Investigating the residential electricity consumption-income nexus in Morocco: a stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology analysis

In a comprehensive LMDI-STIRPAT-ARDL framework, this research investigates the residential electricity consumption (REC)-income nexus in Morocco for the period 1990 to 2018. The logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) results show that economic activity and electricity intensity are the leading drivers of Morocco’s REC, followed by population and residential structure. And then, the LMDI analysis was combined with stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) analysis and the bounds testing approach to search for a long-run equilibrium relationship. The empirical results show that REC, economic growth, urbanization, and electricity intensity are cointegrated. The results further show that there exists a U-shaped relationship between per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and REC: an increase in per capita GDP reduces REC initially; but, after reaching a turning point (the GDPPC level of 17,145.22 Dh), further increases in per capita GDP increase REC. Regarding urbanization, the results reveal that it has no significant impact on Morocco’s REC. The stability parameters of the short and long-term coefficients of residential electricity demand function are tested. The results of these tests showed a stable pattern. Finally, based on the findings mentioned above, policy implications for guiding the country's development and electricity planning under energy and environmental constraints are given.

Does the Kyoto Protocol as an International Environmental Policy Promote Forest Carbon Sinks?

Under the background of carbon neutrality, the carbon sequestration of forest ecosystems is an important way to mitigate climate change. Forest could not only protect the environment but also an important industry for economic development. As an international climate policy that first recognized the role of forest carbon sinks on climate change, the question becomes, has the Kyoto Protocol promoted the development of forest carbon sinks in contracting parties? To explore this, data of forest can be obtained at the national level. Hence, data of economic, social, polity and climate in 147 countries is also collected. The generalized synthetic control method is adopted. The results show that the policy effect of the Kyoto Protocol was obvious and significant. Moreover, the effect was more significant after the enforcement in 2005. Especially after the first commitment period, the policy effect of the second period is more obvious. Some policy implications are drawn.

A Study on Social Enterprise Policy Landscape in Bangladesh

The purpose of the study is to highlight the policy landscape of the social enterprise which is not spoken in any of the present policies and laws of Bangladesh. This study reviews the existing policies and regulatory affairs related to social enterprise formation and operations in Bangladesh. This study also focuses on the analysis of literature that described the national, regional and international good practices on social enterprise. This study tries to find out the past, present and future insight and findings of social enterprises policy implications in Bangladesh. This study finds the breadth and ranges of the policy approaches that the government has implemented for social enterprise development and policy priority for Bangladesh. Because at present in Bangladesh a social enterprise can establish and operate under different laws as there is no specific policy to register and operate the social enterprise in Bangladesh, so it’s confusing for the social entrepreneur to register under appropriate law that will benefit them in the future. This study is based on the detailed assessment accessible in online literature and current data on social enterprise in Bangladesh, analysis of the existing policies and regulatory affairs on social enterprise in Bangladesh. This study is dependent on the qualitative approach along with the unstructured interviews with the industry experts. This paper presents a solid case study regarding the existing policy and regulatory implications of social enterprise formation and operations in Bangladesh.

The qualitative experience of telehealth access and clinical encounters in Australian healthcare during COVID-19: implications for policy

Background Adaptive models of healthcare delivery, such as telehealth consultations, have rapidly been adopted to ensure ongoing delivery of essential healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there remain gaps in our understanding of how clinicians have adapted to telehealth. This study aims to explore the telehealth experiences of specialists, based at a tertiary hospital in the Hunter Region, and general practitioners (GP), including barriers, enablers and opportunities. Methods An interpretative qualitative study involving in-depth interviews explored the telehealth experiences of specialists, based at a tertiary hospital in the Hunter Region of Australia, and GPs, including barriers, enablers and opportunities. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic approach with constant comparison. Results Individual interviews were conducted with 10 specialists and five GPs. Key themes were identified: (1) transition to telehealth has been valuable but challenging; (2) persisting telehealth process barriers need to be addressed; (3) establishing when face-to-face consults are essential; (4) changes in workload pressures and potential for double-up; (5) essential modification of work practices; and (6) exploring what is needed going forward. Conclusions While there is a need to rationalize and optimize health access during a pandemic, we suggest that more needs to be done to improve telehealth going forward. Our results have important policy implications. Specifically, there is a need to effectively train clinicians to competently utilize and be confident using this telehealth and to educate patients on necessary skills and etiquette.

The Improvement of the Regional Regulatory Governance System for Radiation Risk Management: Spatial Analysis on Radiation Hazards in South Korea

Since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, nuclear regulators have strengthened safety standards or decided to decommission the nuclear power plant. The vast majority of radiation is from nuclear power plants, so safety measures are also concentrated in nuclear power plants. Radioactive materials located much closer to the people are scattered around the nation. However, it is difficult for citizens to predict the radiation risk around them because regulatory agencies do not provide adequate information on radiation. The main goal of this study is to analyze the spatial distribution patterns of radioactive materials that serve as indicators for potential risk from a radiological hazard. The empirical findings in this study demonstrate the presence of spatial autocorrelation for the number of radiation licenses among 244 regions in the Republic of Korea. The policy implications are three-fold: (1) it is necessary to improve regulatory governance in consideration of permitted use; (2) the regional offices of regulatory agency can be established based on the identified spatial distribution of permitted use; (3) it is required to improve the information-disclosure system for materials. This study provides an opportunity to create a safer society by understanding the radiation around the public in general.

