European shrinking rural areas: Key messages for a refreshed long-term vision

El artículo comienza con un debate sobre el concepto de "contracción” y sus orígenes, fuera del ámbito del desarrollo rural. A partir de ahí, se muestra la distribución de las zonas rurales en contracción en toda Europa. A continuación, se describen los procesos socioeconómicos que impulsan el declive demográfico en las zonas rurales, utilizando tanto la revisión bibliográfica del proyecto ESCAPE como los resultados de sus ocho estudios de caso. Seguidamente, se describe de forma breve la evolución de las intervenciones de la UE para paliar los efectos del declive demográfico, y se hacen algunas observaciones sobre el panorama político/de gobernanza actual. Concluimos considerando cómo una mejor comprensión del problema y del proceso de reducción puede conducir a intervenciones más eficaces, en el contexto de una visión renovada a largo plazo para el medio rural europeo. Este último debe reconocer plenamente el creciente abanico de oportunidades a las que se enfrentan las zonas rurales, a medida que la COVID-19 cambia estas y se aceleran las transformaciones en el comportamiento laboral y en la geografía de la actividad económica, y se cumplen los anteriores cambios graduales en la tecnología y los mercados.Alternate :The paper begins with a discussion of the concept of "shrinking”, and its origins, outside the realm of rural development. Building on this, the paper shows the distribution of shrinking rural areas across Europe. Using both the project's literature review and findings from its eight case studies the socio-economic processes which drive demographic decline in rural areas are then described. A brief account of the evolution of EU interventions to alleviate the effects of shrinking, and some remarks about the current policy/governance landscape follow. We conclude by considering how a better understanding of the problem and process of shrinking may lead to more effective interventions, within the context of a refreshed long-term vision for Rural Europe. The latter needs to fully acknowledge the expanding repertoire of opportunities confronting rural areas as COVID-19 changes in working behaviour, and the geography of economic activity, accelerate, and fulfil, previously incremental shifts in technology and markets.

Green Energy Consumption and Inclusive Growth: A Comprehensive Analysis of Multi-Country Study

Whenever there is a question of environmental quality and inclusive economic growth, green and renewable energy consumption leads the debate. This paper explores the relationship between green energy consumption and inclusive economic growth. It employs GMM panel data modelling frameworks for understanding the "green energy vis-a-vis -growth paradox". It uses post-COVID-19 data for eighty-three countries between 2010 and 2020. These countries are divided into high-, middle- and low-income as per the World Bank's classifications. The selected composite variables are consisting of GDP growth, poverty, income equality and employment measures. The study reports that green energy positively contributes to inclusive growth despite its lower contribution to overall energy usage in low-income countries. It observes that socio-digital inclusion and green energy together impact positively on inclusive growth in all income groups (low, middle and high). This means citizens of the selected countries are aware of the pros and cons of green energy that helps countries to mitigate the negative impacts of countries' transition to clean energy usage in terms of job losses, higher costs of clean energy and uncertainty to energy supply. Furthermore, results also reveal that green energy is significant contributor towards achieving inclusive growth, however it his highly significant in high income countries compared to other groups, showing its higher use in it. This comprehensive study is the first of its kind providing comparative analysis of 83 countries which explores and compares the interesting impacts of green energy consumption on inclusive growth in global data from the designated income groups.

Impact of community-based rehabilitation on attainment of sustainable development goals: The case of selected districts in Zimbabwe

