Global challenges to functioning of precious gemstones market

Author(s):  
Maryna Khmara

The peculiarities of gemstone market functioning under the impact of globalization are examined. Modern condition of financial stabilization in world is defined and main features of gemstones are outlined. Negative impact of illegal market on socio-economic development of countries, namely on revenues to the country’s budget from the business, is revealed. The importance of the problem of transferring most of gemstones processing operations beyond the countries of production is emphasized. Poor public control over the circulation of precious stones is proven. The challenges are substantiated to be aggravating under the impact of globalization. The diamonds market, which has peculiar high demand, is analyzed: diamonds and derivatives account for 85% of global turnover. Application of managerial strategies for gemstones market to efficiently use resources is defined to be complicated by the fact that managerial strategies impact the high cost of product items and its variability; unique features; intangible qualities; complicated processing. More environmentally friendly production and social responsibility are confirmed to have impact on forming of demand on gemstones. Investment attractiveness of gemstones, except for diamonds, is proven to be low. Condition of production and consumption of diamonds is analyzed. Development condition of the market segment – non-diamonds gemstones – is shown. The activity of small enterprises and households engaged in gemstones production is confirmed to be characterized by chaotic and complicated nature of broker networks, leading to aggravated global challenges. The paper defines that expansion of spectrum and emergence of new opportunities for illegal activity, reduced income and loss of other types of economic benefits, growing negative ecological and social impact, growing exploitation of workers at illegal enterprises remain to be the global challenges of gemstones market functioning. The author suggests increasing of social and ecological responsibility of business, strengthening of the state regulating functions and promotion of gemstones market legalization in order to reduce the challenges.

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanda Iepure ◽  
Nicolas Gouin ◽  
Angeline Bertin ◽  
Ana Camacho ◽  
Antonio González-Ramón ◽  
...  

Chile has large extensions of arid and semi-arid regions throughout the whole country, where the intensive demands and use of water resources, especially groundwater for irrigations and mining activities, increased dramatically over the last decades. The aquifer depletions due to water abstraction for irrigation and nutrient loads, exert major alterations of water quality, groundwater recharge and the natural renewal rate. All these factors diminish the aquifer value for the users and contribute to the degradation of groundwater as environment and habitat for fauna. This intensive use of groundwater resources in Chile brought to significant social and economic benefits, but their inadequate management resulted in negative environmental, legal and socioeconomic consequences. In this study, we aimed at providing a first assessment of environmental alterations of groundwater ecosystems from agricultural watersheds in northern Chile by specifically evaluating the effects of nitrogen and pesticide loads on groundwater communities and identifing the ecosystem service alterations due to agricultural activities. The study has been performed in a glacial aquifer from Coquimbo region; 250 km north of Santiago de Chile, the floodplain of which is dominated by agriculture (fruits tress, vineyards). Due to low regional precipitations (100-240 mm/year) the aquifer is primarily recharged by snowmelt from the Andean chain and surface runoff. The relative groundwater levels, groundwater temperature, chemical analysis of nitrogen and total phosphorus and pesticide concentrations were examined, along with the evaluation of crustacean biodiversity and spatial distribution pattern. Stygofauna taxonomic richness and the presence of stygobites have been related more to groundwater level stability than to chemical water parameters indicating that over-exploitation has a negative impact on habitat suitability for groundwater invertebrates. Groundwater biota assessment is essential in understanding the impact produced by agriculture activities on groundwater as a resource and as ecosystem, a nexus that becomes more and more widely recognized. The rationale and the preliminary results of this study are summarized in the Suppl. material 1.


Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (6(69)) ◽  
pp. 19-50
Author(s):  
Weronika J. Krawczyk

This article examines the process of public finance fraud leading to unjust enrichment of ruling elites in Angola, a resource-rich, yet ironically povertytrapped country, owing to decades of rule of José Eduardo dos Santos. It analyses the phenomenon of political corruption in the Angolan context, translating into mismanagement of public revenues coming from natural resources as a means of attaining private economic benefits and consolidating power. Moreover, by examining cross-border inter-company networks aimed at concealing public assets behind front companies, the author attempts to establish a connection between corruption and illicit financial flows. Ultimately, since political corruption is intrinsically linked to governance, the article looks at the impact of the latter on social development as well as on the effectiveness of development aid granted to Angola. It was written based on secondary resources including existing literature and material evidence. Its findings and conclusions correspond with the overall theory postulated by the academic community, maintaining that natural resources and aid have negative impact on governance, institutional accountability, and in consequence on human development, especially in countries characterised by despotic rule.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-70
Author(s):  
Ayu Indira Hasugian

AbstrakDesa Siruar Parmaksian Tobasa di salah satu desa yang berada di daerah Toba mengalami perubahan sosial akibat dampak negatif berdirinya PT TPL. Dampak yang diberikan mengarah kepada kaum perempuan/ibu sehingga mengakibatkan aktivitas sehari-hari perempuan/ibu menjadi terkendala. Dampak ini terjadi di setiap harinya, sehingga akan sangat berdampak buruk bagi hubungan antara perempuan dan alam. Melihat kasus tersebut peneliti ingin melakukan penelitian terhadap kondisi  yang dialami kaum perempuan/ibu tersebut. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk menganalisa dampak sosial akibat pabrik kertas di Desa Siruar Parmaksian Tobasa kepada para perempuan dengan menggunakan paradigma Ekofeminis yang di tawarkan oleh McFague dan Warren, dan dikaji dalam bentuk studi kasus. Metode penelitian yang peneliti pakai adalah Metode Studi Kasus dari Teori E.P Gintings. Ada beberapa isu yang muncul dari kasus atau masalah ini, diantaranya : dampak sosial, dampak kerusakan alam terhadap kehidupan para perempuan, dan paradigma baru relasi perempuan dan alam atau rekonstruksi paradigma. Hal ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui Bagaimana dampak sosial akibat pabrik kertas terhadap masyarakat yang berada di lingkungan  Industri Kertas di Desa Siruar Parmaksian Tobasa yang mengarah kepada perempuan yang terdampak dan Bagaimana upaya-upaya yang dilakukan kaum perempuan/ibu di desa siruar untuk mempertahankan tanah/wilayahnya yang telah di rusak oleh perusahaan tersebut?. Hasil Analisis menunjukkan bahwa  paradigma Ekofeminis sudah menerapkan paradigma dengan istilah “Konstruksionisme”, yang disebut dengan istilah metafora dunia sebagai tubuh Allah, artinya dunia harus dipahami sebagai satu kesatuan organik, tubuh Tuhan dan bisa menanamkan sikap yang menghargai dunia.Kata Kunci: dampak sosial, paradigma ekofeminis AbstractThe village of Siruar Parm testimony Tobasa in a village in the Toba area experienced social changes due to the negative impact of the establishment of PT TPL. The impact that is given is directed at women / mothers so that it causes the daily activities of women / mothers to be constrained. This impact occurs every day, so it will have a very bad impact on the relationship between women and nature. Seeing this case, the researchers wanted to conduct research on the conditions experienced by these women / mothers. The purpose of this study is to analyze the social impacts of the paper mill in Siruar Parm testimony Tobasa on women using the Ecofemist paradigm offered by McFague and Warren, and study it in the form of a case study. The research method that researchers use is the Case Study Method of E.P Gintings Theory. There are several issues that arise from this case or problem, including: social impacts, the impact of natural destruction on women's lives, and a new paradigm of relations between women and nature or paradigm reconstruction. This is done to find out how the social impact of the paper mill on the community living in the Paper Industry in Siruar Parm testimony Tobasa Village which leads to affected women and how the efforts made by women / mothers in Siruar Village to defend their has been damaged by the company ?. The results of the analysis show that the Ecofemist paradigm has applied a paradigm with the term "Constructionism", which is called the metaphor of the world as the body of God, meaning that the world must be understood as an organic unit, the body of God and can instill an attitude of respect for the world. Keywords: social impact, eco-feminist paradigm


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23
Author(s):  
DR. SAIF UL MUJAHID SHAH ◽  
DR. ANWAR UL MUJAHID SHAH ◽  
SYED ARSHAD ALI SHAH

