David Blazar, Michel Boudreaux, Steven Klees
et al.
Abstract We analyze data from 10 nationally representative surveys in the United States (2010–2023) to track public, private, and family time investments in children, all theorized to enhance human capital. Average per-child investments from birth to age 18 total $502,152 (2024 USD), with overall disparities by household income and race/ethnicity of 6% to 15%. Early childhood shows the largest gaps—often over 50%—driven mainly by housing and child care. Investment levels converge substantially around age five due to near-universal public schooling, which serves over 90% of children, compared with far lower access to publicly supported early care (roughly 25%) and housing subsidies (less than 5%). Like early childhood, though, later-childhood investments exhibit differences in the types of services and resources children from different backgrounds receive (e.g., compulsory versus compensatory education, office-based versus emergency health services, whole fruit versus fruit juice). Accounting for parent and family time-focused investments (e.g., informal educational activities, meals) narrows disparities by income and race/ethnicity when valued at a constant wage. Disparities increase 50-100% when valued at caregivers’ age- and education-specific wages, likely overstating differences in the quality of family time.
This study investigates the effect of cash flow uncertainty on working capital in the BIST Transportation Index between 2015 and 2024. In line with this objective, net working capital is the dependent variable; cash flow volatility from operations, investments, and financing are the independent variables; and leverage ratio and firm size are the control variables. First, the volatility of cash flow indicators is modeling using ARCH/GARCH and EGARCH models, and then the panel data analysis method is applied by including the obtained conditional variance series in the model. Based on the findings, operating cash flow uncertainty does not affect net working capital, while investment and financing cash flow uncertainty significantly negatively affects net working capital. In addition, it is found that leverage ratio and firm size also affect net working capital. The findings show that net working capital is shaped not only by operating performance, but also by investment and financing strategy uncertainty, debt structure, and growth dynamics.
In this article are researched the sectoral division of the country’s economy and the classifier of economic sectors. It is determined that the sectoral structure of the national economy is a set of industries, i.e., homogeneous economic units with special conditions of functioning (production of homogeneous products or use of homogeneous resources, the same functional content of the operations performed). The sectors of the economy include industry, construction, agriculture, trade, and government. Each sector of the economy is divided into complex sub-sectors characterized by varying degrees of production differentiation. Construction activity is an independent branch of production activity, which is composed of a set of all production units that carry out mainly the same or similar types of production activity. The positions of scholars who relate capital construction to be a sub-sector of the construction industry are considered. The concept of “capital construction” is understood as a type of economic activity which consists in the performance by economic entities of works on creation and restoration of fixed assets, i.e. buildings and structures which are classified according to the NC 018-2023 “Classifier of Buildings and Structures”. It is determined that, being a part of the construction industry, capital construction is at the same time a type of economic activity carried out in all sectors of the country’s economy, which results in the creation of various production and non-production facilities (buildings and structures) to be used by business entities or other participants in economic relations to achieve their commercial or other goals. Specific areas and objects of capital construction that can be created are considered, in particular, in the energy sector, such objects as thermal and nuclear power plants, dams, power lines can be created, in the fuel sector - oil refineries, mines, loading and unloading stations, in the transport sector - roads, railways, bridges, ports, pipelines, railway stations, etc. The areas of capital construction in Ukraine that require the most attention and investment are identified, namely energy and fuel infrastructure, including green construction, transport and defense infrastructure, housing construction, and social infrastructure. It was established, that the priority areas for investment in capital construction in Ukraine are those areas that directly affect national security, social needs and economic recovery.
Chelsea N. Jeffers, Maria-Darlyn Romulo, Sharon Duncan
et al.
Human resource management (HRM) has evolved significantly over the past two decades, shifting from a predominantly administrative function to a critical strategic partner that contributes directly to organizational success and competitive advantage. In the modern business environment, particularly amidst the growth of innovative startups and the transformation of existing firms, implementing sustainable HRM practices has become a decisive factor for long-term viability and profitability. This paper examines the case of Netflix Inc. (Netflix), which has been a global leader in digital streaming services, as a model for strategic HRM and talent management by providing competitive monetary benefits. Examining stock performance data from 2022 to 2025, Netflix sustained impressive financial growth and strengthened its organizational culture through unconventional yet effective HRM strategies. These include transparent and rigorous hiring practices, a culture of autonomy and accountability, personalized compensation benefits, and a performance management system emphasizing continuous feedback and high performance. Rather than adopting rigid traditional policies, Netflix’s approach emphasizes flexibility, trust, personalized monetary benefits, and a focus on outcomes, which fosters an environment where top talent can thrive. This paper explores how these strategic HRM practices have contributed to Netflix’s sustained innovation, adaptability, and bottom-line success. Much of Netflix’s success results from its talent management strategies used in hiring, rewards and compensation, and performance management. Netflix’s experience indicates that organizational success is highly attributed to effective human capital management through transparent and honest hiring processes, autonomous employee treatment paired with competitive rewards and compensation offerings, and high-standard performance management practices rooted in accountability, involving periodic direct reports and 360-degree feedback. The implications of these findings suggest that organizations seeking to remain competitive in dynamic industries must invest in HRM strategies that align with business goals, prioritize human capital, and foster cultures of high performance through personalized monetary benefits. Netflix’s model provides valuable insights for organizational leaders and business executives aiming to enhance employee engagement, operational agility, and strategic alignment through innovative talent management practices.
