Formation of Sustainable Investment Attractiveness of Regions Under the Conditions of COVID-19

The decline in the forecast indicators of the economy and production activity, the structural transformation of international production and consumer preferences, the reduction in income from bonds and world tourism, the massive layoffs of workers that led to an increase in unemployment and a decrease in household income, deferred investments and the reorientation of investment flows, both in economic sectors and in the regional context, are all the result of the impact of another challenge called COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed and continues to change many characteristics of the economy and society. Together with the onset of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the transition to the digital era, as well as taking into account completely new realities of the development of future generations, which are regulated by the concept of sustainable development, the formation of investment attractiveness is also taking place in a fundamentally different way. In this regard, the article substantiates the need to introduce the category sustainable investment attractiveness into everyday use. The author’s vision of the interpretation of this concept is presented. A procedure for forming a stable investment attractiveness of regions in the conditions of COVID-19 has been developed.

Research on the Path of Agriculture-related Higher Vocational Colleges in Serving the "Belt and Road" Initiative

Under the background of vigorous promotion of "Building a community with a shared future for mankind" and the "Belt and Road" Initiative, the international exchanges and cooperation of higher vocational colleges in China are embracing new opportunities and challenges. By studying the policy basis of agriculture-related vocational colleges serving the "Belt and Road" Initiative, this paper analyzes the current situation of agriculture-related vocational colleges serving the "Belt and Road" Initiative. The aim is to make explorations on ways for agriculture-related higher vocational colleges to serve the Belt and Road Initiative from the aspects of connotation construction, cooperation platform innovation, international production capacity cooperation, overseas student training, standard output, overseas education, technical training, and characteristic building.

Földrajzi Árujelzők Magyarországon – Mi várható a magyar cseresznye ágazatban? : Geographical Indications in Hungary –what can be expected in the Hungarian cherry industry?

Az Európai Unió eredetvédelmi szabályozása lehetővé teszi egyes mezőgazdasági termékek és élelmiszerek előállítási hely szerinti megkülönböztetését, ha azok minősége nagymértékben az adott helyszínhez kötődik. Európában számos ilyen élelmiszer elnevezése élvez nemzetközi védelmet, Magyarországról jelenleg mindösszesen tizennégy. Azonban számuk a közeljövőben várhatóan jelentősen emelkedni fog, köztük két cseresznyével. A nagykörűi és szomolyai cseresznyetermelők helyzetét és az eredetvédelmi rendszerhez való csatlakozásuk várható hatásait vizsgálva megállapítható, hogy a földrajzi árujelzők hozzájárulhatnak ahhoz, hogy a gyümölcsöt nagyobb mennyiségben, magasabb áron lehessen értékesíteni, s a folyamat során létrejövő hasznok elsősorban az előállítás helyszínén realizálódjanak. Mindezek eléréséhez ugyanakkor az eredetvédelemben rejlő lehetőségek maximális kihasználása, továbbá széleskörű összefogás és egységes fellépés szükséges a földrajzi árujelzők érintettjei részéről. The geographical indication system of the European Union allows to differentiate agricultural and food products based on their origin, in case their quality is highly linked to the place of production. In Europe many such products with protected denominations benefit from the international production, from Hungary currently only fourteen products are protected, however their number is about to significantly rise in the near future, including two cherry producing sites. Based on the status and the expectations of the cherry producers in Nagykörű and Szomolya it is visible that geographical indications can contribute to sell these fruits in higher quantity for a higher price while the main beneficiaries would be local actors. However, in order to meet these expectations, all the potential advantages embedded in geographical indications have to be taken, and a wide cooperation and coordinated actions on behalf of the stakeholders is required.

Production of Game Making Spaces: Disco Elysium and the game making community in Estonia

This article discusses Disco Elysium in the context of the development of game making communities in Estonia and international production networks. Drawing on an analysis of secondary sources, in-depth interviews and a survey with game makers in Estonia, this article contributes to studies on national and regional game-production cultures. The aim of this article is two-fold. First, it contributes to studies of game production cultures by discussing the development and structure of game-making communities in Estonia. As such, it enriches the understanding of game production in Europe by providing empirical data about game making in Estonia. Second, based on the example of Disco Elysium, the article demonstrates how national, regional and international production networks contribute to the spatial politics of game production. In conclusion, this article emphasises the importance of the construction of space in game production and the asymmetries of power among game production regions.

Foreign direct investment in the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic and the example of Visegrad countries

The immediate effects of COVID-19 on the global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) were devastating, resulting in a large drop. Flows to the Visegrad countries were also affected but less than the world average. The fall in FDI was the result of underlying trends that started before the pandemic but accentuated by the latter, creating a “perfect storm”. These secular trends include the digitalisation of production and the birth of Industry 4.0, resulting in more asset-light international production and reorganisations of company networks, the sustainability imperative, making the impact of FDI more relevant than its quantity, and a slowdown in the liberalisation of the policy framework for FDI both in individual countries and at the multilateral level. The recovery of FDI from the shock of 2020 is expected to be long and it will be impossible to return to the pre-pandemic structural and geographical patterns. Building resilience and diversification of production at the expense of the search for the lowest-cost locations will be the top priorities of investors, forcing the host countries to revise their investment promotion strategies focused on cost reduction. In the Visegrad countries, the model based on low labour costs will sooner or later reach its limits.

