Environmentally sustainable policies in the petroleum sector through the lens of industry 4.0. Russians Lukoil and Gazprom: The COVID-19 crisis of 2020 vs sanctions crisis of 2022

The incomplete resource efficiency of oil and gas (O&G) companies in their imperfect corporate reporting is a relatively new topic gathering researchers' attention because of the increased importance of environmental concerns. The main aim of this article is to aid researchers in understanding the overall trends and shifts in exploring a novel sustainable development method for O&G companies and evaluating it using the example of Lukoil and Gazprom. The study uses a trend analysis method to examine the dynamics of Brent prices to recognise causal connections between the COVID-19 crisis of 2020 and the sanctions crisis of 2022 and their impact on O&G companies' sustainability. Subsequently, the article conducts a quantitative and qualitative study to combine qualitative information on pandemic models with quantitative dynamics of Brent prices and identify their relationship. This article develops a sustainable development method for O&G companies, the novel nature of which consists of digital intellectual monitoring of the sustainability of these companies in public policy practices on Industry 4.0. The article also suggests potential research directions for AI applications to automatically track intelligent data analytic capabilities. The significant findings of this study show that this approach allows for total market coverage and rational decision-making by state regulators and the attentive public. This new method offers a proprietary algorithm and recommendations for energy companies on improving corporate accounting and development of resources policy, assessed using the example of Lukoil and Gazprom.

Changing entrepreneurial attitudes for mitigating the global pandemic’s social drama

This paper investigates international experiences and perspectives on how entrepreneurs can improve management practices while minimizing the COVID-19 pandemic’s social drama. The paper probes how companies deal with the myriad challenges they face amid the unfolding pandemic and how these processes’ economic and cultural dimensions may exert an enduring effect. A novel dataset analyses how entrepreneurs manage the change of management processes in a sample of ten countries. Three economic impacts on entrepreneurs caused by the pandemic were observed: (1) a deficit as a result of social distancing reduced due to the growth of Internet retailing;(2) a deficit resulting from a fall in demand decreased due to innovations that mitigate this demand-side change;(3) a social crisis in the labour market due to social distance and relocating many employees to remote working practices. In countries with the most considerable number of cases of COVID-19, it is recommended that attitudes towards entrepreneurial risk be raised. In countries with the vastest number of fatal cases per 100,000 people, implications for change management in entrepreneurship are an increase in Internet retailing level, a reduction in entrepreneurial fear of failure, and an increase in entrepreneurial risk awareness. Besides, an anonymous sociological survey among companies’ directors and managers in Russia on management initiatives taken on between late 2020–early 2021 shows that companies maintain a 60.21% readiness for such systemic challenges while their readiness for change increased under the influence of the pandemic. The contribution to the literature of this article lies in rethinking the COVID-19 crisis from the standpoint of social drama, which made it possible to clarify the cause-and-effect relationships of change management in entrepreneurship. For the first time, the paper proposes systemic—socio-economic recommendations for improving the practice of change management against the background of such a social drama.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) in COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to describe BPPV in COVID-19 patients by discussing the possible mechanisms underlying the onset of this vertigo. METHODS: We studied eight patients (4 F, 4 M, aged between 44 and 69 years) with COVID-19 infections complaining of vertigo. Patients were evaluated at the end of infection with an accurate clinical history, and the investigation of spontaneous, positional and positioning nystagmus. RESULTS: The vestibular findings showed benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) in all the patients. Three patients had a mild phenotype of the COVID infection, whereas five subjects were hospitalized for the COVID infection and in three cases intensive care was required. Vestibular evaluation showed an involvement of posterior semicircular canals in five patients and horizontal in three. Three patients were treated with the Epley maneuver, two with Semont, one with Lempert and two with Gufoni maneuvers. CONCLUSIONS: We hypothesize that BPPV in COVID-19 infections can be relate to drugs, prolonged bed rest and to direct damage by viral infection on the peripheral vestibular system and in particular on the otolitic membrane due to the cytopathic effect of the virus and to the inflammatory response. Studies on large series of patients are needed to confirm our preliminary observation and to better evaluate the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying BPPV in these patients.

Let's lessen conditionality in times of force majeure events. The archaic righteousness of the policy of conditionality of international Institutions amid COVID-19.

This article investigates how international decision-making's conditionality aids countries during strenuous economic conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines and contrasts the European Union's conditionality policies, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank as the more influential and leading groups of institutions. The article reveals notable policy differences. As opposed to that of the IMF and WB, the EU's approach is more comprehensive and not confined to economic considerations. Those variations aside, the article draws on the same premise: expectations of compliance with the set conditions. While in-depth, structural requirements could guide ordinary decision-making and build up resilient national institutions and policies, this article questions the merits of large-scale comprehensive terms in the face of a situation created by a force majeure or a humanly uncontrollable event such as the COVID-19 pandemic. With no more initial research addressing the specific question of the application and adequacy of conditionality to force majeure emergencies or pandemic situations of the scale of COVID-19, this article argues in favor of a measured and targeted response limited to the development, design, or determination of policy choices that tackle the intended purpose. Also, for validly practical considerations that search for to ensure the better use of aid and avoid distracting or overburdening the recipient countries to the point of risking losses of devastating proportions, the article proposes to revise and limit conditionality during force majeure events to the essential aspects of transparent management of funds for the sole intended purpose. This in itself is a distinct democratic exercise of efficient and accountable public management decision-making.

