Oana Panazan, Catalin Gheorghe, Aamir Aijaz Syed
et al.
This study examines the dynamic interactions between precious metals, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, safe-haven currencies, and two key macroeconomic indicators, the 5-year breakeven inflation expectation (T5YIE) and the 10-year minus 3-month Treasury yield spread (T10Y3M), over January 2016–July 2025. To capture nonlinear and multi-scale dependencies, the study applies Quantile-on-Quantile Regression (QQR) in combination with wavelet coherence (WCO) and wavelet transform coherence (WTC). The results indicate that major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum do not display robust or systematic links with inflation expectations or recession risk, limiting their role as macro-financial hedges. By contrast, the Japanese yen and Swiss franc show pronounced tail sensitivities, reaffirming their safe-haven status, while gold and its tokenized counterparts (DGX, PAXG) exhibit persistent long-run coherence with inflation expectations. Stablecoins demonstrate unstable short-term linkages shaped by liquidity shocks and market frictions. The research provides new evidence on the heterogeneous roles of digital and traditional assets in shaping macroeconomic expectations. The findings carry implications for investors, who should continue to rely on gold and safe-haven currencies for crisis hedging, and for regulators concerned with the systemic stability of emerging digital instruments.
This study investigates the determinants of profitability among Indian commercial banks from 2005 to 2024, with a specific focus on the novel role of dynamic growth efficiency (GE), a concept capturing a bank's ability to transform input growth into output growth, alongside conventional static efficiency measures such as level efficiency (LE) and cost-to-income ratio (CIR). As the first to operationalize GE in the Indian context, the study employs data envelopment analysis (DEA) on a panel dataset of 50 commercial banks (12 public, 17 private, and 21 foreign). Results from a system GMM estimator reveal GE to be a consistently significant driver of profitability, outperforming both LE and CIR across various market power indicators and model specifications. A key methodological advance supporting this analysis is the inclusion of technology expenditures (which account for 29% of operating and 13% of total expenses in 2024) as a fundamental input, correcting a major misspecification in prior literature. We demonstrate that omitting this crucial input artificially inflates market power and deflates efficiency estimates. The positive impact of GE is more pronounced for public-sector and new private banks, underscoring divergent strategic drivers across ownership structures and highlighting the paramount importance of fostering dynamic capabilities for sustaining profitability in a rapidly evolving banking landscape.
Psychological resilience is an important factor in determining the mental well-being of migrant workers. Migrant workers are people who migrate or have migrated from one country to another who will be employed by anyone other than themselves. This study aims to determine the factors which influence the psychological resilience of migrant workers in Thailand, and how they adapt to challenges in the new environment. This study is a qualitative study. The subjects in the study were three migrant workers in Thailand. Data collection methods used were interviews, observation and documentation. Data analysis used was data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The results of the study showed that the factors influencing the psychological resilience of migrant workers in Thailand can be grouped into two, specifically internal factors and external factors. These internal factors are spirituality, self-efficacy, optimism, self-esteem, hope, and hardiness. External factors are social and family support. Meanwhile, the description of the adaptation of migrant workers in Thailand to the challenges in the new environment can be grouped into three strategies: social adaptation, economic adaptation and cultural adaptation.
Demography. Population. Vital events, Social sciences (General)
PANDURU ANDREI-DORIAN, STAN FLORIN ALEXANDRU, MIHĂIȚĂ ICHIM ALEXANDRU
et al.
By examining emotions, we will discuss how consumers' affective states influence purchase decisions, from
happiness and excitement to anxiety and fear. We will also turn our attention to social influences, highlighting the role
that family, friends and social groups play in shaping consumer choices.
Perception of value will be another focus of the article, where we will look at how consumers evaluate products not
only based on price, but also relative to quality and perceived benefits. Finally, we will explore Maslow's theory of
needs and its impact on consumer behavior, discussing how basic needs influence purchasing choices and how brands
can address these needs to increase their appeal.
