Hasil untuk "Capital. Capital investments"

Claudia Goldin

Human capital is the stock of skills that the labor force possesses. The flow of these skills is forthcoming when the return to investment exceeds the cost (both direct and indirect). Returns to these skills are private in the sense that an individual’s productive capacity increases with more of them. But there are often externalities that increase the productive capacity of others when human capital is increased. This essay discusses these concepts historically and focuses on two major components of human capital: education and training, and health. The institutions that encourage human capital investment are discussed, as is the role of human capital in economic growth. The notion that the study of human capital is inherently historical is emphasized and defended.

Gita Gopinath, Gita Gopinath, S. Kalemli‐ozcan et al.

R. Peters, Lucian A. Taylor

Muhammad Wasif Zafar, S. Zaidi, Naveed R. Khan et al.

Abstract This study explores the effect of the amounts of natural resources, human capital, and foreign direct investment on the ecological footprint in the presence of energy consumption and economic growth using US data from 1970 to 2015. We use the Zivot-Andrews unit root method to check the stationary properties of data series, along with structural breaks and employ an Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) model to estimate the short-run and long-run elasticities among the variables. Our findings suggest that economic growth and energy consumption have negative relationships with the ecological footprint. Natural resources and human capital are helpful in curtailing ecological footprint, as is foreign direct investment (FDI). The results of Granger causality show bidirectional causality between energy consumption and the ecological footprint and between economic growth and the ecological footprint, while unidirectional causality runs from natural resources to the ecological footprint and from human capital to natural resources. The US must attract more FDI and human capital from other countries to ensure that established companies and new firms can innovate swiftly in support of the quality of life and sustainable development.

Zahoor Ahmed, Muhammad Wasif Zafar, Sajid Ali

Abstract The G7 countries are facing the challenges of high urbanization, growing ecological footprint, and decreasing biocapacity. In these countries, urban areas are the center of economic activities and resource consumption. On this note, current study examines the effect of urbanization and human capital on the ecological footprint in G7 countries. The study uses advanced panel data estimators, such as CUP-FM and CUP-BC on data from 1971 to 2014. The findings reveal that urbanization increases the ecological footprint, whereas human capital reduces it. The reliability of long-run estimates is also examined by using CO2 emissions as a proxy of environmental impact. The results of causality test disclose unidirectional causality from human capital and urbanization to the ecological footprint. However, the causality between urbanization, human capital, and economic growth is bidirectional. Moreover, energy consumption, economic growth, and import increase environmental degradation, while export and foreign direct investment reduce environmental degradation. Finally, detailed policy options are proposed to combat environmental challenges of G7 countries.

Zhaoxia Xu

We examine the impact of government economic policy uncertainty (GEPU) on corporate innovation and identify a cost-of-capital transmission channel. We find that GEPU increases firms’ cost of capital, which translates into lower innovation. As economic policy uncertainty rises, firms with more exposure to such uncertainty face a higher weighted average cost of capital and innovate less. Innovations of financially constrained firms and firms relying on external finance in a competitive environment are affected more. Our study provides novel evidence that higher economic policy uncertainty hinders innovation not only through the traditional investment irreversibility channel, but also through the cost-of-capital channel.

Will Drover, Lowell W. Busenitz, Sharon F. Matusik et al.

D. Throsby

Economists traditionally distinguish between three forms of capital: physical capital, human capital and natural capital. This paper proposes a fourth type of capital, cultural capital. An item of cultural capital is defined as an asset embodying cultural value. The paper considers usage of the term “cultural capital” in other discourses, notably sociology after Bourdieu, and contrasts these with the proposed usage in economics. The relationship between cultural and economic value, upon which the economic concept of cultural capital relies, is explored, and the possible implications of cultural capital for economic analysis discussed, including issues of growth, sustainability and investment appraisal. The paper concludes with some suggestions for further theoretical and empirical research.

Syed Rahim, Muntasir Murshed, Sukru Umarbeyli et al.