As Poverty has become a global challenge for all the nations around the world, from the past many years, different strategies have been used to reduce it. However, since 1980s Microfinance has become a powerful tool to alleviate poverty and it's not adopted even in the developing countries but also developed nations have been practicing it. Many of the past studies used the economic indicators to measure the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction, and few have concentrated on the social indicators. The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of microfinance as a poverty reduction in terms of social indicators in the rural areas of northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The objective of this research is to check whether the established NGOs in the concern areas have been successful in bringing social change in the life of the beneficiaries. For the purpose of analysis, the structural equation model is applied to a sample of 440 collected through a structured questionnaire. Results show that microfinance had a negative impact on the health and education of the beneficiaries. This research indicates that more funds and priority should be given to the education and health sector because they have equal importance as compared to the other economic indicators.


Author(s):  
Jiang Junjing

Based on a wide range of sources, the article analyzes the impact of China's trade and economic relations with the United States. Several periods of interaction between countries after the end of World War II are considered. Special attention is paid to the period of restoration of diplomatic relations since 1979. Based on various sources and historiography, the author analyzes the researchers' points of view on the impact of economic issues on the relations between the two countries. In the course of the research, the author came to the conclusion that an important aspect in the direction of the foreign economic policy of the People’s Republic of China in the first post-war years was the ideological factor. The article presents an analysis of changes in the vector of China's foreign policy in different periods. The main ways of interaction between the United States and China are described, depending on changing foreign policy doctrines. The reforms launched in 1978 provided China with economic growth and a growing prestige on the world stage, which is still present today. The rapprochement between the United States and China after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought certain economic benefits for the two countries. However, the aggravation of relations between the countries in the new Millennium provides an opportunity for new assessments of the PRC's position on the world stage. Trump’s coming to power in the United States is regarded as an economic war between the two countries. China's increased investment capacity and technological independence make it an attractive partner for other countries, which in turn has a negative impact on trade with America. The most important thing in this situation is the fact that the globalization of the world economy caused by scientific and technological progress, including the rather close interweaving of the US and Chinese economies, contradicts the national interests of both countries, which are trying to strengthen their positions and role in the world economy. Based on the analyzed material, the author comes to the conclusion that recently the foreign policy relations between China and the United States directly depend on the economic interests of the parties.


Author(s):  
Michael W. Babcock ◽  
Jose A. Davalos

The construction of highway bypasses has resulted in many economic benefits both for intercity motorists as well as residents of towns with bypasses. Despite the benefits of bypasses, they remain controversial. Local business owners in the town being bypassed fear that the reduction of traffic passing through the town will adversely affect their sales. The purpose of this study is to add to the literature concerning the economic impact of highway bypasses on small towns. The measured impacts are (1) total employment of bypass towns, (2) retail sales of the towns' travel-related businesses, (3) employment of the towns' travel-related businesses, and (4) the bypass town as a whole. To measure the impact of the bypasses on total employment of bypass towns, each of the nine sample towns was matched with a group of control towns. Total employment of each bypass town was regressed on total employment of its control towns and a bypass dummy variable used to measure the effect of the bypass. The equations were estimated by ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The other three impacts were obtained by interviewing the owners and managers of 54 travel-related businesses located in the nine bypass towns. The statistical results are consistent with the hypothesis that the bypass did not have a statistically significant effect on total employment of the bypass towns. In the opinion of most of the owners and managers of the travel-related businesses the bypasses had a negative impact on their retail sales and employment, and on the town as a whole. There was a substantial variation in opinion regarding the impact of the bypass on company retail sales, employment, and on the town as a whole among the industry groups in the sample.


Author(s):  
Aleff Omar Shah Nordin ◽  
Fathilah Ismail ◽  
Nurain Yasmin Mohd Jamal