Systematization of scientific approaches to development of border cooperation and management practice of their application: innovative aspect

The most important factor in ensuring the well-being and prosperity of the region is its potential for integration into national and international production and economic systems, which are additional sources of necessary resources for development. In this sense, the border regions of the countries have a unique resource the ability to directly enter the foreign market, but they use this resource in different ways. The efficient use of the potential of the border position makes an additional contribution to the territorial capital. It is now recognized that boundaries do not so much hinder communication and the formation of relationships, but also direct them in a positive direction and predetermine. In this regard, the authors set themselves the goal of systematizing and revealing the practical application of scientifically based approaches to the development of cross-border cooperation. The authors came to the conclusion that, from a practical point of view, for the development of cross- border cooperation, it is currently advisable to use the institutional, cluster and spatial approaches, which allows a comprehensive approach to the development of triggering mechanisms for bilateral processes. The need to supplement the existing theoretical and methodological apparatus with the theory of cooperation between competitors (B. Neilbuff, A. Brandenburger) is noted, which will allow to define and systematize the "fine" criteria that govern the subjects of foreign economic activity, to better understand the balance of interests. To this end, it was proposed to monitor the currently used cooperation mechanisms based on the PVP approach of limology, to assess the relevance of existing mechanisms and identify gaps in measures to support cross-border cooperation on the basis of the methodological approaches of a randomized controlled trial.

Productivity value chain analysis of cassava in the Philippines

This paper evaluates the value chain of cassava through crop accounting and financial analysis in Partido district, Camarines Sur, the Philippines. Cassava (Manihot esculenta), locally known as “kamoteng kahoy” is well-known for its ability to produce a reasonable yield in poor soil conditions with less or no farm inputs. This is the reason why cassava is often grown by resource-limited farmers and is regarded as a good source of food security. To analyze its productivity, this study was conducted in 2019. Data gathering was primarily done through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Results revealed that different gender roles exist where men are primarily responsible for farming while women are for marketing. It also discovered the reason why farmers, though provided with options, often choose the less profitable transaction path, due to perishability of crop. It also solved the mystery of low productivity in this locale as compared with the national and international production. Typhoons, government policies, and pricing mechanisms affect its overall productivity. Cost build-up, value-added, and cost and returns analyses are interesting. Farmers are less profitable yet have the highest opportunity for profitability when the constraints are addressed while sellers have a high degree of profitability due to fewer input costs. The existing entry barriers in each chain were also identified, along with the researcher’s recommendations on how to eliminate or mitigate them. The study can be useful to stakeholders of cassava in designing intervention mechanisms to tap its full potentials.

Analyzing IKEA’s International Investment in China Based on the Theory of International Production Compromise

This study analyzes IKEA’s localized operation in China through the eclectic theory of international production. Firstly, the development history of IKEA is discussed along with its development in China. Secondly, IKEA’s direct investment in China is analyzed from the perspective of IKEA’s eclectic theory of direct investment in international production, the corporate ownership, internalization, and location advantages of the company, in addition to the challenges of IKEA’s investment and operation in China, hoping to enlighten the process of formulating overseas expansion strategies for foreign direct investment. This study aims to guide students to strengthen their skills in formulating and implementing strategies in regard to the international investment process of multinational companies. On the one hand, they can analyze the strategies used and challenges faced by IKEA in its international investment in China to stimulate their thinking on the international investment of Chinese enterprises; on the other hand, they can also strengthen their understanding of the international investment theory by analyzing IKEA’s international investment in China. This study hopes to enhance students’ understanding and application skills in regard to companies’ transnational operations.

International Production Networks Are Overcoming COVID-19 Shocks: Evidence from Japan's Machinery Trade

This paper investigates the impacts of COVID-19 on international production networks in machinery sectors by shedding light on negative supply shocks, negative demand shocks, and positive demand shocks. Specifically, we examined changes in trade in the trade-fall periods amid COVID-19 in 2020 using Japan's machinery trade at the most disaggregated level and decomposed them into two intensive margins (i.e., the quantity effect and the price effect) and two extensive margins (i.e., the entry effect and the exit effect). Our empirical results show that trade relationships for parts and components were robust even amid COVID-19 and that international production networks in machinery sectors were almost intact. They also demonstrate that COVID-19 brought positive demand shocks for specific products with special demand due to its nature in addition to negative supply shocks and negative demand shocks, which partially explains heterogeneous effects not only among sectors but also among products in the same sector. As of October 2020, Japan's machinery trade seems to have mostly recovered.