Analysis of the effects of COVID-19 outbreak on the rural economy of Nehbandan county in south Khorasan province

The sudden outbreak of Covid-19 has severely affected different sectors of the economy of each country, especially the agricultural sector, and has caused widespread disruptions in food systems, exports and imports of goods and agricultural production which shows the necessity to study these effects in order to adapt and deal with them. The study was aimed to analyze the effects of coronavirus outbreak on the rural economy of Nehbandan county in South Khorasan province. The statistical population of the study was all farmers in Nehbandan county which by calculating the Cochran's formula, about 232 farmers' households were determined as the sample population. To select cases through the county, the multi-stage sampling and among villages, random sampling was used and data collection was done through a questionnaire. Data analysis was done through exploratory factor analysis approach. The results showed that due to the outbreak of Corona virus, both supply and demand for agricultural products have decreased. In contrast, the purchase price of agricultural inputs, the selling price of products, labor wages and rents of agricultural land have increased, which indicates the increase in agricultural costs. On the other hand, the access to agricultural inputs such as machinery and especially agricultural labor has been greatly reduced, which has increased the time of planting and harvesting. Furthermore, agricultural and even non-agricultural incomes have decreased and along with increasing in living expenses and unemployment, have led to a decrease in the welfare and livelihood of rural households. It is suggested that government and officials provide credit and training packages to support farmers during the outbreak of the covid-19.

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the development of human resources in the South West Oltenia region

The coronavirus pandemic has strongly affected every sector of the economy. Every organization, every employee within the organizations, had to adapt to the situation and adopt new ways of doing the work at the workplace. Of course, the development of human resources within organizations has acquired another dimension. The focus was on trying to maintain jobs and developing human resources through the means available to the organization in this pandemic context. Telework was introduced and human resource financing activities through European projects were reduced. The implementation of projects with non-reimbursable European funding was quite difficult during the state of emergency and then in the state of alert, which led to a decrease in continuous professional training activity and, implicitly, to the development of human resources in the South-West Oltenia region.

The socio-economic implications of tourism sharing economy

The COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized the global economic map and the economic patterns which were anticipated to be a catalyst for the economic and developmental advancement of contemporary societies. It has consolidated the vigorous role of numerous economic connotations and systems that are considered outdated. The sharing economy is on the topmost of those economic systems as a substantial economic and social transformation. It is considered one of the historically fastest-growing trade tendencies. The study's primary objective was to estimate the magnitude of national income generated by tourism-related sharing activities and the magnitude of sharing-based national investments. A qualitative technique was used as the research methodology in this study. A sample of 510 Egyptian tourism-sharing service providers and tourists who received tourism services in Egypt under one of the sharing economy systems participated in a mixed electronic questionnaire. The significant findings revealed that the national tourism income accomplished in 2021 through tourism sharing economy is predestined to be 1% (EGP10 billion) of Egypt's national income, and is anticipated to increase to EGP 177 billion by 2035.

The possible impacts of financial nudging in the food infant industries: beyond meat case study

The second decade of the XXI century has experienced the development of meat substitutes. The origin of this niche is said to emerge from environmental concerns. One of the market leaders in this infant industry is Beyond Meat company. The study aims to identify the impact of the capital markets and media coverage for an infant industry, such as meat alternatives, on the example of Beyond Meat. A sizeable portion of the investment in this new branch of the food sector came from the capital markets, which expect a return on their investment. The Beyond Meat case suggests that these substantial investments did not bring expected returns, which several factors, such as the post-COVID bear market and lack of demand for meat substitute products, could have caused. Thus, despite awareness campaigns, so far, the company has experienced losses. The development of this market niche acted contrary to what was expected. The market failings correlate with the loss of interest of the retail investors, which was attempted to be measured by this research. As a proxy for the retail investor interest, Google Trends Index was used and compared to the stock prices (a method often described as a Buzz Indicator).

Barriers to implementing innovation in the sports clubs during COVID-19 pandemic: an approach for the future crises

The purpose of the present study was to identify barriers to implementing innovation in sports clubs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research approach was mixed. In the qualitative part, interviews with 13 owners of sports clubs were conducted. The statistical sample in the quantitative part, based on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), included 200 sports club owners in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran. The results showed that barriers to implementing innovation in sports clubs were individual, structural, and environmental obstacles. Considering the entrepreneurial ecosystem and all stakeholders involved in the sports community, providing favorable conditions such as intellectual property protection, financial support, research, and development support, as well as improving access to financial capital, can pave the way for the creation and implementation of sports innovations in clubs, especially in crises.