Commercial geography. Economic geography, Economics as a science
Abstract This article examines individual factors influencing performance of 200 Israeli women-owned businesses. Whereas research on women entrepreneurs is extensive in developed countries, especially in the United States and Europe, there are comparatively few studies of performance of women-owned businesses in non-OECD countries. There is evidence that social structures (work, family, and organized social life) vary among developed and developing countries as these relate to women entrepreneurs. However, these differences have not been considered as they may relate to theories explaining performance of women-owned businesses. The extent to which existing theories are useful in the context of non-OECD countries is of increasing importance as women in these countries are assuming a greater role in enterprise creation and economic development as a result of radical geopolitical and economic policy changes worldwide. In Israel, women suffer from occupational segregation and typically earn less money than their male counterparts, despite a generally high level of education. Entrepreneurship offers a vehicle for Israeli women to achieve economic parity. Approximately 5.1% of Israeli women are self-employed (compared with 15% of Israeli men) of the 816,800 Israeli working women. This study is the first systematic investigation of performance variation among Israeli women entrepreneurs, thereby contributing to our understanding of women's entrepreneurship in non-OECD countries. Five theoretical perspectives explain performance: individual motivations and goals; social learning (entrepreneurial socialization); network affiliation (contacts and membership in organizations); human capital (level of education, business skills); and environmental influences (location, sectoral participation, and sociopolitical variables). Each of these perspectives is associated with empirical work showing relationships between these individual level factors and performance. Three questions directed this study: (1) Which factors influence the performance of Israeli women entrepreneurs? (2) Which factors explain any variance in performance among businesses established by Israeli women entrepreneurs? (3) How similar are these explanatory factors to those found in other countries? A sample of 220 Israeli women business-owners responded to a survey instrument originally composed by Hisrich and Brush (1982, 1985) that was translated into Hebrew and adapted to the particular conditions of the Israeli population. A majority of the questionnaires was distributed at meetings of professional associates of women entrepreneurs and returned by mail, but one-fourth was distributed to women who were not members of any professional association. No significant differences were found between the respondents who were members or non-members of associations. Reliability testing showed alpha coefficients of 0.65 and higher for scaled questions, which is acceptable for survey data. Statistical analyses, including Pearsons's correlations and multiple regressions, examined relationships between factors identified from theoretical perspectives and performance, which was measured by profitability, income, size (number of employees), and revenues. Demographic variables were examined, and the age of the woman entrepreneur's children was significantly related to profitability ( p Of the five theoretical perspectives, results showed network affiliation, motivation, human capital, and environmental factors affected different aspects of performance, whereas social learning theory or existence of a role model had no significant effect on performance outcomes. Network affiliation was significantly related to profitability ( p Motivations showed a strong relationship to performance. Factor analysis identified three basic groups of motives: achievement, independence, and economic necessity. Similar to findings in other countries, achievement motives were highly related to personal income, whereas economic necessity was significantly related to both profitability and revenue. Analyses of human capital variables showed mixed results; education level, areas of study, and previous entrepreneurial experience had no effect on previous experience. The fact that this population was highly educated (51% had university degrees) may have impacted on this result. Consistent with prior research findings, previous experience in the industry had a direct and significant effect on performance ( p p p This study supports previous research from the United States and Europe on women entrepreneurs, which found that performance is related to previous industry experience, business skills, and achievement motivation. However, the differential effects of network affiliations was significantly more important for women entrepreneurs in Israel. Affiliation with a single network was highly related to profitability, whereas involvement in multiple networks was detrimental to both revenues and the number of employees. These findings imply that to perform well, Israeli women entrepreneurs should gain related industry experience, develop business skills, and seek to achieve success. Most importantly, commitment to a single network for support and advice is better than a loose alignment with many support groups. This research has implications for studies of women entrepreneurs in other non-OECD as well as developing countries. In countries such as Russia or China, anecdotal evidence shows self-employment offers women an opportunity to improve their economic status as more capitalistic policies are adopted. The extent to which individual factors found important in this study, such as business skills, motivations, previous industry experience, and network affiliation, affect performance in these countries is a topic for future investigation. This study suggests that individual factors affect performance differentially as a consequence of variations in social structures, work, organized social life, and family. Future research should explore the extent to which this is the case. Examination of aspects of organizational strategies and government policies as these influence performance is another topic for future study.
