Can Chinese banks expand their loan portfolio while maintaining loan quality and profitability post-global financial crisis?

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the relationships between loan growth, loan losses and net income after the 2008 global financial crisis. This study further conducts a comparative analysis by considering the period of COVID-19. Design/methodology/approachThis study uses panel data models such as one-step system GMM, random effects, fixed effects and OLS, with a data set of 131 Chinese commercial banks from 2009 to 2020. FindingsThe study finds no significant relationship between loan growth and future loan losses. However, after adjusting loan loss by net interest income (NII-adjusted loan loss), the study reveals that loan growth in the subsequent year decreases if NII-adjusted loan loss increases. The study also demonstrates the positive effect of loan growth on net income as newly expanded loans are funded at similar costs but offered at a lower rate compared with existing loans. During COVID-19, loan growth and net income were higher than in previous years. Originality/valueThe findings suggest that Chinese banks can increase lending to support the economy without sacrificing loan quality, emphasizing the importance of maintaining and enhancing credit policies and practices. Chinese banks should also continue to refine their pricing strategies for loans and deposits. The findings also imply that China's policy responses to the impact of COVID-19 could serve as lessons for future policy decisions.

Governing Rural Poverty on Urban Streets: Guangzhou's Management of Beggars in the Reform Era

This study investigates how discourses on panhandling intertwine with the governance of beggars on China's urban streets. It focuses on local policy implementation in Guangzhou city, led by the bureau of civil affairs along with its centres for "custody and repatriation” and "assistance stations.” The study aims to understand how the state regulates panhandling and engages with beggars in public spaces. Exploring the internal logic of the state's approach and how it has changed during the 40 years of reform, it also considers the junctures at which contradictions and conflicts arise. Based on fieldwork data (2011 to 2014) and the analysis of government documents, yearbooks, academic and mass media discourses, I argue that the state's treatment of panhandlers poses a conundrum as welfare measures conflict with control. While several layers of state regulation and actors contradict each other and create grey areas of state-induced informality, people who beg for alms are continuously criminalized and excluded from public space.

As contrarreformas e a reprodução social na pandemia da Covid-19

Este artigo busca compreender a conjuntura na qual nos encontrávamos quando a pandemia atinge o território brasileiro, procurando analisar suas consequências para a reprodução social tanto do capital, quanto dos trabalhadores. A pesquisa se pauta em estudos bibliográficos e documental, guiando-se nos passos do materialismo histórico-dialético. Busca evidenciar, inicialmente, as transformações no mundo do trabalho que vêm sendo implementadas desde o processo de redemocratização do país. A seguir, procura expor elementos que apontavam para o aumento das desigualdades e a piora das condições de vida dos trabalhadores, além de evidenciar algumas das frações da classe trabalhadora especialmente afetada. Os elementos estruturantes que impactam sobre a reprodução social resultam das contrarreformas implantadas, e não dos impactos da pandemia em si;as ações tomadas para o enfrentamento da crise objetivavam a manutenção do capital, em detrimento do trabalho.Alternate :The article seeks to understand the conjuncture in which we found ourselves when the pandemic hits Brazilian territory, seeking to analyze it's consequences for social reproduction, both for capital and for workers. The research that resulted in the article is based on bibliographic and documentary studies, guided by the steps of historical-dialectical materialism. It seeks to initially highlight the changes in the world of work that have been implemented since the country's redemocratization process. Next, it seeks to expose elements that pointed to the increase in inequalities and the worsening of the living conditions of workers, in addition to highlighting some of the fractions of the working class especially affected. The structuring elements that impact on social reproduction result from the implemented counter-reforms, and not from the impacts of the pandemic itself;the actions taken to face the crisis aimed at maintaining capital, to the detriment of work.

Negative Integration Is What States Make of It? Tackling Labour Exploitation in the German Meat Sector

In this article, we trace Germany's recent reform (and its precursors) seeking to remedy precarious working conditions in the meat sector. Focusing on an extreme case of labour exploitation, and asking how unique it is, allows us to uncover which institutional features of EU Member States condition the liberalization effects of negative integration. We thereby contribute to the literature on Europeanization, which has mainly emphasized weak industrial relations to account for the German meat industry's reliance on cheap migrant labour. Complicated enforcement structures, demanding requirements of administrative cooperation, and the complexities of an evolving case law, we argue, further contributed to the precarious conditions of migrant workers in Germany. Major COVID outbreaks in slaughterhouses created the political momentum for reform which specifically addresses this administrative side of labour protection, but remains limited to the meat sector – despite similar patterns of labour exploitation elsewhere.