Impact of COVID-19 on financial performance and profitability of banking sector in special reference to private commercial banks: empirical evidence from Bangladesh

The current crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the global economy hard, causing significant damage to every aspect of the global banking system, and Bangladesh is no exception. For that reason, its performance and profitability have been affected. In this study, we investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the financial performance and profitability of the listed private commercial banks in Bangladesh. We initially compute each bank's financial performance index (FPI) to determine the position according to their financial performance individually before and the current period of COVID-19 by the standardized CAMELS rating system. After assessing the position, the fixed-effect regression model is used to explore the impact of the bank's specific variables and macroeconomic variables along with the banks' variables on the banks' profitability. The banks that performed better during the pre-pandemic period of COVID-19 also performed better during the pandemic period of COVID-19. The performance of AIBL, EBL, and BBL was almost autonomously higher during both periods. In the case of bank profitability, our paper discovered that during the pandemic period of COVID-19, high non-performing loan rates, holding more liquid assets, a high amount of hedging capital, and inappropriate bank size lessened the banks' profitability. In contrast, a low leverage position and inflation rate enhanced the bank's profitability during this period. The outcome of this study will help bank authorities detect the loopholes and take preventive measures that can improve their profitability during a crisis period like COVID-19. The investors and depositors who invest money in banks can precisely decide their portfolios.

COVID-19 and policy impacts on the Bangladesh rice market and food security

This research employs a partial equilibrium model to estimate the short- and long-run effects of COVID-19 and rice policies on Bangladesh's rice market and food security. We also analyze the impact of relevant policies in terms of their effectiveness in mitigating stresses stemming from a hypothetical pandemic with a COVID-19-like impact. The results indicate that the effect of COVID-19 on Bangladeshi food security during FY 2019/20 was mixed, as the indicators of food availability improved by 5%, and decreased by 17% for food stability, relative to what they would have been otherwise. Policy simulation results indicate that a higher import tariff improves self-sufficiency status, but undermines rice availability and accessibility by bending the market toward a restrictive trade regime. Results also indicate that unlike stock enhancement policy, closing the existing yield gap improves rice availability, accessibility, and moderates the depressing effect of a future event with repercussions similar to COVID-19, although the yield policy appears more speculative and could be too costly. The insights generated contribute to the understanding of policies that aim to achieve sustainable development goals related to aggregate food security, and build resilience against future shocks akin to COVID-19.

Agricultural land prices in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic

The article aims to estimate the dynamics of agricultural land prices in nominal and real terms and to assess their differentiation due to land localisation and land quality in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the period preceding the pandemic in Poland. The results of the analysis, showed that during the five years before the pandemic the rate of growth of the arable land prices was high. In the first year of the pandemic, the prices were stable, but in the second one, the prices soared. The rate of growth was higher than the rates in the previous years. One of the reasons for the excessively high increase was inflation. The appearance of urban households on the land market was another reason. The restrictions imposed on society due to COVID-19, combined with the development of remote work opportunities, resulted in a rise in the interest in purchasing residential real estates in rural areas and increased demand for agricultural land. This phenomenon will have long term multidimensional effects for rural areas. Moreover, the quick growth of land prices, despite the existing legal barriers to trade, means that land is regarded more and more as an regular investment good. The rapid growth of agricultural land prices increases the attractiveness of agricultural land as a speculative good. In such circumstances, it is not surprising that during the pandemic, the relation of the prices of fertile land to prices of lower quality land decreased. Probably this phenomenon will be an important barrier to the improvement in the area structure of the Polish agriculture.