Digital public health: automation based on new datasets and the Internet of Things

This paper presents a successfully applied development of new datasets and offers an innovative solution through interactive platforms to gather, process, and analyze big data. The paper shows the capabilities, advantages, and perspectives of using datasets in digital public health amid virus threats, e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper's contribution to the literature includes developing and applying a solution to implement the digital public health concept connected to creating and expanding datasets. There is a general lack of studies examining the practical impact of technology and big data on "smart" digital public health management and its implications and effects;much is still to uncover in the literature. Instead, this paper supplies intellectual monitoring and "smart" digital public health management based on the Internet of Things (IoT). As artificial intelligence becomes accessible to all, our applied research drew on the dataset “COVID-19 and the 2020 economic crisis figure out healthcare system capabilities and ramifications for the economy and business all over the world.” It applies datasets for intellectual monitoring and "smart" digital public health management based on IoT and artificial intelligence, allowing its use in a wide range of scientific studies and real cases.

Do stock markets love misery? Evidence from the COVID-19.

This study examines the impact of the change in the Barro Misery Index (BMI) and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and deaths on the stock markets' returns and volatility. Based on a sample of 76 different countries, we find that an increase in BMI adversely affects the stock returns and increases stock volatility. We also find that an increase in BMI coupled with an increase in percentage cases of COVID-19 adversely affect stock returns and increases volatility. We find that the impacts of BMI on stock returns and volatility are driven by real GDP changes, unemployment rate, and long-term interest rate instead of inflation rates, especially for the developed countries. Our findings are consistent with Barro (1999), which indicates that the BMI represents a better measure relative to the original misery index in predicting the economic outcome, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also find that the impacts of BMI components on stock returns and volatility for the developed countries are different from the emerging markets.

How do equity markets react to COVID-19? Evidence from emerging and developed countries.

Based on the supply of stock market returns hypothesis, we argue that the unprecedented adverse shock of COVID-19 on the countries' economic growth translates into a negative shock to the stock markets. According to the institutional theory, we also argue that the impact of COVID-19 in emerging countries is different from developed countries. Based on the overreaction hypothesis, we expect that the market reaction during the stabilizing period of COVID-19 spread is different from the market reaction during the infection period. Using high-frequency daily data across 53 emerging and 23 developed countries from January 14 to August 20, 2020, we find that COVID-19 cases and deaths adversely affect stock returns and increase volatility and trading volume. Cases and deaths affected stock returns and volatility in the emerging markets, while only cases of COVID-19 affected stock returns, volatility, and trading volume in the developed markets. COVID-19 cases and deaths are related to returns, volatility, and trading volume for emerging countries during the rising infection of COVID-19 (pre-April 2020), while cases and mortality rates are related to returns, volatility, and trading volume in developed countries during the stabilizing spread (post-April 2020). Therefore, the emerging markets' investors seem to react to COVID-19 cases and mortality rates differently from those in the developed markets across two different periods of COVID-19 infection.

Corporate Social Responsibility Amid Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Crisis: BRICS vs. OECD Countries.

This paper compares today's corporate management in developing markets (BRICS countries) vs. developed markets (the OECD countries). The influence of determining a new social corporate management season considering social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic on emerging markets' economic growth is ascertained and set apart from corporate management in developing markets. This paper helps clarifying and better understanding the role of corporate social responsibility in the conditions of an economic crisis against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. This work provides scientific arguments that allow solving critical discussions regarding the advantages (growth of quality of life, an increase of business's competitiveness) and costs (limitation of economic growth, non-commercial use of profit, and increased price for goods and services) of domestic production and consumption. In the long-term, responsible financial practices return all investments and allow countries to better cope with a crisis. The research supplies a new view of corporate social responsibility as a measure of crisis management. It reflects its advantages at a time of social distancing in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The institutionalization of corporate social responsibility in emerging countries is not predetermined by internal factors (approach to doing business or organizational culture), if not by external factors (market status, state regulation, and consumer awareness). These circumstances prove the high complexity of strengthening corporate social responsibility in developing countries. In the conditions of social distancing - due to the COVID-19 pandemic - corporate social responsibility goes to a new level. In both developing and developed countries, one of the most widespread manifestations of corporate social responsibility is the entrepreneurship's transition to the remote form of activities. This envisages the provision of remote employment for workers and the online purchase of goods and services for consumers.