The Determinants of Vietnam’s Information and Communication Technologies Exports to the European Union

Vietnam is one of the top information and communication technologies (ICT) exporters globally, and the ICT products constitute nearly one-fifth of Vietnam’s total exports to the European Union (EU). This study empirically investigates the determinants of Vietnam’s ICT exports to the EU by applying the gravity model for trade with panel data from 2000 to 2019. Besides the traditional variables of the gravity model, we added gross capital formation, patent application and exchange rates as explanatory variables. The results show that among factors affecting Vietnam’s ICT export to the EU, market size, patent applications, and exchange rate are the most significant determinants. The article also suggests some policy implications for the development of ICT exports between the two parties. JEL Codes: F14, C2

Moderating influence of religiosity on the causality between taxpaying attitudes and tax compliance behaviour of entrepreneurial firms in Nigeria

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the moderating influence of religiosity on the effect of taxpaying attitudes on the tax compliance behaviour of entrepreneurial firms in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach Using a cross-sectional survey design, we collected primary data from 368 owner managers of entrepreneurial firms in Southwest Nigeria using structured questionnaires. Respondents were purposefully selected based on the purposive sampling technique. The data collected with the structured questionnaires were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Two linear regression models were compared. Findings Estimations in Models 1 and 2 suggest that taxpayers’ attitudes and religiosity (intra- and interreligiosity) have significant effects on the tax compliance behaviour of firms, but the influence of intrareligiosity is insignificant. Estimations in Model 3 suggest that taxpaying attitudes without the moderating influence of religiosity exerted a significant effect on tax compliance behaviour by 13%, while taxpaying attitudes with the moderating influence of religiosity exerted 17%. Estimations in Model 4 suggest that taxpaying attitudes with the moderating influence of the interreligiosity dimension had a more significant contribution to the changes in tax compliance behaviour than the intrareligious dimension. Research limitations/implications From the findings, the following policy implications can be deduced: (i) if taxpayers’ attitudes improved and religiosity was leveraged by the tax authorities, tax compliance behaviour of entrepreneurial firms would be induced in Nigeria; (ii) the consistent positive influence is a strong indication that religious values are critical elements of tax compliance interventions that should be considered by policymakers when designing public policies on tax evasion and avoidance in developing countries. Originality/value We bridge the gaps in the literature because our study affirmed that taxes are religiously driven. In addition, the study validates the applicability of theory of planned behaviour in investigating the moderating influence of religiosity on the causality between taxpaying attitude and tax compliance in the developing context.

Digital Economy and Health: Does Green Technology Matter in BRICS Economies?

The present study attempts to examine the impact of digitization and green technology on the health outcomes of BRICS countries over the period of 1993–2019. Internet users measure digitalization, and health outcome is determined by life expectancy. The study employed the ARDL estimation approach for empirical investigation of country-specific analysis. GDP per capita and current health expenditures have been incorporated as control variables. The study findings reveal that digitalization results in increasing life expectancy in the long-run in BRICS except for Brazil. While green technology tends to enhance life expectancy in the long-run in Russia and China, it produces an insignificant impact on health outcomes in the short-run. While GDP and health expenditures also improve life expectancy in mostly BRICS economies in the long-run and short-run. Our study provides some policy implications for BRICS nations.

Exploring the Energy Saving Potential in Private, Public and Non-Motorized Transport for Ten Swedish Cities

Transport energy conservation research in urban transport systems dates back principally to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) “Arab Oil Embargo” (1973–1974) and the Iranian revolution (1979), when global oil supplies became threatened and costs rose steeply. Two subsequent Gulf Wars (1991 and 2003) highlighted the dangerous geo-political dimensions of Middle-Eastern oil. In latter times, the urgency to reduce global CO2 output to avoid catastrophic climate change has achieved great prominence. How to reduce passenger transport energy use therefore remains an important goal, which this paper pursues in ten Swedish cities, based on five scenarios: (1) increasing the relatively low public transport (PT) seat occupancy in each Swedish city to average European levels (buses 35%, light rail 48%, metro 60% and suburban rail 35%); (2) doubling existing PT seat occupancy in each Swedish city; (3) increasing existing car occupancy in each Swedish city by 10%; (4) decreasing existing energy use per car vehicle kilometer by 15%; (5) increasing existing modal split for daily trips by non-motorized modes to 50% in each city. A sixth “best-case scenario” is also explored by simultaneously combining scenarios 2 to 5. The data used in the paper come from systematic empirical research on each of the ten Swedish cities. When applied individually, scenario 2 is the most successful for reducing passenger transport energy use, scenarios 1 and 4 are next in magnitude and produce approximately equal energy savings, followed by scenario 5, with scenario 3 being the least successful. The best-case, combined scenario could save 1183 million liters of gasoline equivalent in the ten cities, representing almost a 60% saving over their existing 2015 total private passenger transport energy use and equivalent to the combined 2015 total annual private transport energy use of Stockholm, Malmö and Jönköping. Such findings also have important positive implications for the de-carbonization of cities. The policy implications of these findings and the strategies for increasing public transport, walking and cycling, boosting car occupancy and decreasing vehicular fuel consumption in Swedish cities are discussed.