Transmission Channels between Financial Deepening and Economic Growth: Econometric Analysis Comprising Monetary Factors

Contemporary literature continues to foster discussion whether financial development is important for economic growth. In the clash of theoretical arguments, the prevailing idea is that finance exerts a direct positive influence on GDP growth. However, the presence of theoretical counterarguments and contradictory results of empirical studies suggest that scientists, in search of an answer about the direction and power of the net effect, should develop methods of empirical analysis, and the very mystery of the relationship between finance and growth will finally be solved exclusively empirically. In this paper, the authors contribute to the development of the ‘finance-growth’ literature by answering some existing questions concerning the transmission channels from finance to growth, relying on more recent data compared to already conducted studies. We use panel data covering the period 1995 to 2019 for 168 countries. In addition, the paper touches on the problem of studying the exogenous conditions of such channels, considering the assumption that among these conditions there may be those that hinder the impact of financial deepening on economic growth. Our focus is on monetary conditions, and in the empirical part of the study, we touch upon the problem of the influence of price stability on the operation of these transmission channels. The methods of the conducted study are based on the dynamic panel data analysis techniques (System GMM). The novelty of this paper lies in the development of the modern theory of the financial sector transmission mechanism in the economic growth context. The main result of the study is that productivity channel is the most reliable transmission channel of financial deepening to economic growth. Furthermore, the effectiveness of this channel remains virtually unaffected by inflation. The channel of capital accumulation should be considered less reliable (in terms of statistical reliability of estimates obtained), but it has turned out to be a more economically significant transmission channel. This channel is sensitive to the inflation factor in certain categories of countries. Finally, as follows from the estimates gained, the non-linearity of the “finance-growth” relationship can be explained by the non-linearity of the variable responsible for the capital accumulation channel.

Estimating the Impact of Cumulative Rules of Origin on Trade Costs: An Application to Mega-regional Free Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific Region

We investigate the effects of free trade agreements (FTAs), focusing on the impact of cumulative rules of origin (ROO) on trade costs. Using a gravity regression model, we estimate the effect of various cumulative ROO systems on the measured trade costs. We apply these estimates to static and capital accumulation computable general equilibrium models to compare the effects of mega-regional FTAs in the Asia-Pacific region—namely, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and Free Trade Areas in the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). We find that mega-regional FTAs may not be a viable alternative to a multilateral trading system or bilateral FTAs unless less restrictive cumulative ROO are adopted. Successful FTAs depend on an appropriate cumulative ROO provision system rather than their membership expansion.

SPATIAL COMMONING: RE-IMAGINING WELLINGTON’S CENTRAL-CITY LIBRARY & CIVIC SQUARE

<p><b>What if architecture could promulgate its resistance to urban inclinations of segregation, privatisation, and individualisation?</b></p> <p>The neoliberal climate of contemporary cities has reduced architecture to a mere tool for capital accumulation. Architecture, consumed and produced as a form of capital, is facilitating the progression of inequality and environmental degradation, nullifying its humanitarian agenda.</p> <p>In counter-reaction to the capitalistic conditions of the city, and the conviction that architecture can express social cognition, this thesis re-imagines, two essential community containers – Wellington Central Library and Civic Square as an urban common.</p> <p>The primary intent of this thesis is to develop a speculative commons framework that architectonically articulates sharing and commoning practices in the context of Wellington City centre.</p> <p>This research argues the pertinence of commoning theories in contemporary urban cities. It examines the genealogy and characteristics of the urban commons and how it could be spatially constructed.</p> <p>It examines the historical significance of the existing building to inform the tectonic characteristics of the urban commons. It investigates the conceptual and formal devices of Post-Modernism to drive the spatial and representational aspects of the design process.</p> <p>Moreover, it explores the evolving function and the societal role of libraries within the era of digitisation. It identifies an adaptable programmatic framework for the 21st-century library envisioned as a common.</p>

