How Does Fiscal Policy Affect Bank Credit? Evidence from China

Using a set of Chinese economic data and a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model, this paper investigates the transmission channels of fiscal policy to bank credit in China. We find that increases in tax revenue can increase bank credit through external financing premium channel, collateral channel, and bank liquidity channel. We also find that increases in government spending can reduce bank credit through bank liquidity channel and increase bank credit through external financing premium channel and collateral channel.

Eating behavior of preschool-age children during social distancing period due to COVID-19

The aim of the study was to investigate the eating behavior of preschool children during the social isolation period of the first wave of COVID-19 in Fortaleza, Ceará. This is a cross-sectional observational study, carried out with caregivers of preschool children aged from 2 to 6 years. The PENSE questionnaire (IBGE) was used to collect socio-economic data and the data referring to eating behavior was used the CEBQ. 286 parents (mother and father) and their children participated in the research, of which 53.8% were female. The preschoolers in the study constituted 5.2% of infant I, 9.8% infant II, 14.7% infant III, 20.6% infant IV, 23.1% infant V, 15.4% 1-year elementary school and 11.2% did not attend school. As for the education of most mothers, 83.9% completed higher education. Regarding the number of people who lived in the household, 44.4% lived with 4 people and 73.1% had 1 child. The highest mean values ​​are present in the dimension "Pleasure to eat" (EF) and "Response to satiety" (SR), while the lowest refer to the dimensions "About Emotional Intake" (EOE) and "Response to food" (FR). The statistical results of the “Food Fussiness” (FF) subscale point out important aspects about the selectivity in the sample of the present study, demonstrating a good tendency to picky eating. The dimension with the lowest mean was “Emotional Overeating”, demonstrating that when confined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, preschoolers still have EOE lower than all other subscales. It follows that children in preschool stage have presented a higher prevalence in subscales that are linked to food avoidance behavior.

Energy-Saving Technology Opportunities and Investments of the Italian Foundry Industry

The foundry industry is regarded as one of the most energy-intensive industrial sector due to its energy consumption up to 9 MWh/ton of produced metal. As a result, many companies are trying to increase the energy efficiency of their foundry plants. Since many energy-saving technologies are proposed by manufacturers and the literature, choosing the most appropriate one is a difficult task. Moreover, being updated with the available energy-saving solutions is complicated because of the quick technology advances. Consequently, this paper aims at investigating the recent and future opportunities and investments for reducing the energy consumptions of the technologies of Italian foundry companies. Additionally, it aims at presenting a list of available technological solutions validated by Italian experts. To this end, the Energy Audits developed by 231 plants were analyzed to extract the implemented and planned interventions. Furthermore, the economic data available within the Energy Audits were studied to determine the advantages of a given technological solutions compared to the others. It emerged that the companies are strongly investing in increasing the efficiency of the auxiliary systems such as compressors and motors. The outcomes of this study can assist both researchers and energy managers in choosing the most appropriate energy-saving solutions.

Funding Democracy: Public Media and Democratic Health in 33 Countries

This study examines whether and how public media systems contribute to the health of democracies in 33 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America, the Middle East, Latin America, and South America. We gather national economic data and public media funding levels, audience shares, and regulatory data, primarily for 2018 and 2019 but in some cases earlier, due to lack of available data. We then assess correlations with strength of democracy indices and extend Hallin and Mancini's typology of North American and European media systems through hierarchical cluster analysis of these 33 countries. We find five models of public media systems around the world, ranging from “state-administered” systems with low levels of independence (Botswana and Tunisia) to systems aligning with Hallin and Mancini's “Democratic Corporatist” model, with strong and secure (multiyear) funding, large audience shares, and strong regulatory protection for their independence. In between, we identify three mixed models: a “Liberal-Pluralist” model, a “Direct Funding” model, and a “Commercial–Public” model. Correlations and cluster analyses show that high levels of secure funding for public media systems and strong structural protections for the political and economic independence of those systems are consistently and positively correlated with healthy democracies.

