Decentralized finance and SME in Latin America

Latin America is undergoing a profound reorganization. Though the worst years of the recession seem tobe behind us, the future remains fraught with uncertainty. Latin American nations will need to adapt tooperating in an increasingly deregulated and open economy governed by market sovereignty in thecoming years. Commitment to market forces, on the other hand, should not entail the State ceasing tointervene in the economy, but rather redefining the scope and intensity of its engagement. Futurepublic policies should shift away from managing a basic reality defined by governmental laws andcontrols and toward managing a more complex environment defined by numerous actors, private andpublic, operating under competitive norms and interacting with one another. Within this broadercontext, decentralization processes emerge as a primary forum for state transformation. This articlediscusses the primary qualities that must be retained by an economic adjustment plan aimed atachieving compatible fundamental macroeconomic balances and ensuring democracy's survival. Second,the study argues for seeing the present trend toward decentralization not only as a political byproductof democratic consolidation, but as a crucial component of a broader strategy of positive adjustment.

The Direct and Spillover Effect of Multi-Dimensional Urbanization on PM2.5 Concentrations: A Case Study from the Chengdu-Chongqing Urban Agglomeration in China

The Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration (CUA) faces considerable air quality concerns, although the situation has improved in the past 15 years. The driving effects of population, land and economic urbanization on PM2.5 concentrations in the CUA have largely been overlooked in previous studies. The contributions of natural and socio-economic factors to PM2.5 concentrations have been ignored and the spillover effects of multi-dimensional urbanization on PM2.5 concentrations have been underestimated. This study explores the spatial dependence and trend evolution of PM2.5 concentrations in the CUA at the grid and county level, analyzing the direct and spillover effects of multi-dimensional urbanization on PM2.5 concentrations. The results show that the mean PM2.5 concentrations in CUA dropped to 48.05 μg/m3 at an average annual rate of 4.6% from 2000 to 2015; however, in 2015, there were still 91% of areas exposed to pollution risk (>35 μg/m3). The PM2.5 concentrations in 92.98% of the area have slowly decreased but are rising in some areas, such as Shimian County, Xuyong County and Gulin County. The PM2.5 concentrations in this region presented a spatial dependence pattern of “cold spots in the east and hot spots in the west”. Urbanization was not the only factor contributing to PM2.5 concentrations. Commercial trade, building development and atmospheric pressure were found to have significant contributions. The spillover effect of multi-dimensional urbanization was found to be generally stronger than the direct effects and the positive impact of land urbanization on PM2.5 concentrations was stronger than population and economic urbanization. The findings provide support for urban agglomerations such as CUA that are still being cultivated to carry out cross-city joint control strategies of PM2.5 concentrations, also proving that PM2.5 pollution control should not only focus on urban socio-economic development strategies but should be an integration of work optimization in various areas such as population agglomeration, land expansion, economic construction, natural adaptation and socio-economic adjustment.

The Effects of the Economic Adjustment Programmes for Greece: A Quasi-Experimental Approach

Three Economic Adjustment Programmes (EAPs) were implemented in Greece, between 2010 and 2015, without achieving the proposed economic objectives. This article analyses the impact of the EAPs in Greece using the synthetic control method (SCM) and has three main contributions. First, it identifies a long-term negative impact worth 35.3 per cent of the Greek GDP per capita caused by the application of the EAPs. Second, it finds that three-quarters of the estimated negative and unsustainable impact accumulated over the 2010–2012 period. Third, it identifies a regressive effect of the EAPs on income distribution, the Greek population with lower incomes experienced a greater negative effect caused by the adjustment programmes. These results underscore the need to review and correct the conditional financial assistance framework currently in force in the European Union.

Great Expectations: The Case of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant

As extreme dependence of Belarus’s economy on Russian hydrocarbons poses a national security threat, the Belarusian Government decided to mitigate this challenge by constructing a nuclear power plant (NPP) that will cover two fifths of the domestic electricity demand and contribute to increased excess electricity generating capacity for export to the EU. This article assesses a combination of diplomacy and domestic adjustments to develop four scenarios representing the most feasible mechanisms to address the challenges associated with this excess capacity. Having evaluated each scenario’s advantages, drawbacks, costs, and probability, it concludes that, in the current political and diplomatic environment, Belarus will have to consume all its NPP’s energy domestically. This, in its turn, will necessitate significant economic adjustment.

Great Expectations: The Case of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant

As extreme dependence of Belarus’s economy on Russian hydrocarbons poses a national security threat, the Belarusian Government decided to mitigate this challenge by constructing a nuclear power plant (NPP) that will cover two fifths of the domestic electricity demand and contribute to increased excess electricity generating capacity for export to the EU. This article assesses a combination of diplomacy and domestic adjustments to develop four scenarios representing the most feasible mechanisms to address the challenges associated with this excess capacity. Having evaluated each scenario’s advantages, drawbacks, costs, and probability, it concludes that, in the current political and diplomatic environment, Belarus will have to consume all its NPP’s energy domestically. This, in its turn, will necessitate significant economic adjustment.

The Predictive Power of Psychological Needs and Self-efficacy for the Level of Marital Happiness

This study aimed at identifying the most common psychological needs among wives, identifying the degree of self-efficacy and the level of martial happiness among the study sample individuals as well as identifying the extent to which these psychological needs contribute to predicting the level of marital happiness. The study consisted of (150) married female lawyers. To succeed the study objectives, the scale of psychological needs was developed; it consisted of (20) items that measure four basic dimensions: psychological security, the need to achievement, the need to affiliation, and need to respect. The scale of self-efficacy (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995) was used, and the scale of marital happiness was developed; it consisted of (40) items that measure five main dimensions: emotional adjustment, intellectual adjustment, family adjustment, social adjustment, and economic adjustment. The study results directed that the most common psychological need among wives is the need to achievement. The results revealed that the level of self-efficacy among the study sample individuals was medium. The results showed that the level of marital happiness among the married Jordanian female lawyers was medium for the total degree and each of the following dimensions (emotional adjustment, economic adjustment, intellectual adjustment, social adjustment), while the dimension of family cohesion was of a high degree. The results revealed that there is a predictive power for the psychological needs and self-efficacy concerning the level of marital happiness. In the light of the results, the study recommended the necessity of conducting further experimental researches in the domain of self-efficacy and marital happiness by developing counseling programs to improve these variables among spouses.

Government Policy-Making

Government policy-making in Greece pre and post-crisis presents some longstanding features such as the politicization of the policy process, a focus on procedure and legislation rather than results and implementation, a distrust in evaluation, and a patchy participation of stakeholders and experts, depending on their political affiliation and trust relationships. The 2008 financial crisis and the three Economic Adjustment Programmes for Greece put some strain on these long-lasting policy-making features, but they did not radically change them. Not all reforms that took place during this turbulent period lasted. The conditionality attached to the programmes altered the policy agenda, changed some long-lasting policy patterns, affected the power dynamics between actors, pushed forward some reforms such as labour market and pensions reform, and insisted on the importance of targets and evaluations. The technical nature of conditionality increased the role of experts and technocrats. This chapter discusses the development of policy-making pre- and post-crisis and maps the changing experts’ landscape in Greece.