MOHAMMAD EHSANIFAR, Associate Professor Ph.D, FATEMEH DEKAMINI, Ph.D, MOEIN KHAZAEI, Ph.D
et al.
The current research was conducted with the topic of investigating the effect of cultural, economic and technological
factors on the risk management of construction companies in Iran. This research was applied in terms of purpose and
descriptive-survey in terms of method. The statistical population of this research is: senior managers and engineers of
grade 1 construction companies in Iran, of which 120 people were selected as a sample through sampling in available
was selected and a researcher-made questionnaire was distributed among them and they were asked to rate each item
according to its importance from one (lowest) to five (highest). To analyze the data, partial least squares technique was
used with the help of SmartPLS software, and the results showed that cultural and economic factors do not affect the
risk management of Iran construction companies, but technological factors have an effect on the risk management of
Iran construction companies.
Commercial geography. Economic geography, Economics as a science
Objective
When an infant is identified as having suffered or is at risk of suffering significant harm from parents or caregivers, section 31 care and supervision proceedings (s.31, Children Act 1989) may be issued. We examined the healthcare use of infants under one year old subject to these proceedings in Wales.
Approach
A retrospective e-cohort study utilising data held in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. General Practice records, emergency department attendances, and hospital admissions (non-elective and elective) were linked with family justice (Cafcass Cymru) data between 2011–2020 for all s.31 proceedings (n = 920). By comparing to the infant population not undergoing family law proceedings (n = 18179), regression models examined the incidence and rate of healthcare events between birth and the court proceeding application date. Wider determinants of health were sequentially added (infant perinatal factors, maternal mental health, sex, area-level deprivation). Reasons for healthcare events were also investigated.
Results
These models showed that infants who were subject to s.31 care and supervision proceedings were more likely to have required healthcare prior to proceedings than the comparison group. A similar pattern was shown for the rate of healthcare events. Even when wider determinants of health were included in the models, this difference was especially pronounced for incidence and event rate ratios for emergency department attendances, [incidence RR = 1.73, CI = 1.52–1.96; event RR = 2.08, CI = 1.82–2.38] and non-elective inpatient admissions [incidence RR = 2.91, CI = 2.57–3.28; event RR = 3.84, CI = 3.31–4.45]. Infants in s.31 proceedings were more likely to require healthcare for injury and poisoning, and other external causes.
Conclusion
This is the first population-wide evidence on the health of infants subject to s.31 care and supervision proceedings in Wales. These findings highlight the increased healthcare utilisation for this population. The study helps to build a better understanding of the needs and vulnerabilities of infants in the family justice system.
Igor Anatol’evich Kalmykov, Artem Bronislavovich Sarkisov, Ekaterina Mihaylovna Yakovleva
et al.
Computational systolic model for orthogonal signal transformation in extended Galois GF(pv) fields based on polynomial system of residue classes is examined. Modular codes' ability to increase fault-tolerant characteristics is proven.
