An empirical analysis of driving factors of Xi’an hub economic development

In order to promote Xi’an’s economic development as an export-oriented hub, 7 indicators, including GDP, foreign trade volume, investment volume, passenger transport volume, freight volume, post and telecommunications business income, and the number of industrial enterprises above designated size, are selected to analyze the development of the hub economy through multiple linear regression analysis method. The results show that foreign trade, passenger traffic and post and telecommunications business revenues are significant to the economic development of Xi’an hub. However, the freight volume, investment and the number of enterprises above designated size have not passed the inspection. According to self-organization theory, the countermeasures for Xi’an to develop the hub economy are puts forward.

BIM Requirements in the Spanish Public Tender—Analysis of Adoption in Construction Contracts

The use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) is increasingly widespread within the Architecture, Engineering, Construction & Operations (AECO) sector. BIM allows the construction of a digital scale model of the asset to be built, ensuring the early detection of conflicts and interferences, enabling communication between the different participant agents, and facilitating the processes in the maintenance and management phase. Studies on the subject are many and varied. However, very few works refer to the inclusion of BIM in the public procurement stage, one of the most complex and competitive stages within the asset’s life cycle. A bibliographic review has been conducted about the BIM situation in the AECO sector contracts, the existing problems and the possible solutions to implement. In the specific field of public procurement, Spain has made great progress, especially at the regional level. During 2020, a total of 440 tenders with BIM requirements were published, with an investment volume of EUR 752 million, which represents an increase of 230% compared to 2017. The aim of this research is to analyze the Spanish public procurement, highlighting the progress made so far in the implementation of this technology, as well as to develop a proposal of BIM requirements that, in general, could be used as a reference for tenders of the AECO sector in the country. With this objective, a selection of twenty relevant public tenders is made, covering both the building and infrastructure fields. The requirements address areas such as: BIM uses, BIM deliverables, model structure, Level of Development, Common Data Environment, classification systems, standards or quality control.

Competitiveness in the Serbian growth strategy

The paper focuses on the effects of the reformed growth strategy on the competitiveness of the Serbian manufacturing industry during the period of 2007–2016. The paper applies the analytical tools devised by the International Trade Centre, as well as Balassa's RCA Index and some other methodologies. All indicators point to similar conclusion: the reformed growth model would significantly contribute to the improvement of Serbian competitiveness. The starting point of Serbia is also clear: small gross investment volume and a low average growth rate.

“Sand” or “grease” effect? The impact of corruption on the investment volume of public−private partnerships

PurposeSome scholars argue that corruption hinders economies and investment because it generates extra costs, while others suggest that it can act as a stimulus. Their mixed empirical findings have prompted the analysis of whether investors' attitude towards corruption changes depending on its degree of prevalence.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examined 4,518 public–private partnerships (PPPs) located in 46 developing countries for the period 1997–2017. The data were collected from the World Bank PPP database. The authors investigated the relationship between the amount of investment in PPP projects and the level of corruption using regression with multilevel mixed effects.FindingsCorruption and the amount of investment in PPP projects are inversely related at the low and high end of the spectrum of corruption, but the relationship is positive towards the middle. Further analysis revealed that this was spurred by high investment PPP projects in less developed countries.Originality/valueThe findings allow the authors to reconcile the opposing positions in the literature through a “sand–grease–sand the wheels” effect between the volume of investment and corruption, which can be configured as a reverse S-shape consisting of three stages.

ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT FACTORS AFFECTING ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE IN THE UKRAINIAN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

This research focuses on the current state of the Ukrainian construction industry. Part of the aim of the study is to evaluate progress in the construction economy through analysing both the GDP dynamics in the construction industry and overall country’s GDP. The authors prove that both Ukraine’s overall GDP and the GDP of the construction industry tended to increase in 2015—2017, however, the fluctuation observed in the share of construction industry in the GDP structure was insignificant. It has been determined that the construction industry performance is preconditioned by the country’s economic development and, on the other hand, they influence the development and potential of enterprises that belong to other industries. The study examines performance of the construction industry enterprises’ activities. Despite an increase in the economic indicators that have been observed over past few years, these activities are unprofitable. 2018 witnessed a decline in the index of construction products in general as well as of several their types. It has been established that the development of construction industry and its condition depend on various factors, the influence of which is a result of interaction between economic, market, technological, political and social processes. The volumes and structure of capital investments in construction have been estimated. The study has proved that investment volume is a significant external factor, through which the enterprises of the construction industry are financed. The economic factors and their influence on volumes of executed construction works have been investigated; the importance of considering the specific features of the industry while studying the degree of impact exercised by the factors, is justified. The directions in which the efficiency of the construction enterprises’ activities should expand are studied; besides, ways of overcoming major problems in the branch are described. Keywords: construction industry, capital investment, impact factors, enterprise performance, resources. JEL Classification L74, M41 Formulas: 0; fig.: 0; tabl.: 5; bibl.: 11.

