India's low carbon value chain, green debt and global climate finance architecture

The paper critically evaluates the bottlenecks inherent in India's low carbon value chain that is financed by green bonds and related debt securities. The paper identifies three cardinal limitations of the value chain viz. unviable carbon mitigation projects, insufficient market competitiveness of green bonds issued from India and the inability of refinancing institutions to securitise their liabilities and overcome the problem of asset-liability mismatch. It is argued that a climate financial architecture that overcomes these limitations provides important lessons to the ongoing global efforts to strengthen the financial mechanisms laid down by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Extended summary: The paper explores India's ‘low carbon value chain' in the light of the developments that have taken place in India's climate finance landscape in the years following the adoption of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Shrinking budgetary resources, paucity of fiscal resources and the rise of non-performing assets in the debt portfolios of banks have compelled India's financial institutions to mobilise financial resources through debt markets. This trend has been accentuated by the advent of COVID-19. However, despite adhering to internationally laid down quality standards, the ‘on-shore' and ‘off-shore' green bonds issued by India's refinancing and development financial institutions suffer from insufficient liquidity in secondary markets. The yields clocked by these bonds compare unfavourably with Government Bonds of comparable maturities. The resultant tensions in the ‘low carbon value chain' can be obviated if refinancing institutions finance bankable climate mitigation projects which enjoy auxiliary revenue streams from carbon and renewable energy credits generated from carbon markets. It is further argued that supportive policy measures that enable the country's Central Bank to conduct market support operations involving green bonds and empower lending institutions to securitise their loan assets, can go a long way to enlarge the scope of debt securities in India's climate financing plan. It is stated that the new climate finance architecture proposed for India holds vital lessons for the ongoing efforts of the global community to provide teeth to the climate finance and carbon market provisos of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. © 2023

The contribution of infaq funds to socio-economic resilience during COVID-19 pandemic: An Islamic economics insight from Indonesia

This study aimed to analyse the contribution of infaq funds to the social and economic resilience of the community during the COVID-19 pandemic in West Papua, Indonesia. This study uses a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative studies. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions with administrators, Dai [Islamic preacher] and mosque congregations to obtain information about the form and mechanism for disbursing infaq funds. Furthermore, the state of distribution of infaq funds is confirmed to the recipient community with an online survey as quantitative data. The data obtained were tabulated and analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics using multiple linear regression assisted by SPSS software 25 version. The research findings show that: firstly, the form of the social-economic contribution of infaq funds is carried out by: (1) financial assistance, (2) social assistance, and (3) health assistance. Secondly, infaq, an instrument of Islamic economics, can contribute to tackling the social and economic impacts of the community amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Thirdly, of the three forms of assistance provided, the health assistance aspect contributed 38.320%, the financial assistance aspect amounted to 37.173% and 24.339% to social assistance. This study shows that the community most needed health and financial assistance from infaq funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Contribution: This study complements the existing literature and provides a new scientific treasure. That the infaq fund, as a philanthropy, turned out to be able to contribute to realising the social-economic resilience of the community during a disease outbreak. The form of health, financial and social assistance from infaq funds is a priority in accelerating the community's economic recovery. It can be a countermeasure to socio-economic impacts during disasters and disease outbreaks.

First Look at the Secure Act 2.0 of 2022: Certified Public Accountant

Employers may now hand out de minimis financial incentives (e.g., a small cash payment or gift card) that are not paid for with plan assets in order to encourage employees to contribute to their plan. Secure Act 2.0 provides a safe harbor from the minimum distribution rule for employers offering a qualified longevity annuity contract, into which a participant may allocate up to $200,000 from their account to make guaranteed payments at the end of an individual's life expectancy. [...]plan sponsors that want to offer catch-up contributions to participants whose earnings exceed $145,000 must offer Roth catch-up contributions. [...]plan sponsors may treat qualified student loan repayments as employee elective deferrals for purposes of matching contributions in a retirement plan.

