The Initial Decision to Build the Supersonic Transport

Purpose This study aims to understand the perceived emotions of human–artificial intelligence (AI) interactions in the private sector. Moreover, this research discusses the transferability of these lessons to the public sector. Design/methodology/approach This research analysed the comments posted between June 2022 and June 2023 in the global open Reddit online community. A data mining approach was conducted, including a sentiment analysis technique and a qualitative approach. Findings The results show a prevalence of positive emotions. In addition, a pertinent percentage of negative emotions were found, such as hate, anger and frustration, due to human–AI interactions. Practical implications The insights from human–AI interactions in the private sector can be transferred to the governmental sector to leverage organisational performance, governmental decision-making, public service delivery and the creation of economic and social value. Originality/value Beyond the positive impacts of AI in government strategies, implementing AI can elicit negative emotions in users and potentially negatively impact the brand of private and government organisations. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research bridging the gap by identifying the predominant negative emotions after a human–AI interaction.

Can Cyprus overcome its health-care challenges?

Theoretical and empirical research on the economic benefits of ICT is represented in academic and policy‐related publications worldwide. Most of these studies assess the impact of ICT in countries as a cohort and most conclude that ICT is indeed a key driver for economic growth. Nevertheless, we are of the opinion that there is room for more research on this issue, especially pertaining to developing countries such as Malaysia, in light of the extensive ICT‐based investments undertaken by the country in recent years. Consequently, we examined the effect of ICT investment carried out by both the private and public sector on Malaysia's economic growth over the period 1992 – 2006 using the ARDL econometrics approach. The empirical results suggest that ICT has had a significant impact on Malaysia's economic growth during this period of time, suggesting good payoffs from the investment. Specifically, ICT investments made by the private sector seem to have contributed significantly to the country's growth compared to investments made by the government. This implies that the private sector has adapted well to the various ICT‐based policies implemented in the country over the years. This also shows that Malaysia's economy is being driven by the private sector, especially by the manufacturing and wholesale industries. We are however of the opinion that in order to sustain economic growth leveraged against ICT, more concerted efforts need to be made in order to escalate ICT diffusion in the country. Such initiatives will ensure that the value potential of ICT investments in the economy is maximized, due to greater ICT‐enabled community that will translate to escalated economic growth.

The Arctic today is characterized by a complex set of economic, political, and societal dynamics connecting actors both within and outside of the region. South Korea is sometimes referred to as a ‘latecomer’ to the arena of Arctic affairs. Nevertheless, it has made great strides in the past 15 years to make up for this ‘deficiency’. It opened an Arctic research station and established an Arctic scientific research program, constructed its own icebreaker, became an observer to the Arctic Council, and built an extensive bilateral network with Arctic states. Moreover, South Korea became the first Asian nation to publish an Arctic policy master plan. The country has several domestic actors with interests in the Arctic region such as the central and provincial governments, academics, and the private sector. As such, this paper examines South Korea’s activities and interests in the Arctic region. Further, it looks at the placement of the Arctic region within South Korea’s foreign policy, especially its ‘Eurasia Initiative’, and the specific roles the country could play in the Arctic governance structure.

This article discusses the Huluwotan ceremony in Mekarsari Village, Bandung Regency, which is studied through commodification theory. The Huluwotan ceremony is seen as a commodity formed through economic and political interests, regardless of the positive and negative values caused. This research was designed using a qualitative method. This method involves the researcher in direct experience with informants in the field, as well as a data collection design that provides more space for informants. The results showed that the huluwotan ceremony experienced commodification through the DesaWisata program which had an impact on the economic and political dynamics in Mekarsari Village. The economic impact can be seen in the orientation of traditional ceremonies developed into tourism commodities so that ritual procedures develop dampen event funds at least also change to corporate sponsorship. While the political impact is seen when the management of the huluwotan ceremony becomes the responsibility. Village Head. The power to appoint the traditional leader of the huluwotan ceremony lies with the Village Head. These economic and political dynamics also produce new meanings among the community because the current customary leader reconstructs the history and symbols of the huluwotan ceremony, causing opposition from the previous customary leader. Nevertheless, it is the new meaning that complements the uniqueness of the huluwotan ceremony to become a tourist commodity so that the huluwotan ceremony continues to survive and develop in Mekarsari Village.

