Abstract This study examines the impact of inclusive finance development on intergenerational income mobility at the household micro-level using panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) between 2016 and 2020. The empirical findings reveal that the development of inclusive finance significantly reduces intergenerational income transmission between offspring and parents, thus enhancing regional income mobility. Mechanism analysis indicates that inclusive finance can improve intergenerational income mobility by facilitating investments in human capital, advancing occupational levels, and enhancing financial literacy. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the promoting effects of inclusive finance are stronger for females, low-income individuals, those with low social capital, individuals aged 25 and above, and offspring residing in urban areas and regions with higher levels of marketization. This study offers a novel perspective on the research of income mobility among residents and expands the scope of welfare assessment related to inclusive finance. It reveals the relationship between the development of inclusive finance and intergenerational income mobility, which is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of inclusive finance development in China and the prevention of class solidification.
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities, Social Sciences
In a first approximation, economic growth depends on capital investments and on investments in education and innovation. The macro-economic model introduced here will specifiy aggregate output as determined by aggregate supply of capital and education investment. We will consider the effectiveness of education including its quality for the growth of the National Product. It is surprising that small changes in the quality of education have a considerable long-term impact on economic growth. Secondly, we consider the positive and negative influences of chaotic fluctuations of capital investments caused by hype cycles or erratic policies. Finally, we introduce a continuous control by consumption on education investments. In this three-dimensional macro-economic model, a tipping point exists where an increase in consumption affecting the amount of education and innovation leads to a decline in economic growth.
Barbara Iannone, Pierdomenico Duttilo, Stefano Antonio Gattone
This study investigates the resilience of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investments during periods of financial instability, comparing them with traditional equity indices across major European markets-Germany, France, and Italy. Using daily returns from October 2021 to February 2024, the analysis explores the effects of key global disruptions such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict on market performance. A mixture of two generalised normal distributions (MGND) and EGARCH-in-mean models are used to identify periods of market turmoil and assess volatility dynamics. The findings indicate that during crises, ESG investments present higher volatility in Germany and Italy than in France. Despite some regional variations, ESG portfolios demonstrate greater resilience compared to traditional ones, offering potential risk mitigation during market shocks. These results underscore the importance of integrating ESG factors into long-term investment strategies, particularly in the face of unpredictable financial turmoil.
Grid-ignited wildfires are one of the most destructive catastrophic events, profoundly affecting the built and natural environments. Burying power lines is an effective solution for mitigating the risk of wildfire ignition. However, it is a costly capital expenditure (CapEx) requiring meticulous planning and investment prioritization. This paper proposes a systematic approach to estimate the potential wildfire ignition damage associated with each transmission line and accordingly offers a priority list for undergrounding. The proposed approach allows electric utilities to make risk-informed decisions for grid modernization and resiliency improvement against wildfires. As a case study, we examine the likelihood of wildfire ignition for each line segment, i.e., between two high-voltage towers, under diverse weather conditions throughout the year. The studies on the standard IEEE 30-bus test system, simulated on 43,712 scenarios, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
The ubiquity of smartphones has fueled content consumption worldwide, leading to an ever-increasing demand for a better Internet experience. This has necessitated an upgrade of the capacity of the access network. The Internet service providers (ISPs) have been demanding that the content providers (CPs) share the cost of upgrading access network infrastructure. A \emph{public investment} in the infrastructure of a neutral ISP will boost the profit of the CPs, and hence, seems a rational strategy. A CP can also make a \emph{private investment} in its infrastructure and boost its profits. In this paper, we study the trade-off between public and private investments by a CP when the decision is made under different types of interaction between them. Specifically, we consider four interaction models between CPs -- centralized allocation, cooperative game, non-cooperative game, and a bargaining game -- and determine the public and private investment for each model. Via numerical results, we evaluate the impact of different incentive structures on the utility of the CPs. We see that the bargaining game can result in higher public investment than the non-cooperative and centralized models. However, this benefit gets reduced if the CPs are incentivized to invest in private infrastructure.