DEKHO APNA DESH: attitude on personal wellbeing with resumption of tourism after COVID-19 pandemic in India among elderly and younger age group people

Tourism is one of the important sectors that generates large number of employment, foreign exchange revenue and creates domestic finance across a range of other sectors which includes food and beverages, transportation, sports etc. But due to COVID-19 (Corona virus) the activity of tourism industry was brought to cease. Experts say that with the support and timely involvement of Government, people, society, the sector can be brought to a leading one. In regard to this the study wants to focus on the opinion of personal wellbeing steps that were developed for tourists after COVID-19 pandemic. The government came up with a motto 'Dekho Apna Desh' with the people dreaming to visit many places in India. The tourism industry were proposed with a mandatory guidelines such as downloading of Aarogya Setu app, maintaining physical distance, wearing masks and undergoing thermal screening for personal wellbeing of people to overcome COVID-19 outspread. These measures would certainly lead to difference in opinions of tourists among elder and younger age group as these might affect on their satisfaction level for visiting different places in India. Therefore the study aims to undertake psychological scaling method for measuring the opinions of guidelines on personal wellbeing between elderly and younger age group people associated with socio-demographic variables in tourism sector. The study is accumulated with 490 tourists who travelled different places after redemption of tourism after COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives were measured with the help of descriptive statistics, ANOVA, MANOVA and Tukey Post hoc tests through SPSS 21.0. The study showed that elderly age group tourists were more satisfied with the guidelines and personal wellbeing items prepared to measure the opinions when compared with middle and younger age group. The study is useful to suggest in building strategies for the safety of tourists according to their opinions with ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the risk of bankruptcy of enterprises in the agri-food sector in Poland

The COVID-19 pandemic has become the cause of one of the greatest crises in the modern history of the global economy, including the agri-food sector. Business suspension and administrative restrictions on movement worsened business conditions and affected both the demand and supply of food products. On the other hand, state aid improved the financial liquidity of enterprises and limited the risk of their bankruptcy. In order to assess the impact of this situation, using the Altman Z-score index, changes in the level of bankruptcy risk in the 1000 largest enterprises in the agri-food sector in Poland in 2018-2020 were examined. The results indicated that during the period of the impact of the pandemic in 2020, the changes in bankruptcy risk were mild. Moreover, the directions of these changes varied depending on the section in which the enterprises operated. In 2020, out of the sixteen examined sections, the Z-score increased in nine and decreased in seven. The risk of bankruptcy decreased the most in the following sections: production of bread and bakery products and production of animal feed. It grew the most in the following sections: processing, preserving fruit and vegetables and refining fats and oils.

COVID-19-related state aid programs for agriculture in Poland

Agriculture is a sector in which economic policy has an exceptionally significant influence. The paper aims to identify, discuss, and assess the actions taken by the Polish state (government) concerning agriculture in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. We use data on state aid for agriculture in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic from the European Commission, the National Bank of Poland (NBP), and the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture (ARMA). The research period covers 2020-2021. Polish state has taken several measures concerning agriculture to limit the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These anti-COVID-19 state measures covered: e.g. aid for farms at risk of losing liquidity, intervention purchases of agricultural products, subsidies to interest rates on banking loans, loans, guarantees and loan sureties, subsidies for the costs of employee salaries, allowances for rent or lease, subsidies or repayable assistance, exemption for farmers from paying social security contributions, children care benefits, sick benefits for the quarantine period. Public financial aid for agriculture with the highest value (2/3 of the aid for farmers) came from the RDP 2014-2020 program, i.e., EUR 270 million. Moreover, under state aid, ARMA implemented three programs with approximately a total value. EUR 135 million, i.e., financial aid for agricultural producers facing liquidity losses due to restrictions on the agricultural market, financial aid for the holders of chrysanthemums who have suffered losses due to market restrictions, and financial aid to pig producers. More than 90% of the submitted applications were approved as part of the national state aid. Such a large percentage of accepted applications, both from the RDP 2014-2020 and state programs, resulted from the willingness of the Polish state to help farmers quickly.

Fishing in muddy waters: mergers and acquisitions during uncertainty

Using the COVID-19 pandemic as an exogenous shock, we examine whether firms engage in opportunistic mergers and acquisitions during uncertainty. Particularly, we analyze the inorganic growth strategies of acquiring firms faced with disproportionate pandemic-induced opportunities using a cross-country deal-level data. We find a significant increase in the deal completion propensity and deal size, and a decrease in the deal completion time for acquirers that are more amenable to remote working. The effect is more pronounced when both the acquirer and the target are amenable to remote working. Our findings indicate that amenable firms, which were initially reluctant to engage in opportunistic acquisitions, engaged aggressively in the subsequent quarters with an abatement in pandemic-induced uncertainty. The study provides novel insights into the behaviour of acquisitive firms during the pandemic.

