TRENDS AND PROSPECTS OF ROAD ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT IN UKRAINE

The importance of road management for the economy and the state as a whole is determined. Developed transport infrastructure and highways are the key to a developed society and the efficient functioning of the economy of any state. According to the latest estimates of the Ministry of Infrastructure, the technical and operational condition of roads meets modern requirements for strength and equality by only 39.2% and 51.1%, respectively, due to the crisis in budget funding, insufficient maintenance of infrastructure, backwardness of technologies in the field of construction, which in turn causes economic and environmental losses in other sectors of the national economy. The main problems that damage the development of the road industry include: non-compliance of road coverage with European standards and traffic intensity, road wear, reduced road safety, poor quality of road repairs, poor control and others. The article examines the state, trends and prospects of road development in Ukraine. The main participants and the hierarchy of road users and the functions they perform are described. The structure of state and local roads of Ukraine is analyzed. In accordance with the Law of Ukraine № 1762 "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine" On Sources of Financing of the Road Industry of Ukraine "to improve the financing mechanism of the road sector" and № 1763 "On Amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine to improve the mechanism of financing the road sector" funds to finance the construction, reconstruction and repair of roads of national importance in 2020, 2021. On the basis of legislative documents and the National Transport Strategy, the main directions of the industry development are highlighted. Sources of financing of the Road Fund are established. It should be noted that this is not only revenue from the state budget, but also active involvement

Kiberbiztonsági kompetencia hálózatok Európában – K+F+I lehetőségek a következő évtizedben

Összefoglalás. Az elektronikusan tárolt információ biztonsága, általánosabban véve a kiberbiztonság, az egyik legnagyobb kihívás a 21. században. Folyamatosan jelennek meg újabb és újabb fenyegetések, melyekre innovatív és újszerű megoldásokat kell adni. Ezek az innovatív megoldások mindenképpen magukkal hozzák az olyan új típusú technológiák használatát az információbiztonságban, mint például a Nagy Adatokból (Big Data) való építkezés és az erre épülő mesterséges intelligencia. Ennek támogatása érdekében az Európai Unió a 2021 és 2027 közötti időszakban kiemelt fontosságúnak tartja a kiberbiztonsági innovációkat. A tanulmány bemutatja a kiberbiztonsági kompetenciahálózatok tervezetét, illetve ismerteti, hogy milyen kutatás-fejlesztés-innovációs lehetőségek lesznek a következő évtizedben Európában. Summary. Security of stored digital information and more generally, cybersecurity is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Besides the negative effects of cybercrime, cyberespionage, or other state sponsored activities, like cyberwarfare, our society and economy should face the exposure of infocommunication systems all around us. At the dawn of 4th industrial revolution when the whole world is going to be digitalized and will be surrounded by networked digital devices in homes, cities and industry, new threats are constantly emerging that need to be responded with new innovative solutions. These innovative solutions should include the usage of big data and artificial intelligence built onto it. They should also give a response for the inherited risks of legacy systems that can be found in many critical information infrastructures. Meanwhile, they should protect the digital privacy of citizens by not giving out unnecessary user data which is contradictory with the need of big data and AI mentioned before. Due to the emerging cybersecurity threats and the virtually non-existence of European cybersecurity market, European Union gives high importance for cybersecurity innovation and will support it between 2021 and 2027. In the proposed budget for this period, approximately 3 billion of euros is expected to be spent to cybersecurity related research. On the one hand, that fund may help European research institutes, enterprises, and startups to appear on the global market, on the other hand this is the only possible way to regain Europe’s digital independence from the United States and China. In alignment with the European security policy, these innovative solutions may also lead to reducing the amount of cybercrime, ensure the resilience of continental critical information infrastructure and can help to establish strong European cyberwarfare capabilities. As Ursula von der Leyden, president of the European Commission said in her op-ed in February 2020, “The point is that Europe’s digital transition must protect and empower citizens, businesses and society as a whole. It has to deliver for people so that they feel the benefits of technology in their lives. To make this happen, Europe needs to have its own digital capacities – be it quantum computing, 5G, cybersecurity or artificial intelligence (AI). These are some of the technologies we have identified as areas for strategic investment, for which EU funding can draw in national and private sector funds.” The study presents the draft of cybersecurity competence networks and describes what R&D&I possibilities will be in Europe in the next decade.

Comparative analysis of green bond regimes in Nigeria and China

Climate change has taken the centre stage in the debate of most governments around the world. At regional and international levels, efforts are being made to manage the problems emanating as a result of climate change. Response to the climate change can be summarized under two headings, namely, adaptation and mitigation measures. These measures do not come by cheaply, however. They are capital intensive; hence private sector funds will be needed to fund these adaptation and mitigation projects as public sector funding has remained insufficient. One way to mobilize private sector funds to tackle climate change is by using green bonds. But for green bonds to achieve its potentials as a sustainable investment tool, there must be a solid regulatory framework for the green bond market. Towards that end, this article analyses soft law instruments as well as national green bond regulations of Nigeria and China. It has been discovered that the Climate Bonds Standard and the Green Bond Principles form the basis of most jurisdictions of green bond regulations. nevertheless, due to regulatory arbitrage, there is no consensus green standard, and this poses a governance challenge to the green bond market. The article concludes that much of the responsibilities in setting green standards and enforcement of green standards rest on the domestic green bond regulations, and this can only be achieved with water-tight regulations for green bonds at domestic levels. Keywords: Climate Change; Green Bonds; Nigeria; China.

