Differences in COVID-19 Policies and Income Distribution: A Cross-Country Comparison

This paper looks at the distribution of disposable income by deciles to indicate how specific mitigating measures have influenced income groups and considers the effectiveness of different combinations of containment measures in the European Union. Simulations using the EUROMOD tax-benefit microsimulation model imply that the mitigating effects of the simulated measures are regressive, with a bigger influence on the bottom part of the income distribution. It is also observed that old democracies benefit from these measures more than new democracies. Surprisingly, our results further reveal that for the two highest decile income groups, the COVID-19 containment measures are stronger in new democracies. Finally, a qualitative comparative analysis of 19 EU countries suggests that each country should apply mixes of containment measures that fit its own context. Although there is no one-size-fits-all policy, old democracies seem more successful at handling the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis than new democracies. This study complements the literature as it shows how COVID-19 measures have influenced household income groups, and second, it adds to earlier studies by clarifying that only specific context-dependent combinations of containment measures are successful at preventing the loss of people's living standards, thereby giving policymakers the necessary leeway to formulate effective policies.

Bibliometric Analysis of Online Food Delivery: A Study on Pre (COVID-19) and Current Scenario

Increasing disposable income of society and the individual., time-saving attitude., health safety (during COVID-19)., and innovation have increased consumer inclination from offline to online food delivery (OFD). Before COVID-19., eating out the home was the fashion and hangout., but after COVID-19., consumers feel safe while sitting at home. This study aims to explore the pre and current publications on online food delivery., find out the most studied country in OFD., find out the top-cited research publications in OFD., and find out the most dominant research terms in OFD. The present study reviews previous research published during the last 11 years (2012-March 2022) extracted from the www.dimensions.ai free web app. A drastic increase in publications since 2020 explains researchers' inclination toward the OFD. Two hundred twenty research articles were published during the pandemic out of 253 published in the last 11 years. The maximum researched country in OFD is the United States., followed by India and the United Kingdom. The most cited research publication has 255 citations. The most visible keywords in the present study were 'Zomato.,' followed by 'SEM' and 'OFD.' The present study has some limitations., like the database used in the study (dimensions) may not be as good as Scopus or WoS., which may give a better result. More study is required to understand the OFD topic and its survival. It is recommended that the catering industry take OFD as an opportunity along with the regular business generated through steady footfall of the customer/guest. It can be improved through proper logistics., software support., and merging with artificial intelligence. © 2022 IEEE.

Assessing the Level of Energy Poverty Using a Synthetic Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index in EU Countries

The purpose of the article is to analyse the level of energy poverty in the EU member states for the period 2010–2020. The research was carried out on the basis of the author's Synthetic Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index created on the basis of the zero-unitarization method. The proposed index allowed for the integration of 4 out of 13 indicators provided for the study of energy poverty in the Recommendation of the European Commission 2020, and 1 selected by the authors. The assessment of changes in the level of energy poverty over time in 24 EU countries using the method used adds value compared to the assessment methods used so far in this area. Previous studies of energy poverty levels have focused on individual countries or small groups of countries. Rarely have such studies covered the majority of EU countries, and even more rarely have they been conducted over a long period of time. The study carried out showed significant differences in energy poverty levels among EU members. Results obtained not only reflect the progress of member countries in reducing energy poverty, but also allow for a discussion on future approaches regarding its reduction.

COVID-19 and a trade-off between health and economics: an extended inoperability model for Italy

Purpose: The recent COVID-19 has obliged governments to enact large-scale policies to contain it. A topic of economic debate is the quantification of the impact that these policies can create in the economy, with the aim of activating regulatory mechanisms to minimize this impact. In this vein, this study aims to propose a quantification of the effects of the Italian government policy that blocks nonessential production activities. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use a multisectoral extended inoperability model on the social accounting matrix of Italy. The analysis identifies the pandemic's impact on outputs, endogenous demands, value-added and disposable incomes of institutional sectors. Findings: The construction and real estate sectors revealed a significant contraction followed by the retail trade and hotel and catering services sectors. The output contraction further impacts the value-added generation, disposable income and final demand components. Originality/value: The current pandemic is alleged to have a greater impact than the epidemics of the past century, considering the present dimension of the world economy and the increasing interconnections between industries and institutions. In this scenario, it is challenging to safeguard not only human health and life but also the economy. Hence, there is a need to establish a trade-off between health and economics;and in this regard, the current study empirically quantifies the impact of health measures on the economy. The findings of this study help identify the sectors that are more prone to disaster effects and also present the structure of income circular flow in the Italian economy. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

The ‘Dual Circulation' development model of China: Background and insights

Purpose>Global supply chains experienced unprecedented changes in 2020 and the relationship between domestic and global markets needed adjustments considering the long-term impacts of the changes that are unfolding around these markets. China has become the first country to announce a formal strategy – "Dual Circulation” Strategy (DCS) – to guide its self-reliant economic development in the post-COVID era. However, what exactly is the DCS and what drove China to publicize this strategy is not yet clear. This study aims to answer these questions.Design/methodology/approach>Based on an extensive review of literature and media reports, a background has been constructed that justifies the DCS as a long-overdue historic necessity.Findings>A novel definition of "Dual Circulation” is introduced. A novel construct to visualize the domestic circulation in light of international and domestic markets and international circulation has been presented. The study argues that maintaining optimum levels of consumption and saving rates is crucial to the DCS's success.Originality/value>The study pioneers the first scientific definition of the "Dual Circulation” that will pave way for future debate on the topic. Also, it is the first time an academic study on the DCS has been executed.