The purpose of this research was to identify the perceptions of the local community toward tourism development impacts on Perhentian Island. Specifically, the research examined the local community’s perceptions of socio-cultural impacts, economic impacts, and environmental impacts of tourism development. The research also examined the relationship between the impacts of tourism development on the local community’s quality of life (QOL). This research was conducted using a quantitative approach by obtaining responses from 272 local community respondents on Perhentian Island. A household survey based on purposive sampling techniques was conducted to select a suitable sample. The findings of the study revealed that the positive impacts of tourism development outweighed the negative impact. Based on local community perceptions, they believed that tourism development improved their quality of life. This study also finds the impact of social-cultural benefit, economic benefits, economic cost, and environmental benefits have a significant relationship with quality of life. However, there is a negative relationship between the impact of social-cultural cost and environment cost on the quality of life. The findings of this study are important for planners and developers in planning strategic and sustainable tourism development on tourism destinations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirhosein Jafari ◽  
Vanessa Valentin

Energy retrofitting is argued to be the most feasible and cost-effective method for improving existing buildings' energy efficiency. As a sustainable development, building energy retrofits require the consideration and integration of all three sustainability dimensions: environmental, economic and social. The objective of this study is to estimate and compare the sustainable impact of building energy retrofits to determine the maximum sustainable benefit when implementing different energy-related measures. The proposed analysis consists of integrating three approaches for evaluating these benefits. Economic benefits are measured by estimating the payback period of energy-related measures, environmental benefits are measured by estimating the CO2 equivalent saving per year due to the implementation of energy-related measures, and social benefits are measured by defining a “social impact index” that establishes the impact of energy-related measures on buildings' users. A case study is used to demonstrate the framework for four potential scenarios. The results show that for the case study, energy-related “controlling” and “upgrading mechanical system” measures have the highest sustainable impact among the identified energy retrofitting measures.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Corradi-Dias ◽  
Saul Martins Paiva ◽  
Henrique Pretti ◽  
Isabela Almeida Pordeus ◽  
Lucas Guimarães Abreu

Objective: To evaluate the impact of the first six months of orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of adolescents, comparing boys and girls, using a specific condition questionnaire. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: School of Dentistry of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil Participants: Adolescents aged 10–17 years. Methods: Forty-six adolescents participated in this study. Adolescents’ OHRQoL was evaluated using the Brazilian version of the questionnaire Impact of Fixed Appliances Measure. This questionnaire comprises 43 questions distributed across nine domains: aesthetics; functional limitation; dietary impact; oral hygiene impact; maintenance impact; physical impact; social impact; time constraints; and travel/cost/inconvenience implications. The answer options follow the Likert scale, in the range of 1–5. A higher score indicates a more negative impact on the OHRQoL. Adolescents’ malocclusion was assessed using the Dental Aesthetic Index. Information on family income, adolescents’ age and tooth extraction was also collected. A directed acyclic graph was used to identify potential confounders. Statistical analysis involved the chi-square test, the Student’s t test and the analysis of covariance. The minimal clinically important difference was also calculated. Results: Of the 46 participants, 25 were girls and 21 were boys. The female adolescents presented a more negative impact from the orthodontic treatment on the quality of life when compared to the male adolescents ( P < 0.001), regardless of the influence of the confounding variables. The most negative repercussions were identified in the domains of oral hygiene ( P = 0.002), physical impact ( P < 0.001) and social impact ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: The impact of the first six months of orthodontic treatment on OHRQoL is more negative in female individuals than in male individuals. The results of this study may be useful for the oral healthcare provider during the counselling of adolescents undergoing fixed appliance therapy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 231971452110073
Author(s):  
Saubhagya Bhalla

The purpose of this study is to test the mediating role of attitude on the motivations and constraints for collaborative consumption and to test the impact of perceived hygiene and cleanliness issues and anticipated financial guilt in the collaborative consumption by applying behavioural reasoning theory. A descriptive research design is adopted. Responses collected from 200 responses were subjected to statistical refinement and linear regression. The findings reveal that economic benefits and perceived sustainability demonstrated an insignificant impact on the attitude. However, the institution-based trust showed a positive impact on the attitude. The attitude is a strong mediating variable. Without the attitude, the consumers have no intention. Anticipated financial guilt and perceived hygiene and cleanliness issues have a negative impact on intention, when mediated by the attitude. The study implies that marketers need to build a strong attitude towards the collaborative consumption. Also, they need to target the middle- and higher-income groups with economic appeal. Practitioners must position their products as sustainable. They must build trust by addressing the concerns of the consumers. Practitioners need to increase awareness that they are doing the business taking the utmost care of hygiene.


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