scholarly journals Microfinance, the Role and Impact on Macroeconomic Indicators of the Country. Case study: Albania

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-168
Author(s):  
Esmeralda Doçi

Abstract Microcredit or microfinance are one of the most important novelties on development policy in the last 25 years. Most of the recent studies are based on the impact that microfinance has on poverty reduction or on the income on macroeconomic level. Due to lack of data on microfinance on a macro level, studies of their impact on poverty are limited. However, they have recently analysed the link between microeconomics and microfinance activity, which has shown significant connectivity between the operations of Micro Financial Institutions and Macroeconomic indicators.Microfinance in Albania has developed and this is demonstrated by the presence of Micro Financial Institutions which have contributed to poverty reduction and to economic development in general, and to agricultural development in particular. The purpose of the study is to analyse the importance and the relationship between microfinance and macroeconomic indicators, the impact that microfinance has on macroeconomic indicators. Based on previous literature researchers and empirical studies, this study aims to analyse empirically the relationship between the gross portofolio of MFIs and macroeconomic factors. Specifically, to analyse whether a country with high level of credit portfolio provided by Micro Financial Institutions has low poverty and macroeconomic factors taken into analysis, considering the endogeneity of the gross portfolio of Micro Fianancial Institutions. The empirical evaluation and analysis is carried out through econometric evaluation using the EViews program.

2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (4II) ◽  
pp. 501-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arshad Hasan ◽  
Zafar Mueen Nasir

The relationship between macroeconomic variables and the equity prices has attracted the curiosity of academicians and practitioners since the publication of seminal paper of Chen, et al. (1986). Many empirical studies those tested the relationship reveal that asset pricing theories do not properly identify macroeconomic factors that influence equity prices [Roll and Ross (1980); Fama (1981); Chen, et al. (1986); Hamao (1986); Faff (1988); Chen (1991); Maysami and Koh (2000) and Paul and Mallik (2001)]. In most of these studies, variable selection and empirical analyses is based on economic rationale, financial theory and investors’ intuition. These studies generally apply Eagle and Granger (1987) procedure or Johanson and Jusilieus (1990, 1991) approach in Vector Auto Regressor (VAR) Framework. In Pakistan, Fazal (2006) and Nishat (2001) explored the relationship between macroeconomic factors and equity prices by using Johanson and Jusilieus (1990, 1991) procedure. The present study tests the relationship between macroeconomic variables such as inflation, industrial production, oil prices, short term interest rate, exchange rates, foreign portfolio investment, money supply and equity prices by using Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) bounds testing procedure proposed by Pesaran, Shin, and Smith (1996, 2001). The ARDL approach in an errorcorrection setting has been widely applied to examine the impact of macroeconomic factors on economic growth but it is strongly underutilised in the capital market filament of literature. This methodology has a number of advantages over the other models. First, determining the order of integration of macroeconomic factors and equity market returns is not an important issue here because the Pesaran ARDL approach yields consistent estimates of the long-run coefficients that are asymptotically normal irrespective of whether the underlying regressors are I(0) or I(1) and of the extent of cointegration. Secondly, the ARDL approach allows exploring correct dynamic structure while many econometric procedures do not allow to clearly distinguish between long run and short run relationships.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Slobodan Marin ◽  
Milan Šušić

By investing in research and development, Bosnia and Herzegovina can achieve a competitive advantage in the market and play an important role in supporting research and development, because it can facilitate investments through tax policies and measures, cooperation between science, the state and companies, etc. It is important to note that all attempts to support stronger investments in research and development are fully justified, as they lead to economic growth and technological progress to Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, it is important that incentives are created in a way that not only implies investment growth, but also ensures their efficiency. More plastically, it is not only important how much will be invested in R&D, but also how, that is, what exactly will be invested in. Using theoretical models, numerous empirical studies have been conducted that examine the importance of investment in research and development and their impact on economic growth (GDP growth). Such empirical research differs in the selected variables, the type of statistical analysis and the results. The paper uses regression analysis models for selected macroeconomic indicators in the observed period. The aim of the research is to assess the effects of selected macroeconomic factors, especially the impact of investment in research and development on the growth of gross domestic product (dependent variable), and to answer the question whether investment in research and development (GERD) in Bosnia and Herzegovina is satisfactory?