The impact of COVID 19 on the Czech stock market

COVID-19 has increased suffering in various sectors of life and affected people's daily lives worldwide. It has significantly impacted the health, economic and social fields. The Czech Republic is one of the countries hit hard by the epidemic, which led to its closure several times. This paper empirically examines the impact of COVID-19 on stock prices in the Czech Republic with the help of the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds Test. The daily closing prices of the stock index, P.X., from 22/03/2020 to 21/02/2022 were used for the Analysis. The results reveal that the Czech stock market was negatively affected during the pandemic;this effect was short-term and long-term.

Remote sensing data for monitoring agricultural production and economic activity: application in Egypt. (MENA policy note No.20.)

This policy note showcases two examples on how remote sensing data can be used for monitoring agricultural production and economic activities. The first case aims to generate granular data on agricultural production, which remain scarce in Egypt and the MENA region. The second case demonstrates the potential of remote sensing data to monitor economic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on these data and together with other recent findings, the following recommendations are provided to facilitate post-COVID-19 recovery in Egypt: targeting of stimulus and recovery packages based on the economic repercussions experienced across geographies and sectors;identifying and supporting promising value chains which experienced a significant slowdown in economic activities;diversifying economic activities and markets to improve the resilience of agri-food systems;and investment in data infrastructure to monitor and respond to future shocks. This may be supported by scale up of digital solutions, which proved to be effective in sustaining business activities even during the pandemic.

Handbook for scaling irrigation systems

The demand for more efficient use of land and water resources to enable farmers to produce food using climate-resilient processes continues to grow in the face of a growing global population and the impacts of climate change and other shocks such as Coronavirus (COVID-19). Although irrigation has been widely promoted as important for productivity and resilience, it has not been sufficiently expanded. Large, well-established irrigation projects developed by public institutions and select private sector projects play an important role in providing access to irrigation, but they are insufficient to meet need. In parallel, farmers have been developing effective small-scale irrigation (SSI) options that include a range of technologies, financing methods, and operating models. International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are global organizations focused on promoting resilient agriculture and food system transformation. This handbook takes a practical approach in guiding its target readers, which comprise policy makers, governments and government agencies, private sector actors, and development institution partners, on how to deliver effective design and operation strategies, combined with financing models, to implement and sustainably expand use of irrigation.

Kerala 'model' of development revisited: a sixty-year assessment of successes and failures

This paper is about revisiting the famed Kerala "Model" of Development. It covers a period of six decades, from 1960 to 2020. The remarkable achievements of the State of Kerala in India in basic human development indicators despite a very low per capita income had attracted the attention of development economists and other social scientists interested in the development of poor economies. However, it was often referred to as a case of "high human development with low per capita income". This paper traces the trajectory of high human development that ultimately resulted in high economic growth in terms of two phases of growth. It measures that the early demographic transition, that is a result of high human development, itself contributed to a high per capita income growth in the second phase. The sustaining of the high growth was also a direct result of human development through large scale emigration of adult males to the Gulf countries for employment resulting in a long-term trend in remittances to the Kerala economy. The role of favourable initial conditions and a vibrant public sphere has been highlighted to emphasize the role of public action in demanding the delivery of human development services from the sub-national state. In this otherwise positive scenario, the paper notes the highly skewed nature of the high growth process with a diminishing role for the commodity-producing sectors of agriculture and industry. It has adversely affected employment generation to the increasing working age population. Official measurement of unemployment has been argued as inadequate and in its place the concept of under-utilization of labour has been highlighted. The problem of high unemployment (those seeking work) and under-utilization of labour (both seeking and not seeking work) has been shown to be considerably higher for women than men. This has resulted in the under-utilization of the labour of a significant share of educated women in the working age population. This problem has been termed as a "spectacular failure" on the part of the state. The failure is rooted in the inability of the state to manage public finance as well as public investments. Three examples of these "state failures" are: (a) a declining revenue collection efficiency, (b) persisting loss of the public sector enterprises, and (c) waste of public resources due to time and cost overruns in public investments in basic infrastructure. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 in the background of the massive floods of August 2018 is portrayed as the beginning of a new challenge for Kerala's development trajectory.

