Features and Priority Directions of Innovative Processes Development in the Republic of Uzbekistan

The article is devoted to the formation and development of the innovation system of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The article examines, analyzes and describes the human factor, demography and changes in the labor market, the reasons and factors affecting the formation and development of the innovation system, problems and solutions that are the main drivers of innovation in the country. According to the results of the analysis carried out by the author, it has been established that statistics show that the existing trends in the system of innovative activity persist, there is an increase, but in practice there is a very weak growth of this activity. Based on these results, the necessary priorities are proposed for the rapid growth and development of innovative activities in the country.

A neoclassical perspective on Switzerland’s 1990s stagnation

We study Switzerland’s weak growth during the 1990s through the lens of the business cycle accounting framework of Chari et al. (Econometrica 75(3):781–836, 2007). Our main result is that weak productivity growth cannot account for the 1993–1996 stagnation episode. Rather, the stagnation is explained by factors that made labour and investment expensive. We show that increased labour income taxes and financial frictions are plausible causes. Holding these factors constant, the counterfactual annualized real output growth over the 1993Q1–1996Q4 period is 1.93% compared to realized growth of 0.35%.

Brazil interest rate rises will weigh on weak growth

Headline BRAZIL: Interest rate rises will weigh on weak growth

HYPERINFLATION IN THE EURO AREA?

In the non-academic sector in Germany, it is often advocated that the expansion of the ECB’s money supply would inevitably lead to high inflation or even hyperinflation. This paper explores the question of whether inflation could arise in the euro zone, if so how high it would be and whether it would be hyperinflation. The work is based on theoretical considerations on the subject of hyperinflation and inflation and outlines a possible scenario in which the latter could actually become a reality. The thesis is that the greatest danger to the euro zone would come if Italy and / or Spain chose to leave the Union. Covid-19 has increased the risk of divergent economic developments in different countries in the euro zone. Italy and Spain have to reckon with a dramatic increase in public debt, weak growth and deteriorating conditions on the labour market. The main risk is unlikely to be that the euro zone will not help Italy or Spain, but the people in these countries may feel that aid is not enough, thus making an exit a serious option. If these countries left the Eurozone, then they would likely opt for an orderly exit. That means Italy would join EMS II after a one-time devaluation and not leave the EU. If the exit was not negotiated, then a disorderly parting would commence, which is the scenario with a high risk of hyperinflation.

Pomological Characteristics and Ploidy Levels of Japanese Plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) Cultivars Preserved in Poland

Research on the resistance to frost, susceptibility to sharka, flowering biology, fruit setting, yield, and ploidy levels of 36 Japanese plum cultivars (mostly hybrids of Prunus salicina with Prunus cerasifera) were carried out in 2015–2020 at the Experimental Orchard located in Dąbrowice near Skierniewice. Relatively mild winters with sporadic temperature drops to nearly −21 °C in January of 2017 and 2018 caused slight damage to several cultivars of Japanese plum insufficiently resistant to frost. The trees of most cultivars remained healthy, with no signs of damage. ‘Barkhatnaya’ and ‘Tatyana’ cultivars turned out to be very susceptible to sharka. ‘Herkules’ trees were the most vigorous. ‘Barkhatnaja’, ‘Blue Gigant’, ‘Shater’, and ‘Tatyana’ trees were characterized by weak growth. The trees of Japanese plum started flowering early, usually in the first or second decade of April. Most of the cultivars belonged to early season cultivars, the fruits of which ripened in July. Based on the assessment of tree productivity, ‘Barkhatnaya’, ‘Inese’, ‘Shater’, ‘Tatyana’, and ‘Vanier’ are the best for growing in the climate of Central Europe. ‘Tsernushka’, ‘Chuk’, ‘Dofi Sandra’, ‘Early Golden’, ‘Ewierch Rannyj’, ‘Yevraziya’, ‘Gek’, ‘General’, ‘Kometa’, ‘Kometa Late’, ‘Maschenka’, and ‘Naidyona’ trees also yielded well. ‘Blue Gigant’, ‘Black Amber’, and ‘Herkules’ had the largest fruits, and ‘Chuk’ and ‘Inese’ cultivars produced the smallest fruits. Among the assessed Japanese plum cultivars, those with round fruit, dark skin with various shades of purple, yellow flesh, and A cytometric analysis showed that almost all cultivars are diploid, except for ‘Herkules’ (possibly pentaploid) and ‘Yevraziya’ (possibly hexaploid or aneuploid).

Substitution Mapping of a Locus Responsible for Hybrid Breakdown in Populations Derived From Interspecific Introgression Line

Hybrid breakdown, a form of postzygotic reproductive barrier, has been reported to hinder gene flow in many crosses between wild and cultivated rice. Here, the phenomenon of hybrid breakdown was observed as low-tillering (i.e., low tiller number) in some progeny of an interspecific cross produced in an attempt to introduce Oryza meridionalis Ng (W1625) chromosomal segments into Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica “Taichung 65” (T65). Low-tillering lines were obtained in BC4-derived progeny from a cross between W1625 and “Taichung 65,” but the locus for low-tillering could not be mapped in segregating populations. As a second approach to map the locus for low-tillering, we analyzed an F2 population derived from a cross between the low-tillering lines and a high-yielding indica cultivar, “Takanari.” A major QTL for low-tillering, qLTN4, was detected between PCR-based markers MS10 and RM307 on the long arm of chromosome 4, with a LOD score of 15.6. The low-tillering phenotype was associated with weak growth and pale yellow phenotype; however, low-tillering plant had less reduction of grain fertility. In an F4 population (4896 plants), 563 recombinant plants were identified and the low-tillering locus was delimited to a 4.6-Mbp region between markers W1 and C5-indel3729. This region could not be further delimited because recombination is restricted in this region of qLTN4, which is near the centromere. Understanding the genetic basis of hybrid breakdown, including the low-tillering habit, will be important for improving varieties in rice breeding.

