B Corp Certification Effects

Compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda represents a large investment that cannot be obtained solely through public resources. Therefore, it is necessary for the private sector to align itself with the SDGs and integrate them into its business model. In an attempt to align private interests with the SDGs, various impact measurement initiatives have emerged in recent years. However, none of them have been universally accepted, in part, because they still have weaknesses. As an alternative, some companies have chosen to become certified. The figures show that the B Corp certification is one of the most important ones internationally, since it has been growing at a rapid pace since its creation. In fact, there are currently almost 4,000 certified companies throughout the world. Despite this fact, there are very few studies which analyze the main effects of this certification yet. Therefore, the objective of this chapter is to validate a questionnaire that collects these effects through a Delphi study, formed by a panel of experts in the B Corp movement.

Financial Asset Management Using Artificial Neural Networks

Investors typically build portfolios for retirement. Investment portfolios are typically based on four asset classes that are commonly managed by large investment firms. The research presented in this article involves the development of an artificial neural network-based methodology that investors can use to support decisions related to determining how assets are allocated within an investment portfolio. The machine learning-based methodology was applied during a time period that included the stock market crash of 2008. Even though this time period was highly volatile, the methodology produced desirable results. Methodologies such as the one presented in this article should be considered by investors because they have produced promising results, especially within unstable markets.

When Enough Is Really Enough? On the Minimum Number of Landslides to Build Reliable Susceptibility Models

Mapping existing landslides is a fundamental prerequisite to build any reliable susceptibility model. From a series of landslide presence/absence conditions and associated landscape characteristics, a binary classifier learns how to distinguish potentially stable and unstable slopes. In data rich areas where landslide inventories are available, addressing the collection of these can already be a challenging task. However, in data scarce contexts, where geoscientists do not get access to pre-existing inventories, the only solution is to map landslides from scratch. This operation can be extremely time-consuming if manually performed or prone to type I errors if done automatically. This is even more exacerbated if done over large geographic regions. In this manuscript we examine the issue of mapping requirements for west Tajikistan where no complete landslide inventory is available. The key question is: How many landslides should be required to develop reliable landslide susceptibility models based on statistical modeling? In fact, for such a wide and extremely complex territory, the collection of an inventory that is sufficiently detailed requires a large investment in time and human resources. However, at which point of the mapping procedure, would the resulting susceptibility model produce significantly better results as compared to a model built with less information? We addressed this question by implementing a binomial Generalized Additive Model trained and validated with different landslide proportions and measured the induced variability in the resulting susceptibility model. The results of this study are very site-specific but we proposed a very functional protocol to investigate a problem which is underestimated in the literature.

Global Transmission of Returns among Financial, Traditional Energy, Renewable Energy and Carbon Markets: New Evidence

Connections to world markets facilitate local markets developments to support more efficient capital allocation and greater investment and growth opportunities. Under the framework of cross-market rebalancing theory, in this study, we aim to systematically examine the market connections among world financial, energy, renewable energy and European carbon markets by measuring the return spillovers from 2008 to 2021. We find that the renewable energy market is more closely connected to the world financial and energy markets in the sense of the return transmission, while the carbon market is less connected to them. However, due to improved market regulations and determinations related to fighting climate change, the connections between the carbon market and other markets have gradually intensified. Plotting the return spillover indexes, we observe that strong return spillovers from the renewable energy market to other markets occurred when large investment plans were announced. Regarding the carbon market, regulation changes introduced by the EU Commission to improve and stabilize market environment induced intensified return transmission from carbon market to other markets. Another interesting finding is that the highly intensified return transmission among markets due to the COVID-19 crisis started to loosen when COVAX published the first interim distribution forecast on 3 February 2021.

Project financing in the investment and construction complex

The problems arising in organizations during the process of investment activities have been considered. The results of financing and implementation of projects and programs have been analysed and interpreted consistently. The issues of expediency of using the profitability indicators of the capital or assets of the company, which requires for the project implementation, have been touched upon. Approaches to the possibility of using the project financing mechanism, have been substantiated. Attention has been paid to the positive and negative aspects of the application of project financing for the company investment activities. It has been noted that project financing is usually used in the implementation of large investment projects, which combine the economic interests of the state and private investors. Particular attention has been paid to the issues of project and program management within the digital environment in order to provide a unified information base. The analysis of possible risks when using the project financing mechanism has been provided and the approaches to influencing the emerging risks have been defined. The result of the study was the formation of factors affecting the effectiveness of the project financing mechanism in the implementation of investment projects and programs.