Since the early 1990s the world has seen an explosion of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) between North and South. Mark Manger argues that current North-South PTAs are not primarily about liberalizing exports as is usually assumed. Rather, they are driven by the needs of foreign direct investment. The interests of multinational firms in investing in developing countries converge with the desires of the host countries to attract foreign capital. Yet to be politically feasible in the developed country, North-South PTAs must discriminate against third countries. PTAs thus create a competitive dynamic between countries, as excluded firms lobby their governments to restore access to important investment locations, leading to yet more preferential agreements. Based on extensive research in Europe, Japan, and the Americas and interviews with decision-makers in governments and the private sector, this book offers a new perspective on the roles of the state and corporations in international trade.

Aim: Governance is at the very apex of human society, wherein, the success of every facet of human life is anchored highly on improved government that is answerable to the needs and interests of the citizens. Good governance, therefore, impacts immensely on human life, as it creates conducive political, social, and economic environments for human survival and development. Every citizen is thereafter able to feel part and parcel of decision-making and all the activities and programs of the government. This paper, sought to articulate the role and obligations of citizens towards improving good governance in Kenya. Methods: The research is grounded upon a theoretical perspective using the literature drawn from various scholars from the year 2014 to 2024. The paper relied on secondary sources such as books, journals, reports and government records through government anti-corruption agencies. Results: Views from stakeholders such as government anti-corruption agencies, private sector, civil service organization, among others are considered. However, the people of Kenya in their diversity have been left aside in almost all the reviewed literatures, something which the paper believe is the reason for the word “mitigate corruption” instead of end corruption. The paper thereby, after perusing these literacy records from 2014 to 2024, is convinced that the people have cardinal role to play to end corruption. Conclusion: The study conclude that people’s involvement is required for any genuine move toward realizing the envisaged good governance in Kenya. Recommendations: A framework that allows the people to be at the center of decision-making in government’s activities should be sought. People must refuse manipulation and ethnic party politics, enforce the implementation of Kenyan 2010 constitution, and report any corrupt practices regardless of who is the victim. More studies should be conducted especially on the roles of citizens in ending not mitigating corruption.

While in the beginning of the environmental debate, conflicts over environmental and technological issues had primarily been understood in terms of ‘‘risk’’, over the past two decades the relevance of ignorance, or nonknowledge, was emphasized. Referring to this shift of attention to nonknowledge the article presents two main findings: first, that in debates on what is not known and how to appraise it different and partly conflicting epistemic cultures of nonknowledge can be discerned and, second, that drawing attention to nonknowledge in technology conflicts results in significant institutional effects and new constellations of actors in public debates. To illustrate and substantiate this political dynamics of nonknowledge we draw upon examples from the areas of agri-biotechnology and mobile phoning. In a first step, we develop in greater detail the concept of scientific cultures of nonknowledge and identify three such cultures involved in the social conflicts within the two areas. Subsequently, we analyze the specific dynamics of the politicisation of nonknowledge looking at the variety of actors involved and the pluralisation of perceptions and evaluations of what is not known. Then, we point out some of the institutional reactions to the political and cultural dynamics of scientific nonknowledge. We argue that the equal recognition of the diverse cultures of nonknowledge is a key prerequisite for socially legitimate and ‘‘robust’’ decision-making under conditions of politicised scientific nonknowledge.