Muhammad Saeful Rizzal, Ahmad Rustan, Rudy Iskandar Ichlas
Investment has become a new lifestyle for some people, as investment promotions typically entice potential investors with promising returns. In Indonesia, investments are broadly categorized into tangible and financial investments. This study aims to review the licensing system and protection for victims of online robot trading investments in Indonesia, focusing on safeguarding the public as investors. This research aims to provide knowledge so that the public can differentiate between legal and illegal investments, thus encouraging more cautious investment decisions. The method employed in this study is a normative juridical approach involving an analysis of existing laws and regulations, including the Consumer Protection Law, Capital Market Law, and regulations issued by the Financial Services Authority (OJK). A qualitative analysis of the collected data was conducted to assess the extent to which current regulations can protect the public from potential losses arising from investments in robot trading. The research findings indicate that the protection of victims in online robot trading investments in Indonesia needs to be strengthened and adapted to technological and market developments. Stricter and more specific regulations governing the operations of robot trading platforms are necessary. It is advisable for the public to exercise caution when engaging in online investments to avoid becoming victims.
Abstract As China is the largest emerging capital market, stock price crash risk (SPCR) due to corporate governance failures is a frequent phenomenon. The board of directors stands as the cornerstone of corporate governance, wielding a substantial influence on the SPCR. The influence of board diversity (BD) on SPCR remains a topic rife with unanswered questions. To fill this gap, we construct a multidimensional index system to capture BD and examine its impact on the SPCR based on companies listed on the Chinese A-share market from 2010 to 2020. Our findings show that BD mitigates SPCR rather than exacerbates it. The foundational findings remain intact even after addressing issues of endogeneity and executing thorough validity tests. We further identify four mechanisms to lower SPCR through influencing board monitoring, including reducing agency costs, alleviating inefficient investments, improving information disclosure, and appointing diverse executives. Overall, our research underscores the pivotal importance of BD within the capital market and provides new insights into the mitigation mechanisms of the SPCR.
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities, Social Sciences
Abstract The educational spillovers of migrant children in receiving areas have drawn widespread attention in countries undergoing massive internal migration. Yet few studies have explored how migrant students affect the decision-making process of native households. This study examines the effects and underlying mechanisms of internal migrant children on human capital investments among local households in urban China. Leveraging the random student-classroom assignment within middle schools, we find that migrant peer composition has a significant positive impact on local households’ spending on their children’s education, especially out-of-school education expenditure. These positive effects are more pronounced among local students who are male, in the ninth grade, and come from high socioeconomic status families. The results of our mechanism analysis suggest that the presence of migrant children leads local parents to overestimate their children’s academic performance and raises concerns about potential adverse effects on their children’s educational outcomes. However, we have not found compelling evidence indicating that migrant classmates significantly affect local students’ learning environment, emotional well-being, and actual academic achievements. Our study contributes to the ongoing debate on the educational inclusion of internal migrant children in China and similar contexts, highlighting the importance of addressing the biased beliefs of local households over migrants.