Combining Legal and Economic Theory. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Dutch and Polish Family Provisions in Succession Law

Although testamentary freedom is an important principle in succession law, legislators and judges across the world have recognized the importance of certain family members by granting them mandatory claims in the inheritance of their deceased relative (in spite of wishes of the deceased). This article focuses on these rights. The goal is to introduce the Dutch framework of imperative succession law and to demonstrate the possibilities of combining the legal and economic discipline to deepen knowledge on these provisions. Whilst examples will focus upon succession law, the concepts will be described in a general manner. This might inspire researchers to apply a similar interdisciplinary approach in other fields of law. The imperative provisions that currently exist for family members in the Netherlands can be divided into two types of claims. The first is the legitime, a fixed claim for children of the deceased. The second type are the other statutory entitlements that cover a specified range of situations in which judges have freedom in deciding upon the requests of family members. However, this discretion raises many questions on the way judges should handle such claims. A combination of law and economics can aid in describing and interpreting the law, for example by defining the need for support that is often required for a successful claim. By relying on economic data and theory, judges can come to a more consistent and substantiated way of establishing the need for support. The interdisciplinary methodology can also improve comparative legal research. The functional approach that is common in comparative legal research, assumes that law fulfills certain functions. Economic figures provide an objective basis that demonstrates what functions a law fulfills and to what extent this is done efficiently. This information can be used to compare the functioning of laws in different countries.

Empirical Analysis of Financial Depth and Width Based on Convolutional Neural Network

There are great differences in financial and economic development in different regions. In different time series and different regions, the effects of financial depth and width on economic development are also different. This paper selects neural network to establish the economic benefit model of financial depth and breadth, which can deeply explore the relationship between financial data and economic data. In order to determine the optimal convolutional neural network parameters, the optimal convolutional neural network parameters are determined through comparative simulation analysis. The convolutional neural network model based on the optimal parameters is applied to the empirical analysis of the effect of financial and economic development in X region. In order to obtain the optimal convolutional neural network parameters, different convolution layers, convolution core size, and convolution core number are compared and simulated. The convolutional neural network model with optimal parameters is used to simulate the financial and economic data of X region. The simulation results show that the density of financial personnel has a certain impact on economic development, so it is necessary to improve the comprehensive quality of financial personnel and promote regional economic development. Therefore, this paper seeks an effective method to study the effect of financial breadth and depth on economic development which can provide a feasible idea for the in-depth research method of financial and economic development.

On the economic impact of droughts in Central Europe. The decade from 1531 to 1540 from the Polish perspective

The period from around 1450 to 1550 in Europe is extremely interesting from the perspective of research on extreme weather events. It was a period of events that strongly influenced the societies and economies of the Old Continent. So far, the literature has been more focused on Western and Northern Europe, while as regards the region of Central Europe, the greatest attention was paid to the Czech Republic or Hungary. This article revolves around the Polish lands, which experienced their greatest economic boom in the 16th century. We consider whether and how the droughts of the decade from 1531 to 1540 might have affected the country’s economic development. We analyze a number of written sources which are the product of the treasury apparatus of the time (tax registers, data from water customs, tax exemptions, inventories of land estates etc.), but also information on fluctuations in product prices in the most important cities in this part of Europe. The work not only provides a detailed account of economic data, but also attempts to reflect on the relevance of linking information on fires in urban centres in the period characterized by weather extremes.

Fusion Analysis of Economic Data of the Medical and Health Industry Based on Blockchain Technology and Two-Way Spectral Cluster Analysis

Due to the huge potential in gene expression analysis, which is helpful for disease diagnosis, new drug development, and life science research, the two-way clustering algorithm was proposed and it was widely used in gene expression data research. In order to understand the economic data of medical and health industry, this paper analyzes the economic data of the medical and health industry in different regions of China based on blockchain technology and two-way spectral cluster analysis and makes statistics on the economic data of the medical and health industry in eastern, central, and western regions of China. This paper studies the development status of China’s medical and health industry and the factors affecting the agglomeration of medical and health service industry and analyzes them under the blockchain technology and two-way spectral cluster analysis method. The results show that the overall development trend of China’s medicine and health is from government-led to government, society, and individual sharing. After the transformation of blockchain technology and two-way spectral cluster analysis, the output value of the pharmaceutical industry increased by about 10%.

Challenges and Complexities of the South African Economy

This chapter discusses the key characteristics and core challenges of the South African economy in the post-apartheid era. South Africa shares some commonalities with other African and middle-income economies, yet has a unique history and some distinctive economic features. South Africa’s economic complexities and challenges are discussed here with reference to six comparator countries. We examine South Africa’s growth path, considering the low rates of economic growth as well as the lack of structural transformation and the unsustainable and non-inclusive nature of this growth. The ‘triple challenges’ of poverty, inequality, and employment are both a manifestation of the nature of this growth path and a constraint on overall growth. This is also briefly evaluated in the context of the political economy and policy context of growth and development in South Africa. The chapter reviews South African economic data, with a focus on microeconomic survey data.