Engineering Plants for the Future: Farming with Value-Added Harvest

Author(s):  
Silvia Massa ◽  
Ombretta Presenti ◽  
Eugenio Benvenuto
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-268
Author(s):  
Nana Liu ◽  
Zeshui Xu ◽  
Marinko Skare

Research background: The outbreak and spread of COVID-19 brought disastrous influences to the development of human society, especially the development of economy. Purpose of the article: Considering that knowing about the situations of the existing studies about COVID-19 and economy is not only helpful to understand the research progress and the connections between COVID-19 and economy, but also provides effective suggestions for fighting against COVID-19 and protecting economy, this paper analyzes the existing studies on COVID-19 and economy from the perspective of bibliometrics. Methods: Firstly, the discussion starts from the statistical analysis, in which the basic distributions of the studies on different countries/regions, different publication sources, different publication years, etc., are presented. Then, the paper shows the cooperation situations of the researchers from analyzing the related citation networks, co-citation networks and cooperation networks. Further, the theme analysis of the related studies is presented, in which the related co-occurrence networks are shown, and then the detailed analyses of the studies are introduced. Based on these analyses, the discussions about future research are presented, and finally we draw a conclusion. Findings & value added: The analyses not only present the basic situation on the research about COVID-19 and Economy, but also show the future research trends, which can provide meaningful research expectations.


1972 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Penn ◽  
G. D. Irwin ◽  
R. A. Richardson

Discussion of the possibility of a value added tax (VAT) has recently become a lively topic for the press, public, and politicians. The President's 1970 Task Force on Business Taxation recommended that the tax not be imposed immediately, but that the possibility of using the VAT in the future be given more exposure and discussion. A number of states have also considered enacting a VAT, and a few have done so.


2021 ◽  
pp. 112-128
Author(s):  
Andy Sumner

The intellectual contribution of the book has been to provide a detailed account of the contemporary processes of stalled industrialization, deindustrialization, and tertiarization as well as on their characteristics, drivers, and consequences in the developing world. Furthermore, the book has connected empirically and theoretically the phenomena of stalled industrialization, deindustrialization, and tertiarization, the emergence of a GVC world, and global inequality. This concluding chapter summarizes the book’s content and restates the main arguments of the book. There is discussion of the future prospects for developing countries and the ‘tertiary trilemma’ they face, specifically: Should middle-income developing countries pursue higher-value-added services-led growth which is unequalizing and has weaker employment growth? Or should they rather seek lower-value-added services-led growth which has higher employment growth? Or should they instead pursue the shrinkage of services and subsidize re-industrialization-led growth?


1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Keen ◽  
Stephen Smith ◽  
Richard E. Baldwin ◽  
Vidar Christiansen

Equilibrium ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Kliestik ◽  
Jaromir Vrbka ◽  
Zuzana Rowland

Research background: The problem of bankruptcy prediction models has been a current issue for decades, especially in the era of strong competition in markets and a constantly growing number of crises. If a company wants to prosper and compete successfully in a market environment, it should carry out a regular financial analysis of its activities, evaluate successes and failures, and use the results to make strategic decisions about the future development of the business. Purpose of the article: The main aim of the paper is to develop a model to reveal the un-healthy development of the enterprises in V4 countries, which is done by the multiple discriminant analysis. Methods: To conduct the research, we use the Amadeus database providing necessary financial and statistical data of almost 450,000 enterprises, covering the year 2015 and 2016, operating in the countries of the Visegrad group. Realizing the multiple discriminant analysis, the most significant predictor and the best discriminants of the corporate prosperity are identified, as well as the prediction models for both individual V4 countries and complex Visegrad model. Findings & Value added: The results of the research reveal that the prediction models use the combination of same financial ratios to predict the future financial development of a company. However, the most significant predictors are current assets to current liabilities ratio, net income to total assets ratio, ratio of non-current liabilities and current liabilities to total assets, cash and cash equivalents to total assets ratio and return of equity. All developed models have more than 80 % classification ability, which indicates that models are formed in accordance with the economic and financial situation of the V4 countries. The research results are important for companies themselves, but also for their business partners, suppliers and creditors to eliminate financial and other corporate risks related to the un-healthy or unfavorable financial situation of the company.