Lessons for African microfinance providers and regulators in the aftermath of COVID-19

This paper is concerned with microfinance in Africa post Covid-19, a crisis from which the continent is still recovering while new crises such as climate change challenges emerge. The resilience of the microfinance sector to crises must not only address operational weaknesses revealed by the pandemic, but also exploit the post-crisis potential to build resilience in areas such as digitalization and smallholder agriculture. New rules and regulations should target microfinance providers (MFPs) and enable them to quickly comply with new rules and those normally in force. This paper calls for the inclusion of all forms of MFPs, allowing for customized applications of policies and regulations. Moreover, measures for regulators include re-defining post-COVID-19 target groups, enhancing liquidity and MFP risk-based management, ensuring sustainability and best practices, activating prompt monitoring of the sector, and ensuring a consultative and coordinated culture. Measures for MFPs include increased micro-saving, avoiding subsidies, unlocking the full potential of smallholder farmers, a strong movement towards inclusive digital finance, product development, and partial movement towards crises-resistant, non-interest types of lending in countries with Muslim minorities.

Corporate insolvencies evolution in Republic of Moldova and Ukraine during 2013 - 2020 period

The study of the corporate insolvencies' evolution is very important especially for the management of the company and in for the internal audit, control and performances forecasting. The objectives of the article is to analyse the evolution of number of insolvencies and to analyse some legal aspects regarding the corporate insolvencies in the Ukraine and Republic of Moldova till 2021. For this reason, this study try to answer the next three questions: (1) What was the evolution of number of corporate insolvencies in Republic of Moldova and Ukraine during 2013-2020? (2) What are the legislative regulations regarding insolvency proceedings in Republic of Moldova and Ukraine? (3) What is the level of development of the research of the corporate insolvencies forecast methods in these two countries? For this purpose, the following methods were applied: comparative-critical analysis of the literature, documentation, and documentary analysis, statistical methods of analysis, constructivist approach, and positivist approach. The results of this research show that these two countries are characterized by different directions of modifications of number of corporate insolvencies during the analysed period, excepting 2020 year, when the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact. At the same time, the performed econometric analysis, shows that the Republic of Moldova and Ukrainian models have a relatively high adjustment to the empirical data, demonstrating the possibility to forecast the number of corporate insolvencies. Regarding the legislative regulations, can be remarked that the main differences established in the legislation of these two countries relate to the amount and term of non-payment of debts. In addition, the corporate insolvencies forecast methods in Ukraine are much more advanced then in Republic of Moldova.

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the banking system in Romania

The banking sector is one of the most important sectors for the economy of a country, being the one that supports the functioning of the market and that contributes to the achievement of economic growth. In this paper, we proposed that, starting from the statistical data published in the databases regarding Romania, to characterize the functioning of the banking system during the Covid-19 pandemic. The data were processed and analyzed with the help of some statistical indicators used in the analysis of time series (absolute change with a fixed base, absolute change with a chain base, the dynamic index with a fixed base, the dynamic index with a mobile base and the rhythm of the dynamics) and stood at the basis for formulating conclusions regarding how the banking system in Romania faced the challenges of the 2018-2020 period. At the same time, the strengths and weaknesses that characterized the banking system were identified, so that in the future, measures can be taken to avoid the risks resulting from the emergence of economic, health, social, etc. crises.

Biosecurity sensing technologies for select small and emerging industries

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the importance of biosecurity in the supply of agricultural produce, with impacts on the transport of goods and people domestically and globally. During the period of the pandemic, the Australian Government has continued to invest in biosecurity to better target critical biosecurity risks. This commitment includes a $371 million biosecurity package to keep out exotic pests and diseases. This investment assists with building the necessary capability for early detection of animal and plant pest and disease risks, and minimising the negative impact on farm income, the environment and the local economy. This report focuses attention on the biosecurity challenges on-farm for five small and emerging industries, and presents several biosecurity sensing technologies that have the potential to improve detection and analyse risk. It showcases technologies to manage biosecurity at the farm level as well as at industry and regional levels to strengthen Australia's national biosecurity system.