Post-Keynesian Macroeconomic Foundations for Comparative Political Economy

The global financial crisis and ensuing weak growth have increased interest in macroeconomic issues within comparative political economy (CPE). CPE, particularly the dominant Varieties of Capitalism approach, has based its analyses on mainstream economics, which limits analysis of the relation between distribution and growth and neglects the role finance plays in modern economies. It overstates the stability of the capitalist growth process and understates the potential effectiveness of government interventions. Baccaro and Pontusson have suggested a post-Keynesian (PK) theory of distribution and growth as an alternative. This article generalizes their point. PK theory highlights the instability of the growth process and lends itself to an analysis of income distribution and power relations. The article identifies the analysis of financialization and financial cycles, the understanding of neoliberal growth models, and the political economy of central banks as areas where PK economics provides specific insights for CPE. It also highlights that these arguments have important implications for government policy in an era of secular stagnation with ongoing social, distributional, and economic crises.

Global trends and European emissions of tetrafluoromethane (CF₄), hexafluoroethane (C₂F₆) and octafluoropropane (C₃F₈)

Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are amongst the most potent greenhouse gases listed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). With atmospheric lifetimes on the order of thousands to tens of thousands of years, PFC emissions represent a permanent alteration to the global atmosphere on human timescales. While the industries responsible for the vast majority of these emissions – aluminium smelting and semi-conductor manufacturing – have made efficiency improvements and introduced abatement measures, the global mean mole fractions of three PFCs, namely tetrafluoromethane (CF4, PFC-14), hexafluoroethane (C2F6, PFC-116) and octafluoropropane (C3F8, PFC-218), continue to grow. In this study, we update baseline growth rates using in situ high-frequency measurements from the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) and, using data from four European stations, estimate PFC emissions for northwest Europe. The global growth rate of CF4 decreased from 1.3 ppt yr−1 in 1979 to 0.6 ppt yr−1 around 2010 followed by a renewed steady increase to 0.9 ppt yr−1 in 2019. For C2F6, the growth rate grew to a maximum of 0.125 ppt yr−1 around 1999, followed by a decline to a minimum of 0.075 ppt yr−1 in 2009, followed by weak growth thereafter. The C3F8 growth rate was around 0.007 ppt yr−1 until the early 1990s and then quickly grew to a maximum of 0.03 ppt yr−1 in 2003–2004. Following a period of decline until 2012 to 0.015 ppt yr−1, the growth rate slowly increased again to ∼ 0.017 ppt yr−1 in 2019. We used an inverse modelling framework to infer PFC emissions for northwest Europe. No statistically significant trend in regional emissions was observed for any of the PFCs assessed. For CF4, European emissions in early years were linked predominantly to the aluminium industry. However, we link large emissions in recent years to a chemical manufacturer in northwest Italy. Emissions of C2F6 are linked to a range of sources, including a semi-conductor manufacturer in Ireland and a cluster of smelters in Germany's Ruhr valley. In contrast, northwest European emissions of C3F8 are dominated by a single source in northwest England, raising the possibility of using emissions from this site for a tracer release experiment.

Media Researches’ Transformation: Experience in Data Analysis

The article reveals the most frequently used words in the titles of dissertations related in the field of to journalism and adjacent areas that were published in Russia during 2000-2019. Thus, the frequency of words “newspaper” and “magazine” shows steady growth, the frequency of the word “radio” demonstrates weak growth, the use of the word “television” is going down. Among the tags that are widely used are the ones that mark the academic interest to the digital media.

Rising Unemployment in Nigeria-Public Debt to the Rescue?

Among the macroeconomic challenges facing Nigeria as a country are weak growth of the economy, ever increasing unemployment rate, and increasing inequality occasioned by increasing poverty. In trying to mitigate these challenges, the Nigeria government usually run aborrowing. In all these, the unemployment rate keep rising year-on-year. In this study, we tried to find out whether borrowing will come to the rescue in reducing unemployment in Nigeria, using time series data from 1981 - 2019. Employing the VECM model, we carried out the stationarity and cointegration tests respectively. While the stationarity test confirmed all variables being stationary at I(1), existence of cointegration was also confirmed indicating a relationship between public debt and unemployment which turned out to be an inverse relationship. A high value of ECM was recorded. It was found that unemployment granger causes government debt and debt servicing. The overall result shows that public debt have rendered little or no assistance in combating unemployment in Nigeria. While we do not discourage government from borrowing for the provision of critical infrastructures, corruption should be put in check so as to allow the amount of borrowing be reflected on the infrastructures available, as public debt also have some adverse effects on the economy.