The Efficiency of University Technology Transfer in China

There has been no significant improvement in China's comprehensive innovation capability over the past decade despite the country's tremendously large investment in research and development. This study uses a three-stage procedure (i.e., research innovation, experimental development, and value creation) to understand this disappointing outcome by estimating the efficiency of the technology transfer operating through major Chinese universities. We find a substantial decrease in the average level of efficiency across the three stages, with the value creation stage identified as the weakest link. An analysis of the determinants suggests that universities with better faculty quality, experienced technology transfer offices, more affiliated investment funds, and a comprehensive rather than specialized focus perform better in all three stages.

About help from physicists in fighting sars-cov-19 and its mutations

Annotation: Currently, the SARS-CoV-19 (COVID-19) coronavirus pandemic is the main threat to all of humanity. This threat is constantly growing as new and more aggressive mutations emerge. The main ways of fighting viruses are currently recognized: vaccination, disinfection, quartzization and isolation. However, they all have their own advantages and disadvantages. The analysis of these shortcomings and the search for ways to eliminate them is an important and urgent task, which is the main goal of the work performed. Methods: a critical analysis of the emerging problems of traditional ways and methods of biophysical impact on viruses. Scientific novelty lies in the rationale for a new biophysical way to combat COVID-19 and in setting the tasks that are required to he solve. Results of work: Vaccination is considered to be the most effective method of combating COVID-19. However, it has weakened, but not prevented, the spread of viruses, as it acts in pursuit of his new mutations. This leads to local periods of lack of immune protection, in which the only way is used - the introduction of restrictions on the lifestyle and activities of people, up to rigid isolation. Other traditional ways to combat COVID-19 involve disinfection and quartzing. However, the entry of an infected person into this area after they have been carried out nullifies their results and leads to the need for new disinfection. Therefore, all traditional methods are limited by the time and conditions of their implementation and the duration of effective action, and most importantly, they require a large investment of time, intellectual, technical, economic and labor resources to achieve the desired result (especially the creation of vaccines). Since all of them did not solve the problem of eliminating the pandemic and destroying viruses, but only slowed down their spread, it is proposed to discuss another way-their destruction by the method of resonant oscillations (vibrations) created by electromagnetic fields from external sources. On the basis of this, the 1st task was formulated for further work: search for the resonant frequency range destroying viruses, and the 2nd task the search for the frequency range that activates the virus, in order to exclude its appearance in the development of new electronic systems and technical devices. The need for a fundamental solution to these problems at the level of state and non-state health organizations with the wide involvement of physicists and biophysicists is brought up for discussion by the scientific community of all countries of the world. Such a path could create the basis for their quick and effective solution.

Analysis of Accessibility of Public Transport in Warsaw in the Opinion of Users

Public transport in Warsaw is currently showing a dynamic development. The capital of Poland, as the largest city in the country, is constantly increasing spending on transport and implementing large investment projects, such as the expansion of the subway, which gives residents more opportunities for efficient movement within the agglomeration. Despite the implementation of these investments, there are still some sensitive places in Warsaw where access to public transport may be difficult. Given these conditions, a study of public transportation accessibility is warranted and socially needed. This article presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among Warsaw residents. The study included a group of 986 respondents, most people between the ages of 18 and 44. The analysis conducted looked at perceived accessibility of public transportation and satisfaction with public transportation services. As a result of the study, we could identify the main factors that influence passenger satisfaction, as well as examine transport accessibility in the social city of Warsaw. Conclusions from the study may be helpful for the city government to improve the functioning of public transport.

Africa’s Trade with China and US: Has COVID-19 Changed the Trends of Trade?

Africa’s trade with China and the US is one of the international issues affecting development in the continent. This paper, therefore, examines the effects of COVID-19 on Africa’s trade with the two countries by investigating whether the pandemic has changed the trends of the trade. The article explores the responses of the individual trade of China and the US with Africa to their own shocks, without and with the pandemic, using the vector autoregressive (VAR) model and monthly data covering 1970m01 (January 1970) to 2020m07 (July 2020). The results show that China’s trade performs better while responding to a shock to America’s trade than America’s trade does while responding to a shock to China’s trade, without and with COVID-19. This finding suggests that China has a stronger trade footing in Africa and that COVID-19 had not changed the trends of Africa’s trade with China and America, even with the impact of the pandemic on China. China’s dominant trade status in Africa is probably due to the country’s large investment and aid in the continent. The key policy focus of Africa on trading with China and the US should therefore be how to achieve optimum trilateral trade thresholds in the face of potential trade-offs.