Path dependence or steps for major reforms? Pandemic-related social protection measures in ten OECD countries

This article examines with empirical evidence the social protection measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in ten welfare states in the Global North. We analysed the potential similarities and differences in responses by welfare regimes. The comparative study was conducted with data from 169 measures, collected from domestic sources as well as from COVID-19 response databases and reports. In qualitative terms, we redeveloped Hall's theory on the distinction between first-, second- and third-order changes. In accordance with the path-dependence thesis, we show systematically that the majority of the studied changes (91%) relied on a pre-pandemic tool demonstrating flexibility within social security systems. The relative share of completely new instruments was notable but modest (9%). Thematically, the social protection measures converged beyond traditional welfare regimes, particularly among the European welfare states. Somewhat surprisingly, the changes to social security systems related not just to emergency aid to mitigate traditional risks but, to a greater extent, also to prevent new risks from being actualised.

Labour market dualization and social policy in pandemic times: an in-depth analysis of private consumption services in Europe

PurposeThis article contributes to the debate on how social policies and labour market regulation have been used to limit the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic by focusing on one specific economic segment of European labour markets: private consumption services, such as trade, tourism, catering and other support services.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis combines mixed methods and a variety of sources. First, we built a set of indicators from the EU-LFS microdata for 2019 and the 2018 Eurostat "Structure of earnings survey” and performed a cluster analysis (k-means) on the dimensions and indicators considered. Second, we elaborated EU-LFS data covering 2019 and 2020 (by quarter) and OECD 2020 data, and finally we traced Covid-related policy reforms for the period March 2020–December 2021 and analysed documents and information collected in different policy repositories.FindingsThe paper shows the relevance and characteristics of private consumption services in different countries, demonstrating that so-called labour market "outsiders” are highly represented in this sector and illustrates the policies adopted to respond to the pandemic in different European countries. The paper asks whether this emergency has been a window of opportunity to redefine regulation in this sector, making it more inclusive. It demonstrates, however, that the common approach in Europe has been dominated by temporary, short-term and one-off measures, which do not represent major changes to the social security schemes that were in place before the pandemic.Originality/valueThis article builds on the literature on labour market dualization, but approaches the concept from a different perspective – one not centred on the nature of employment relations (stable/unstable) but on economic sectors/branches. This article does not, therefore, discuss in general terms what happened to labour market outsiders during the pandemic, but rather focus attention on a specific group of workers who are highly exposed to risks stemming from dualization: those employed in the private consumption services. The economic sector perspective is an integrative way of framing dualization which is still under-researched.

Women and the Justice Divide in Asia Pacific: How can Informal and Formal Institutions Bridge the Gap?

Across Asia and the Pacific, legal pluralist systems meet both cultural norms and address injustices at the local level. What is the capacity of these pluralist systems to provide justice and mitigate discrimination against women? This article examines women's experiences across five countries to identify the factors that enable and constrain women's engagement with legal pluralist justice systems in the Asia-Pacific region. Drawing on examples of women's individual and collective attempts to access justice specifically concerning custody, land, and violence, this article identifies three persistent conditions that perpetuate women's inability to access justice: the absence of gender mainstreaming resources in pluralist legal systems, most notably in rural, remote, and impoverished communities;cultural and religious preference for women's underrepresentation in decision-making;and women's low representation in justice-related civil service positions.

Rethinking the time spent at school: Could flexibility improve engagement and performance for students and teachers?

Is it possible to reduce the time students spend in classrooms and schools? Would such a reduction be better for learning and retaining teachers? How should learning be more flexibly enacted in the post-pandemic era? This article discusses the possibilities of rethinking school participation and calls for schools to reconsider the necessity and costs/benefits of forcing students and teachers to be physically present in schools for the traditional 5 days a week.

Research on blended teaching reform based on computational thinking

The outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted traditional teaching methods in schools, and blended teaching in the post-pandemic has gradually become a hot topic of research in higher education. Computational thinking, as one of the core literacies to be acquired in the 21st century, can help students realize the importance of computers as well as enable them to solve specific problems more effectively when facing real-life situations. The article takes the C language programming course as an example, analyzes the problems faced in teaching in the post-pandemic, introduces the concept of computational thinking and integrates it into all aspects of blended teaching design, pays attention to students' individual differences, and proposes a blended teaching model based on computational thinking and puts it into practice. The results show that this teaching model can improve students' learning performance, exercise students' computational thinking skills, and promote blended teaching reform and students' personalized development. © 2022 IEEE.

