Covid-19 disruption, resilience and industrial policy: the automotive sector in the West Midlands

The Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit have focused attention on the resilience of key sectors and firms. This paper explores the financial resilience of the 50 largest automotive firms in the West Midlands region of the UK in their response to disruption and economic shocks. The findings demonstrate that 22 firms are at high risk due to poor current liquidity ratios, with Coventry and Birmingham emerging as locations most susceptible to firm closures. High-risk firms include key flagship original equipment manufacturers operating at the downstream end of supply chains. If these firms were to fail, there would be a significant destructive impact on both the industry and the local economy. We assert an effective subnational industrial policy is required in order to support economic resilience in regions such as the West Midlands where a few firms account for a disproportionate share of employment and value-added.

Changing Tourism Trends of the Benedictine Abbey in Tihany: Best Practices of a Hungarian Monastic Community

The touristic use of sacred sites is a widespread practice in Hungary. Throughout the past centuries, Christianity has dominated the history of the Carpathian Basin. The Hungarian State's strong affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church dates back to its foundation over a 1000 years ago. Due to its location on the shore of Lake Balaton and outstanding natural environment, the Benedictine Tihany Abbey is a major touristic destination and a popular place of pilgrimage in Hungary. The objective of the present paper is to examine how touristic activities contribute to the livelihood of a Hungarian monastic community and local economic development in the 21st century. To answer the research questions, the study primarily relied on literature and documentary analysis, in-depth interviews, and the construction and processing of a database. The research revealed that in addition to the classic elements (e.g., guided tours in the abbey, museum exhibitions, concerts, etc.), the program offer developed by the monastic community of Tihany is capable of addressing new target audiences: the rapidly rising number of tourists from the Far East (mainly Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia). Despite remaining considerably below visitor numbers recorded by the abbey in the mid-1990s, a significant increase in visitor numbers was observed in 2018–2019. The economic activities of the Benedictines of Tihany comprise a number of different areas beyond tourism, e.g., agricultural production and candle making, both of which are integrated into their tourism offer and feature among touristic programs. As a major employer, the abbey exerts a positive impact on the population retention capacity of the settlement by offering jobs to local residents, and it also contributes to population growth by attracting a large number of highly skilled professionals who choose to settle down in the region. The paper shows the evidence of the pandemic on pilgrimage and religious tourism in Tihany.

New trends in South-South migration: The economic impact of COVID-19 and immigration enforcement

This paper evaluates the impact of the pandemic and enforcement at the US and Mexican borders on the emigration of Guatemalans during 2017–2020. During this period, the number of crossings from Guatemala to Mexico fell approximately by 10%, according to the Survey of Migration to the Southern Border of Mexico. Yet, there was a rise of nearly 30% in the number of emigration crossings of male adults travelling with their children. This new trend was partly driven by the recent reduction in the number of children deported from the US. A one-point decrease in the number of children deported from the US to Guatemalan municipalities resulted in 14 additional crossings from Guatemala to Mexico made by adults, and nearly 0.5 more emigration crossings made by adult males travelling with their children. However, the surge of emigrants travelling with their children was also driven by the acute economic shock that Guatemala experienced during the pandemic. During this period, air pollution in the analysed Guatemalan municipalities fell by 4%, night light per capita fell by 15%, and homicide rates fell by 40%. Unlike in previous years, during the pandemic emigrants were fleeing poverty rather than violence. © 2023 The Authors

Creative Tourism in Islands and Regional Sustainable Development: What Can We Learn from the Pilot Projects Implemented in the Azores Territory?

The current need for territories and societies to grow is based on the Sustainable Development Models as well as the United Nations (UN) Agenda for 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In that case, such new forms of tourism development imply creating and upgrading critical infrastructures, facilities, equipment, or differentiated activities to bring clients who align with the desired Sustainable Development Models and SDGs. In this regard, the thematic literature provides evidence that some tourism typologies (nature-based, rural, culturally-based creative tourism) play a critical role in attaining sustainable regional development. Therefore, this paper aims to unfold what can be learned from the pilot projects implemented in the Azores region aimed toward the so-desired regional sustainability. Contextually, the obtained results ask for the regional leaders to consider encouraging entrepreneurship associated with small and medium-sized firms;fostering the diversity of touristic offerings;designing guidelines that follow sustainable development models and the SDGs;or creating meaningful investments in the conservation and protection of cultural heritage, as well as the Azorean endogenous resources.

