JOURNAL OF SMART ECONOMIC GROWTH

A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY OF BRAȘOV

Anita Szakal, Ana Alexandra Mocanu — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 19:01:28 +0000

The process of digitization has the potential to influence the behaviors of young consumers, particularly in the academic environment, specifically concerning modes of information acquisition. The present article aims to elucidate the attitudes of students at Transilvania University regarding the The Research and Development Institute of Transilvania University of Brașov (RDIT) activities. In pursuit of this objective, a quantitative research study was conducted among the students of Transilvania University of Brașov, yielding valuable insights for the academic environment. Consequently, sources employed by the youth to gather information about the university environment were identified, as well as the level of awareness of RDIT among university students. Furthermore, the article explores the students' interest in engaging in various voluntary activities within this institution.

DYNAMIC GENDER-SENSITIVE MACROECONOMIC GROWTH MODELS: LESSONS FROM THREE DEVELOPED ECONOMIES-USA, FINLAND AND SWEDEN

GERTRUDE MUWANGA SEBUNYA — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 12:34:10 +0000

The study estimated gender sensitive macroeconomic endogenous systems using TSLS for 10 endogenous variables including GDP, capital formation, openness, FDI, savings, wealth, female employment, male employment, and both female and male labor force participation rates for the USA, Finland and Sweden; and a pool of fiscal, monetary, social and commercial policy variables. The study established that the relationship between economic growth and gender disaggregated LFPR can be studied using either single equations or simultaneous systems depending on the causal relationships between the two; that economic growth does not necessarily lead to an increase in female/male LFPRs; that female LFPR can enhance male LFPRs and vice versa; that increasing the female LFPRs can increase saving while increasing male LFPRs can increase capital formation; that openness can have a positive effect on male LFRPs but a negative effect on female LFPRs; and that the endogenous variables, including real GDP as well as the policy variables investigated had gender disaggregated effects on the LFPRs that may vary across countries. It is recommended that policy makers in different countries attempting to increase LFPRs of both females and males should undertake rigorous macroeconomic dynamic analysis to identify the macroeconomic variables (including but not limited to economic growth variables) as well as the specific fiscal, monetary, social and commercial variables that have either positive or negative effects on the gender disaggregated LFPRs; and based on the findings, to design active labor market, fiscal, monetary, social and commercial policies that can increase gender equality as well as lead to economic growth.

THE SPATIAL DETERMINANTS OF ADEQUATE EMPLOYMENT IN LATIN AMERICA

RAMÓN CÁRDENAS — Mon, 06 May 2024 06:06:44 +0000

This study employs the Heckman selection model to analyse the dynamics of adequate employment in Ecuador, particularly in the context of spatial determinants. The findings reveal that while formal education significantly boosts employment prospects, its impact on job adequacy is nuanced by regional disparities and local market characteristics. Furthermore, the study uncovers gender disparities, with women facing greater obstacles in both employment access and adequacy. The role of commuting emerges as a critical factor, where infrastructure and urban planning are shown to influence job suitability. Comparatively, the Ecuadorian labour market demonstrates a higher sensitivity to spatial determinants and accessibility issues than its European Union counterparts, indicating that local employment opportunities are more constrained by geographical and infrastructural factors. This research underscores the need for integrated employment policies that consider educational alignment, mobility enhancement, and inclusivity, aimed at strengthening the link between acquired skills and job market needs within the unique Ecuadorian context.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLIMATE POVERTY IN TUNISIA: FRESH EVIDENCE FROM A SPATIAL ECONOMETRIC APPROACH

Soufiane Mahjoubi — Mon, 06 May 2024 06:21:04 +0000

The purpose of this paper aims to assess the implicit of climate poverty in Tunisia. Using a novel spatial econometric approach, this research presents the relationship between precipitation, temperature, and poverty of governorate and those of neighboring governorates. Our results of spatial modeling reveal that the climate change as well as precipitation and temperature have a direct and indirect impact on poverty, thus shows the presence of spatial autocorrelation and spillover effects between governorates. Results shows that the unemployment increase the poverty in the governorate i and neighboring governorate at i. Our results join empirical literature that find a negative direct and indirect effects of education and urbanization on poverty, while consumption expenditure and regional investment have a positive impact on poverty. The results of this paper call for policymakers to take urgent measures and appropriate policies to reduce climate poverty in Tunisia.