School and community reforms that help navigate the COVID-19 crisis

Twenty-five percent of high school students have reported emotional and mental health issues during the pandemic. Many students have had to face illness, loss, food insecurity, and economic hardship resulting from the pandemic. They have experienced anxiety, fear, and depression attributable to long-term school closures, isolation, quarantines, and stay-at-home orders. School-based mental health (SMH) can be viewed as an emerging need in response to this increasing national health crisis. This chapter discusses the importance of SMH services for children in schools, highlights the use of tiered systems to prevent and respond to mental health concerns of students and provides specific considerations for school and community for creating integrated systems. Evidence-based practices (EBPs) have a strong scientific basis for their use, as they are supported by high-quality research that offers empirical demonstrations of effectiveness. As a response, schools across the United States are adopting tiered systems of support, consisting of EBPs, to address systematically the growing diversity of students' needs, particularly in light of Covid-19's effects on students' academic, behavioral, and social-emotional well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and homelessness: Global perspectives on the 'dual pandemic

Homelessness has been identified as a 'social evil' worldwide, a growing social pandemic in itself. Unfortunately, it needs a large-scale infectious outbreak like COVID-19 to alarm us about the possible health risks to the homeless. As COVID-19 strikes the world hard, and societies appear concerned about economies and international relations, millions of homeless globally suffer from their unique vulnerabilities, either on open streets or temporary shelters. When pandemics cross paths with homelessness, a critical zone of unmet needs is created, that needs urgent attention from stakeholders at all levels. Accountability, empathy, understanding, awareness, and research can help influence policy reforms. COVID-19 will surely modify pandemic legislation all across the world. It remains to be seen whether the challenges of the homeless and their special subgroups (such as the mentally ill) get addressed or not. The societal blind eye turned towards them, enhanced by socioeconomic class difference and capitalism, can be counterproductive, to eventually boomerang the larger community as the viral spread will not respect these arbitrary human-made classes. Keeping that in context, this chapter summarizes the global problems of homelessness and the ongoing pandemic, their special needs, the policy implications so far, and the possible way forward. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Smart Education Environment Integrating IoT in Architectural Education Adapting Global Competence

Information and communication technology (ICT) advancements have an impact on many aspects of life and society, including the educational system. A key component of smart cities and the educational system alike, the IoT (Internet of Things) is becoming increasingly crucial. The COVID-19 epidemic, which began in March 2020, has accelerated educational reform and compelled institutions of higher learning to integrate ICT. Despite this, the Internet of Things (IoT) is still in its infancy in the education system, and its influence is still largely unknown. The research is an attempt to explore the potential of IoT in architectural education pedagogy which is primarily relying on creativity and innovation. Re-thinking about the student-centered pedagogies which acquires critical thinking skills, polite communication skills, conflict resolution skills, perspective taking skills, and adaptability towards global competence is the demand of the time which is the focus of the research. The outcome of the article is to propose a conceptual framework for smart education environment integrating IoT in Architectural Education adapting Global Competence for the future generations. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Neoliberalism crisis and fundamental shifts in Africa's higher education provision in the 21st century

This chapter explores the circumstances in the global south that have been reshaping teaching and learning practices, with particular focus on the African context. Anchored on a literature review strategy, the chapter explores some of the key pressure points in the higher education context that have been the trigger of reforms in the core practice of teaching and learning in recent years. In particular, the chapter discusses the neoliberalism crisis associated with the coronavirus pandemic in higher education, drawing attention to the inequalities that it ignited: not all students were affected in the same way;not all universities or colleges were affected in the same way;and not all students had the learning technologies required to carry on their education in the same way. Alongside the COVID-19 concerns, the chapter reflects on other pressure points for change including developments in digital technologies and the internet and changing students and changing higher education markets in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that these forces are among a wave of influences that higher education institutions across the African continent cannot ignore. They form a blend of neoliberal reforms that are pressurising academics to change pedagogical models and threatening certain core values of a university: academic freedom, autonomy, and truth. The chapter develops the argument that although multiple pressures-arising from the pervasive influences of technology and the COVID-19 pandemic-are mounting on the higher education sector to reform its pedagogical practices, it should not be at the expense of perpetuating injustices, particularly among students. © 2022 by Byron A. Brown.

The reform of social protection in Morocco following the coronavirus pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affirmed the importance of social protection. To combat the effects of the pandemic, countries have taken exceptional measures to preserve health and have introduced or adapted measures to provide income support to people who have lost their sources of income. The pandemic has also highlighted the weaknesses of the social protection system in Morocco, introduced in 1940, which is composed of a contributory system whose financing depends on social security contributions and regulations, and a subsidiary system which takes into covers people who do not have access to contributory basic social insurance. The kick-off for the implementation of the social protection reform in Morocco was given in April 2021 and should be spread over five years. The objective of this reform is to reorganize and improve the operation of the various social protection instruments with a view to greater effectiveness and increased efficiency and also to create new components likely to extend coverage. This large-scale reform initiated by Morocco requires an annual envelope estimated at 51 billion dirhams, which constitutes a major challenge for the country's public finances, which have been hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