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities, Social Sciences
Fatemeh Moheiseni, Seyed Aziz Arman, Seyed Amin Mansouri
In today’s world, countries have come to the realization that their available resources, including human capital, natural resources, and capital, are limited. To use these resources optimally requires that consumption be adjusted and productivity be increased. In this context, the labor force, as a fundamental factor in production, deserves special attention. Several factors such as geographical location, wages, welfare and health indicators, proximity, and population density can impact labor productivity. The present research aimed to investigate the impact of urbanization and its spatial spillovers on the productivity of provincial labor forces during 2006–2019, using the components of the human development index, urbanization rate, population density, and industrial wages. The study revealed the existence of spatial autocorrelation among the investigated provinces. The variables of human development index, urbanization rate, and industrial wage have direct and indirect positive and significant effects on provincial labor productivity, while the population density index has a direct positive effect and an indirect negative effect on labor productivity.IntroductionSustainable urbanization has been a fundamental component of the development of every country. Urbanization can have a significant positive impact on economic activities by providing better services, creating job opportunities, and increasing access to basic services. Cities have the ability to transform low-productivity agriculture into a high-productivity manufacturing industry and cost-effective service sectors. Cities in developing countries are the driving force behind economic growth, accounting for 70% of the gross national product (World Bank, 2009). With the increasing share of the population living in cities, improving the productivity of urban areas has become a priority for many governments and economic consulting organizations (OECD, 2016). Accordingly, cities possess the necessary ability and capacity to influence key economic factors. In this respect, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of urbanization on labor productivity, as a crucial factor for development, by evaluating the economic growth and examining several components of cities. The objective of research was to examine the spatial spillover effects of urbanization on labor productivity in Iran’s provinces, specifically focusing on the savings of density. The study tried to answer the following questions:Is it possible for an urban area to enhance labor productivity at the provincial level?Is there a relationship between labor productivity in a province and the direct and indirect effects of the provincial human development index?Are the external benefits of population density and urbanization (such as benefits from population increase and industrial concentration) responsible for this relationship?Is labor productivity affected by the direct and indirect effects (spillover) of industrial wages?Can the positive side effects of a more efficient urban economy in urban centers be affected by structural problems caused by rapid and dense population growth?Materials and MethodsThe basic model used in this study is as follows: The panel spatial econometric method was employed to analyze the spatial spillovers and geographic space involved in the impact of urbanization on provincial labor productivity. The Stata software was used to examine the final data, and a square matrix was created through GeoDa software in order to estimate the model with the spatial econometric method. This matrix represents the proximity between the provinces and assigns a value of 1 to neighboring provinces and 0 to non-neighboring provinces. Stata software packages were then used to standardize the provincial neighborhood matrix, and a vector was obtained by multiplying the matrix by the vector of each variable. The obtained vector was entered as an explanatory variable in the model, and its coefficient expresses the spatial effect. Based on the evaluated processes, the final model is as follows:+ ConclusionFirst, the estimated coefficients of the human development index and industrial wage of the labor force indicate that an increase in these factors within each province has a positive effect on labor productivity. Furthermore, the positive effects of these factors spill over into neighboring provinces. In this respect, competitive markets play a role in improving labor attraction factors within the province, thereby preventing the departure of skilled labor. With the implementation of necessary policies, job skills are promoted, and the permanent departure of highly skilled labor force is reduced.Second, the estimated coefficients of the urbanization variable show that the increase in urban population and demand, in addition to the training of specialized labor in cities, leads to the recruitment of skilled labor. This in turn has a positive spillover effect, increasing the urbanization rate of neighboring provinces. As a result, it leads to an increase in labor productivity in the neighboring provinces.Finally, the direct effect of population density in a province has a positive impact on labor productivity. However, the indirect effect of population density on labor productivity is complex. While creating a positive external effect due to economies of scale, the indirect effect is also countered by the crowding effect caused by population density. The crowding effect is actually due to the lack of sufficient infrastructure in line with population growth in the province, which leads to negative spillovers of neighboring regions into the province.The various effects observed provide strong evidence for a positive relationship between urbanization and labor productivity. These effects suggest that, under the appropriate conditions, cities have the potential to generate significant employment opportunities and stimulate growth and development not only within the city and province but also across the country. Cities can create sustainable jobs and increase productivity, thereby maximizing the ability to innovate, respond to market demand, and benefit from the advantages of dense markets.
Georgios Papaioannou, Amalia Polydoropoulou, Athena Tsirimpa
et al.
Abstract The specific features and requirements of island regions and rural areas make Mobility as a Service (MaaS) an attractive and evolving concept in the realm of Intercity/Rural/Island transportation. The primary goal of this research is to provide qualitative insights relative to the added value and development of MaaS for the previously mentioned transport services through a case study from Greece, a country with approximately 250 inhabited islands. In island settings, the primary societal motivation for MaaS is to enhance the accessibility of islands and improve individuals' access to multiple transport services. MaaS is found to have a strong potential to act as an enabler for more efficient transport and better accessibility to remote/island locations, acting in a complementary manner with currently applied “external” measures such as the Greek “Transport Equivalent”. To further assess the potential, development and impact of MaaS a focus group comprised by key-representatives from industry and academia stakeholders is created. The MaaS Ecosystem, as described by the experts, is comprised of the MaaS Provider, all the intercity/rural/island transport providers currently operating in the Greek market, MaaS Enabling entities (associations, regulators, investors, research institutions), the Integration Drivers and the customers. The issue of transport providers’ liability in case of disruptions and existing market regulations constitute, according to the results, an important challenge towards development of an Intercity MaaS, which needs to be addressed by legislative studies in a pan-European level. Most likely user groups for Intercity/Rural/Island MaaS are young people and digitally educated people, whilst less likely patronage groups are the elderly and “vulnerable” population groups. Relative to the external environment, high degree of fragmentation of the intercity transport industry combined by “autonomous” behavior of actors (“silo effect”) appears to be the greatest threat towards MaaS whilst anticipated capital investments in infrastructure and vehicles, which are foreseen in the proxime future, are the greatest opportunities.