Venezuela en tiempo de pandemia Covid-19: Representaciones sociales y la estrategia de mitigación multi-nivel. La economía local emergente en el municipio Caroní, Estado Bolívar

En marzo de 2020 fue declarada una pandemia por la COVID-19 y los gobiernos del mundo implementaron la cuarentena. Partimos de la premisa de que todo dependería de las representaciones sociales sobre la pandemia, variable que impactó también la economía en todas sus escalas. En Venezuela el 16 de marzo de 2020, el gobierno decretó una cuarentena radical que fue reestructurada a un método denominado 7+7. El artículo muestra la acción colectiva multi-nivel de los actores socio-institucionales con énfasis en el Estado Bolívar, de importancia económica nacional e internacional por su vinculación fronteriza con Brasil. El trabajo de campo fue en el municipio Caroní entre marzo 2020 – diciembre 2021, con un enfoque de investigación en tiempo real sobre los procesos de interacciones entre los actores involucrados y las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC). Como resultado se tiene que las acciones colectivas emprendidas;entre los niveles de gobierno y sus instituciones, el sector privado y la sociedad civil fueron significativas para contener la propagación del virus y mantener la subsistencia de la economía local. Se concluye en que fueron determinantes: el esquema de cuarentena 7+7 y las acciones a nivel local producto de los acuerdos entre la mayoría de los segmentos de la sociedad. Por último, resaltan la forma y el método para el manejo de la información y comunicación que permitió hacer explícitas las normas, los acuerdos y reglas funcionales en pandemia en medio de complejas y confusas representaciones sociales.Alternate abstract:In March 2020, a pandemic was declared by COVID-19 and the governments of the world implemented the quarantine. We start from the premise that everything would depend on the social representations of the pandemic, a variable that also impacted the economy on all its scales. In Venezuela on March 16, 2020, the government decreed a radical quarantine that was restructured to a method called 7+7. The article shows the multilevel collective action of the socio-institutional actors with emphasis on the Bolívar State, of national and international economic importance due to its border link with Brazil. The field work was carried out in the Caroní municipality between March 2020 - December 2021, with a real-time research approach on the processes of interactions between the actors involved and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). As a result, the collective actions undertaken;between the levels of government and its institutions, the private sector and civil society were significant in containing the spread of the virus and maintaining the subsistence of the local economy. It is concluded that the 7+7 quarantine scheme and the actions at the local level resulting from the agreements between most segments of society were decisive. Finally, they will highlight the form and method for the management of information and communication that made it possible to clean up the norms, agreements, and functional rules in a pandemic in the midst of complex and confusing social representations

Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija i Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) Algorithm for Analysis as Supporting System

In the event of a coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic, those in need will be helped through a government aid program known as the Village Cash Direct Assistance beneficiary fund (abbreviated BLT). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spread to nearly every corner of the globe, citizens' activities around the world have been hindered, especially those involving employment to support life's basic needs. The local economy suffers as a result of people losing their jobs. They have no idea how they will pay for the necessities of life. So, in order to help the locals, the government set up a Village BLT fund support program. Limag Village is one of the settlements that plans to ask for help. When the final decision is made, the village head will choose from the list of households that fit the criteria. A decision support system is one option for achieving clear and exact findings based on the strategy utilized. For a ranking-based decision-support system, the VIKOR approach (Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) is an excellent choice. In order to reduce the amount of time spent on guesswork when choosing which communities will benefit from BLT Desa money, this study aims to examine and quantify the results of decisions made using criteria that match those criteria. With the use of the following five criteria: profession (K1), number of dependents (K2), social safety net (K3), medical history (K4), and family card (K5): (K5). The results show that the VIKOR approach is able to obtain ranking values from the ten samples it was applied to.. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

Venezuela in times of the Covid-19 pandemic: Social representations and the multi-level mitigation strategy. The emerging local economy in the Caroni municipality, Bolivar State

In March 2020, a pandemic was declared by COVID-19 and the governments of the world implemented the quarantine. We start from the premise that everything would depend on the social representations of the pandemic, a variable that also impacted the economy on all its scales. In Venezuela on March 16, 2020, the government decreed a radical quarantine that was restructured to a method called 7+7. The article shows the multilevel collective action of the socio-institutional actors with emphasis on the Bolivar State, of national and international economic importance due to its border link with Brazil. The field work was carried out in the Caroni municipality between March 2020 - December 2021, with a real-time research approach on the processes of interactions between the actors involved and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). As a result, the collective actions undertaken;between the levels of government and its institutions, the private sector and civil society were significant in containing the spread of the virus and maintaining the subsistence of the local economy. It is concluded that the 7+7 quarantine scheme and the actions at the local level resulting from the agreements between most segments of society were decisive. Finally, they will highlight the form and method for the management of information and communication that made it possible to clean up the norms, agreements, and functional rules in a pandemic in the midst of complex and confusing social representations