Several factors including droughts, cyclones, COVID-19, and inconsistent economic policies contributed to the challenges faced by children and persons with disabilities (PwDs) in rural areas of Zimbabwe. Consequently, there was a higher risk of low quality of life, poverty, and limited access to basic services such as education and healthcare. Various community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programs were implemented to address the violation of rights and access to services and participation by PwDs in general. This study used a mixed method approach to analyze the impact of CBR programs taking into account the five themes of the United Nations Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN-CRPD): education, health, livelihoods, social protection, and participation. Respondents included core beneficiaries, caregivers, teachers, community health workers, and other key stakeholders. Results indicated that 61% were female respondents and 39% were males. Approximately 84% of rural families survive on less than USD 20.00 per month with the modal household having 5 to 9 members per household. Approximately 81% have received at least secondary education although some did not complete Ordinary Level mostly due to lack of funding for registration fees at the time of writing. However, none had tertiary education. The reach of CBR was as high as 92% of respondents received training on disability management;71% on income generating projects (IGPs) and 84% on Internal Savings and Lending (ISAL) although only 32% received funding. The study recommends funding for self-help groups, increased technical support, functional disability-friendly toilets, and orthopedic centers, scaling up of programs at a national level and adoption by the relevant agencies, decentralization by government officials to reduce red tape and accelerate programs, and training of trainers for additional capacity building. Improved latitude for NGOs and consistent economic policies are also needed to sustain IGPs.

How much does reducing inequality matter for global poverty?

The goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and working towards a more equal distribution of incomes are part of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Using data from 166 countries comprising 97.5% of the world's population, we simulate scenarios for global poverty from 2019 to 2030 under various assumptions about growth and inequality. We use different assumptions about growth incidence curves to model changes in inequality, and rely on a machine-learning algorithm called model-based recursive partitioning to model how growth in GDP is passed through to growth as observed in household surveys. When holding within-country inequality unchanged and letting GDP per capita grow according to World Bank forecasts and historically observed growth rates, our simulations suggest that the number of extreme poor (living on less than $1.90/day) will remain above 600 million in 2030, resulting in a global extreme poverty rate of 7.4%. If the Gini index in each country decreases by 1% per year, the global poverty rate could reduce to around 6.3% in 2030, equivalent to 89 million fewer people living in extreme poverty. Reducing each country's Gini index by 1% per year has a larger impact on global poverty than increasing each country's annual growth 1 percentage point above forecasts. We also study the impact of COVID-19 on poverty and find that the pandemic may have driven around 60 million people into extreme poverty in 2020. If the pandemic increased the Gini index by 2% in all countries, then more than 90 million may have been driven into extreme poverty in 2020.

Adoption of online learning platforms for inclusive growth - post Covid-19 approach

The enhanced use of ICT for diverse purposes during COVID-19 has drastically transformed the scenario of doing work from home as well as in each and every sphere of life. Internet has become life line in the COVID-19 lockdown for everyone and emerged as necessity to remain active even during stay at home. Education is directly concerned with the human development is the education sector. It is among the leading sector, where maximum use of internet is being used by various online platforms for learning both at national and international levels. In the current scenario, every educational institution be it school, college, university, research and technical institutes are utilizing e platforms for teacher learner interaction with enhanced adoptability. However, there are various challenges owing to the inadequate infrastructure in terms of internet connectivity, speed, cost and access particularly in the rural and remote areas. In this context, the present paper examines the present scenario in the wake of trends and challenges to devise measures to post COVID-19 scenario to ensure vast reach and access for inclusive growth. © 2023 Contributors and Manakin Press. All rights reserved.

REFLECTIONS OF COVID-19 ON MSMES IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES: A CASE OF INDIA

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has taken the entire global economy into uncertainty and the state of affairs in India is also one and the same. The pandemic crisis has adversely affected all sections of the economy in general and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in particular. The MSME sector is the nerve centre of all major economies in the world and it plays a vital role in the economic progress of developing countries. It generates huge employment and contributes significantly to the Gross Domestic Product. This paper is a theoretical exposition that aims to review the repercussions of COVID-19 on MSMEs. It also deals with the significance and the developments of MSMEs and the challenges encountered in its progressive path. The role of MSMEs in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the developing as well as underdeveloped economies in the wake of COVID-19 is also deliberated. The MSMEs are remarkably contributing to the socio-economic objectives of any country such as job creation, sustainable growth and alleviation of poverty. The chaos caused by covid 19 demanded the revitalizing of the MSMEs with modern technology, market competitiveness and export orientation. Apart from the various governmental measures initiated globally to protect the MSME sector, it is still confronted with multiple problems and requires more stimuli to strengthen it further. © 2022 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Gendered laws and labour force participation