The IMPACT OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH

MBULAHENI ALBERT DAGUME, Rito Sonny Mathebula, Azwifarwi richard Khangale — Mon, 06 May 2024 06:28:04 +0000

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a crucial tool for attracting external flows and building capital in developing countries, sustaining, and accelerating economic growth. International institutes, scholars, policymakers, and researchers emphasize the importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economies of developing nations like South Africa. This study investigated the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth in South Africa using annual time series data from 1985 to 2019. The study utilized the ARDL (Autoregressive Lag Distribution) method to examine the short-run and long-run relationship between foreign direct investment and economic growth. The model uses GDP as a dependent variable, while FDI, inflation (CPI), real interest rate, and saving rate are measured as independent variables The results of ARDL bounds test showed a negative long-run relationship between FDI and economic growth, while saving rate positively correlated with growth. Inflation and real interest rate also had negative long-run relationships. The study recommends the government implement strategies to attract foreign investment, maintain order, combat corruption, ensure political stability, and effectively manage state-owned enterprises for sustained economic growth.

TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY IN SRI LANKA: MARKET CONCENTRATION AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Amasha Herath, Hansani Nuwanthi Jayasinghe Jayasinghe — Mon, 06 May 2024 06:32:49 +0000

: The telecommunication industry plays an important role in global economies, with mobile services making substantial contributions to GDP. In 2022, this sector's economic impact reached an impressive USD 4.62 trillion. The COVID-19 pandemic further underscored the vital role of telecommunications (Kaskar and Patel; 2022). This study focuses on the market concentration within the telecommunication industry and evaluates customer satisfaction with telecommunication services in Sri Lanka. Data from 419 individuals were collected via an online survey, and binary logistic regression models were applied to analyze customer satisfaction with telephone and internet services. To evaluate market concentration, the study has used the Concentration Ratio of the strongest enterprises (CRm) and the Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI). The results of the study challenge the perception of monopolistic market behavior within Sri Lanka's telecommunication industry.

The results emphasize the key factors influencing customer satisfaction. Price, promotional events and incorporating users' ideas emerged as significant drivers of customer satisfaction with telephone services. Price and network connection quality were found to be crucial determinants of customer satisfaction with the internet services. To thrive in this competitive industry, telecommunication firms must prioritize efficient customer care services and adopt customer-friendly strategies. Additionally, policymakers should concentrate on developing the telecommunication industry's infrastructure to ensure network stability and fostering its active participation in the country's future development.

JEL classification: L10, L13, L52, L96

Key words: Telecommunication services, Customer satisfaction, Market concentration, Monopoly, Network stability

TEACHING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES: A NON-PARAMETRIC EFFICIENCY PERSPECTIVE

Simona Gradinaru, Anamaria Aldea — Fri, 17 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Education in Information Technology is becoming more important than ever to the contemporary digital society. It is one of the fields with the fastest growing career paths globally. In Europe alone, year 2016 marked a rapid growth in the number of employed persons with an education in Information and Communication Technologies and the growth persists ever since. This paper aims to examine the efficiency of teaching undergraduates in ICT programmes in European Universities. The analysis employs the non-parametric framework of VRS-DEA estimator on an empirical dataset of 96 universities, extracted from The European Tertiary Education Register, taking into the account only the human resources involved in the teaching activities: personnel, enrolled students and graduates, with a distinction between undergraduate and doctoral, given the ISCED level. After a thorough preprocessing phase that included two different clustering algorithms to identify similar and comparable institutions in terms of the ICT specialisations offered, a set of statistical tests were applied in order to identify empirically the hypotheses of the production set, that allow for choosing the appropriate efficiency estimator, which was further employed. Results draw attention towards a potential pattern for the better performing universities with ICT programs to exhibit economies to scale, while at the same time loading the teaching staff slightly more than the low performing institutions.