Exploration of PPP Investment and Financing Model for Infrastructure: A Case Study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

With the overall weakening of the macroeconomic situation, the investment growth in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei continued to slow down. This article focuses on the reform and innovation of investment and financing models in the vertical and horizontal collaborative construction of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei infrastructure. Under the framework of the PPP model, this article discusses how to design a market-oriented platform of infrastructure investment and financing model, introduce and use private capital, build remote capital access and exit mechanism, measure the government’s financial capacity and financial risks in the PPP model, set up PPP institutions, and improve relevant laws and regulations to make the infrastructure construction and operation more efficient, thus promoting the coordinated development of infrastructure construction in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Readiness factor identification Bandung city MSMEs use blockchain technology

MSMEs in Indonesia are expected to be able to face competition in the era of industrial revolution 4.0. However, there are many problems and obstacles in competitiveness, especially facing global competition, including access to capital, access to information and technology, access to organization and management, and access to business networks and partnerships. Besides, it is often difficult for them to get additional capital through banks or other lenders to increase their business scale. Moreover, a lack of financial and digital literacy causes the low validity of MSMEs' data to lenders. The adoption of blockchain technology is one of the considerations to minimize these MSMEs problems. Meanwhile, this technology is still relatively new to be applied to MSMEs but positively impacts the future. This study aims to measure and analyze MSMEs' readiness in using blockchain technology on a business scale with the TRAM model. This model integrates the Technology Readiness Index (TRI) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) models. This study aims to test several variables, including TRI, perceive ease of use, perceive ease of usefulness, attitude toward, and intense use of blockchain technology. Data processing uses the partial least square path modelling (PLS-PM) method. The results showed that TRI was significant on perceived ease of usefulness and perceived ease of usefulness. Then, perceive ease of use is significant towards perceive ease of usefulness and intention to use. Besides, perceive ease of usefulness is significant for attitude. The attitude toward variable is significant for the intention to use in the acceptance of blockchain technology.

Guns in the Hills: Firearms Circulation along the North-East Frontier of British India, 1860s–1910s

This article seeks to examine the significance of firearms in the making of the frontier and the ways in which societies on the North-East Frontier of British India encountered and adapted firearms between the 1860s and 1910s. It will study the complex ways in which the entry of firearms was mediated and galvanised by a range of processes such as imperial expansion, the intrusion of capital, access to resources, the role of violence, and the drawing of new borders. In turn, the circulation and diffusion of firearms also engendered a range of other practices and experiences among the societies on the frontier. Moving along various land and river routes, a range of individuals and traders were involved in circulating arms and ammunition into the imperial margins. They, in turn, linked the frontier geographies to markets, ports, and other larger oceanic networks. A focus on the flow of firearms as such illustrates a web of interconnections that straddled multiple scales and relations. As firearms circulated and gradually made their way into the periphery, various measures were initiated by the colonial state, such as enforcing prohibitive laws and instituting surveillance structures to control and block the flow of firearms along the North-East Frontier. This article examines some of these complex processes, dynamics, and experiences that ensued through the circulation and diffusion of firearms on the North-East Frontier of British India.

Rural development issue: a case study in Banyuwangi District, East Java Province

Rural people, as well as the farmers, deal with capital access for their business activities. Formal credit offered by the banks is not easily accessed by rural people due to rigid administrative procedures and collateral requirements. This paper aims to analyze rural people’s access to formal credit offered by a Credit Union (CU) acting as the credit cooperative in Banyuwangi District, East Java. The study was conducted in 2020 in Banyuwangi District. Primary and secondary data collected were analyzed using a descriptive approach. Each debtor has to become a member of CU prior to borrowing credit with some requirements, e.g. paying principle and regular contributions, sufficient saving value as collateral, and willingness to pay an interest rate determined for a certain period depending on credit types. Types of business financed by CU are farm business, fresh fruit marketing, cow fattening, groceries, among others. Most of the rural businesses financed by CU were able to pay the credit on time. Each business feasibility was assessed carefully by the CU management prior to credit approval and responded quickly. CU members also get the advantage through receiving shared-profit distributed annually. The CU copes with limited capital as the members’ demand for credit increases. The CU also has to compete with the relatively lower interest rate of the official subsidized credit, i.e. KUR (People’s Business Credit), for its credit expansion. The government needs to encourage CU to grow in rural areas for rural people’s credit access through policy facilitation.

