Brief Review of Informal Financial Services Typologies in Zambia: Investing in Sustainable Savings Groups

Informal financial services (IFSs) provide various types of investment avenues for both rural and urban populations in Zambia. This paper is a critical review of the sustainability of various informal investment typologies Zambians has been using and adopting to increase their financial resources and solve their livelihoods and social issues in the process. An evaluation of why people and organizations opt for specific financial services that come in the form of savings and lending groups will be discussed in detail to understand if they have been meeting people's expectations. The paper derives its data from various studies in the past 10 years that emanates from Zambia and Sub-Saharan Africa. While the sustainability of various typologies of informal financial services is broad, they are measured through risks associated, savings policies adopted, group loan guarantees and flexibility, interest and transactional expenses enforcement, income-generating, wealth creation and any social capital investment. The research reveals that limited studies have looked at various typologies of savings and lending groups, including evaluating their sustainability. This study helps in decision making for anyone or organization who would want to join or start a savings group in Zambia and key parameters to follow.

The Economic Consequences of the Loan Guarantees and Firm’s Performance: A Moderate Role of Corporate Social Responsibility

This study examines the causal relationship between loan guarantee and firm’s performance through a moderate role of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This study used 350 non-financial firms of China for data analysis. This study used annual panel data set from non-financial firms starting from 2009 to 2019. The findings show that a positive significant association exists among the relationship between loan guarantee and firm’s performance. Moreover, a moderate role of Corporate Social Responsibility also strengthens the relationship between the loan guarantee and firm’s performance. Furthermore, the logit regression results show that the loan guarantee, financial performances and CSR are negatively affecting the long-term zero-debts through all combinations. Also, the financial performances and loan guarantees are negatively influencing the constraints of firms in China, which shows that the financial performances and loan guarantee improvement of the firms lead to removing the constraints of firms in China.

The Italian Start Up Act: a microeconometric program evaluation

This paper analyzes the impact of the Italian Start Up Act which entered into force in October 2012. This public policy provides a unique bundle of benefits, such as tax incentives, public loan guarantees, and a more flexible labor law, for firms registered as “innovative startups” in Italy. This legislation has been implemented by the Italian government to increase innovativeness of small and young enterprises by facilitating access to (external) capital and (high-skilled) labor. Consequently, the goal of our evaluation is to assess the impact of the policy on equity, debt, and employment. Using various conditional difference-in-difference models, we find that the Italian innovative startup policy has met its primary objectives. The econometric results strongly suggest that Italian innovative startups are more successful in obtaining equity and debt capital and they also hire more employees because of the program participation.

Assessing Renewable Energy Loan Guarantees in the United States

Conceived as an idea to push financing toward underdeveloped clean energy technology to improve the environment, promote economic growth, and produce a more secure energy supply, the Title XVII loan guarantee program has likely failed to meet these objectives. Instead, it has been used as a political tool, exposed taxpayers to unnecessary risk, diverted funding from alternative clean energy investments, and primarily benefitted large, politically connected corporations.

Potensi Pemanfaatan Hasil Pemeriksaan Berkala Bangunan Gedung dalam Penentuan Depresiasi Harga Bangunan Gedung Eksisting

Over time, buildings are used to experience a decline in the physical quality of architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical components. To ensure its safety and functioning, periodic inspections of the building are required. The periodic technical inspection of buildings has been regulated in the Minister of Public Works Regulation No.16 / PRT / M / 2010. The results of the building inspection provide an overview of the physical condition and function of the building in detail and itemized by involving experts in building technical reviewers. The results of this examination show how much the percentage of physical degradation and function of the building under review has the potential to be used in assessing the price of existing buildings from an economic perspective. Thus the depreciation of building prices can be estimated. Depreciation value is a reduction in the value of fixed assets as a result of being used by the owner. This depreciation parameter is needed in an assessment of a property which is increasingly felt to be needed in various economic and development activities, including for loan guarantees, asset management, and appraisal for land acquisition for the purpose of building public facilities. The calculation of building prices that is carried out shows that the results of periodic inspections of buildings can be used to determine the depreciation of the price of the buildings under review.