Lecciones de la pandemia para el desarrollo local

Con ocasión de la crisis del COVID-19 se han publicado distintos análisis y reflexiones sobre el impacto que ésta puede tener sobre sobre la forma y la dinámica territorial a medio y largo plazo, así como sobre las posibilidades de desarrollo de los distintos territorios. Muchos de ellos subrayan la oportunidad que la crisis puede representar para reconsiderar drásticamente, desde cero, el paradigma actual de producción y consumo, así como el modelo territorial predominante. Aunque la duración temporal de la crisis sanitaria es un factor fundamental en la consolidación de estas nuevas tendencias, la situación actual y evolución probable de la pandemia a escala global nos lleva a afirmar que, hasta cierto punto "la vida después del COVID-19” será "la vida con COVID-19” (OCDE, 2020), de ahí la necesidad de reflexionar sobre las consecuencias a largo plazo, y de proponer un nuevo enfoque de desarrollo territorial que tenga en cuenta las diferentes necesidades y los cambios planteados por el nuevo contexto. En las páginas siguientes recogemos algunas de las ideas principales de estas aportaciones, centrando el análisis en algunos de los temas más estrechamente relacionados con el paradigma del desarrollo local: las economías locales, la sostenibilidad ambiental y social, el modelo territorial y la formación del capital social.Alternate :With the COVID-19 crisis, various analyses and reflections have been published on the impact it may have on the shape and dynamics of the territory in the medium and long term, as well as on the development possibilities of the different territories. Many of them underline the opportunity that the crisis may represent to drastically reconsider, from scratch, the current paradigm of production and consumption, as well as the predominant territorial model. Although the temporal duration of the health crisis is a fundamental factor in the consolidation of these new trends, the current situation and probable evolution of the pandemic on a global scale leads us to affirm that, to a certain extent, "life after COVID-19" will be "life with COVID-19" (OECD, 2020), hence the need to reflect on the long-term consequences, and to propose a new territorial development approach that takes into account the different needs and changes posed by the new context. In the following pages we gather some of the main ideas of these contributions, focusing the analysis on some of the issues most closely related to the local development paradigm: local economies, environmental and social sustainability, the territorial model and the formation of social capital.

Roles of trade logistics to the development of international trade: A perspective of Nigeria

Background: Trade logistics service delivery is a key aspect in a country's economic success in both national and international trade activities. It is critical in attaining competitive advantages for businesses actively involved in international trade. The improvement of services, infrastructure and logistics has helped to reduce delays and cost in cross-border goods transactions, resulting in a considerable growth in international trade. Objective: The study investigates the contribution of trade logistics service delivery to the growth of international trade. Overall improvement of logistics services could be a significant step towards long-term facilitation of trade. Methods: Respondents were given questionnaires using a simple random selection technique. Structural equation modelling was then used to examine the structural relationships among variables that had been assessed. Findings: The results reveal that the delivery of trade logistics services has a substantial impact on trade development. Improving the logistics industry also allows for increased trade volume. Conclusion: It was suggested that governments, specifically middle-income nations, explore trade performance measurements in order to better enhance the exports and imports processes as well as to efficiently and effectively boost trade through the optimisation of the supply chain management.

A local general-equilibrium emergency response modeling approach for sub-Saharan Africa

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT : Swift response models are vital tools for emergency assistance agencies. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the lack of economic models for short-run policy relevant research to anticipate local impacts and design effective policy responses. The most direct effects of the pandemic and lockdown tended to be concentrated in urban areas;however, markets quickly transmitted impacts to rural areas as well as among poor and non-poor households. General equilibrium modeling is a tool of choice to capture indirect, spillover effects of exogenous shocks. This article describes an unusual micro general-equilibrium (GE) modeling approach that we developed to quickly simulate impacts of the pandemic and lockdowns on poor and non-poor rural and urban households across sub-Saharan Africa. Monte Carlo bootstrapping was used to construct four stylized regional GE models from 34 existing local economy-wide impact evaluation (LEWIE) models. Simulations revealed that the pandemic and policy responses to curtail its spread were likely to affect rural households at least as severely as urban households. Simulated income losses are greater in poor households in both urban and rural settings. These findings are relatively consistent across models spanning sub-Saharan Africa. Because COVID-19 impacts are so far-reaching, all types of economies experience downturns. Our research underlines the importance of modeling assumptions. We find total annualized impacts of around a 6-percent loss of GDP, smaller than estimates from single-country models that ignore price effects, such as SAM-multiplier models, but in line with The World Bank's baseline forecast of a 5.2% contraction in global GDP in 2020. The largest negative impacts are on poor rural households