Institution reinforcement of mosque in social economic empowerment of small traders community

Historically, mosque is the center for human civilization with various activities covering social, economy, and culture. However, its function have been shifted and specialized into a place of worship. This paper aims to describe the contribution of the great mosque of Attaqwa Pancor in social economic empowerment, particularly small businesses in Pancor, East Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB). The Data are collected through observation, interview, and document study. The result of the analysis shows that mosque involvement in the small-scale economic activities has brought them to be free from the difficulty of capital access and dependence. In the first stage, that is the period of 2019 to August 2020, through Mawar Emas program, total of 80 small-traders in Pancor village was helped to be free from debt problems. The great mosque of Attaqwa which is supported by Indonesia Sharia Economic Community (Masyarakat Ekonomi Syariah, MES) were successfully distributing the total amount of 80 million rupiahs for the small business purposes. The existence of the Attaqwa mosque proves and affirms that religious institutions can contribute to the social economic development. Considering the strategic position, this paper suggests the need for institutional reinforcement of mosque to restore its broad role in addition to religious issues.JEL Classification: A13; O15; Z12

Gender perspectives on agroforestry practices in Mt. Merapi hazards and risks prone area of Indonesia

Rozaki Z, Rahmawati N, Wijaya O, Safitri F, Senge M, Kamarudin MF. 2021. Gender perspectives on agroforestry practices in Mt. Merapi hazards and risks-prone area of Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 2980-2987. Despite the risk and hazards of the Mt. Merapi prone area, people continue to stay in the area as Agroforestry Adopters. This study aims to analyze the gender perspectives on agroforestry (AF) practices in the Mt. Merapi prone area. 128 men and 86 women were randomly selected from four different areas. Descriptive analysis, independent t-test, and logistic multinomial regression were used to analyze the data. Gender issue in AF practices is found in some parts of the practices. For example, women are more predominant in marketing the products rather than men, whilst the men are predominant in activities that need more strength such as planting. An external factor that is significant is the different impacts of farmers support groups on men and women. Meanwhile, factors such as capital access and AF easiness do not show significant differences between men and women. In other words, these two variables are felt the same among men and women when practicing AF. As for the contribution of AF, social aspect is found to show significant differences, whilst economic and ecology do not show significant differences to both the men and women. Additionally, factors that affect the perspectives on AF contribution vary among the respondents across both groups of men and women. This study suggests that the different perspectives and factors that are affecting AF farmers can be used to develop future AF promotion programs.

Advantages and risks of crowdfunding as a model of financing startups and community development projects

Crowdfunding as a tool for alternative financing has emerged relatively recently and is of limited use in Ukraine today. At the same time, it has significant potential, which can contribute to the implementation of a wide range of projects that for various reasons are not of interest to traditional lenders or investors. The aim of the article is to determine the benefits of crowdfunding for its participants, the peculiarities of the implementation of certain types of crowdfunding and identify risks that may be generated by them, as well as develop practical recommendations for crowdfunding campaigns by entrepreneurs and authors of community development projects. The article identifies the benefits of crowdfunding for project authors (low cost of capital, access to information and potential investors) and investors (clarity, low risks, access to new products, the ability to support creative ideas), substantiates the role of crowdfunding platforms in realizing the benefits of crowdfunding. The advantages and disadvantages of using certain types of crowdfunding are described. Recommendations for planning and implementation of the main stages of crowdfunding campaigns - idea development, target audience determination, research, communication, project budgeting, reward system development, campaign schedule development – are developed. The factors of choosing a crowdfunding platform for hosting the project are determined. The possibility of using crowdfunding for collective financing of socio-cultural projects within the public budgets of the united territorial communities is shown. The risks of using crowdfunding for project authors and potential investors are identified. Those risks are primarily related to realistic expectations and proper preparation for the fundraising campaign by project authors, as well as the lack of guarantees for investors in the event of problems or bankruptcy of the crowdfunding platform. The author highlights that the growth of public awareness about the possibilities of implementing social or business initiatives through crowdfunding platforms will contribute to the development of platforms, improvement of technological equipment, and expansion of their range of services.

Extension-Led Demonstration: Grameen Microfinance Methods and Capital Access for Low-Income Female Entrepreneurs

A nonprofit community development financial institution and Extension collaborated to conduct a demonstration project to evaluate efficacy of Grameen peer-group microfinance methodology in addressing barriers faced by low-income women entrepreneurs in a small metro area. Program performance metrics achieved by 284 culturally diverse, low-income entrepreneurs (almost all women) over 5 years included a program loan repayment rate of 99%, increased average client income, bank savings accumulation, and increased opportunities for improved credit scores. Client survey responses indicated program methods developed confidence and skills in finances, leadership, and teamwork. Extension professionals may play various roles in such endeavors.