Financial Well-Being in the United States: The Roles of Financial Literacy and Financial Stress

This paper examines the role of financial stress in explaining the relationship between financial literacy and financial well-being among individuals in the United States. The 2018 FINRA National Financial Capability Study dataset is used for the empirical analyses of this study. The results found that financial literacy was positively associated with financial well-being. The study also found that the association between financial literacy and financial well-being was mediated by perceived financial stress experienced by individuals. Additionally, the results from the moderated mediation model showed that while financial stress mediated the association between financial literacy and financial well-being, the association between financial stress and financial well-being was moderated by financial literacy. Financial education was positively associated with financial literacy in this study. The broader implications of the main findings of this study for individuals' sustainable financial well-being are presented for policymakers, financial educators, and financial counselors and planners.

Improving societal benefit through transformative consumer research: A descriptive review

This paper assesses the societal benefit of transformative consumer research (TCR) through a descriptive review of articles published in the special issues associated with the TCR conferences, held every two years from 2009 to 2021. Frequency analysis and directed content analysis reveal (1) various societal benefits (knowledge, enhanced awareness, capacity building, and recommendations for improvement or redirection), (2) facilitators and barriers for solution implementation (e.g., definition of a problem-solving orientation to research problems, collaboration with practitioners, and testing and refining of solutions), and (3) well-being issues over time (e.g., climate change and sustainability education, food wastage reduction, healthy food consumption and production, and vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic). This research contributes to the literature in four ways by (1) synthesizing the types and natures of societal benefits of TCR, (2) identifying the most discussed consumer well-being issues over time, (3) assessing the barriers and facilitators for the implementation of solutions that influence societal benefits, and (4) providing a research agenda for improving consumer well-being and enhancing societal benefit. © 2023 Elsevier Inc.

Method for assessing individual students in teamwork at school

Teamwork is getting more and more popular in school. It has many advantages that are suitable for the new requirements of the schools of the 21st century and the pandemic situation caused by COVID-19. One of the main challenges of teamwork is the assessment of each individual student. It is not a good practice to assign one and the same mark to all students in the team since their contributions to the work are usually not equal. Therefore, a method for assessing the individual contribution of the students in teamwork should be developed. Such a method is discussed in the paper. © 2022 IEEE.

Role of economic, and social parameters affecting life satisfaction and happiness during pre and post Covid era: a study with Marx's perspective

A cognitive, objective, and subjective evaluation of the judgment of one's perspective of looking at life defines as life satisfaction and happiness. There is a strong association between life satisfaction, joy, and external parameters, including environmental and socioeconomic factors and green innovation technologies. Marx's theory on life satisfaction provides an exciting insight and defines that economic resources are necessary to live comfortably. The core objective of this paper is to examine the effects of contributing parameters concerning life satisfaction and happiness (LSH) in China from 2005 to 2020. For this purpose, data collected for the dependent variable collect World Happiness Index and World Bank official website. Nine independent variables related to LSH discuss freedom to make life choices (FMLC);GDP growth;Social contribution (SC);Employment rate (ER);Social support (SS);Innovation and development (ID);Life expectancy (LE);Coverage of social safety (CSS);High qualification (HQ). The maximum LSH value is 5.77, with a mean value of 5.13. The highest coefficient correlation value with LSH is CO2, with a positive correlation coefficient value of 0.80, followed by GDPG, with a negative coefficient value of 0.80. PC1 explains 76.74% of results, whereas MLR produces 0.91 R2 (p-value: 0.093, Residual standard error: 0.181). There is a need to understand correlates and determinants in further detail to set up a framework that enables policy-makers to incorporate well-being and life satisfaction measures in carving new public policies. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Resident connection to nature and attitudes towards tourism: findings from three different rural nature tourism destinations in Poland