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 37-55
Author(s):  
E. V. Zarova ◽  
E. I. Dubravskaya

The topic of quantitative research on informal employment has a consistently high relevance both in the Russian Federation and in other countries due to its high dependence on cyclicality and crisis stages in economic dynamics of countries with any level of economic development. Developing effective government policy measures to overcome the negative impact of informal employment requires special attention in theoretical and applied research to assessing the factors and conditions of informal employment in the Russian Federation including at the regional level. Such effects of informal employment as a shortfall in taxes, potential losses in production efficiency, and negative social consequences are a concern for the authorities of the federal and regional levels. Development of quantitative indicators to determine the level of informal employment in the regions, taking into account their specifics in the general spatial and economic system of Russia are necessary to overcome these negative effects. The article proposes and tests methods for solving the problem of assessing the impact of hierarchical relationships on macroeconomic factors at the regional level of informal employment in constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Majority of the works on the study of informal employment are based on basic statistical methods of spatial-dynamic analysis, as well as on the now «traditional» methods of cluster and correlation-regression analysis. Without diminishing the merits of these methods, it should be noted that they are somewhat limited in identifying hidden structural connections and interdependencies in such a complex multidimensional phenomenon as informal employment. In order to substantiate the possibility of overcoming these limitations, the article proposes indicators of regional statistics that directly and indirectly characterize informal employment and also presents the possibilities of using the «random forest» method to identify groups of constituent entities of the Russian Federation that have similar macroeconomic factors of informal employment. The novelty of this method in terms of research objectives is that it allows one to assess the impact of macroeconomic indicators of regional development on the level of informal employment, taking into account the implicit, not predetermined by the initial hypotheses, hierarchical relationships of factor indicators. Based on the generalization of the studies presented in the literature, as well as the authors’ statistical calculations using Rosstat data, the authors came to the conclusion about the high importance of macroeconomic parameters of regional development and systemic relationships of macroeconomic indicators in substantiating the differentiation of the informal level across the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.


Stanovnistvo ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 141-161
Author(s):  
Marina Todorovic ◽  
Gordana Vojkovic

The author begins by discussing the relationship between agriculture and population at a theoretical level, proceeds with a historical review of changes in the role and significance of an individual as agricultural producer, and finally, analyzes population as an element (potentials - limitations) of agricultural development in Serbia. The overall production results, and particularly the propensity to technical and technological innovation, as well as the ability to adapt to the changed conditions are, as we know well, crucially dependent on the structure of the working population. Hence, the author discusses regional differences in agricultural population by age, sex, level of education and productivity to provide a clear illustration of the impact of this element (indicator) on the population as the factor of agricultural production. The results show significant macroregional differences by this element with respect to the average for Serbia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 152-152
Author(s):  
Afeez Hazzan

Abstract Family caregivers of older people living with dementia are relatives, friends, or neighbors who provide assistance related to this condition, but who are unpaid for the services they provide. Although caregiving could be personally rewarding, many caregivers report a high level of strain. Compared to caregivers of older adults who do not have dementia, family caregivers of older people living with dementia report lower quality-of-life (QoL). In a published systematic review examining the relationship between family caregiver QoL and the quality of care provided, only one study was found to be somewhat relevant. The study suggested that the primary reason for an absence of research into the link between family caregiver QoL and quality of care was the absence of a questionnaire for measuring quality of care in dementia. Therefore, any attempt to investigate the impact of caregiver QoL on the care provided to older people with dementia must first address the lack of an instrument to measure quality of care. To address this issue, we interviewed approximately 20 family caregivers in order to elicit feedback on measurements and interpretation of the quality of care provided by family caregivers of older people living with dementia. Content analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that the quality of relationships with family, caregiver availability to provide or supervise care, and availability of paid or volunteer help are important for the quality of care provided. These results have important implications, particularly for the development of an instrument to measure quality of care in dementia.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Li ◽  
Anrunze Li ◽  
Xue Song ◽  
Xinran Li ◽  
Kun Huang ◽  
...  

PurposeAs academic social Q&A networking websites become more popular, scholars are increasingly using them to meet their information needs by asking academic questions. However, compared with other types of social media, scholars are less active on these sites, resulting in a lower response quantity for some questions. This paper explores the factors that help explain how to ask questions that generate more responses and examines the impact of different disciplines on response quantity.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines 1,968 questions in five disciplines on the academic social Q&A platform ResearchGate Q&A and explores how the linguistic characteristics of these questions affect the number of responses. It uses a range of methods to statistically analyze the relationship between these linguistic characteristics and the number of responses, and conducts comparisons between disciplines.FindingsThe findings indicate that some linguistic characteristics, such as sadness, positive emotion and second-person pronouns, have a positive effect on response quantity; conversely, a high level of function words and first-person pronouns has a negative effect. However, the impacts of these linguistic characteristics vary across disciplines.Originality/valueThis study provides support for academic social Q&A platforms to assist scholars in asking richer questions that are likely to generate more answers across disciplines, thereby promoting improved academic communication among scholars.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 568-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaniyi Evans