The fundamental goal for the pursuit of efficient growth; equity; support of entrepreneurship development; alleviation of poverty and environmental protection as well as meeting other needs is seemingly the desire of the Nigerian government and one of its arsenal of actualizing this goal is fund generation through privatization of the public sector. But the reality of the phenomenon has become a conceptual trump card, so politicized that it no longer implies the same meaning it did from the beginning. The study used descriptive method to examine Privatization as a phenomenon and its attendant effects on Entrepreneurship Development vis-à-vis the Nigerian Economic Growth through secondary data collection. It observed the need for the participation of both government and private sector in the development of entrepreneurship which is a key factor to the growth of the nation’s economy. It concludes that the failure of the government in its privatization policies and serious support for small scale industries has contributed to the underdevelopment of the economy. It recommends that government should at all levels establish a strong support and create an enabling environment for small scale industries to thrive.

An assessment is made of the state of sustainable human development (SHD) and the institutions of governance that are in the process of being established in the rebel‐held areas of Southern Sudan. The development roles of the main governance actors—government, civil society and the private sector—are examined and capacity‐building needs are described. The importance of good leadership, institutionalised partnerships between government and national and international NGOs, and capacity building for transparency and accountability is stressed. Most pointedly, the risks of allowing governance practices, suited to the management of a liberation struggle, to spill over into the civil administration of a peaceful state are emphasised. The conditions necessary for the institutionalisation of sound governance practices are discussed. Of particular importance are a genuine desire on the part of the leadership to establish such conditions and a willingness on the part of external donors to address issues of accountability and transparency openly in collaboration with the leadership. The data are also suggestive of broad development strategies that address the bases of SHD and empowerment. These broad strategies are designed to improve the very low levels of health and education that exist in the Southern Sudan, and thereby empower people to engage in economic activity and in governance decision‐making. Rehabilitation and maintenance of the physical infrastructure underlies all development activity. The findings highlight the governance difficulties faced by war‐torn societies, the challenges facing post‐crisis administrations and (confirming Caplan 2002) the need for such administrations to possess sufficient executive authority to be able to perform effectively in situations of ‘pre‐state, post‐imperial chaos’. Most critical of all, however, is the genuine interest of the major powers in doing more than—when it suits them—extinguishing the flames of conflict or establishing acquiescent political regimes following the military pacification of ‘rogue’ or anarchic states. Effective post‐crisis administration and development calls for much greater commitment of resources from the major powers than has been forthcoming to date, reflecting a belief among them that equitable and sustainable global development is the preferred route to the prevention of such crises. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mainstreaming decarbonization through local climate budgets in Norwegian municipalities

I agree with Schwartzman et al. that rural peoples should not be identified as enemies of nature. Rural peoples are and should be allies of biodiversity not only because it is a basic human right but because they are the ones who have the most to lose if the resources they depend on are depleted. The process of establishing an alliance among conservationists, government officials, the private sector, and local peoples is long and full of difficulties, but it may empower local peoples, as forseen by the caboclo leader in the quote above. I have problems, however, with the broad generalizations implied in Schwartzman's essay. Strong alliances are built on the basis of each group recognizing the other group's particular interests. A transparent negotiation process results in the realization that local peoples' interests often do not include biodiversity as a major goal. Local peoples' interests are driven mainly by economic and political concerns that need to be addressed to allow positive and development outcomes. Just as parks cannot the entire burden for biodiversity conservation (Brandon et al. 1998:2), local peoples should not carry the sole responsibility for the political viability of protected areas. In many cases, after suffering the local extinction of large mammals, rural peoples are the first to admit that their resource-use practices may not be sustainable in the long run. For instance, a 1993 survey to reassess the status of spider monkeys (Ateles paniscus chamek) in the Beni Biosphere Reserve (first assessment took place in 1988), showed that this species had become locally extinct in the areas occupied by the Tsimane Indians (Tarifa-Yensen 1997:63). The Tsimane hunt monkeys for food; because this resource is in low supply (or absent in some villages), they are taking steps to develop management plans to secure the long-term availability of these food sources. People-free parks are an essential element of a comprehensive strategy. It is crucial that protected areas without people exist to guarantee the natural function of pristine ecosystems. This notion does not contradict the right of local peoples to participate in the design and management of such areas. I offer an example from Madre de Dios, Peru (Moore et al. 1995). In 1990 the Peruvian government created the Tambopata Candamo Reserved Zone of nearly 1.5 million ha of pristine rainforest ecosystems and the landholdings of many rural people. Initially, local people reacted negatively to the establishment of this protected area because they were not consulted and rightly feared that their access to natural resources would be cut or restricted. Conservation nongovernmental organizations began a dialogue with local people to repair the damage done. Local people were drawn into the planning process to zone the new protected area. This process took about 2 years of meetings, dialogue, and negotiations. The result was a concerted zoning proposal that contained a people-free core protected area (national park) in the center and two buffer areas, one in the northern part of the reserved zone (lower Tambopata river region) and the other in the southern part (upper Tambopata river region). The concept that a large portion of land should be set aside to maintain key ecological processes was debated and accepted among the local population, whose main sources of food originate in natural forests. Indigenous and colonist communities also began to apply this concept within their own landholdings. Regrettably, this planning model was wrecked by the government's decision to open the Peruvian Amazon for oil and gas exploration. In March 1996, a consortium led by Mobil Oil signed a contract to explore Block 78, which included most of the proposed Paper submitted May 9, 2000; revised manuscript accepted May 10, 2000.