Impact of Regional Environmental Regulations on Taiwanese Investment in Mainland China

Based on the perspective of regional differences and decentralization, this article investigated the impact of environmental regulations on Taiwanese investment in mainland China from theoretical and empirical perspectives, and analyzed whether local governments are competing to lower environmental standards to attract Taiwanese investment so as to maintain their comparative advantages. This paper constructed a theoretical model through a two-stage game model. With the panel data of each province in Mainland China from 2006 to 2016, the theoretical propositions were empirically tested through the system GMM estimation method. The results show that the environmental regulation policies adopted by the local governments in the mainland have a significant inhibitory effect on the investment volume of Taiwan-funded enterprises, and the interaction between environmental regulations and local tax burden levels also has a negative effect on Taiwanese investment. Local governments have the motive to reduce environmental regulations to attract investment.

INVESTMENT DECISION MAKING TOWARDS INVESTING IN ISLAMIC UNIT TRUSTS AMONGST WOMEN

The differences in skill expectations and knowledge are amongst factors that contribute to the variances when men and women choose financial products. Women are claimed to be risk averse, somewhat insecure, lacking self-confidence and interest in financial investment products. Nevertheless, the evolving working and educational environment has changed this stereotype, wherein women are increasingly more educated, knowledgeable, and are more exposed to investments. Gender equality between men and women in terms of the volume of investments has turned into a requirement that boosts economic growth with people being the most important factor to contribute through investing habit. This cannot be realised if only men are involved in investment. Financial institutions aim certain figures of targeted investment volume each year. As such, this study identified the factors of women investments, particularly in Islamic unit trusts. A total of 201 respondents were selected via the convenience sampling technique. The Likert scale questionnaires were analysed using SMART PLS software. As a result, several investment behaviours, including investment objectives, return expectations, awareness, and risk attitude, emerged as factors that influenced women investors to choose unit trusts. The study outcomes are beneficial in devising effective strategies that may attract women to invest in Islamic unit trust. Besides, certain agencies should conduct campaigns or seminars on financial literacy for this potential sector, so as to enhance their knowledge in investing in Islamic unit trusts.

Influence of the Team Value of Professional Football Clubs on Their Success in Sports

Research background: Professional football is becoming more and more commercialized. The most recent attempt to establish a “Super League” failed, but the big football clubs are nevertheless trying to generate success in sports through increasingly high player transfers. Purpose of the article: The aim of this paper is to empirically test the above statements and assumptions. On the one hand, the question arises whether the placement in a ranking table of a competition depends on the investment volume. At the same time, it is analyzed whether this relationship exhibits stability over time. Table placement was chosen because it has a direct influence on the distribution of funds in a competition. In addition, individual matches are analyzed to determine whether the investment volume has a statistically significant influence on winning a match. Methods: The years 2014 to 2020 of the competitions of one of the top five European leagues, the German Bundesliga, are prepared in a database. In addition to the player results and table positions, the market values of the players in the season are used. All data is taken from the website Transfermarkt.de. In the context of the table rankings, a regression analysis is performed to explain the place in the table by the market value of the team. When analyzing individual matches, the team value on the field in each case is determined and the differences between the values of the teams playing are established. These differences are explained as a dependent variable in a regression line with three dummy variables: won, lost, and draw. Findings & Value added: The results enable the management of football clubs to make an investment decision for a successful future. They show, on the one hand, whether the team value has an influence on the league position and, on the other hand, on the match result.

Telecommunications sector of Armenia and Baltic countries: the impact of foreign direct investment attraction

We examine the institutional and investment developments in the telecommunications sector of Armenia in the last two decades and compare them with those of the Baltic countries, namely, Latvia and Lithuania. In particular, directions of foreign investments made in the sector and the impacts on economic and technological systems of Armenia and the chosen Baltic countries have been thoroughly analyzed. During the analysis, an economic model has been used to assess the impact of foreign direct investments on the income (revenues) of the telecommunications sector of the countries under investigation. Econometric analysis made it possible to consider the above-mentioned links in more depth and in detail. First, a correlation analysis has been carried out which has proved the validity of the hypotheses that there is a strong connection between FDI and the revenue of the telecommunications sector in Armenia and Latvia in the considered time period of 2009-2019. The causal roots of the relationships between the two variables have been studied. After processing the statistical data and refining the model specifications, an econometric model for Armenia has been proposed with the help of which the key relationships have been clarified. The evaluated model, which satisfies the basic quality of econometric models, helped to draw important conclusions on the depth and nature of the impact of foreign direct investment volume on the income of the telecommunications sector in Armenia. The model clearly shows the unstable influence of foreign direct investments on income, which confirms the riskiness of the Armenian economy as a whole, since the country has been in an economic blockade and in a state of war with a neighbouring state for more than 20 years.

Amazon’s HQ2 Site Selection Criteria: The New ‘Gold Standard’ in FDI Decision-Making

In 2017–2018, Seattle-based Tech behemoth Amazon executed a highly publicised location-finding process for a $5 billion investment project, dubbed ‘HQ2’. Owing to the combination of high investment volume and the company’s unique public exposure, the HQ2 process is on course to becoming a basic yardstick for future foreign direct investment (FDI) projects all over the world. This article compiles the company’s previously unpublished site selection criteria and develops an evidence-based system of investment decision arguments which is employed to test the currently dominant approaches in location decision theory—behavioural, neoclassical, and institutional. Our results identify gaps vis-à-vis this emerging ‘Gold Standard’ and we propose the addition of a fourth, project-oriented approach to theory to fill the detected shortcomings. Furthermore, this system equips policymakers with a tool to evaluate their investment attraction strategies based on the decision criteria extracted from the HQ2 process.