A New Approach for Risk of Corporate Bankruptcy Assessment during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The consequences of COVID-19 will aggravate existing multidimensional risks and reveal new ones. The research gap allows contributing to recognizing the exogenous risk factors of corporate bankruptcy during the COVID-19 pandemic in EU countries. This study aims at revealing how to evaluate the risk of corporate bankruptcy phenomenon in the COVID-19 times. The question arises as to whether Schumpeter’s creative destruction approach is still accurate. The article concentrates on implementing the fsQCA (fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis) method to identify and evaluate the main exogenous drivers of corporate bankruptcy in EU countries based on Fragile States Index data. This new approach focuses on fuzzy sets theory. The fsQCA method is a globally recognized alternative to quantitative analysis (in which the causal complexity is ignored) and qualitative methods for examining individual cases (which do not have the tools to generalize on their basis). The research indicates and examines the main external factors that would increase the risk of corporate bankruptcy in EU countries: namely, economic decline, uneven economic development, unemployment rate, demographic pressure, and government debt. The study discusses the influence of zombie companies on economies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying risk factors that determine the threat of corporate bankruptcy may constitute practical recommendations for business and restructuring practitioners, financial institutions, and banking and public sector representatives in creating warning and recovery measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inflation of wood resources in European forests: The footprints of a big-bang

The current increase in European forest resources forms a singularity across the globe. Whether this trend will persist, and how biological and economic trends feature it form crucial issues to green economy challenges and C sequestration. The present screening of Forest Europe 2015 statistics explored the features, inertia and limits of this expansion, and its relationships with countries’ development, forest management and trade, intense in this area of the world. Persisting footprint of past demographic pressure on forests was identified, with opposed traces on their area and growing stock density. Steady growing stock (GS) increases, proportional to GS, not density-limited, and sustained by forest area increases, supported the view of an inflationary forest dynamic. Economic development and liberalism fostered both forest exploitation and production, yielding no significant impact on GS changes. Wood exports exerted a tension on forest exploitation and GS changes, thus lowering GS inflation but providing a resource security margin in the face of expected climate threats. Conflicting a common view, GS inflation and moderate felling-to-increment ratios make increased use of wood resources and C sequestration reconcilable, and GS expansion timely for ongoing EU forest policy processes. Anticipated adverse impacts of ongoing climate change were not clearly identified in these statistics.

Forecasts and demographic development of the population of Fergana Valley regions of Uzbekistan until 2040

The world's population is growing rapidly and today exceeds 7.8 billion people. World population growth is expected to slow down slowly in the future. A decade ago, the world's population increased by 1.24 percent; today it is 1.1 percent, an increase of 83 million a year. The world's population is expected to reach 8.6 billion by 2030. (UNFPA 2015). This creates a regional imbalance between population growth and the development of employment, production and social infrastructure. Information is needed on the creation of new jobs in the regions, for planning the construction of preschool institutions, schools, higher and secondary specialized educational institutions, how many children will be able to attend preschool institutions in the future, how many children will reach school age and how many children will be transfered to specialized secondary and higher education, how much the labor force will increase. The population of Uzbekistan is constantly growing. From 1991 to 2020, the country's population increased by 1.7 times. For comparison: during this period, the population of neighboring Kyrgyzstan increased by 1.3 times, the population of Kazakhstan – by 1.02 times, the population of Tajikistan – by 1.5 times, the population of Turkmenistan – by 1.4 times. During the years of independence in Uzbekistan, special attention was paid to demographic issues based on the population and the human factor, the principles of a healthy mother and a healthy child. The course of demographic processes changes in accordance with the natural, socio-economic geographical conditions of the regions (Tojieva Z. N. 2019). The Fergana Valley is the most densely populated region of Uzbekistan with a small territory, a large demographic load and the largest demographic potential (Abdullaev O. 2000). Land resources with limited, high demographic pressure require research aimed at identifying, predicting and preventing future adverse events specific to the development of demographic processes in the regions of the valley. The article makes a forecast for 2025–2040 and draws conclusions using the method of age shift of the population of regions, districts and cities of the Fergana Valley, demographic regions and gender and age composition.