SPATIAL COMMONING: RE-IMAGINING WELLINGTON’S CENTRAL-CITY LIBRARY & CIVIC SQUARE

<p><b>What if architecture could promulgate its resistance to urban inclinations of segregation, privatisation, and individualisation?</b></p> <p>The neoliberal climate of contemporary cities has reduced architecture to a mere tool for capital accumulation. Architecture, consumed and produced as a form of capital, is facilitating the progression of inequality and environmental degradation, nullifying its humanitarian agenda.</p> <p>In counter-reaction to the capitalistic conditions of the city, and the conviction that architecture can express social cognition, this thesis re-imagines, two essential community containers – Wellington Central Library and Civic Square as an urban common.</p> <p>The primary intent of this thesis is to develop a speculative commons framework that architectonically articulates sharing and commoning practices in the context of Wellington City centre.</p> <p>This research argues the pertinence of commoning theories in contemporary urban cities. It examines the genealogy and characteristics of the urban commons and how it could be spatially constructed.</p> <p>It examines the historical significance of the existing building to inform the tectonic characteristics of the urban commons. It investigates the conceptual and formal devices of Post-Modernism to drive the spatial and representational aspects of the design process.</p> <p>Moreover, it explores the evolving function and the societal role of libraries within the era of digitisation. It identifies an adaptable programmatic framework for the 21st-century library envisioned as a common.</p>

THE IMPACT OF MICROFINANCE SUPPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING SMEs OPERATING IN WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA

Over the years, the superlative contribution of SMEs on economic growth predominantly in emerging states such as Namibia has been gaining considerable prestige at a rapid rate. However, deficient access to cost-effective financial adequacy remains a leading stumbling block that denies them the opportunity to survive in a competitive market, grow and develop above the average. That being true, the rate of SMEs’ failure continues to escalate precisely among those that are in their early stage of operation. To curb that specific issue, microfinance institutions (MFIs) intervene to provide dual supports through the delivery of financial and non-financial services. Access to such support helps SMEs to reduce their financial constraints, resulting in sound and viable development for businesses. In this respect, the central objective of this study was to investigate the impact of microfinance acquisition on SMEs’ development with reference to the manufacturing firms in Windhoek, Namibia. Evenly relevant, the study sought to further assess the effect of acquired microfinance support on competitiveness and finally devise suitable strategies that MFIs could adopt or adapt to improve the provision of microfinance services to penurious SMEs. The study employed a pragmatistic paradigm. Therefore, mixed research methods constituting both quantitative and qualitative approaches were utilised to successfully attain the threefold objectives of the study. 60 questionnaires were disseminated through emails to the sampled SMEs for data collection where only 44, accounted for 73% were considered for further analysis. Regarding financial support, the study assessed the matter based on technology enhancement, assets capital accumulation, job creation, business’ branches extension, and product development and expansion. Similarly, assessment on non-financial support was focused on managerial and leadership skills, as well as unblemished financial management. To test the nexus between microfinance support and SMEs’ development, multiple regression analysis was employed at 5% level of significance. Findings presented by the study revealed a positive strong relationship between the variables. More to that, the correlation between microfinance support and SMEs’ competitiveness was tested using correlation coefficient analysis and results found the variable to be statistically correlated. To this end, the study affirms that there exists a significant positive impact of microfinance support on SMEs’ development and competitiveness, implying that healthy and ample microfinance institutions are immensely essential to provide the required support lucratively, using the most satisfying strategies for a mutual benefit of the involved parties. Therefore, three strategies for improving the provision of microfinance support, constituting Public Credit Guarantee Schemes (PCGS); compensation of interest rate with the repayment period; and the provision of tools and equipment were designed. Also, the study recommended government intervention in formulating policies necessary for easing collateral requirements. More, MFIs are also advised to find ways for fastening their evaluation processes and give feedback on approval or disapproval of the application soon. They should also allow potential SMEs to borrow multiple times in a year or increase the principal amount. Finally, the study suggested future studies to focus on the role of the government in addressing SMEs’ financial constraints and use a longitudinal approach with a predominant focus on other sectors.

Labour, Efficiency, Critique: writing the plantation into the technological present-future

In this commentary, we call upon critical labour scholars, including labour geographers, to feature what sociologist Palmer called the ‘thrust of efficiency’ more centrally in their work. We put forth that the push for efficiency, as made possible by digital technology, needs to be analysed in terms of its historical lineage as well as in terms of its geographical scope. Centreing efficiency in critical labour studies, necessitates three scholarly moves. These are particularly relevant for labour geography, a field that has so far tended to circumvent questions of coloniality/labour, digital Taylorism, and the politics of (re-)writing economic geographies, in by-passing the literatures that deal with them. The plantation, an analytical category and ontic reality that stretches across several yet often unconnected bodies of literature – literary studies, Black Geographies, Caribbean studies, and the Black Radical Tradition, as well as in Global History – is central to our effort. Eventually, writing the plantation into the technological present-future can be the starting point for a larger and historico-geographically informed critique, in economic geography and beyond, of efficiency, a mode of thinking-cum-praxis based on input–output calculations, objectifying practices, violent value extraction and the removal of undesired ‘social frictions’ for the sake of capital accumulation.