The laws that discriminate against women represent one of the most prevalent forms of gender inequality, hindering women’s empowerment and economic outcomes. In this regard, this paper sheds light on the relationship between legal constraints on women and various labour force outcomes. Based on a global sample of countries over 1970–2019, the results show that legal gender equality helps countries bridge the gender gap in labour force participation. More-gender equal laws (i) translate into a larger share of women in the workforce, and (ii) do not have a negative effect on that of men. As a result, legal gender equality also boosts labour force participation on aggregate. These patterns are long-lasting for upwards of 10 years. The findings point to a win-win situation: As countries repeal the laws that discriminate against women, which could be achievable in the shorter term, they can attain more inclusive and higher economic growth. This is even more important in the post-Covid-19 period, considering the adverse effects of the pandemic on gender inequality and economic growth. © 2022 International Monetary Fund.

Investment in ICT Infrastructure and Inclusive Growth in Africa

The Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) sector has now more than ever become a critical driver of sustained inclusive growth in Africa, especially given the post-Covid-19 recovery efforts. The digital economy can serve as a veritable tool to help drive poverty reduction, inequality, and unemployment in Africa but limited investment in the ICT sector has not generated the expected inclusive growth effect. Therefore, this paper investigates the impact of ICT infrastructure on inclusive growth in Africa. Predicated on inclusive growth analytics, the Blundell-Bond system generalized method of moments estimator was used to analyse data covering 46 African countries between 2000 and 2019. The main finding from the empirical analysis is that ICT infrastructure exerts a positive and significant impact on inclusive growth in Africa generally and specifically across sub-regions within the continent. On average, an increase in ICT infrastructure investment stimulates inclusive growth by an average of 0.4% to 0.7%. The results were robust to using higher moments of residuals and subsample considerations. Our empirical outcome makes a strong case for increased ICT infrastructure investment especially in rural areas to generate growth that is inclusive in the region as well as to take full advantage of emerging opportunities such as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.

Pathway choice and post-Covid tourism: Inclusive growth or business as usual?

Until the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic struck, international tourism was seen as a driver of economic development, government revenue, employment and livelihoods for many countries in the Global South. This Commentary considers the choice of pathway facing policymakers for the post-Covid tourism recovery (further risks notwithstanding of newer variants such Omicron and vaccine shortfalls causing a globally uneven recovery of tourism). The paper specifically focusses on tourism-led inclusive growth and examines this timely opportunity for reflection on the tourism sector and how more benefits may be retained by local host communities. Given pre-Covid trends to increasing concentration of the tourism industry, larger-scale resort developments and the continuing role played by tourism multinational corporations, it is unclear whether or not policymakers will rush to open borders with tourism still seen as getting back to ‘business as usual’ with benefits continuing to accrue to multinational tourism hotel groups, tour operators and airlines, rather than to local communities and smaller businesses.

Investment Technologies for Ensuring the Inclusive Growth of the National Economy

