I investigate the determinants of business cycle synchronization across regions. The linkages between trade in goods, financial openness, specialization, and business cycle synchronization are evaluated in the context of a system of simultaneous equations. The main results are as follows. (i) Specialization patterns have a sizable effect on business cycles. Most of this effect is independent of trade or financial policy, but directly reflects differences in GDP per capita. (ii) A variety of measures of financial integration suggest that economic regions with strong financial links are significantly more synchronized, even though they also tend to be more specialized. (iii) The estimated role of trade is closer to that implied by existing models once intra-industry trade is held constant. The results obtain in a variety of data sets, measurement strategies, and specifications. They relate to a recent strand of international business cycle models with incomplete markets and transport costs and, on the empirical side, point to an important omission in the list of criteria defining an optimal currency area, namely, specialization patterns.
Childcare is a ubiquitous issue for economic development across Canada, a challenge exacerbated by rural characteristics like low population density, workforce shortages (e.g., early childcare educators), and limited data. New early learning and childcare regulation has and continues to change the policy environment with the goal of increasing the accessibility and affordability of high-quality childcare. These changes have resulted in successes; however, policy changes have also had unintentional consequences for the viability of rural childcare facilities.
This article presents the results of a rural case study in the province of British Columbia that aimed to understand the business needs and challenges of rural childcare providers and to use these findings to contribute to the creation of constructive business solutions. Results also identified that the changing policy environment is presenting unanticipated challenges to childcare viability, resulting in a largely unrecognized risk of increasing sector precarity and potential loss of existing rural childcare providers.
We identify interventions, both at the regional and provincial scale, that may help in the short term to improve business operations and alleviate unintentional sector vulnerabilities related to changing policy. Interventions include proactive outreach to childcare providers to build relationships and increase knowledge of available support programs, offering in-person one-on-one support, enhancing short-term stability and predictability by providing timelines for policy change, and the creation of on-call or casual workforce services that can easily serve multiple small childcare providers.
Keywords: Childcare, rural economic development, policy change
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Précarité rurale face à l'évolution des politiques : Garde d’enfants en Colombie-Britannique rurale
Résumé
Les services de garde d’enfants constituent un enjeu omniprésent pour le développement économique du Canada. Ce défi est exacerbé par les caractéristiques du milieu rural, telles que la faible densité de population, la pénurie de main-d'oeuvre (par exemple, d'éducateurs à la petite enfance) et le manque de données. La nouvelle réglementation en matière d'apprentissage et de garde des jeunes enfants a modifié et continue de modifier le contexte politique afin d'accroître l'accessibilité et l'abordabilité de services de garde de qualité. Ces changements ont donné lieu à des succès; toutefois, ils ont également eu des conséquences imprévues sur la viabilité des services de garde en milieu rural.
Cet article présente les résultats d'une étude de cas menée dans une région rurale de la province de la Colombie-Britannique. Cette étude visait à comprendre les besoins et les défis des fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants en milieu rural et à utiliser ces résultats pour contribuer à l'élaboration de solutions commerciales constructives. Les résultats ont également révélé que l'évolution du contexte politique pose des défis imprévus à la viabilité des services de garde d’enfants, ce qui entraîne un risque largement méconnu d'accroissement de la précarité du secteur et de disparition potentielle des prestataires de services de garde d’enfants existants en milieu rural.
Nous avons recensé des interventions, tant à l'échelle régionale que provinciale, susceptibles d'améliorer à court terme les activités commerciales et d'atténuer les vulnérabilités involontaires du secteur liées aux changements de politiques. Ces interventions comprennent des démarches proactives auprès des prestataires de services de garde d’enfants afin d'établir des relations et d'accroître leur connaissance des programmes de soutien disponibles, l’offre d’un soutien individualisé en personne, une meilleure stabilité et prévisibilité à court terme grâce à la mise en place d'échéanciers pour les changements de politiques, et la création de services de main-d'oeuvre occasionnelle ou sur appel pouvant facilement desservir plusieurs petits prestataires de services de garde d’enfants.