Purpose The increased adoption of internet-enabled phones in Africa has caused much speculation and optimism concerning its effects on financial inclusion. Policymakers, the media and various studies have all flaunted the potentials of internet and mobile phones for financial inclusion. An important question therefore is “Can the internet and mobile phones spur the inclusion of the financially excluded poor? This study therefore aims to examine the relationship and causality between internet, mobile phones and financial inclusion in Africa for the 2000-2016 period. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis followed these three steps: examination of the stationarity of the variables; testing for the cointegration; and evaluation of the effects of the internet and mobile phones on financial inclusion in Africa for the 2000-2016 period using three outcomes of panel FMOLS approach and Granger causality tests. Findings The empirical evidence shows that internet and mobile phones have significant positive relationship with financial inclusion, meaning that rising levels of internet and mobile phones are associated with increased financial inclusion. There is also uni-directional causality from internet and mobile phones to financial inclusion, implying that internet and mobile phones cause financial inclusion. The study also shows that macroeconomic factors such as capital formation, primary enrollment, bank credit, broad money, population growth, remittances, agriculture and interest rate, as well as institutional factors such as regulatory quality are important underlying factors for financial inclusion in Africa. Originality/value In the literature, there is a dearth of research on the internet, mobile phones and financial inclusion, especially in Africa. Most of the related studies are conceptual and micro-based, with little empirical attention to the relationship and causality between internet, mobile phones and financial inclusion. In fact, this dearth of rigorous empirical studies has been attributed as the main cause of inadequate policy guidance in enhancing information communication technologies (Roycroft and Anantho, 2003), despite saturation levels in developed economies. This study fills the gap by evaluating the effects of the Internet and mobile phones on financial inclusion for 44 African countries for the 2000-2016 period.


Author(s):  
Raúl Payá Castiblanque

The aim of this research was to study the relationship between the different levels of direct participation of workers (passive, consultative or active-delegated) in risk prevention management with the levels of absenteeism in Spain. To this end, a transversal study was carried out using microdata from the Second European Survey of Companies on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER-2-Spain, 2014) with a master population of 3162 work centres. A multinomial logistic regression model was carried out, with the dependent variable being the levels of absenteeism and the independent variables, the participation indicators and preventive management, calculating the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) between all the independent and control variables, with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% IC). The results obtained showed how the active-delegative participation of workers in the design and adoption of psychosocial risk prevention measures reported 2.33 less probabilities of having a very high or fairly high level of absenteeism (aOR = 0.43; 95%IC:0.27–0.69). However, having documented aspects of preventive management (plan, risk assessment, planning measures) did not have any impact on absenteeism levels, which shows that we can fall into an unrealistic institutional mirage of security with active policies of co-education or co-management being necessary to reduce absenteeism.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANGHAMITRA CHOUDHURY ◽  
Shailendra Kumar

<p>The relationship between women, technology manifestation, and likely prospects in the developing world is discussed in this manuscript. Using India as a case study, the paper goes on to discuss how ontology and epistemology views utilised in AI (Artificial Intelligence) and robotics will affect women's prospects in developing countries. Women in developing countries, notably in South Asia, are perceived as doing domestic work and are underrepresented in high-level professions. They are disproportionately underemployed and face prejudice in the workplace. The purpose of this study is to determine if the introduction of AI would exacerbate the already precarious situation of women in the developing world or if it would serve as a liberating force. While studies on the impact of AI on women have been undertaken in developed countries, there has been less research in developing countries. This manuscript attempts to fill that need.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 168-182
Author(s):  
David Mhlanga ◽  
◽  
Steven Henry Dunga ◽  
Tankiso Moloi ◽  
◽  
...  

The study sought to investigate the impact of financial inclusion on poverty reduction in Zimbabwe among the smallholder farmers. It is alleged that financial inclusion can help in achieving seven of the seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs), which include poverty eradication in all its forms everywhere, ending hunger, achieving food security, ensuring improved nutrition as well as promoting sustainable agriculture and many others. Using the simple regression method, the study discovered that financial inclusion has a strong impact on poverty reduction among smallholder farmers. The study went on to discover that, for the government to tackle poverty especially among the smallholder farmers, it is important to ensure that farmers do participate in the financial sector through saving, borrowing and taking out insurance among other services. So, it is important for the government of Zimbabwe to fully implement policies that encourage financial inclusion such as making sure that farmers find it easy to access financial institutions and encouraging financial institutions to review transaction costs like bank account opening charges periodically, implementing financial education programs among the farmers because these variables are important in influencing farmers to participate or preventing them from using financial services.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document