Transportation engineering, Transportation and communications
Ángel Samaniego Alcántar, Luis Raúl Rodríguez-Reyes
In this paper a long-term portfolio optimization model is developed, through the use of economic indicators (CLI and BCI). In this way, an investment portfolio will adjust to the movements of the business cycle, mitigating its risk in the event of possible downturns. The proposed model was tested in Mexico between 1998-2021. The active strategy makes investments in fixed income (Certificados de la Tesorería, CETES) and the market index (Índice de Precios y Cotizaciones, IPC), through operations of 25 % of the capital in monthly decisions. The dynamic investment strategy outperforms market index by 4.3 % in the period analyzed (differences in annual geometric return). In that period, only 5 % of the annual returns of the active strategy were negative, compared to 25.8 % in the market index.
Research dedicated to structuring the scientific sphere in social bonds as an instrument responsible investing. The purpose of the paper is to form an information and bibliographic field of research of social bonds as tools of VI and their statistical support in the context of a new type of SIP. It was found that social bonds as a public-private partnership aimed at achieving financial, social impact and influence on the development fully meets the criteria of the VI instrument, but is studied primarily in the context of the empirical. The reason for this is the fact that the keys were based on practical use, and there is a large number of publications on a wide range of topics in the Scopus database without specifying the sound supply of the arms of 11,207 documents. A donation for the analysis of the informational-biometric field of social oblasts as for the tool BI will be received from the number of publications indexed by Scopus (Elsevir). Hours of progress for analysis at the end of 15 years (2005-2020 years). As for the research methodology, it is quite broad and includes built-in tools for analyzing the publication of the Scopus database, which provide a general idea of the information and bibliometric field of social bonds, software bibliometric analysis based on VOSviewer 1.6.15 for clustering analyzed publications with subsequent visualization, Google tools Trends and Google Data to study Internet search activity information and statistics for this tool. The first two methods allowed to analyze the publishing activity on the studied tools in academic circles on the leading base of scientific publications. The third is to describe the current trends in the development of information and statistical support of social bonds. The application of these methods for structuring the scientific sphere of social bonds allowed to justify its status – as one that is formed and requires additional information and statistical support.
The following article is dedicated to the construction of an investment portfolio consisting of 3 investments from the Polish capital market found in the WIG20 index and from investment in gold. The purpose of the study was to determine the optimal length of the estimation window for building a portfolio with minimal risk and maximum efficiency. The length of the estimation window was also assessed in terms of the rate of return and the maximum cumulative loss. Data from 2017 was used to build the portfolio, and the weightings determined for the portfolio based on these data were evaluated using data from 2018 (from January to October). Based on the research, it was found that the optimal length of the estimation window ranges from 144 to 160 daily observations from the past. However, depending on the investment objective (risk minimization or maximization of efficiency) and the characteristics describing the portfolio, other lengths of the estimation window may also be appropriate.(original abstract)
One of the main problems facing the governments of various countries in the world is to improve the quality of services offered in the sphere of logistics. Demand for these services is growing as the global economy is returning to economic growth after the financial crisis. However, in many countries throughout a long period of time a considerable part of logistics infrastructure did not receive regular and sufficient investments. Investments are necessary for the improvement and development of the infrastructure, and the state, however, must strictly control its expenses in all economic areas and maintain a low level of tax load in the country. The article discusses the issues connected with the strengthening of scientific and practical interest in public-private partnership conditioned by rapidly growing needs for updating and building-up the infrastructure, including a logistics one, and the government’s lack of necessary financial resources for its modernization. Being an effective means of socio-economic transformation, public-private partnerships got a wide distribution, both in developed countries and countries with transitional economies. Many economically developed countries actively use a suchlike option of cooperation which allows to solve the majority of issues in situations when resources are limited. In order to bridge the gaps existing between available public resources and necessary infrastructure and services costs, as well as to ensure the provision of efficient and cost-effective services, Belarusian authorities are inclined to use the option of public-private partnership. Typically, public-private partnerships include the forms of cooperation between state bodies and the private sector aimed at ensuring financing, construction, reconstruction, operation, infrastructure facility maintenance and/or managing it, as well as/or providing services. The use of suchlike option of interaction allows to expand the scope of private capital participation in economically and socially significant state projects making the partnership between the state and business mutually beneficial.