Strengthening of Community Tourism Enterprises as a Means of Sustainable Development in Rural Areas: A Case Study of Community Tourism Development in Chimborazo

Community tourism (CT) constitutes a management model for tourism practice within communities, which was consolidated within Ecuador through the Plurinational Federation of Community Tourism of Ecuador (FEPTCE), with the Corporation for the Development of Community Tourism of Chimborazo (CORDTUCH) as the central network in the province of Chimborazo. This network, with 14 years of experience, has been committed to tourism as a mechanism for the diversification of the productive matrix of the peasant and indigenous communities that comprise it, integrating 1772 direct beneficiaries articulated in 10 CT organizations. Thus, they have managed to support actions related to land management, the equitable distribution of benefits, the valuation of natural and cultural heritage, and the organizational strengthening of communities. This support has contributed to the consolidation of “Alli Kawsay,” that is, working to achieve a full life for these human groups, generating an integral sustainability of their spaces, and contributing to the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from this other Andean perspective. The methodology employed focused on participatory action research (PAR), which allows for listening and obtaining information directly from key actors, recognizing the existence of knowledge that has not been published that corresponds to peoples’ ancestral knowledge. The aim of this research is to provide an overview of the current reality of CT within CORDTUCH, as well as the strengthening achieved in the community enterprises that comprise it. Among the main results achieved, it is highlighted that CT has become, for these communities, a tool of insurgency against extractive activities and the advance of the agricultural frontier that threatens these spaces, showing that the territories can be exploited under other approaches and through innovative proposals.

‘DIFFERENT THAN A REGULAR WHITE’: EXPLORING HEALTH-RELATED WHITE IDENTITY POLITICS IN RURAL APPALACHIA

Qualitative research can clarify how the racialized social system of Whiteness influences White Americans’ health beliefs in ways that are not easily captured through survey data. This secondary analysis draws upon oral history interviews (n=24) conducted in 2019 with Whites in a rural region of Appalachian western North Carolina. Interviewees discussed personal life history, community culture, health beliefs, and experiences with healthcare systems and services. Thematic analysis conveyed two distinct orientations toward health and healthcare: (1) bootstraps perspective, and (2) structural perspective. Whiteness did not uniformly shape interviewees’ perceptions of health and healthcare, rather, individual experiences throughout their life course and the racialized social system contributed to these Appalachian residents’ assessments of who is responsible for health and healthcare. Dissatisfaction with the Affordable Care Act was salient among interviewees whose life stories reflected meritocratic ideals, regardless of education level, age, or gender identity. They apprised strong work ethic as a core community value, assuming that personal contributions to the social system match the rewards that one receives in return for individual effort. Conversely, interviewees who were primarily socialized outside of rural Appalachia acknowledged some macro-level social determinants of health and expressed support for universal healthcare models. Findings suggest that there is not one uniform type of “rural White” within this region of Appalachia. Interventions designed to increase support for health equity promoting policies and programs should consider how regional and place-based factors shape White Americans’ sense of identity and subsequent health beliefs, attitudes, and voting behaviors. In this Appalachian region, some White residents’ general mistrust of outsiders indicates that efforts to garner more political will for health-promoting social programs should be presented by local, trusted residents who exhibit a structural perspective of health and healthcare.

The Importance of Food Attributes and Motivational Factors for Purchasing Local Food Products: Segmentation of Young Local Food Consumers in Hungary