Abstract This study aims to analyse the effects of natural resources, human capital, financial development, industrialization, technological progress, and international trade on the economic growth of the Next Eleven countries between 1990 and 2019. The novelty of this study lies in its approach to explore the indirect economic growth impacts of human capital development via the transmission channel of the natural resource utilization in these counties. The econometric methods involved are robust for accounting the cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity concerns in the data. The results authenticate the resource curse hypothesis since higher natural resources rent are found to inhibit economic growth of the Next Eleven nations. In contrast, human capital development, financial development, industrialization, technological innovation and international trade participation are found to synthesize economic growth. Besides, another interesting finding in this study shows that human capital and natural resources jointly exert positive impacts on economic growth. Hence, it can be said that human capital development assists to mitigate the resource curse impacts in the case of the Next Eleven countries. Therefore, these findings necessitate the pertinence of boosting investments in human capital development, enhancing the strength of the financial sector, expediting industrialization, facilitating technological innovation, and amplifying international trade volumes for achieving higher economic growth in the Next Eleven countries. More importantly, human capital development should be prioritized for transforming the curse of the natural resources into blessing for these nations.

Tim J. Boonen, Engel John C. Dela Vega, Len Patrick Dominic M. Garces

This paper considers an insurer with two collaborating business lines that faces three critical decisions: (1) dividend payout, (2) reinsurance coverage, and (3) capital injection between the lines, in the presence of model uncertainty. The insurer considers the reference model to be an approximation of the true model, and each line has its own robustness preference. The reserve level of each line is modeled using a diffusion process. The objective is to obtain a robust strategy that maximizes the expected weighted sum of discounted dividends until the first ruin time, while incorporating a penalty term for the distortion between the reference and alternative models in the worst-case scenario. We completely solve this problem and obtain the value function and optimal (equilibrium) strategies in closed form. We show that the optimal dividend-capital injection strategy is a barrier strategy. The optimal proportion of risk ceded to the reinsurer and the deviation of the worst-case model from the reference model are decreasing with respect to the aggregate reserve level. Finally, numerical examples are presented to show the impact of the model parameters and ambiguity aversion on the optimal strategies.

Paulin Aubert, Etienne Chevalier, Vathana Ly Vath

In this paper, we study an optimal dividend and capital-injection problem in a Cramér--Lundberg model where claim arrivals follow a Hawkes process, capturing clustering effects often observed in insurance portfolios. We establish key analytical properties of the value function and characterise the optimal capital-injection strategy through an explicit threshold. We also show that the value function is the unique viscosity solution of the associated HJB variational inequality. For numerical purposes, we first compute a benchmark solution via a monotone finite-difference scheme with Howard's policy iteration. We then develop a reinforcement learning approach based on policy-gradient and actor-critic methods. The learned strategies closely match the PDE benchmark and remain stable across initial conditions. The results highlight the relevance of policy-gradient techniques for dividend optimisation under self-exciting claim dynamics and point toward scalable methods for higher-dimensional extensions.

Tim J. Boonen, Engel John C. Dela Vega

This paper considers an insurer with two collaborating business lines that must make three critical decisions: (1) dividend payout, (2) a combination of proportional and excess-of-loss reinsurance coverage, and (3) capital injection between the lines. The reserve level of each line is modeled using a diffusion approximation, with the insurer's objective being to maximize the weighted total discounted dividends paid until the first ruin time. We obtain the value function and the optimal strategies in closed form. We then prove that the optimal dividend payout strategy for bounded dividend rates is of threshold type, while for unbounded dividend rates it is of barrier type. The optimal combination of proportional and excess-of-loss reinsurance is shown to be pure excess-of-loss reinsurance. We also show that the optimal level of risk ceded to the reinsurer decreases as the aggregate reserve level increases. The optimal capital injection strategy involves transferring reserves to prevent the ruin of one line. Finally, numerical examples are presented to illustrate these optimal strategies.

Ricardo Alonzo Fernández Salguero

This article proposes a synthetic theory of socio-epistemic structuration to understand the reproduction of inequality in contemporary societies. I argue that social reality is not only determined by material structures and social networks but is fundamentally shaped by the epistemic frameworks -- ideologies, narratives, and attributions of agency -- that mediate actors' engagement with their environment. The theory integrates findings from critical race theory, network sociology, social capital studies, historical sociology, and analyses of emerging AI agency. I analyze how structures (from the ``racial contract'' to Facebook networks) and epistemic frameworks (from racist ideology to personal culture) mutually reinforce one another, creating resilient yet unequal life trajectories. Using data from large-scale experiments like the Moving to Opportunity and social network analyses, I demonstrate that exposure to diverse environments and social capital is a necessary but insufficient condition for social mobility; epistemic friction, manifested as `friending bias' and persistent cultural frameworks, systematically limits the benefits of such exposure. I conclude that a public and methodologically reflexive sociology must focus on unpacking and challenging these epistemic structures, recognizing the theoretical capacity of subaltern publics (``reverse tutelage'') and developing new methods to disentangle the complex interplay of homophily, contagion, and structural causation in a world of big data.