U ovom radu je obrađena jedna relativno nova metoda za procenu mesta nastanka kvara na vodu, koja se bazira na primeni neuralnih mreža. Kako bi se izvršila provera efikasnosti ove metode, u programskom paketu MATLAB/Simulink je formiran model jednostavnog EES-a, koji čine dve visokonaponske mreže (ekvivalentirane Tevenenovim generatorom) povezane 100 km dugačkim dalekovodom. Pomoću ovog programskog paketa su simulirani različiti tipovi kvarova na različitim pozicijama na vodu. Vrednosti faznih struja i međufaznih napona koje generišu ovi kvarovi predstavljaju podatke koji se dovode na ulaz neuralne mreže. Na osnovu ovih ulaznih veličina i izlazne vrednosti koja je jednaka stvarnom rastojanju mesta kvara od početka voda (odnosno pozicije lokatora kvara), moguće je izvršiti obučavanje neuralne mreže. Obučavanje neuralne mreže je izvršeno pomoću softverskog alata nntool (eng. Neural Network Toolbox), koji je sastavni deo programskog paketa MATLAB.
Energy industries. Energy policy. Fuel trade, Economics as a science
This paper reviews articles published in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues (JFEI) from 2010 to 2019 and considers future research opportunities. The JFEI articles utilize theories and conceptual frameworks from several social science fields, to help readers understand the importance of including both the family and business in any discussion of family businesses. The literature review addresses four family business topical areas: (1) household and business economics, (2) business continuity and succession, (3) managerial and adoption strategies, and (4) values and goals. These JFEI articles have focused on differentiating family businesses from other types of businesses; explaining the unique interface between the family and the business; and identifying the characteristics (i.e., demographics, adjustment strategies, continuity, capitals, and values and goals) for family business survival and success. In the future, family business researchers have the opportunity to better understand the impact of community resources and climate; more carefully assess the challenges of women, minorities, and immigrants; understand the role of cultural capital; and explore the impact of innovation during rapidly changing times, such as those created by the pandemic.
Today, information technology plays a special role in the development of business entities, creating new promising management areas, making it possible to optimize business processes and positively affect the operation quality and general efficiency of enterprises. This fact contributes to the scientists’ interest in conducting research in e-business as a new, promising area of economic activity. Given the relevance of this research area, the article considers theories describing the formation and development of e-business as a whole system. Using methodological apparatus of the systemic approach as a universal concept of perceiving systems of different nature, the article formulates its own interpretation of the "e-business system" category. The latter is suggested to be considered as a holistic, single object of study. a set of relationships between economic entities occurring in the process of buying, selling, producing and exchanging goods and services due to the use of information and communication technologies, having its own purpose and complex structure, and interacting with other environmental systems. A model of such a system has also been designed. In addition, the article considers the structural features of such a system. To do this, attributes for grouping the main elements in the e-business system are identified, namely: the content attribute (the method of separating the components of this system depending on economic activities that can be attributed to e-business) and the subjectivity attribute (studying e-business areas by analyzing the peculiarities of the relationship between individual economic entities). Their essence and the corresponding components of the specified system, which are identified based on these attributes, are considered
This text is aimed at the consideration of differences related to fertility of urban and non-urban settlements in Serbia, from the point of view of differentiation concerning education and gender roles. The discussion framework consists of the results of relevant empirical researches that consider gender equality, as well as the presented data about level of education for both types of settlements. In terms of fertility, we used census data and presented two indicators. These are the cumulative live birth rates and the shares of women who have not given birth. The focus is on the generations born in the second half of the 20th century, observing the cohorts that are in the reproductive period, as well as those that came out. Differences between urban and non-urban settlements are not only observed for Serbia as a whole, but are also placed within the framework of statical regional areas. The decline in cumulative fertility, the postponement of parenthood and the shares of women without children both in the optimal reproductive period and in the cohorts at the end of reproductive period are more pronounced in the urban population. However, these tendencies also have existed in non-urban settlements, despite the fact that the observed fertility indicators do not reflect the difficulty of regulating low fertility in this type of settlement. Very low cumulative fertility rates in the urban settlements are the result of insufficient adjustment of the institutional framework to emancipatory processes in the sphere of gender roles. The negative effects of traditional patriarchy in non-urban settlements are more visible through some other demographic indicators that are closely related to the issue of low fertility. Hence, the importance of the gender aspect cannot be neglected when it comes to non-urban settlements.