Despite the growing literature arguing for the consideration of community perspectives in tourism destination governance, little is understood about how residents' connection to nature affects their perceptions of and responses to tourism. This is especially relevant for rural areas rich in nature as many of them have become refugees for urban dwellers seeking recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study combines the Nature's Contributions to People framework and Weber's Theory of Formal and Substantive Rationality to shed light on how rural residents of three nature-based tourism destinations connect with nature and how this connection to nature affects perceptions of empowerment from tourism and ultimately support for tourism. Results provide credence to the importance of including measures of residents' connections to nature when examining attitudes towards tourism in nature areas with connections to nature having significant and positive influences on psychological empowerment and social empowerment at all three destinations and direct and positive effects on support for tourism across two of the three destinations. Furthermore, results suggest that understanding the role nature connection plays in how residents perceive changes within their community can help manage locally emerging conflicts within rural tourism-dependent communities.

Systemic Risk Transmission from the United States to Asian Economies During the COVID-19 Period

The study investigates the systemic risk transmission from the US banking sector and the US market to the five most economically impacted Asian nations (Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, and Singapore) during the COVID-19 period of 2020. We consider the conditional value-at-risk (CoVaR) approach to estimate the systemic risk of the given economies at 5% quantile (for severe downturn risk) and 20% quantile (for moderate downturn risk). Our findings demonstrate a rise in systemic risk for these Asian countries in 2020, particularly in the first half of the year. The findings also provide evidence of the significant systemic risk transmission from the US banking sector and the US stock market to the majority of the given Asian economies at both quantiles. The study further highlights the significant contribution of the US financial market in increasing the systemic risk of the given Asian economies in 2020. We find similar results for systemic risk transmission from the UK, the European Union, and Japan to the given Asian economies. The findings have implications for market participants, risk managers, and regulators who are concerned with risk diversification and tracking the routes of risk shock transmission. JEL Codes: G10;G18;G20. © 2023 Institute of Financial Management and Research.

The contribution of Amil Zakat, Infaq and Shadaqah Muhammadiyah (LAZISMU) institutions in handling the impact of Covid-19

Apart from the government, other institutions are needed to make active contributions to the people's economy since the Covid-19 pandemic has made it more difficult. In Indonesia, there are large community organizations with considerable assets, such as LAZISMU. During the pandemic, Indonesians felt the active participation of Muhammadiyah and all of its charitable efforts. Therefore, this study aims to describe the contribution of LAZISMU in dealing with the impact of the pandemic. The data analyzed showed that the contribution of LAZISMU was in order to deal with the impact of the pandemic in various forms, by providing scholarships, distributing basic necessities, helping orphanages and distributing masks. This was carried out in accordance with the procedures of Lazismu and health protocol rules during the pandemic. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The Bottom Line: Trauma Center Viability During COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic was a potential threat to the viability of trauma centers and health systems in general. We sought to answer the question of how COVID-19 was associated with patient characteristics as well as trauma center volume, finances, and viability. METHODS: We reviewed 6375 patients admitted to our verified Level 1 trauma center during two time periods: pre-COVID (February 2019-February 2020) and COVID (March 2020-March 2021). Three thousand ninety-nine patients were admitted pre-COVID and 3276 were admitted during COVID. Data including case-mix index (CMI), total contribution margin, insurance status, age, race, gender, ethnicity, and injury mechanism were collected from the trauma registry and finance databases and analyzed. A P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Trauma admissions decreased initially during COVID but returned to and ultimately surpassed admission trends pre-COVID. Trauma revenue and patient acuity increased significantly along with a decrease in the number of underinsured patients during COVID. When evaluating all service lines, the trauma center was the highest contributor to overall hospital revenue. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a decrease in admissions for other service lines and a pause in elective surgeries during the pandemic, the trauma center remained unaffected. In addition, trauma was the most significant contributor to the bottom line of the health system. These findings underscore the need to maintain and even increase trauma center resources and staffing to ensure that optimal care is provided to critically ill and injured patients.

