect of green innovation on the urban–rural income gap is more pronounced in regions with higher levels of economic development, in non-food-producing areas, and when green utility patents are adopted. Additionally, green innovation narrows the urban–rural income gap predominantly in high-skill regions. (3) Examining the influencing mechanism confirms that green innovation reduces the urban–rural income gap by promoting population urbanization, eco-urbanization, labor force restructuring, and mitigating wage income inequality. (4) The moderating effects analysis indicates that environmental pollution exacerbates the impact of green innovation on the urban–rural income gap; specifically, higher levels of environmental pollution amplify the effect of green innovation in reducing the gap. These findings offer valuable insights for addressing urban–rural income inequality and fostering sustainable socio-economic development in developing countries. Full article