Yuxin Hu, Nektarios Oraiopoulos

The biotech venture market faces intense capital demands and regulatory scrutiny, yet academic research on VC networks remains rooted in software and consumer-tech contexts. This dissertation investigates how repeated co-investment ties and domain-expertise homophily influence a venture's exit likelihood, timing, and route amid the sector's pronounced technological and market uncertainty. Using a novel panel of 11,680 biotechnology start-ups from the United States, Canada, and Europe (2010-2024), we apply pooled logit, Cox proportional-hazards, multinomial logit, and Fine-Gray competing-risk models. Our findings show that both average prior co-investment and investor homophily exhibit robust inverted-U relationships with exit outcomes. Moderate familiarity and scientific overlap maximize exit probability, while either sparse or excessive embedding reduces success. Governance mechanisms also play a crucial role: participation of a pharmaceutical corporate VC or a highly independent board flattens the negative effects of over-embedding, enabling syndicates to sustain exit momentum at higher levels of familiarity or homogeneity. Furthermore, the optimal degree of embeddedness is route-specific: IPOs require deeper coordination than trade sales, while acquisitions peak earlier and are less sensitive to homophily. These findings refine network-embeddedness theory in the life-science context, identify governance contingencies, and offer practitioners quantitative metrics to balance trust, expertise, and oversight in biotech financing.

Fanze Kong, Jiayi Sun, Shuangquan Xie

One of the most significant findings in the study of spatial Solow-Swan models is the emergence of economic agglomeration, in which economic activities concentrate in specific regions. Such agglomeration provides a fundamental mechanism driving the spatial patterns of urbanization, labor migration, productivity growth, and resource allocation. In this paper, we consider the one-dimensional spatial Solow-Swan model with capital-induced labor migration, which captures the dynamic interaction between labor and capital through migration and accumulation. Focusing on the regime of sufficiently small capital diffusivity, we first construct an interior spike (spiky economic agglomeration) quasi-equilibrium. Next, we perform the linear stability of the corresponding spike equilibrium by using a hybrid asymptotic and numerical method. We show that a single interior spike remains stable for small reaction-time constants but undergoes a Hopf bifurcation when the constant is sufficiently large, leading to oscillations in spike height (economic fluctuation). Finally, we derive a differential-algebraic system to capture the slow drift motion of quasi-equilibrium (core-periphery shift). Numerical simulations are carried out to support our theoretical studies and reveal some intriguing yet unexplained dynamics.

Shilong Han

This study examines how China's high-speed rail (HSR) expansion affects analyst earnings forecast errors from an economic information friction perspective. Using firm-year panel data from 2008-2019, a period that covers HSR's early introduction and rapid nationwide rollout, the findings show that analysts' relative earnings forecast errors (RFE) decline significantly only after firms' cities become connected by high-speed rail. The placebo test, which artificially shifts HSR connectivity 3 years earlier than the actual opening year, yields an insignificant DID coefficient, rejecting the possibility that forecast errors were improving before the infrastructure shock. This supports the conclusion that forecast error reduction is linked to real geographic accessibility improvements rather than coincidence, pre-existing trends, or analyst anticipation. Economically, the study highlights that HSR reduces analysts' costs of gathering private, incremental information, particularly soft information obtained via plant or management visits. The rail network does not directly alter firms' internal capital allocation or earnings generation paths, but it lowers spatial barriers to information collection, enabling analysts to update EPS expectations under reduced travel friction. This work provides intuitive evidence that geography and mobility improvements contribute to forecasting accuracy in China's emerging, decentralized capital market corridors, and it encourages future research to consider transport accessibility as an exogenous information cost shock rather than an internal firm-capital shock.

Topaler Başak, Khan Hamza

Providers of early-stage financing tend to be highly selective due to significant uncertainty surrounding the future potential of new businesses. Since these ventures typically lack established performance records, potential investors focus on observable qualities of the founder as signals of the venture’s viability and chances for success in the market. Despite extensive research on new venture signaling and financing, the impact of context on investors’ decision-making has not been thoroughly explored. This oversight is significant because both firm performance and investor decision-making are influenced by economic, social, and institutional contexts. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by identifying sector-level, entrepreneurial ecosystem-level, and economy-level factors that serve as contextual influences on new venture signaling. We examine early-stage angel and venture capital investments in Turkey, which is an emerging economy with a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our results on the sample of 2,231 startups show that returnee founders are more likely to obtain early-stage financing than local entrepreneurs, and investors tend to hold particularly favorable views of returnee entrepreneurs in high-tech industries. Moreover, the likelihood of securing investment increases with the diversity of the founder’s prior work experience, a trend that has been amplified during the heightened turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, investors’ evaluations of female entrepreneurs slightly improve as women-led startups become more prevalent in the ecosystem and gain legitimacy. These findings indicate that finance providers have a significantly broad attention span for context-specific influences, and their decisions are shaped by both rational and socio-cognitive processes.

