Journal of Public Affairs最新文献

There are ongoing debates on whether democracy promotes entrepreneurship. The extant studies reveal mixed evidence on the nexus between the two variables. Furthermore, the implications of democracy for economic growth in developing economies remain a subject of controversy. Despite this intense debate, no known study has examined the interactive effect of democracy and entrepreneurship on labor productivity in developing economies. Our study fills this important gap. We investigate the effect of democracy on labor productivity. The role of democracy in the nexus between entrepreneurship and labor productivity is also investigated. The study is based on panel data of 31 African nations spanning a period from 2006 to 2022. Using instrumental variable (IV) estimator, the System generalized method of moments, and the panel data estimate based on robust standard errors, the study shows that democracy has a positive effect on labor productivity. Further empirical results show that the role of democracy in the relationship between entrepreneurship and labor productivity is positive and has a beneficial effect on labor productivity in the African continent. The implications of the results confirm that the interconnection between entrepreneurship and labor productivity relies on freedom, a foundation of a democratic system of government. Democracy enhances political and economic freedom and allows economic agents to exercise their free will as well as thoughts to be shared. This creates a conducive entrepreneurial environment for households and firms. Democracy allows citizens to seek and utilize economic and entrepreneurial opportunities, which finally boosts labor productivity in the economy. The study demonstrates that democracy provides a friendly business environment for entrepreneurial firms to innovate and grow.

The present study aims to examine the effects of health tourism in fostering economic growth in developing nations with the theoretical base of the Health Tourism-Led Growth hypothesis. Apart from health tourism revenue, infrastructure investment, exchange rate, trade openness, educational capital, and population growth rate are considered as explanatory variables. Panel data for the period of 2009–2022 for 10 selected developing nations are considered. This research employs a two-stage analytical framework, namely, panel mean group auto-regressive distributed lag (PMG-ARDL) for the pre-pandemic period and trend analysis for the post-pandemic period. The findings highlight that health tourism, investment in infrastructure, and trade openness promote economic growth, whereas the exchange rate, growth rate, and educational capital are negatively significant to economic growth. The trend analysis underscores the pandemic's disruptive impact, evidenced by a contraction in GDP, investment in infrastructure, health tourism revenue, educational capital, and trade openness during the crisis, succeeded by a steady recovery, whereas the population growth rate remains stable. The robustness of the findings is confirmed with the Random Effect model. This study significantly contributes to academic literature and policy discourse by analysing the impact of health tourism on economic growth in developing nations, an underexplored area of research. From the policy standpoint, the study recommends fostering health-tourism-driven growth by prioritising investments in healthcare infrastructure, digital technologies and streamlining regulations.

This study addresses the critical challenge of understanding how natural resource utilization and economic complexity influence economic growth in BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The research aims to identify pathways through which these economies can leverage their resource endowments and industrial sophistication to sustain long-term growth, particularly amidst global economic shifts. To achieve this, the study employs a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approach, supported by descriptive analysis, to analyze panel data for BRICS countries from 1996 to 2022. This methodology ensures robust insights by accounting for endogeneity and dynamic relationships between key variables. The results demonstrate that natural resource rents positively contribute to economic growth, mainly supported by strong governance, regulatory frameworks, and effective corruption control. Furthermore, the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) is identified as a vital growth driver, with higher complexity fostering diversification, innovation, and competitiveness. The interaction of resource rents and economic complexity amplifies growth significantly, highlighting the importance of integrated policy strategies. The primary contribution of this research lies in providing empirical evidence that counters the “resource curse” hypothesis, demonstrating that BRICS nations can effectively utilize their natural resources in tandem with economic complexity to drive sustainable growth. Additionally, the study emphasizes the role of trade openness, foreign direct investment, and capital formation while underscoring the necessity of robust institutional frameworks. These findings offer actionable insights for policymakers and contribute to a broader understanding of growth dynamics in resource-rich emerging economies.

A nation can make great strides in progress when the happiness of all its residents is prioritized. This is because happiness is the driving force behind improved mental health, enhanced creativity, heightened awareness, and the development of strong social bonds. Consequently, it becomes crucial for a nation's harmonious growth to instill a sense of happiness in all its citizens from early childhood, allowing the positive effects of this knowledge to ripple throughout their lives. In this endeavor, schools play a pivotal role, and governments worldwide recognize and endorse the importance of schools in this regard. Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) has taken an innovative step in this direction to nurture the emotional well-being of teenagers by introducing a happiness curriculum in upper primary classes. While this initiative appears to be a significant grassroots effort in addressing the emotional competence and happiness of students, its actual impact is yet to be fully assessed. By surveying two hundred sixty-three students through systematic sampling, this study offers valuable insights to educators and policymakers around the world by revealing that the impact of the happiness curriculum on students' satisfaction with their basic psychological needs is substantially positive. Besides it, the study also suggest that the introduction of happiness curriculum influences the well-being of students at their core by uplifting their competence and social resilience.