The Insects as a Workforce for Organic Fertilizers Production – Insect Frass

Following the evolution of composting technology, the process of digestion of a biological substrate by insects (entomocomposting) represents the last stage; however, from its initial context of producing an organic fertilizer, the role of entomocomposting has been imposing itself (due to increasing demographic pressure) mainly in the safe disposal of organic waste (in rampant growth) and in the breeding of insects for food and feed, for the sake of food security. Both these last goals converge in the first, as the safest disposal of the compost is its use as organic fertilizer; but the organic substrates are of a diversified nature, as are the species of insects which have already proved themselves in entomocomposting; hence, for each of the purposes in view, the choice is vast and, in the same way, the entomocompost composition is wide-ranging. Furthermore, various types of organic substrates, in addition to a microbial flora with symbiotic effects, may sometimes be able to transmit to the frass a harmful load of heavy metals and/or, depending on the composting insect agents, the presence of microorganisms harmful to crops and to humans and animals; in these situations, the former should be encouraged, and the latter counteracted through appropriate composting technology. Directives and legislation in this area, if properly considered, constitute a fundamental basis for ensuring the appropriate use of this particular kind of organic fertilizer. Apart from the production of insects for food and feed, where the choice of which insect is determined at the outset, the preference for the insect to be used in entomocomposting should be considered according to its proficiency in biological digestion of the organic substrates available for this purpose and the fertilizing quality of the frass produced. Although a multitude of species have been evaluated, to date, for the digestion of organic substrates, most have been used in assessing their specific potential for certain functionalities of frass related to crop nutrition and health, but there are few which, either by prolificacy, proficiency or rapidity in digesting substrates, exhibit capacity to compete in rural environment; nevertheless, new species could be evaluated in the framework of the research of competitors for entomocomposting of all or each substrate type and for each of the main anticipated objectives, meanwhile, genetic improvement to obtain new strains specialized for different organic substrates has already started to take its first steps. In addition to the binomial “insect x substrate” the composting technology constitutes the third fundamental factor for the efficiency of the process. Insects use as a composting agent has been suggested several decades ago, but it was only in the last decade that this process grown from the garden to the factory. Within rural areas, entomocomposting could play a key role within a circular economy, where recycling and reusing potentially polluting wastes safely returns to the land the enduring fertility that enables the sustained production that generated them, requiring no particularly upscale installations, equipment or technical training; it can, therefore, be adapted to any size of agricultural holding, from smallholdings to large industrial holdings, on the other hand, and in order to obtain a controlled production and high quality entomocompost, it is needed to implement industrial technologies and the composting unit can achieve a very high production per square meter, comparing with traditional composting methods. However, whether from the perspective of agriculture, livestock or forestry, the production of waste for entomocomposting always falls far short of the necessary scale, and therefore always requiring the use of biodigested organic waste from agricultural industries, provided that the necessary precautions are taken; in any case, it always constitutes added value, due to the products it generates, in addition to the inestimable value of the productive disposal of potentially polluting products. Despite all the advantages mentioned above, the controversy over the organic vs. mineral fertilizer option persists, often fuelled by myths on both sides, but the successes already achieved with insect entomocomposts, such as the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) or the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.), in field trials, which are gradually adding up, anticipate an important role for insects in safeguarding global food and environmental security.

Proteomic Advances in Cereal and Vegetable Crops

The importance of vegetables in human nutrition, such as cereals, which in many cases represent the main source of daily energy for humans, added to the impact that the incessant increase in demographic pressure has on the demand for these plant foods, entails the search for new technologies that can alleviate this pressure on markets while reducing the carbon footprint of related activities. Plant proteomics arises as a response to these problems, and through research and the application of new technologies, it attempts to enhance areas of food science that are fundamental for the optimization of processes. This review aims to present the different approaches and tools of proteomics in the investigation of new methods for the development of vegetable crops. In the last two decades, different studies in the control of the quality of crops have reported very interesting results that can help us to verify parameters as important as food safety, the authenticity of the products, or the increase in the yield by early detection of diseases. A strategic plan that encourages the incorporation of these new methods into the industry will be essential to promote the use of proteomics and all the advantages it offers in the optimization of processes and the solution of problems.

Análise espacial da disparidade de gênero no emprego no mercado de trabalho da Região de Murcia (Espanha) / Spatial analysis of the gender gap in employment in the labor market of the Region of Murcia (Spain)

During the last decades, female participation in the labor market has increased. The decision of women to join the labor market depends, both on social factors such as age, education, marital status, or family conciliation; as well as economic factors such as the real wage. However, this increase in female participation fails to reduce the gender gap. This research, using spatial analysis techniques, tries to identify the explanatory factors of the employment gap in the local labor markets of the Region of Murcia (Spain). The main results are that the differences in the gap are explained by variables such as average age, demographic pressure, and educational level.

Exploitation of Lagoon Water Bodies and Conflicts of Use: the Case of The Lagoons of Grand-Lahou (Cote D’ivoire)

Demographic pressure, the reduction of arable land and the instability of income generated by export crops have forced the people of Grand-Lahou to show more interest in fishing activities. Thus, the exploitation of water bodies is an important strategic and economic issue for the neighbouring populations. However, in recent years, this exploitation of aquatic resources has led to conflicts between operators. The aim of this article is to analyse the procedures for resolving these conflicts and to assess their effectiveness. The methodological approach has integrated field observations and analyses carried out on the basis of information collected through interviews with stakeholders. The results reveal various forms of conflict resolution with relative levels of effectiveness. This situation is a hindrance to the efficient use of Ivorian aquatic areas. It is therefore desirable for the State to play its role by proposing more effective ways of managing these conflicts.

Senior population employment as a factor of rural areas sustainable development

The study aims to develop an informative model for the preparation of employment for seniors in rural areas. Aging of the rural population puts additional demographic pressure on the economy and is a factor in the sustainable development of rural areas, which play a significant role in ensuring food self-sufficiency in the region. The study was conducted in rural areas of the Chelyabinsk region. There was an analytical study of the demographic structure of villagers. There was studied employment and age structure of villagers. With the help of the economic-mathematical method there were calculated the employment rates of elderly people in rural areas, there were assessed the possibilities of involving older people to work in the real economy. The study includes three hypotheses explaining the relationship of the qualitative characteristics of employment of the seniors, the elderly and their reflection in the strategic development programs of rural areas, providing training for seniors. During the study and research it was found that all the hypotheses were confirmed. Thus, the informative model of employment provision of seniors in rural areas is practical importance and can be recommended for implementation in other rural areas.