Significance as component of meaning in career narratives of unemployed graduates

Youth unemployment is a continuing concern in South Africa, and, in the context of growing economic volatility, an increasing number of young adult graduates will find themselves without work. Given the negative effect of unemployment on psychological well-being, research is required to enhance insight into how unemployed graduates can negotiate times of unemployment. Although multiple studies have investigated the influence of unemployment on hedonic well-being, less research is available on how eudaimonic well-being is impacted by unemployment. Significance is a component of meaning, and refers to a sense of mattering in one’s social context. The aim of the current study was to explore how young adult graduates experience a sense of significance during unemployment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain insights into participants’ career narrative, which were then analysed to find meaning plots that relate to significance. The results showed that threads of significance are present throughout the participant’s career narratives, and that the lack of significance during unemployment resulted in great distress, but also a need to restore significance. The value of the study lies in uncovering significance as an important resource during unemployment, which could be a focal point to address in psychological interventions.

Financial Development, Saving Rates, and International Economic Volatility: A Simple Model

This study constructs a dynamic and open economy model to show that low saving rates are the cause of economic volatility in developed countries, whereas inadequate financial development is identified as the reason for economic volatility in emerging countries. With low saving rates or inadequate financial development, countries find it difficult to avoid economic volatility, because it is difficult to alleviate the financing constraints of firms and maintain the stability of investment. Under similar conditions, economic volatility is more severe in developed countries and has spillover effects by triggering interest rate fluctuations in the global capital market and intensifying economic volatility in other countries. By contrast, emerging countries or small economies do not have spillover effects. To avoid dramatic international economic volatility, emerging countries should prompt financial development, and developed countries should increase their saving rates.

Gold in the international reserves of countries

Subject. The article addresses the enhanced position of gold as the main international reserve asset of countries. Objectives. The purpose is to prove the increasing role of gold as the main financial asset in the international reserves of countries throughout periods of economic volatility. Methods. The study rests on economic analysis, statistical, economic, and systems approach. Results. Annual changes in the structure of international reserves of the Russian Federation show a decrease in reserve assets denominated in foreign currency. The reserve position in the IMF makes up about 1% of the country's total assets, and SDR-denominated reserve accounts – from 1 to 2 percent. The share of monetary gold has increased; the overall increase in Russian gold reserves amounts to over 14%, in USD. Conclusions and Relevance. Currently, the reserves of six largest leading countries in terms of gold reserves amount to over 20 thousand tonnes of the precious metal. However, the presence of large gold reserves does not always allow the gold to occupy a leading position in the structure of international reserves of countries. This is evidenced by statistics from China, Switzerland and other countries. The U.S. reserves contain the largest amount of physical gold, its value at the official price that was established after the dollar devaluation in 1973 is as follows: one Troy ounce of the precious metal (31.1 grams) is equivalent to 42.2 USD.

Lean manufacturing implementation and performance: the role of economic volatility in an emerging economy

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the mediation effect of volatile economic conditions on performance benefits of successful kean manufacturing implementation (LMI). The mediating factor of economic volatility (EV) is constructed based on four macroeconomic dimensions – supplier uncertainty, market demand fluctuations, governmental policy changes and peer competition.Design/methodology/approachAn attempt is made to build an exhaustive list of the internal operational manifests grouped into one human and three technical input factors. Similarly the benefits accrued are collated under two performance measures – customer satisfaction (CS) and organizational goal satisfaction (OGS). Based on data from the Indian manufacturing sector, structural equation modelling (SEM) and ordinary least square (OLS) analyses are carried out to validate the proposed model.FindingsResults of the structural model validate the first six hypotheses posited in the model. Results of OLS further reveal the mediation effect of EV having negative impact on LMI–CS and LMI–OGS nexus.Practical implicationsThis research offers a fair understanding of the internal operational lean factors and the effect of volatile macroeconomic conditions on lean benefits. The structural model will aid the academicians and lean implementers comprehend the dimensional structure underlying the lean practices and beliefs. This work further helps to understand the moderation effect of environmental complexity on the output measures of LMI in the Indian manufacturing sector.Originality/valueThis work is one of the very first empirical analyses of lean performance under contingent economic conditions. The paper presents a valuable recommendation to practitioners for considering the dynamism of external economic environment instead of simply adopting standalone internal lean parameters, if satisfactory levels of performance in terms of CS and OGS are to be achieved.

Analysing the Return on Asset to Construct Foretelling Indicator for Bangladeshi Banking Sector

Financial institutions and banks are required to follow mechanisms to monitor the positions and create stimulas for sensible risk-taking by divisions a well as individuals. Risk measurement comprises of the quantification of risk exposures, whereas risk management demonstrates to the overall procedures by which managers fulfill these needs to identify the risks and recognise the category of the risks it faces. This research targerts on the economic instability faced by banks in financial arena in terms of the crises affairs in regard of economic distress. Here, the methodology followed is based on the CAMELS framework variables. CAMELS is a short form stands for: capital adequacy (C), asset (A), management (M), earnings (E), liquidity (L) and sensitivity to market risk (S). Based on these nomenclature, a couple of variables should be selected, such as capital asset ratio, cost income ratio, non-performing loan, non-interest income as component series and return on asset (ROA) as the reference series to identify turning points of economic volatility in banking sector of Bangladesh. Thus, by forecasting the directional deviations it could make financial policymakers aware of the changes at early stage in financial markets and banking industry and privilege them to undertake precautionary steps for preventive purposes. The constructed MPI should have a incredible lead time of about 5 to 7 months on an average in case of prediction against leading for the reference series. By renovating financial efficacy of venture banks, Bangladesh also should recover their subsequent banking system to execute these suggestions.

Role of Resilience Factors in Mitigating the Negative Effects of Conflict on Land Expansion

Shocks and stresses from natural disasters, climate change, economic volatility, armed conflicts and political instability could hinder expansion efforts by smallholder farms (SHFs). The application of the resilience concept as a mitigator of the impacts of such shocks on land expansion by farmers is an important developmental challenge. In this paper, we hypothesise that the resilience capacity of SHFs mitigate the adverse effects of conflict shocks and examine how assets, off-farm income, access to social safety nets, and education level of the household lead contribute to household-level resilience to armed conflicts.

The crisis of 2020 as an indicator of social responsibility of the Russian state

В статье проводится анализ кризисной ситуации, сложившейся в российской экономике под совокупным воздействием двух факторов различного генеза: биологического - коронавируса и экономического - волатильностью на сырьевых рынках. Изложены сценарии и детерминанты развития экономической ситуации в России. Проводится обзор антикризисных мер, предлагаемых экономистами и предпринимаемых правительством по поддержке хозяйствующих субъектов. Особое внимание уделено анализу господдержки малому бизнесу и гражданам. Делается вывод о необходимости ведения открытых дискуссий по предотвращению затяжного характера экономического кризиса. The article analyzes the crisis situation in the Russian economy under the combined influence of two factors of different Genesis: biological - coronavirus and economic - volatility in commodity markets. Scenarios and determinants of the development of the economic situation in Russia are described. A review of anti-crisis measures proposed by economists and taken by the government to support economic entities is being conducted. Special attention is paid to the analysis of state support for small businesses and citizens. It is concluded that it is necessary to conduct open discussions to prevent the protracted nature of the economic crisis.