2021 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 07041
Author(s):  
Pavol Minárik

Research background: Religion is often neglected by economists despite the existing studies of its importance for the economy. Religion and culture shape the development of informal and formal institutions and hence impact economic development. Considering the economic importance of China, the religious situation in that country deserves attention; at the same time, due to the peculiar conditions of religion under Communism, the future of religion in China seems rather unclear. Purpose of the article: The paper proposes that the economics of religion may be useful in the analysis of the religious situation in China. It shows the possibilities of applying the economic approach even where markets are suppressed, such as under Communist rule. In light of economic theory, it shows that the experience of Central European countries under Communist rule, particularly Czechoslovakia, may provide clues about the future of religion in China. Methods: The paper builds on previous findings in the economics of religion. It reviews the theories concerning the regulation of the religious markets and the effects of deregulation, as well as the theories specifically developed to analyze religion under heavy regelation and the strategies for its survival. The history of Communist China and Czechoslovakia are compared with regard to those theories. Findings & Value added: The paper shows the similarities between Communist China and Czechoslovakia. The parallels seem useful to predict the further development of religion in China, including the effect of the possible tightening of anti-religious policies as well as those of deregulation upon the liberalization of the Chinese political regime.


2021 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 04002
Author(s):  
Sebastian Block ◽  
Florian Haack

Research background: At the beginning of this century, the eSports industry was not yet a major player although it already existed as a niche of video and computer games. The importance and interest only began to increase with the rise of the internet and its infrastructure. Especially among the younger generation, eSports, today, has a significant meaning. Worldwide, professional players duel each other in countless tournaments online and offline and are enthusiastically celebrated by their millions of fans. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how eSports has developed in recent years since its first boom phase as well as to analyze its growth factors and how it has benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic compared to traditional competitive sports. Methods: The global eSports revenues and prize money values are analyzed. The first step is defining the eSports term. The second is looking at the development of eSports financials since its first boom and onward. The COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts are then looked at. Finally, growth factors for the increasing numbers are analyzed. Findings & Value added: The findings show that eSports has gained significant importance in recent years. In particular, the strong increase in global eSports revenue and the associated increase in players’ prize money clearly show that eSports will continue to gain importance and economic strength in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-407
Author(s):  
Alberto Bramanti ◽  
Sofia Ricci

Purpose The competitiveness of the Alpine regions is strongly influenced by environmental constraints and its relationship with the urban network in the valley floor, which cannot be one of pure dependence. This study aims to analyse the health of the Italian Alpine economy through the performance of its capital companies, defined as those operating in the strictly mountainous are-as within the territories covered by the Alpine Convention. The authors compare the performance (2012-2018) of the “inner core” firms with a counterfactual sample of companies from neighbouring territories to delineate the strengths and weaknesses of the Alpine enterprises. The paper addresses policymakers and practitioners who will design the future policies for the high lands, exploiting a vast collaborative planning network. Design/methodology/approach The study analyses two broad strands of literature on territorial competitiveness. It uses the coarsened exact matching techniques for the selection of a counterfactual sample at the enterprise level. The study follows a policy-oriented design, offering answers to future challenges. Findings The Alpine region has several different local production systems, with a significant level of heterogeneity among firms that differentiate the top 25% from the rest. The counterfactual analysis carried out does not provide clear evidence of significant differences. Instead, it con-firms strong similarities between the Alpine core and the peri-Alpine belt. It is only in terms of employment growth that the core grows less (with a high statistical significance). Finally, the authors introduce the analysis of sustainable value added (SVA) in the core area and use the “tourism chain” to compare different models. The focus here is on two keywords – rarefied and uncontaminated – that enable the transformation of some typical weaknesses of the “minor (or marginal) mountain” into assets for development, provided that place-based and network policies are activated. Research limitations/implications The study focusses on the Italian Alps and could be extended in the future to the other countries participating in the Alpine Convention. It may also be enriched by qualitative analyses of partnerships and sole proprietorships that are not identified by the balance sheet analysis. Practical implications The study follows a policy-oriented design, offering possible solutions to future challenges. Social implications The study offers some suggestions on the post-COVID-19 phase. The bottom-up, reluctant and community dimension are possible strengths to face the challenges that are opening up. Originality/value The study is one of the very few to carry out a counterfactual analysis of Alpine enterprises. It offers evidence on the strengths and weaknesses of the productive fabric of the high lands and updates the assessment of the health status of Alpine enterprises to accompany future fact-based policies after the COVID pandemic.


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