HOUSEHOLDS’ CONSUMPTION PATTERN AND SAVING – EVIDENCE FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN BULGARIA2

Households’ saving jumped up in 2020 as a response to the outburst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The objective of the paper is to analyse the mechanism behind the hike in households’ saving through the changes in their consumption pattern. The analysis makes use of the households’ budget survey annual data for the period 2008-2020 for Bulgaria. Households’ downward adjustment in spending in 2020 followed the pattern of 2009-2010, but the reduction was more pronounced in expenditures on recreation, culture, and education (related both to the Covid-19 restrictive government measures and self-restrain from consumption caused by enhanced health risk) and spending on health (self-restraint). A supposition may be drawn that the enhanced health risk perception and self-restraint might contribute to a relatively elevated saving rate. Subdued consumption of services, most affected by Covid-19 restrictive measures, might sustain at least in the near future and slow down the overall growth rate. Policy measures to boost consumption, particularly of services, may be ineffective. © 2022, Bulgarska Akademiya na Naukite. All rights reserved.

On Measuring the Impact of Internal Devaluation in Greece: Poverty, Flexibility, Migration and Growthless Employment

This article takes a critical view on austerity policy and examines its social and economic consequences for the case of Greece. By introducing the concept of “growthless employment” it demonstrates that the implementation of internal devaluation policies had a substantial impact on the Greek society that needs to be addressed. Within a decade, household disposable income was reduced to an unprecedented level while the labour market was extensively deregulated as several indicators can display. The seemingly paradoxical case of employment without growth—hence, growthless employment—can be interpreted as the consequence of the intensity of the mix of austerity policies that was imposed as “one-size-fits-all” without taking the peculiar structure of the Greek economy into account. A descriptive examination of this idiosyncratic state of affairs is offered, providing new insights on how the level of depreciation can be better assessed. It is argued that the overall severity of the crisis is better captured by the level of disposable income whereas a modified measurement of poverty and income depreciation is introduced for the same purpose. Lastly it is maintained that Greece has suffered by an enormous outflow of its productive-aged population in the aftermath of the crisis. All the above concretise the idea of growthless employment in Greece.

Employee financial health comes to the fore after COVID

Purpose>This paper aims to discuss employee financial health post COVID.Design/methodology/approach>The following article outlines different schemes that can be used to improve employee financial health.Findings>Analysis of the transactional data that open banking provides gives employers unprecedented capabilities to finally measure the improvement they make on the financial health of its workforce.Originality/value>This paper provides insight into how financial wellbeing tools can improve the financial health of employees post COVID.

The Importance of Sustainability Aspects When Purchasing Online: Comparing Generation X and Generation Z

As research on sustainability orientation across generations is still sparse, we contribute to literature by enriching this research field, focusing on Generation Z (‘Zers’) and X (‘Xers’). Moreover, no other study has analyzed cross-generational differences in the sustainability context by making use of choice experiments, which overcome issues related to (Likert) scale item investigations, and allow respondents to evaluate the trade-off between different purchase factors simultaneously. We thus applied one of the most recent advancements in choice experiments, named Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint analysis, which appears to be more realistic than previous alternatives. The results indicate Zers consume more sustainably (inter alia higher importance of social labels;higher purchase likelihood) when shopping online;however, differences within each generation were uncovered, especially among Xers (e.g., gender differences regarding importance of price).

Comparative analysis of non-performing loans affecting factors in the Baltic States

The deterioration of the economic situation during Covid-19 has raised the issue of the quality of banks' assets and in particular the growth of non-performing loans (NPL). This is a topical issue not only for banks that, in this context, incur additional costs for allowances and capital requirements but also for society as a whole, as credit availability is likely to be reduced. The Baltic States experienced a particularly severe financial crisis in 2008-2009, resulting in a rapid increase in NPLs. This study analyses the factors affecting NPLs in the Baltic States, using information available from WB, Eurostat, and econometrical modeling methods. The results of the study allow conclusions to be drawn on the necessary actions to mitigate credit risk.

Armut in Deutschland — Einfluss der Coronapandemie noch nicht ablesbar

While the risk of poverty increased quite markedly around the turn of the millennium, a further but flatter increase can be subsequently observed. The development was also accompanied by a stronger increase in the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, particularly in the wake of the positive income trend in the years prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The extent to which the corona pandemic influenced poverty cannot yet be assessed, as the results published so far are not comparable with previous years due to a break in the available time series. However, first indications of simulation studies suggest that the relative risk of poverty and the distribution of disposable income may have changed only slightly.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - POVERTY IN EUROPE

According to the EUROSTAT "this indicator corresponds to the sum of persons who are: at risk of poverty after social transfers, severely materially deprived or living in households with very low work intensity. According to EUROSTAT, "severely materially deprived persons have living conditions severely constrained by a lack of resources, they experience at least 4 out of 9 of the following deprivation items: cannot afford to i) pay rent or utility bills, ii) keep home adequately warm, iii) face unexpected expenses, iv) eat meat, fish or a protein equivalent every second day, v) a week holiday away from home, vi) a car, vii) a washing machine, viii) a colour TV, or ix) a telephone". [...]of this situation, employment has decreased over the last period.

Structural reform of the Reserve Bank of Australia

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) recently placed higher priority on stabilising household debt than on its conventional goals of unemployment and inflation. This was bad economics, bad process and resulted in substantial unnecessary hardship. However, it was not unusual. The RBA has a record of poor decisions. That partly reflects poor process and a lack of expertise. More fundamentally, the RBA has a culture that places a low priority on getting the answers right. To address these problems, more monetary policy experts should be appointed to the RBA Board, and board members should be individually accountable for their votes. The RBA should be required to be more transparent-in particular, it needs to provide detailed explanations for its decisions and it needs to show alternative projections for interest rates. Decisions should be explained and defended at regular press conferences.