The study aims to devise methodical and practical recommendations on using investment technologies as a means to ensure the inclusive growth of the national economy. Based on the authors’ approach to the notion and the role of investment technologies for ensuring the inclusive growth of the national economy, we provide recommendations for implementing economic methods, approaches, and instruments at relevant stages of the investment process. At the stage of determining the goals and areas of investment, it is advisable to invest in physical and human capital, knowledge economy, housing construction, and export development. At the stage of garnering resources to invest in investment projects, it is important to pay attention to the government support of investment projects and public–private partnership. At the stage of the realization of investment projects, it is recommended to secure a weighted growth of trade protectionism. Under Industry 4.0, there are broad opportunities to form new assessment tools for investment technologies. Thus, we introduce the author’s methodology to assess investment technologies based on the matrix method using the digital technology of Big Data. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Data Centers: Market Trends and Contribution to the World Economy Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The chapter investigates trends in the global data center market in the context of data centers as drivers of inclusive economic and social growth, enhancing business and social communication in the world economy, which has become distinct during the pandemic lockdowns. Regardless of challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the data center market is experiencing an acceleration in demand for data center services, cloud services, in the first place. The study identifies the following main trends in the global data center market: consolidation in the data center industry arising from M&As, that grow in number and increase in transaction values;a growth in hyper-scale data centers;formation by large-scale companies their global data center networks by transnationalization of activities to optimize their functions and reduce operating costs. The Russian data center market is classified as emerging, with its growth rates outstripping the global market in 2020. The contributors reveal several current trends in its development that, on the one hand, are consistent with global trends, but, on the other, have national specifics, involving the dominance of the capital cities in the regional structure of the data center market, with the predicted stability of this trend at least in the short term. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Adaptation Potential of Inclusive Growth of the Regions of the South of Russia in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The ongoing economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its asymmetric impact on some territories evoke research interest in identifying factors that determine the resilience of regional economies to external shocks. Solving this problem implies the need to study the specifics of the territory adaptation capabilities as well as measures taken by regional authorities aimed at entering the trajectory of inclusive growth. The research goal was to assess the adaptation potential of regions to the coronavirus crisis and determine the development trajectory as a result of this potential realization. The authors determined directions of the development of adaptation potential of regions (“bounce forward” or “bounce backward”). For this purpose, the analysis of regional changes in financial results of organizations, volumes of industrial production and provision of services, and the unemployment rate was carried out. As a result, it was revealed that the “bounce forward” is characteristic of the South of Russia regions with a high level of socio-economic potential and a diversified economy. For the regions with a low level of socio-economic development, adaptation opportunities were expressed in a “bounce backward”. This research contributes to the study of behavioral trajectories of regional economies in the conditions of the coronavirus crisis. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

G20 in the Second Decade of the 21st Century. Steering the World Towards Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development

The COVID pandemic and global lockdown of 2020 strongly hit the system of global governance. The subsequent large-scale economic crisis highlighted the accumulated problems in public health and global economy, accelerated inequality growth, undermined progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, and questioned the prevailing globalization paradigm. The system of international institutions in general and the G20 as the main cooperation forum of the world's leading economies are often criticized for their inability to effectively address crises. However, as shown in this article, the G20 managed to quickly implement a coordinated set of large-scale measures to overcome the pandemic and its consequences and became a coordinator of anti-crisis actions. The author concludes that the unique characteristics of the G20 will allow it to remain the flagship of international efforts to ensure strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth of the world economy, and suggests a number of priorities for the G20 agenda.

Destination management in a post-covid environment

Purpose: This paper seeks to reflect on the impacts of the pandemic on the management of tourist destinations, discussing the role of destination-management organizations in the tourism development model, as well as the challenges that these organizations must address to ensure an effective construction of a more sustainable and competitive tourism. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is based on a literature review linking destination management with pandemic and post-pandemic responses. Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedent shock to the tourism industry's growth model since World War II, challenging tourism stakeholders (destinations and companies) with several threats and opportunities to their future competitiveness. In addition to the massive impacts in terms of business development, the abrupt reduction of tourism demand and the significative loss of jobs, the pandemic also caused significant disruption in terms of destination-management models. In less than four months, the focus of Governments and Destination Management Organizations shifted from defining development models compatible with improving the quality of life of residents due to the emergence of the so-called overtourism phenomenon, to the urgent need to support the industry's survival, to preserve jobs and ensure conditions of safety for tourists and workers. Originality/value: Demonstrates the need for a profound change in the paradigm of destination management so that the sector is prepared to face future shocks. It also proposes further discussion on the role of destination management in the recovery process of the tourism sector in global terms, given the challenges that these organizations face. The article also considers the ways in which destination management can be a fundamental tool in the process of building a more inclusive, sustainable and competitive future. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.