Winona G. Snapp-Childs, David Y. Hancock, Preston M. Smith
et al.
Purpose: How much to invest in research facilities has long been a question in higher education and research policy. We present established and recently developed techniques for assessing the quantitative value created or received as a result of investments in research facilities. This discussion is timely. Financial challenges in higher education may soon force difficult decisions regarding investment in research facilities at some institutions. Clear quantitative analysis will be necessary for such strategic decision-making. Further, institutions of higher education in the USA are currently being called on to justify their value to society. The analyses presented here are extendable to research enterprises as a whole. Results: We present methods developed primarily for analyses of cyberinfrastructure. Most analyses comparing investment in university-based cyberinfrastructure facilities with purchasing services from commercial sources demonstrate positive results for economic and scientific research. A recent assessment, based on a comprehensive accounting approach, has shown that for one large publicly funded cyberinfrastructure project the value delivered to the USA economy and society exceeded the cost to USA taxpayers. Conclusions: Quantitative analyses of the benefits of investment in research and research facilities create a fact-based foundation for discussing the value of research and higher education. These methods enable a quantitative assessment of the relationship between investment in specific research facilities or research projects and economic, societal, and educational outcomes. These methods are of value in quantifying the economic benefit of higher education and in managing investments within such institutions.
History of the Russian-Japanese cooperation in fisheries in the Far East dem- onstrates a dynamic interaction of economic, technological and geopolitical factors. Formerly Japan, possessing technological superiority, dominated in exploitation of pacific salmon that was noted in the St. Petersburg treaty in 1875 and Portsmouth treaty in 1905. Japan leaded in modernization of fishing gears and techniques, including introduction of fixed seines and drift nets, as well as in development of fish processing technology and biological studies of pacific salmon. In the Soviet period, the national state control over resources increased, but the concessions in 1920–1930s still were dependent on Japanese capital. Until the middle of the 20th century, the salmon of Russian origin dominated in annual catch of Japan (up to 86 %). The offshore drift-net fishing played a significant role before the ban in 2015. Modern stage in salmon fishery in the Far East is distinguished by reduction of Japanese input (2–3 % or less of the total annual catch after 2006) and increasing Russian sovereignty, including restriction on drift-net fishing and implementation of regulated quotas. However, Japan continues to lead in development of salmon farming. Russia joined to the artificial reproduction of pacific salmon and established a net of fish hatcheries in Sakhalin and Kuril Islands, although their effectiveness is controversial, in particular after lowering of the juveniles return to 1 % in 2020s. The study highlights contradictions between growing investments in aquaculture and more complicated dynamics of natural populations, as well as the need for a balance between economic efficiency and environmental sustainability. The historical analysis reveals a key role of international cooperation in shaping the resource policy: from technological borrowing to scientific collaboration. Prospects of salmon farming are related on development and integration of historical experience, deep knowledge on population biology, and adaptive management that ensure long-term conservation of biological resources in changing nature and political realities.
We focus on large blackouts in electric distribution systems caused by extreme winds. Such events have a large cost and impact on customers. To quantify resilience to these events, we formulate large event risk and show how to calculate it from the historical outage data routinely collected by utilities' outage management systems. Risk is defined using an event cost exceedance curve. The tail of this curve and the large event risk is described by the probability of a large cost event and the slope magnitude of the tail on a log-log plot. Resilience can be improved by planned investments to upgrade system components or speed up restoration. The benefits that these investments would have had if they had been made in the past can be quantified by "rerunning history" with the effects of the investment included, and then recalculating the large event risk to find the improvement in resilience. An example using utility data shows a 12% and 22% reduction in the probability of a large cost event due to 10% wind hardening and 10% faster restoration respectively. This new data-driven approach to quantify resilience and resilience investments is realistic and much easier to apply than complicated approaches based on modeling all the phases of resilience. Moreover, an appeal to improvements to past lived experience may well be persuasive to customers and regulators in making the case for resilience investments.