Future trends in sustainable food consumption include the emergence of short food supply chains and growing interest in local food products. Among the drivers are the more urgent sustainability expectations, the emphasis on environmental and social responsibility, and the changing consumer needs, of which the desire for healthy and quality products, curiosity, uniqueness, and experience are the most prominent drivers. Today’s customers are becoming more aware and open to culinary discoveries and exotic delights. In this study, we investigated the importance of product attributes related to local products, and the motivational factors that determine purchase intentions. The significance of our work lies in the fact that we have studied young consumers’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. A quantitative consumer survey was conducted using a hybrid data collection method on a sample of 1756 respondents aged between 18 and 45 years. The questionnaire focused on product features, intrinsic and extrinsic motivational elements, and demographic characteristics. The results of our study provide strong evidence that the features associated with local products include but are not limited to the following: freshness, high quality, nutritional value, reliability, safety, evoking domestic flavours, naturalness, being healthy, environmentally friendly, etc. The motivational elements were grouped into four factors: hedonism, curiosity, nutritional value, and tradition. The main reasons for young respondents purchasing local food were taste and curiosity. Based on the results of the cluster analysis, we formed three groups having different features and different motivations for purchasing local products. Moreover, we had the opportunity to understand the attitudes and perceptions of young people towards buying local products. A key result of our study is that the “value-creators” segment considers local products to be healthy and nutritious.

Archaeological Attractions Marketing: Some Current Thoughts on Heritage Tourism in Mexico

Tourism activity in general, with the heritage tourism sector in particular, represented the second inflow of foreign currency to Mexico in 2019 (pre-pandemic), with more than USD 24 million. According to local polls, the main purpose of travel is leisure. However, more than half of tourists (local and foreigner) who visit Mexico enjoy/visit an archaeological site, a museum, and/or a local community. The latter illustrates that the heritage tourism sector is a vital axis within the national and local economy, as well as to promote its research, conservation, and diffusion. Researchers claim that it can also be an important component for the cultural revitalization of communities. However, how well does a community benefit from the tourist activity of any particular heritage/archaeological site? Can they feel any connection with it if only a handful of community members benefit from it? Using the Cancun example, we will talk about the concept of “heritage tourism”, not only for its economic value but also for its potential for social/cultural assessments for local heritage. Secondly, we talk about how archaeology is performed and how pre-Hispanic sites play along as a tourist attraction, particularly from the Mexican perspective.

A Study on the Comparison of Impressions of Tourist Information Signs Focusing on the Differences between National Languages in Japanese Regional Cities

From the perspective of universal design, signs should be easy to understand for all users. In Japan, tourist information signs have become increasingly multilingual in recent years as the number of tourists from other countries has increased. However, it is not clear whether the current signs are comprehensible to both Japanese and non-Japanese speakers. In this study, field and questionnaire surveys on signs were conducted in Matsue City, a regional city in Japan, and the evaluations of Japanese and non-Japanese speakers were compared. In the field survey, a caption evaluation method was used to evaluate the visual environment, and in the questionnaire survey, the SD method was used to evaluate the signs obtained in the field survey. The results indicated that non-Japanese speakers were more likely to focus on signs, and signs with diagrams and maps were evaluated more positively. In addition, the evaluation structure of signs was found to consist of four elements: “Harmonicity”, “Clarity”, “Visibility”, and “Comprehensibility”. “Harmonicity” was indicated to be as important as “Clarity” and “Visibility”. These results suggest that the replacement of text with diagrams on signs contributes to the improvement of impressions and is particularly effective for non-Japanese speakers.

Sustainable Tourism and Renewable Energy’s Potential: A Local Development Proposal for the La Florida Community, Huaral, Peru

Tourism contributes 10% to global gross domestic product (GDP), yet it generates 5% of all anthropogenic CO2, while 50 to 60% of carbon emissions are indirectly related to the sector. High levels of poverty afflict rural areas in developing countries, and sustainable tourism based on renewable energy is an ideal approach to generate local development. Our objectives are thus to gauge sustainable tourism’s influence on local development in the community of La Florida, Huaral, Peru and to evaluate the potential of renewable energy (solar and wind power) to propose an eco-efficient business alternative. A non-experimental, quantitative approach was used, in which 265 local residents completed a survey to ascertain their perspectives on the proposal. Moreover, the potential for solar and wind energy was measured to identify sustainable alternatives that residents might incorporate into local ventures. The results demonstrate a relationship between sustainable tourism and local development, as tourism activity enables community members to improve their quality of life and offers them the opportunity to generate new enterprises. Likewise, the assessment of renewable energy potential confirms its feasibility in this area.