Conditions Fostering International Graduate Students' Happiness and Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper focuses on eight conditions that kept international master's students (IMS) in a Southern Ontario university happy and engaged in their studies during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the first phase of the Appreciative Inquiry's (AI) 4-D cycle--i.e., discovery--this doctoral study conducted 14 individual interviews and three focus group discussions to identify conditions that made the IMS students happier and more engaged despite pandemic-related challenges. The study is crucial in advancing positive experiences of IMS because existing literature has focused primarily on their challenges and problems. The study's use of AI, a strength-based theoretical and methodological approach, suggests the need to highlight the quality experiences of this minoritized group. Data revealed specific factors that brought about happiness and boosted IMS engagement in their studies, namely: financial and emotional support from family, responsive instructors, employment opportunities during the pandemic, and learning and engaging in extracurricular activities with colleagues and friends. Other conditions also proved crucial to participants' happiness and engagement in their studies, including: professionalism of non-teaching staff, the institution's learning management system and supporting online platforms, virtual access to campus software and other learning resources, and reduced travel time. Study findings aim to inform international student policy and enrich the international student experience literature.

Solidarity in Place? Hope and Despair in Postpandemic Membership

Initially portrayed as the great equalizer, the COVID-19 pandemic has proved anything but. This essay recounts the sobering social disparities and vulnerabilities that the pandemic has exposed, especially when it comes to the inequalities that are baked into existing membership regimes, before turning to narratives of hope and democratic renewal. My discussion shines a spotlight on the relationship between borders, (im)mobility, and struggles for recognition and inclusion that have long been central to the practice of citizenship. Focusing on pathways to the acquisition of full membership status for those who are currently denied it, I will deploy logics and policies that have already begun to take shape in different parts of the world, with the goal of amplifying their effects and multiplying their scale. I identify three possible trajectories for postpandemic recovery, two of which offer ways to enhance equality of status and public standing by enlarging the circle of membership: first, through contribution (or what I will term jus contribuere), and second, by highlighting what we might call solidarity in place. The third reaction, which we might call the stratification of membership, pulls in the opposite direction by sharply redrawing the lines - legal, economic, social - that have distinguished insiders from outsiders, and exacerbated patterns of stratification and inequality of status and opportunity that predate the pandemic. Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

Major ions and potentially toxic elements in atmospheric precipitation during the COVID-19 lockdown in Moscow megacity

For the first time, the change in the physicochemical properties, ions composition, concentrations, and ratio of soluble and insoluble potentially toxic elements (PTEs), as well as sources contribution to the content of PTEs using principal component analysis with multiple linear regression (PCA-MLR) were determined in the Moscow precipitation before, during and after the lockdown (January–July 2020). The impact of the lockdown on the precipitation composition was ambivalent. The decrease in the precipitation pollution with PTEs (by 10–99% for soluble PTEs and 9–61% for insoluble ones) was caused by the purification of the atmosphere from aerosols during their long-term washing out by precipitation and a decrease in anthropogenic emissions. Air advection to Moscow from the suburbs, where wood, coal, household and agricultural wastes were burned, on the contrary, contributed to the growth of precipitation pollution with insoluble P, Pb, Cd, soluble P, Ag, Pb, Sb, As, Cd, as well as [Cl−] and [K+]. After the lockdown, the restoration of the level of precipitation pollution by PTEs occurred gradually due to the time lag between the increase in atmospheric pollution and the washing out of aerosols by precipitation, as well as dilution by exceptional rainfall amount. Faster restoration rates of insoluble PTEs compared to soluble ones are associated with the rapid increase in the activity of the urban source (road and construction dust, industrial and traffic emissions). The lifting lockdown restrictions reduced the contribution of industrial sources to the content of soluble PTEs forms (from 38–66% to 6%) due to an increase in the contribution of road dust and non-exhaust emissions, soil particles resuspension, waste and fuel combustion, and vehicle emissions. A decrease in the contribution of vehicle emissions, road dust resuspension, and construction dust to the content of insoluble PTEs from winter to summer due to the lockdown influence and a large amount of precipitation in late spring and early summer was confirmed. The results highlighted the need for further studies of the chemical composition and properties of precipitation in the city in similar periods for the correct separation of the influence of social, economic, emission, meteorological, and physicochemical factors on the content and the ratio of PTEs forms.