This paper uses Periodic Labor Force Survey data to analyze the wage differential between different social and religious groups in the labor market. It investigates if and to what degree communal norms, such as those of religion or caste, have an impact on the benefits of education in India. Results reveal that the differential returns to education between these different social and religious classes can largely be attributed to discrimination in the labor market. The main findings are that Scheduled Tribes (STs) earn a premium compared to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in regular salaried positions. However, STs experience a penalty compared to SCs and OBCs in casual and self-employed occupations. Turning to the religious groups, Islam faces a penalty over Hinduism for regular and self-employed jobs, whereas casual Islam workers earn a premium over Hindus. Lastly, Christians and Sikhs earn a premium in all types of jobs over Hindus, although Buddhists face a penalty in regular as well as casual employment.

The study addresses the question: how does public opinion shape the design of public policies in Africa and Ghana's E-levy? It examines public policies in some African states/countries in the efforts of governments to improve their revenues by imposing taxes on mobile money services. A quantitative research approach was used with an online opinion poll survey with respondents in Ghana. A simple random sampling method was used involving 120 respondents. The study found that most African states adopted electronic taxes to widen their tax base to cover the informal sector, especially the mobile money sector, especially in the post-COVID-19 era, as part of efforts to revamp their economies. In Ghana, it was found that the public policy design (E-levy) process was not open to citizens but shrouded in secrecy. Moreover, more than 80% of the respondents are aware of the policy but were divided on their level of knowledge on the percentage charge of the policy. It found that 80.4% of respondents dislike the policy for various reasons, including fewer consultations, increased costs for mobile money services/transactions, over-taxing, and the risk of return to cash payments. The study recommends broader consultations and open forums in the policy design process.

This study applies behavioral reasoning theory (BRT) to investigate the enablers and barriers to neo-banking adoption. It offers nuanced insights into the factors that influence consumers' acceptance or rejection of this transformative financial services model. By employing a robust methodological approach, this research amalgamates the analytical power of PLS-SEM (partial least squares structural equation modeling) and fsQCA (fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis) approaches to explore the pathways of proposed effects and examine causal asymmetry. The data for this study were obtained by administering an online survey questionnaire to a sample of 546 digital banking customers. The study's findings indicate that adoption intentions are strongly influenced by the accessibility of neobanks and the cost savings associated with their services. Conversely, perceived security is also found to be an essential factor that shapes the attitude of Indian customers toward adopting neo-banking. Findings also reveal the moderating role of self-efficacy and trust in the link between reasons, attitude, and intention to adopt. The fsQCA results reinforce the PLS-SEM findings and indicate four configurations leading to the high adoption of neo-banking. The study provides strategic insights to refine marketing approaches and operational frameworks for neo-banking, accelerating its growth in emerging economies.

The intricate tapestry of educational finance decentralization remains a critical problem in public affairs discourse. This study systematically examines China's provincial coordination reforms in public education finance, utilizing panel data from 2006 to 2021 and employing quasinatural experimental methods. The analysis demonstrates that provincial coordination significantly enhances fundraising capacity and strengthens the supervision of fund utilization, thereby improving governmental fiscal commitment to education. However, the reforms exhibit limited effectiveness in promoting equitable allocation of funds between urban and rural areas, largely due to persistent disparities in resources and governance capacities in rural regions. Regional heterogeneity analyses further reveal marked temporal and spatial differences linked to varying levels of economic development and fiscal capacity. These findings underscore both the institutional achievements of provincial coordination and ongoing structural obstacles, such as entrenched urban–rural and interregional inequalities. By extending the theoretical framework of fiscal federalism, this study provides valuable empirical evidence and practical policy implications for advancing equity and quality in educational finance.

Although substantial research has examined the influence of chief executive officers (CEOs) and other factors on corporate political strategy (CPS), far less is known about the underlying motivations driving CEOs' decisions to engage in such strategies. This study investigates the effect of CEO long-term compensation on CPS. Drawing from agency theory arguments, we propose that when CEOs' wealth is tied to the firm in the form of long-term stock options, they are more likely to pursue CPS, as they stand to gain from favorable changes in the firm's political and regulatory environment. Furthermore, this specific relationship is likely to be strengthened by CEO tenure and CEO duality. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 444 United States pharmaceutical firms for the years 2000–2010. The pharmaceutical industry provides a suitable context for testing our hypothesis, given its stringent compliance requirements and heavy regulatory environment. This study offers empirical evidence that firms awarding long-term compensation to their CEOs invest more heavily in political strategies, and this relationship is further reinforced when the CEO has a longer tenure and concurrently chairs the board of directors. Overall, it demonstrates that properly designed compensation schemes may influence under some conditions the critical role that CEOs play in shaping their firms' CPS investments.