FINANCIAL AND INVESTMENT DETERMINANTS OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE FACE OF ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY

The research aims to evaluate the development trends of Ukrainian regions in conditions of COVID-19 spread under the impact of financial and investment determinants. In the article, it is made the profound examination of the impact the restrictive and stimulating tools of public policy at national and regional levels have on the current condition of regional economic systems, in particular in the context of such components as price stability, investment attraction, business climate improvement, lending, capital investment, transparency of budget revenue-forming taxes administration, and stability of public finance. These sectors are most sensitive to public policy measures, particularly in conditions of social turbulence. The analysis of financial determinants of regional development in conditions of the corona crisis has contributed to outlining the following negative trends: substantial decline in investments in the economy of regions and a falling share of new investment projects are the most negative consequences that will essentially affect the paces of economic growth in the following periods; deteriorating business climate, falling volumes of loans provided to economic entities, and growing share of short-term loans have affected new investment decisions; failure to fulfill the planned rates of the local budgets’ main revenue-generating indicators (PIT, local taxes) has affected the volumes of revenues from local budgets, including the investment ones; decline in transfers to local budgets from the public one has affected the funding of regional development programs; the foreign capital outflow occurred not only because of the deteriorating business climate in the country but also the inclusive nature of the COVID-19 pandemics and psychological-emotional factors of impact on the investors’ behavior in conditions of uncertainty. The economic, fiscal, and social impacts of COVID-19 are territorially differentiated. Its various risks are much caused by economic and spatial features of regional development. At the same time, the panic caused by the COVID-19 spread leading to making a range of irrational decisions by financial-economic entities at various governance levels is an essential reason for the defined problems’ aggravation. The substantial decline in investments in the economy of regions and a falling share of new investment projects are the most negative consequences that will essentially affect the paces of economic growth in the following periods. Keywords: regional development, economic uncertainty, COVID-19, finance, investments, determinants. JEL Classification O18, H71 Formulas: 0; fig.: 2; tabl.: 3; bibl.: 15.

Drivers of ICT investments in bakery and sugar confectionery processed food sub-sector in India

PurposeInformation and communication technology (ICT) is a general-purpose technology, which plays an important role in improving the efficiency of a business firm. Nowadays, investment on ICT has become necessary for every business firm in different sectors of the economy. However, firms need to be very cautious while investing on a particular ICT, which is suitable for their businesses. Thus, it becomes necessary for the firm to understand its internal organizational characteristics to invest better on ICT. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to understand the organizational factors, which influence investment on ICT at the firm level.Design/methodology/approachThe technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework is adopted to understand the organizational factors which influence a firm's ICT investment. The sample for the study is the firms belonging to bakery and sugar confectionery sector, which is one of the important sub-sectors of processed food industry in India. The data for analysis is extracted from a secondary source, namely the Prowess Database. The study uses two-step system GMM, a method of generalized method of moment (GMM), to identify the organizational determinants of ICT investment at the firm level.FindingsThe study finds that previous-year investment on ICT has a significant impact on firms' present-year investment on ICT. The result of the econometric method also shows that firms which are larger, labour-intensive and highly liquidated are the ones investing more on ICT in the present study.Research limitations/implicationsAs mentioned, the study examines the ICT investment determinants of firms belonging to one of the important sub-sectors of processed food industry of the Indian economy. However, the result of the study is not to be generalized since it is related only to a specific industry. Further, the data used in the study is limited by secondary sources and therefore, requires data from primary sources for in-depth investigation of ICT investment determinants at the firm level.Originality/valueThis paper bridges a research gap by examining the determinants of ICT investment of one of the important industry sectors in particular to developing countries. The paper contributes to the growing research on information technology adoption by using factors within the TOE framework to explain a processed food firm's investment on ICT.