Identifying the key factors to China's unsustainable external circulation through the accounting of the flow of embodied energy and virtual water

In 2020, China launched the Dual Circulation Strategy to tackle difficult international trade situations and COVID-19. To examine the environmental pressure induced by China's domestic and international trade from the perspective of dual circulation, this study quantifies the flows of embodied energy and virtual water in China's domestic and international trade and analyzes the driving factors to the net outflow, using the multi-regional input-output model and spatial structural decomposition method. The main findings of this study are: (1) Domestic trade of China alleviated the pressures of both energy and water shortage through the flow of embodied energy from Northern to Southern and Eastern regions and the flow of virtual water from Southern to Northern regions. In contrast, international trade yet increased China's environmental burden and tends to be unsustainable. (2) Production structure effect was the key factor to the net outflow of embodied energy (contribution degree: 58%) and virtual water (contribution degree: 46%) to major economies. For China, the export scale effect and export structure effect played an important role in increasing the net outflow of China's embodied energy, with contribution degrees of 17% and 23%, respectively, while the export structure effect and water efficiency effect reduced the net outflow of virtual water, with contribution degrees of −23% and −19%, respectively. Multidimensional Policies, including industrial structure transition, renewable energy deployment, resource efficiencies improvement, trade pattern upgrade, and regional free trade promotion, are suggested for implementing the Dual Circulation Strategy, considering environmental sustainability and industrial competition advantages. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

2022 Qualified Plan Year-End Amendments Just Got Easier

Notice 2022-33 Notice 2022-33 was issued on August 3, 2022, and extended the plan amendment deadline for all of the provisions under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act), the Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 (Miners Act), and the 2020 RMD relief under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). [...]the following notable law changes are generally not required to be reflected in your plan document until December 31, 2025 (and cutback relief was also provided for the SECURE Act changes): * Minimum Required Distributions-Required Beginning Date (SECURE Act): Distributions must be made by April 1 of the calendar year following the year in which the employee turns age 72 (or retires, if later and not a five-percent owner). For governmental 457(b) plans, the Code also allows in-service distributions at age 591/

Measuring Financial Sustainability and Social Adequacy of the Italian NDC Pension System under the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is presently influencing the financial sustainability and the social adequacy of public pension schemes. In this paper, we measure the effects of COVID-19 on the Italian public pension system by introducing a deterministic shock due to the pandemic in the evolution of the variables mainly involved in the system's evaluation. These variables, namely the unemployment rate, wage growth rate, inflation rate, and mortality rates, are modeled in a stochastic framework. Our results show that COVID-19 worsens the financial sustainability of the pension system in the short–medium term, while it does not appreciably affect social adequacy in the medium term. The Italian pension system already showed a social adequacy problem before 2020, which the pandemic does not further deteriorate essentially.

Air Pollution Characteristics and Potential Source Regions During the COVID-19 in Beijing

The air pollution characteristics were analyzed during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Beijing. The hybrid single particle lagrangian integrated trajectory (Hysplit), potential source contribution function (PSCF), and concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) were also applied to study the main transport pathways and potential source regions of air masses during heavy pollution. Results show that compared with before COVID-19 (January 1-22, 2020) and the same period of 2019, the concentration of PM2.5 (aerodynamic diameter of <2.5 μm) after COVID-19 (January, 23-31, 2020) increased by 149.7% and 62.2%, respectively, while increased by 40.6% and 6.8% for sulfur dioxide (SO2), 42.6% and 37.8% for carbon monoxide (CO), and 73.6% and 28.0% for ozone (O3). Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations after COVID-19 decreased by 27.9% and 21.6%, respectively, compared with before COVID-19 and the same period of 2019. The most polluted day in January 28 was selected to analyze the backward trajectory and potential source regions. The air masses from the surrounding of Beijing were the main transport pathways of heavy pollution episode. The main potential source regions mainly concentrated in Beijing, northern Langfang, and northern Tianjin. The long-distance transmission from central and western Inner Mongolia and northern Beijing had little impact on this heavy pollution episode. Therefore, it is still necessary to conduct the regional joint prevention and control to improve the air quality in Beijing. © 2022, Editorial Department of Journal of Beijing University of Technology. All right reserved.