Reforming the current taxation system in Ukraine through changing enterprises’ profits tax into a fundamentally different approach as the tax on outflown capital causes the urgent issues concerning the peculiarities of implementation of the process. Taking into account the availability of international experience regarding the implementation of the changes, there is an opportunity to study their perspective and negative aspects, research the consequences of functioning this taxation system and evaluate fiscal and economic impact on the ecomomy of corresponding countries. Such an approach will allow to determine the ways of increasing efficiency during the realization of such implementation in Ukraine. Examining the consequences of implementation of the tax on outflown capital in Estonia, Macedonia, Moldova and Geaorgia made it possible to reveal that these countries’ experience is ambiguous. The experience of Estonia can be characterized by the most positive changes, while such reforming in Macedonia appeared to be extremely counterproductive. The conducted research of the international experience of implementation of the tax on outflown capital and experts’ evaluation allowed to single out the following principle positive aspects of the process: decrease in administrative load, facilitation of legislation control, creation of favourable business climate to attract investments (including foreign), establishment of motives for innovative re-equipping and renewal of companies’ main means. In addition, there are some risks as for incomplete budget financing, the risks of bringing pressure by tax authorities to increase budgetary incomings; the risks of increasing penalties on business, and the risks of worsening the investment climate as a result of the above mentioned facts. Taking into consideration all these factors when implementing the tax on outflown capital in Ukraine will allow to minimize the negative effect and strengthen the possibilities on realization of potential toward positive changes.
The foundation for future firm development is investment. Agents have a risk aversion requiring higher returns
as the risks associated with the project will be greater.
The investment decision determines the market firm's affirmation, increasing the market share, dominating the
market. Making an investment at a certain point will determine certain cash flows throughout the life of the project,
and a residual value can be obtained when it is taken out of service.
The flows and payments for the investment project can be more easily tracked if we are proposing a constant
update rate.
We will be able to analyze, based on various factors, three techniques for determining the discount rate for
investment projects: the opportunity cost, the risk-free rate, and a series of risk premiums, the weighted average cost of
capital.
People without financial training make value judgments for investment projects based on other market
opportunities, comparing the returns that any investment offers to other pay options. An investor has a sum of money
he wants to make - if he does not invest in a project, he will invest in another, that will bring him a certain amount of
money, choosing the most advantageous project by comparison.
All projects are characterized by identical risks, and the agents are considered indifferent to the risks.
The answer given by financial theory and practice to the disadvantage of rates in the opportunity cost
category is the discount rate calculated as a sum of the risk-free rate and a risk premium, defining the risk as a factor
whose action may cause a possible decrease in cash of the available flows.
Higher objectivity is presented by the opportunity cost update rates of update because it refers to known
variables but cannot be perfectly matched to the performance of the investment process.
Commercial geography. Economic geography, Economics as a science
The five-year period covered by Italy’s first national economic Plan came to an end in December last year, so now it is possible to make a limited statistical assessment ex post of its results. The author confines comments to a few of the quantitative forecasts made, without analysing the cause of the divergence between forecasts and actual performance. Some of the Plan’s forecasts were confirmed or even exceeded by the actual performance: growth rate of GNP, expansion of the industrial and tertiary sectors, private saving, foreign trade and overall surplus of the balance of payments. Others, on the contrary, failed more or less seriously to materialise: employment, price stability, the gap in the Mezzogiorno, propensity to consume, public saving, financing of investments and exports of capital.
JEL: E60, E24, O47, O52
The essence of the idea of human capital is of "investment in people" in order to improve their productivity. Education and health costs are generated in the hope of future benefits, hence the term "human capital investment". In general, the human capital is treated as an investment. Moreover, the investment is a continuous one, targeting either the development (training or continuous education courses, for example) or to maintain the capital stock (regular medical appointments, for example). Accepting numerous studies published in the last decades regarding the human capital, we will mention education as a main factor contributing to the training and development of individuals. The costs of education are investments in the human capital, investments that assure the accumulation and avoidance of its depreciation.
In countries, there is a consensus, that parts of the level of government investment include also the need for investment in educational services, governments undoubtedly playing a central role in directing the formation and development of human capital. We need to invest in human capital, doubly so as that the investment in education is a profitable one, the rate of capitalization of the investment in education ranging from 5-30%, according to OECD statistics.