BUSINESS CONDITIONS REGIONAL ANALYSIS WITH A REFERENCE TO POTENTIALS IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF SERBIA

Purpose - Tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world, and many developing countries saw it as the chance of economic development accelerating. However, tourism potential is different among countries as well as within one country. The scope of this paper is to reveal the regional differences in business conditions considering tourism development in Serbia. Methodology - Instead of using a wide number of different individual indicators measuring regions' tourism performances, it is more appropriate to use one composite indicator for depicting complex issues in regional tourism development - a composite index was developed using Data Envelopment Analysis. Data Envelopment Analysis is a sort of methodology that constructs an 'efficiency frontier' based on each region's individual data using mathematical linear programming. It determines the best practice by measuring the relative position of each of the regions in terms of the value of the set of observed indicators. Such presentation of the existing region's development in the tourism field and recommendations for possible improvement are clearer to the general public and non-scientific audience. The composite index is calculated as the weighted sum of the corresponding individual indicators, where the weights are endogenously determined by mathematical linear programming to obtain the maximum possible value. Findings - The results of DEA showed which parts of Serbia have the best business conditions for tourism development, considering the different factors (regional development index and subindexes). The results have been contrasted to chosen tourism statistics on the regional level, with a reference to the limitations during the research process. The proposed composite index is used to point the differences in regional business conditions which could be further influenced by government policies to tackle the specificities and needs of each separate region during tourism development. Contribution - DEA is a known methodology in regional development analysis, but it hasn't been so much used in business conditions regional analysis before. Having different indicators which shaped business climate within one region, using DEA one tried to analyze the entrepreneurship possibilities with a spatial reference to the tourism development. This is an important contribution in the context of local economic and social development especially within poorly developed regions in Serbia.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL FACTORS IMPACTING SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN ISRAEL

The development of local entrepreneurship has become an integral part of the urban culture, creating an interest in the impact of small and medium-sized enterprises on the local economy, the satisfaction of the residents and their desire to remain in the city and bring up the next generation in their place of residence. A qualitative research approach, using semi-structured interviews with stakeholders of small and medium-sized enterprises in several cities in Israel was adopted to examine the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises from an economic, and social perspective. The findings indicated that while the local businesses fulfill a role in the social fabric of the city by connecting residents to their urban place of residence, the small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling economically, since they are faced with heavy competition from chain stores, malls and trading centers established in the peripheral regions.

Regional differences in the economic impact of lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19: A case study for Colombia

This paper analyses the regional economic differences in the impact of lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 ordered by Colombia’s national gov­ernment. Using an input-output model, we estimate regional economic losses by extracting a group of formal and informal workers from different sectors of the economy. Results show regional differences in the impact of lockdown measures on their labour markets, local economies, and productive sectors. We also find that peripheral regions consolidate a higher number of informal workers in isolation than the interior regions. Regarding the economic impact, regional losses range between 5,4% of the GDP (Amazonia) and 6,3% (the Coffee Area and Antioquia). Alternate : Este artículo analiza las diferencias regionales en el impacto económico de las medidas de aislamiento ordenadas para evitar la propagación del COVID-19 en Colombia. Por medio de un modelo insumo-producto, se estiman las pérdidas económicas que resultan de extraer un grupo de empleados formales e informales de los distintos sectores de la economía. Los resultados señalan diferencias regio­nales en el impacto del confinamiento sobre el mercado laboral, las economías locales y sus sectores productivos. Se encuentra que las regiones periféricas con­centran un mayor número de informales en aislamiento que las regiones centrales. Las pérdidas económicas oscilan desde 5,4○% del PIB (Amazonía) hasta 6,3○% (Eje Cafetero y Antioquia).

Influence of Exchange Rate on Foreign Direct Investment Inflows: An Empirical Analysis Based on Co-Integration and Granger Causality Test

Although it is widely recognized that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows have a dominant effect on economic growth of host countries, the determinants of FDI inflows are still unclear. Especially, about the effect of exchange rate on FDI inflow, the results reached by scholars vary across countries or regions. It is of great practical and theoretical significance to explore the influencing effects of exchange rate on FDI inflow and identify the mechanisms that underlie them in close association with regional economic characters so as to help local government implement targeted government policies to achieve sustainable FDI inflow and sustainable economic growth. For this purpose, the influencing effects and the influencing mechanisms of the exchange rate on FDI inflows are investigated for Zhejiang province, China, over 1985–2019 by employing the co-integration tests, vector error correction models, Granger causality tests, and impulse response tests. Empirical results indicate that there are long-term stable and unidirectional causal relationship between the exchange rate and FDI inflow. Continuous appreciation of RMB against USD discourages FDI inflow. The mechanism which underlies the long-term relationship is the wealth effect, rather than the cost effect or the demand effect. By contrast, in the short run, neither the exchange rate nor the three influencing mechanism has a significant impact on FDI inflow. These results suggest policy recommendations for improving FDI by accumulating human capital and improving infrastructure. These findings are also applicable for other countries or regions with similar economic characters.