Mots-clés : garde d'enfants, développement économique rural, changement de politiques
Abstract Self-regulated learning (SRL) has been regarded as one of the indispensable factors affecting students’ academic success in online learning environments. However, the current understanding of the mechanism/causes of SRL in online ill-structured problem-solving remains insufficient. This study, therefore, examines the configural causal effects of goal attributes, motivational beliefs, creativity, and grit on self-regulated learning. With the fuzzy sets approach (fsQCA), the proposed association was analyzed based on a sample of students (n = 88) participating in an educational design competition activity. The results uniquely revealed the predictive factors of SRL at both high and low levels. In addition, it was found that no single condition of factors leads to the prediction of high or low self-regulation. More specifically, different conditions of factors, in terms of gender, goal attributes (goal setting and achievement goals), grit, task value, creativity, and self-efficacy, can largely predict high and low self-regulated learning during ill-structured problem-solving in the context of online learning. Implications for theory and policy prescriptions were discussed to enhance self-regulated learning in online ill-structured problem-solving.
Shaoming Han, Cheng Qian, Nawal Abdalla Adam
et al.
This study examines the impact of financial inclusion on bank stability across 36 emerging economies, utilizing bank-level data from over 1,500 commercial banks spanning the period 2004 to 2023. Despite the recognized benefits of financial inclusion, its influence on banking stability remains complex and context dependent. The research employs advanced econometric methodologies, including fixed-effects models, Driscoll-Kraay standard errors to address heteroskedasticity and cross-sectional dependence, and system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation to control for endogeneity and dynamic effects. The findings reveal that financial inclusion generally enhances bank stability and positively influences operational efficiency and funding stability. However, during periods of lax financial regulations or excessive government intervention, banks may engage in riskier behaviors, potentially undermining stability. Key results indicate that (1) robust economic growth and stable policy environments amplify the positive effects of financial inclusion on bank stability, (2) excessive government control may foster risk-taking behaviors, (3) strong financial conditions mitigate adverse impacts, (4) financial inclusion improves risk management and operational efficiency, and (5) effective regulatory frameworks are pivotal in leveraging financial inclusion for sound banking operations. These insights suggest that policymakers in emerging markets should carefully balance the promotion of financial inclusion with safeguards that maintain financial stability.
Objective. Since 2020, Ukraine has been developing the National Electronic Scientific Information System (URIS). The creation and development of URIS were initially guided by a specific Concept, whose implementation timeline has now concluded. However, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine mandated that work on URIS should continue. Consequently, there is a need to develop a new concept and identify the future directions for this scientific information system. Current research has emphasized the necessity of implementing the open science paradigm and highlighted the role of Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) in this process. There is a specific need to establish the development directions for URIS as a unique type of such system. The aim is to explore the prospective directions for the development of the National Electronic Scientific Information System "URIS," detailing the pathways for its growth and integrating new functions to fully implement the principles of open science in Ukraine. Methods. The study employed methods of theoretical generalization of normative and analytical data, as well as statistical and comparative analysis of the obtained scientific information. Results. The study identified seven directions with specific implementation paths: developing new functional modules for URIS, ensuring the comprehensive inclusion of priority information resources within URIS, providing Ukrainian scientists, research institutions, and higher education institutions with a digital tool, enabling ongoing communication with the scientific community and business representatives, identifying shortcomings in existing legal acts, creating conditions to overcome the dispersion of financial resources, accounting for losses in Ukrainian research infrastructure due to Russian military aggression. The URIS serves as a multifunctional platform for collecting, processing, and disseminating data related to scientific activities in Ukraine. Developed by the State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine, URIS aims to integrate and present aggregated data from various research institutions and universities, thereby enhancing the visibility of Ukrainian research on a global scale. This paper discusses the importance of URIS in supporting academic and research libraries, emphasizing the role of the library's experts in implementing the project. Conclusions. The development and improvement of URIS should lead to a significant reduction in the use of paper for various documents, offering interested individuals and organizations a wide range of digital tools for quick and continuous access to research data, information, and services related to the field of science. The full implementation of this project will enhance the visibility of Ukrainian scientists and research infrastructures both within Ukraine and for interested researchers and institutions in Europe and globally. Scope of Application of Research Results. The development of URIS will support the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in fulfilling the national plan for open science and accelerating Ukraine's integration into the European Research Area. The successful implementation of URIS demonstrates the vital role of academic and research libraries in the digital age. The expertise of the State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine has been instrumental in advancing the goals of URIS, which aims to enhance the quality and visibility of Ukrainian research both nationally and internationally.
Bibliography. Library science. Information resources
Changwan Ko, Jaeseung Baek, Behnam Tavakkol
et al.