EU Green Deal will involve greater state regulation

Subject European Green Deal. Significance The European Green Deal seeks to transform the EU to a low-carbon economy. It proposes radical change in the way goods and services are produced and consumed. While based on a level playing field for all actors within the EU, it implies much greater state regulation of economic and social activities with the aim of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Impacts The Green Deal’s adoption would increase the likelihood of environmental criteria becoming more prominent in trade policy. The mobilisation of additional public sector funds implies rising debt levels on top of the expenditure relating to COVID-19. COVID-19 will delay EU and member state scrutiny and ratification of the Green Deal components.

Models or Stars: The Role of Asset Pricing Models and Heuristics in Investor Risk Adjustment

We examine the role of factor models and simple performance heuristics in investor decision-making using Morningstar’s 2002 rating methodology change. Before the change, flows strongly correlated with CAPM alphas. After, when funds are ranked by size and book-to-market groups, flows become more sensitive to 3-factor alphas (FF3). Flows to a matched institutional sample (same managers/strategies) follow FF3 before and after the change but are unrelated to the CAPM. Placebo tests with sector funds and other factor loadings show no effects. Our results imply that improvements in simple performance heuristics can result in more sophisticated risk adjustment by retail investors.

A Factorial Analysis of Information Ratio and Its Causal Effect on Yearly Return of Net Asset Value – A Study of Indian Equity Diversified Mutual Fund Schemes

Evaluation of performance of mutual fund schemes has gained a wide range of attention from both investors and academicians. The study aims at assessing the returns from equity mutual fund schemes in India by applying risk adjusted performance evaluation techniques. The study is based on secondary data collected for ten years for selected open ended equity diversified mutual funds. A comparative assessment of performance of public sector sponsored equity funds and non-government sponsored sector funds bring forth with an interesting inference. The present study also constitutes a modest attempt to assess the information ratio and its causal effect on the average yearly return of Net Asset Value (NAV). Based on the previous research findings, this paper puts an honest effort to identify twelve independent variables which affects significantly the performance of NAV. The evaluation relies on the Sharpe, Trenor and Jensen’s technique, which have been applied in conjunction with parametric and non-parametric statistical tools using. The result shows significant relationship exists between the NAV return and fund’s risk, information ratio, macro-economic variables such as inflation, interest rates, market index performance, foreign flow of funds and foreign exchange on the basis of regression analysis.

Banking for health: opportunities in cooperation between banking and health applying innovation from other sectors

The annual funding need for global health SDG targets is estimated by WHO at US$134 billion per year, rising to US$274-$371bn by 2030. This paper examines the challenge of making sustainable investment structures in global health more attractive for mainstream financial markets. The objective is a framework for targeted future debate with financial sector actors. Four case studies of innovative sustainable investment mechanisms are analysed, elaborating potential transfer of green and impact investment models in order to channel additional private sector funds to health. To increase private sector involvement, profit must accrue to providers of finance. The paper shows how health criteria can be incorporated into structures, which create triple bottom line return opportunities. Health infrastructure projects based on risk sharing models with governments or multilateral agencies could use long-term funding, with better credit ratings and lower cost of capital. Outcomes based investment, similar to green or social impact bonds, with third-party certification of measurable health impact, satisfy the private sector need for return with social interest objectives. Responsible investment could expand by adding a ‘health’ (H) criterion to the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework, implementing ESG+H for mainstream investment screening. These models are scalable, satisfy the need to dedicate funds to health and incorporate consistent critical success metrics. The conclusion finds that strong legal frameworks and exploration of fiscal incentives will be critical next steps to facilitate scaling up and broadening of interest from private sector financial actors. The impact these investments have on overall population health is a positive externality of sustainable global health investment.

Investing in the healthcare sector: mutual funds or ETFs

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how healthcare funds differ from healthcare exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in terms of delivering positive alpha, beta, and hedging against a market downturn risk. The authors consider which vehicle is more effective in providing diversification within the healthcare sector and to what extent can investors gain by diverting a portion of their holdings in the S&P 500 index fund into either a value-weighted healthcare fund portfolio or ETFs. Design/methodology/approach Pooled and individual regressions are employed to estimate single and four-factor models of 132 healthcare mutual funds and 43 healthcare ETFs over the past four decades. The authors performed additional regressions to test the performance of mutual funds and ETFs relative to market volatility, market downturns, and policy influence. Findings The authors find that both healthcare funds and ETFs provide significantly positive average alpha and hedge against a market downturn risk. Holding an all-stock portfolio such as the S&P 500 index fund can be improved by simply adding a value-weighted healthcare portfolio, resulting in both a higher return and a lower standard deviation. However, returns for these funds and ETFs perform poorly in a very volatile market. ETF returns increased with the passing of the Obamacare. Healthcare sector funds and ETFs declined with the recent criticism from Donald Trump since he became the apparent GOP nominee in July of 2016. Originality/value Extending the literature in both sample size and scope of issues, this paper provides investors and financial advisors with practical guidance for achieving higher portfolio return while lowering standard deviation. Additionally, this study documents policy influence on the returns of healthcare mutual funds and healthcare ETFs.