Size-resolved Compositional Analysis and Source Apportionment of Submicron Aerosol during Lockdown Period Using HR-ToF-AMS

The size-resolved compositional analysis of non-refractory submicron aerosol (NR-PM1) was conducted using the Aerodyne High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) instrument over Pune, India during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The aerosol composition data shows the predominant presence of organics (Org) in the mass fraction followed by sulfate, ammonium, nitrate, and chloride during the pre-lockdown and lockdown periods. The size-resolved analysis showed the unimodal size distribution of organic and inorganic constituents with peaks at 550 nm, implying the dominant presence of mixed and aged aerosol species. The stoichiometric neutralization analysis showed the almost neutralized nature of submicron aerosol with an average aerosol neutralization ratio (ANR) of 0.8. The back trajectories, cluster analysis, and potential source contribution function (PSCF) showed the industrial belt located in the western part of the study location to be the potential source regions of NR-PM1. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) analyses have been applied to investigate the source apportionments of organic aerosols (OA). Four distinct OA factors, i.e., hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA), biomass burning OA (BBOA), low-volatile oxygenated OA (LVOOA), and semi-volatile oxygenated OA (SVOOA) were identified during the study period. Among these factors, HOA contributes nearly a quarter to the OA mass, and OOA accounted for nearly 60% of the total OA mass. The high-resolution positive matrix factorization (HR-PMF) analysis and the elemental ratios of H/C, O/C, and OM/OC showed distinct characteristics during different periods. The density of organic aerosol has been estimated using the elemental ratios and found to be 1.14, 1.28, and 1.35 respectively during the different lockdown periods, similar to 1.30 g cm–3 as mentioned in the literature. This study provides new insights into the chemical composition and source apportionment of the organic fraction of submicron aerosols for the first time over Pune using HR-ToF-AMS and HR-PMF.

Measuring the housing sector’s contribution to GDP in emerging market countries

Purpose>This paper aims to document the economic importance of the housing sector, as measured by its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP), which is not fully recognized. In response to the joint economic and health crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an opportunity for emerging market countries to develop and implement inclusive housing strategies that stimulate the economy and improve community health outcomes. However, so far housing does not feature prominently in the recovery plans of many emerging market countries.Design/methodology/approach>This paper uses national account data and informal housing estimates for 11 emerging market economies to estimate the contribution of housing investments and housing services to the GDP of these countries.Findings>This paper finds that the combined contribution of housing investments and housing services represents between 6.9% and 18.5% of GDP, averaging 13.1% in the countries with information about both. This puts the housing sector roughly on par with other key sectors such as manufacturing. In addition, if the informal housing sector is undercounted in the official national account figures used in this analysis by 50% or 100%, for example, then the true averages of housing investments and housing services’ contribution to GDP would increase to 14.3% or 16.1% of GDP, respectively.Research limitations/implications>Further efforts to improve data collection about housing investments and consumption, particularly imputed rent for owner occupiers and informal activity require national government to conduct regular household and housing surveys. Researcher can help make these surveys more robust and leverage new data sources such as scraped housing price and rent data to complement traditional surveys. Better data are needed in order to capture housing contribution to the economy.Practical implications>The size of the housing sector and its impact in terms of employment and community resilience indicate the potential of inclusive housing investments to both serve short-term economic stimulus and increase long-term community resilience.Originality/value>The role of housing in the economy is often limited to housing investment, despite the importance of housing services and well-documented methodologies to include them. This analysis highlights the importance of housing to the economy of emerging market countries (in addition to all the non-GDP related impact of housing on welfare) and indicate data limitation that need to be addressed to further strengthen the case for focusing on housing as part of economic recovery plans.