Cluster validity indices (CVIs) for evaluating the result of the optimal number of clusters are critical measures in clustering problems. Most CVIs are designed for typical data-type objects called certain data objects. Certain data objects only have a singular value and include no uncertainty, so they are assumed to be information-abundant in the real world. In this study, new CVIs for uncertain data, based on kernel probabilistic distance measures to calculate the distance between two distributions in feature space, are proposed for uncertain clusters with arbitrary shapes, sub-clusters, and noise in objects. By transforming original uncertain data into kernel spaces, the proposed CVI accurately measures the compactness and separability of a cluster for arbitrary cluster shapes and is robust to noise and outliers in a cluster. The proposed CVI was evaluated for diverse types of simulated and real-life uncertain objects, confirming that the proposed validity indexes in feature space outperform the pre-existing ones in the original space.
Today, users of smart devices are from increasingly younger generations, and their use is very common among preschoolers. The problem of smart device addiction in preschool children has attracted widespread attention, due to which this study explores the influencing factors in children aged 2–5 years. Based on the protection–risk model, 236 Chinese parents were surveyed, and the data was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings show that parental emotion regulation significantly and negatively influences children’s depression and social withdrawal symptoms, whereas it has a significant and positive influence on parental self-control as well as outdoor intention. Also, children’s depression and social withdrawal symptoms have a significant and positive influence on their smart device addiction, whereas parental self-control and outdoor intentions have no significant influence on it. Moreover, children’s social withdrawal and depression have a mediating effect between parental emotion regulation and children’s smart device addiction, but parental self-control and outdoor intention have no mediating effect between the two. This study identifies the factors influencing children’s smart device addiction from a new perspective, providing theoretical support to address this problem of addiction.
Liisa Hantsoo, Kathleen M. Jagodnik, Andrew M. Novick
et al.
The aim of this narrative review is to consolidate knowledge on the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in depression pathophysiology at different reproductive stages across the female lifespan. Despite growing evidence about the impact of gonadal hormones on mood disorders, no previous review has examined the interaction between such hormonal changes and the HPA axis within the context of depressive disorders in women. We will focus on HPA axis function in depressive disorders at different reproductive stages including the menstrual cycle (e.g., premenstrual dysphoric disorder [PMDD]), perinatally (e.g., postpartum depression), and in perimenopausal depression. Each of these reproductive stages is characterized by vast physiological changes and presents major neuroendocrine reorganization. The HPA axis is one of the main targets of such functional alterations, and with its key role in stress response, it is an etiological factor in vulnerable windows for depression across the female lifespan. We begin with an overview of the HPA axis and a brief summary of techniques for measuring HPA axis parameters. We then describe the hormonal milieu of each of these key reproductive stages, and integrate information about HPA axis function in depression across these reproductive stages, describing similarities and differences. The role of a history of stress and trauma exposure as a contributor to female depression in the context of HPA axis involvement across the reproductive stages is also presented. This review advances the pursuit of understanding common biological mechanisms across depressive disorders among women. Our overarching goal is to identify unmet needs in characterizing stress-related markers of depression in women in the context of hormonal changes across the lifespan, and to support future research in women’s mental health as it pertains to pathophysiology, early diagnosis, and treatment targets.
Diseases of the endocrine glands. Clinical endocrinology
Albana Ilo, Helmut Bruckner, Markus Olofsgard
et al.
The EU policymakers have adopted legislation to support communities taking responsibility for the energy transition. However, their development and integration are still in their early stages: many studies are performed without considering the overlapped social, economic, political, electrical, and information technology tasks simultaneously. This paper is the first to look at energy communities in their entirety, from the roles of the actors to the organisation, regulation, technical solution, and the market, to the use and business cases. The waterfall methodology was used throughout the work. The results show that energy communities can be viable by becoming reliable players so DSOs can better integrate the acquired flexibility and other services into their processes without compromising power supply. Their technical integration requires a coordinated operation and control of the entire power grid, including transmission and distribution, and the end-users, as proposed by the <i>LINK</i> holistic solution. The suggested fractal-based market structure, with the national, regional and local markets harmonised with the grid, facilitates the direct participation of small customers and distributed resources to the energy market. The results of this work may help policymakers, regulators, and industry representatives define new energy policies and processes related to research and development programs for implementing fully integrated renewable energy communities.