Kaylin Morris, Atena Pasha, Xiaoming Li et al.

Abstract Background Climate change has intensified the frequency and severity of natural disasters, disproportionately impacting health systems in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) that face unique vulnerabilities due to limited infrastructure, workforce shortages, and constrained resources. This systematic mapping review examined disaster preparedness within LMICs’ health systems and identified common components of disaster preparedness, existing gaps, and adaptive strategies aimed at improving preparedness. Methods A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Web of Science was conducted in March 2025, following PRISMA guidelines. Empirical studies published in English that addressed climate-related disaster preparedness in LMIC health systems were included. Data extraction was performed using a structured template, and methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A narrative synthesis was used to identify key themes. Results Of 518 records screened, 20 studies met the inclusion criteria. Study populations included health systems, healthcare workers, hospital administrators, disaster responders, and affected patients. Natural disasters examined included floods, earthquakes, droughts, cyclones, and landslides. Common preparedness components included workforce training, infrastructure capacity, stock and supply readiness, communication systems, and coordination and partnership. While some systems demonstrated adaptive strategies such as backup resources and coordination protocols, most faced persistent gaps in training, policy implementation, and system resilience. The findings indicate that enhancing resilience in LMICs requires investment in human capital, robust infrastructure, and coordinated emergency protocols. Conclusion The findings underscore that strengthening disaster preparedness in LMICs’ health systems requires targeted investments in workforce development, infrastructure resilience, and cross-sector collaboration. These efforts are critical for building climate-resilient health systems capable of withstanding future emergencies.

Ngesisa Magida, Thobeka Ncanywa, Kin Sibanda et al.

This study investigates the role of public health expenditure on human capital development in South Africa to promote economic development. Despite extensive public health investments and economic reforms, persistent socioeconomic challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and inequality impede sustainable economic growth. This study uses an autoregressive distributed lag model, a vector error correction model (VECM), quantile regression, and Granger causality analysis to assess the relationship between fiscal health policies and human development. The findings confirm that government health spending significantly enhances human development in the short and long run, while unemployment and population growth exert adverse effects. VECM variance decomposition results indicate that the influence of public health expenditure remains persistent, though diminishing over time, with growing contributions from unemployment. Quantile regression shows the heterogeneous impact of health spending across different levels of economic development, emphasising its greater effectiveness at higher development stages. Causality analysis reveals a unidirectional relationship from public health expenditure to human development; this shows the need for sustained healthcare investment. The study calls for policies combining health spending with economic strategies to boost productivity, reduce inequality, and promote inclusive growth. Strengthening institutional efficiency and ensuring macroeconomic stability are crucial for maximising long-term human capital to promote sustainable development.

DORINA CLICHICI

The last few years have been characterized by adverse conditions that have substantially affected the Romanian economy, with major implications for investment attractiveness. Against this background, the objective of the paper is to investigate how Romania’s capacity to attract foreign capital has evolved, in the light of the most recent unfavourable economic and political dynamics. In this context, the article pursues several important objectives. The first objective is to review the literature that emphasized the relation between the macroeconomic environment and FDI flows. The second objective is to analyse the level of investment attractiveness of Romania, through the evolution of the country rating and investors’ perceptions of Romania as a destination country for FDI. The third objective is to identify the structural changes in FDI flows, but also of the factors that contributed to this evolution. Using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, the study evaluates Romania’s investment attractiveness through the evolution of its country rating and the perceptions of investors regarding Romania as an FDI destination. The results reveal that the investment attractiveness of the Romanian economy have slightly declined, under increased macroeconomic uncertainty, significant deterioration of public finances, and military conflicts taking place in the country’s immediate proximity. Moreover, they indicate a qualitative and structural change in foreign investments, more specifically, we are witnessing a diversification of the FDI portfolio and a shift towards areas with higher added value or with a lower initial capital requirement.