REFORMING THE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN GREECE: AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF LAW 4706/2020

Good corporate governance undoubtedly is a key to sustainable private sector development and a basic element for healthy firms (Kostyuk, Braendle, & Capizzi, 2018). However, in Greece, the relevant legal framework was until recently anachronistic, whilst recent scandals in the Greek capital market revealed the regulatory gaps in the internal and external control mechanisms applied by listed companies and exacerbated the need for a significant reform in the corporate governance legal framework in force. The purpose of this article is to enrich the literature in this area and to present an overview of the state of corporate governance in Greece and particularly the innovations introduced by the new Law 4706/2020 on corporate governance as well as the good practices recommended by the recently adopted new code. By comparing the previous and the new corporate governance laws, as well as the existing literature in the field, our paper concludes that the adaptation to the general principles of corporate governance is quite difficult for most of the traditional Greek firms which are based on family ties. Furthermore, the financial crisis, and the current COVID-19 pandemic, created a highly unfavourable and challenging economic environment for Greek firms. © 2022 by Authors.

Rational Use of Russia's Own Workforce from the Perspective of Environmental Economics

The paper is devoted to assessing the possibilities of using labor resources in the Russian economy, when considering it as a closed ecosystem. Due to the sanctions, which will significantly limit the possibility of using foreign labor, the issue of rational and economical use of labor resources becomes relevant. The basis for the reproduction of the number of employed is the permanent population of the country. As factors influencing the dynamics of the process, control actions are chosen in the form of employment levels of the population. The processes of aging of the labor force in Russia are predicted as a result of the pension reform due to an increase in the average age of the employed by about one year. The forecast estimate of the economy's additional annual demand for personnel shows, on average, a one-third decrease in the volume of annual demand for personnel. The simulation modeling of the forecast number of the employed population in Russia made it possible to assess the potential volume of labor resources that the country can count on in the future. This will help to make scientifically based management decisions to improve the efficiency of the use of available labor resources. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Sustainable Employment and Livelihoods for All

The coronavirus pandemic has not only caused unemployment and livelihood issues, among others, but also has exposed the (pre-pandemic) need for greater employment opportunities and working conditions, and social protection measures. This special issue on ‘Sustainable Employment and Livelihoods for All' discusses how in/formal workers' lives are impacted and calls for immediate policy reforms and innovative programs to salvage and prevent millions of people from further plunging into poverty.

Observation of Online vs Offline Learning Experience

As the outbreak of COVID-19 increased in various countries. India is also majorly affected with the COVID-19 by that education system is affected, and it has transferred the traditional face-to-face teaching to online education platform. Considering student's perspective on both online and offline learning mode in India, we conducted a survey to collect the data. In that survey questionnaire, focus was on the factors and situation which can affect the education system. Using that data, we used Kruskal Wallis test to collect the evidence for which learning mode is better and Naive Bayes Algorithm, we were able to conclude the results. © 2022 IEEE.

Exploring austerity and planning reforms: insight from UK stakeholders

This paper explores the extent to which UK planning system reforms introduced during austerity affected the expectations, purposes and outcomes for and of planning. The perspectives of UK-wide planning system stakeholders were sought and collected through an extensive questionnaire. The findings indicate that though most reforms were welcomed in principle, the anticipated benefits had not been delivered. Instead, a loss of experienced staff and capacity, and the favouring of a neoliberal ideology that inadvertently constrained the purposes and delivery of the reforms, affecting in turn, planning's evolving raison d'être, occurred. With frequent mentioning of austerity as a needed tool for financial management, given the current national economic conditions e.g., in the UK (living cost crisis, post covid need for economic growth, public funding of facilities), the relevance of this paper is in warning about the risks towards planning reforms, that must now be more precautionary, and more evidence driven, during austerity. © 2023 ICE Publishing: All rights reserved.

A Cross-Country Policy-Maker Perspective on Corporate Restructuring Laws Under Stress

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a period of rapid experimentation with insolvency law settings, designed to prevent a wave of insolvencies. Although governments acted quickly to keep debtors out of insolvency processes, they did not alter high levels of underlying indebtedness. In this worsening economic climate characterized by low growth, high inflation, fiscal tightening and high indebtedness, it appears, in certain countries, that these measures may have deferred, rather than prevented, high insolvency levels. A key economic legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic is the extensive fiscal stimulus and the resulting budgetary constraints this has placed on governments. In this context, there is increasing evidence of the importance of frameworks for out-of-court debt workouts as a complement to formal corporate restructuring frameworks. © 2023, The Author(s).