Credit to private sector is considered vital for the stimulation of domestic investment, job creation, economic growth, and general improvement in the standard of living of the people. This is because the economic activity in the private sector significantly complements governments’ efforts in attaining macroeconomic objectives, globally. However, as laudable as the benefits of credit to private sector has been in catalyzing private sector performance in developed economies, the situation in most transitioning economies, particularly, Nigeria has been far from satisfying. Several studies in academic literature have identified political instability, poor institutional framework, absence of fiscal transparency, macroeconomic factors and frequent policy changes as having significant constraining influences on credit availability in Nigeria with plausible recommendations to private sector performance. However, the absence of noticeable improvement over the years, and its accompanying growth-retarding multiplier effects on domestic investment and productivity in Nigeria has instigated more concentrated studies on the direct impact of monetary policy framework in the determination of the performance of private sector through credit availability. Therefore, this study empirically evaluates the impact of key monetary policy toolkits on the availability of private sector credits and performance in Nigeria. To this end, annual time series secondary data from 1993 to 2023 were sourced from National Bureau of Statistics and Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletins for various years within the study period. The study adopts Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation technique after carrying out pre-diagnostic tests such as ADF unit root test and Bound Cointegration test. Our result reveals that money aggregates (MAG) is positive and significant in explaining variations in private sector credit and performance. Further results reveal that monetary policy rate (MPR), open market operations (OMO) and inflation rate (INR) impacted negatively on the performance of private sector in Nigeria within the study period. Therefore, the study concludes that the performance of the private sector in Nigeria will improve with increased credit availability, which is positively influenced by systematic increase in money aggregates and efficiently expanded monetary policy framework. The study recommends adoption of a harmonious blend of a more relaxed monetary policy framework with purposeful compliant-based regulation that will free up liquidity for increased private sector credits and performance. Keywords: Credit to Private Sector, Monetary Policy Rate, Open Market Operations and Money Aggregates.

This article studies the political, social, and economic patterns of Multan under Arab rule based on both primary and secondary sources. The mercantile cosmopolis Multan remained at the periphery of the central Muslim empires and had a heterogenous population with orthodox and heterodox tendencies. The rulers of these regions realized that their political power dynamics could not be like those of the centre because of their mercantile and pilgrim economy. Under the Banū Sāmah, the emirs of Multan followed a metadoxy, pietistic, and mercantile cosmopolitanism policy, as the state measures for the imposition of orthodoxy and the control of the belief system were lax. Nevertheless, the Fatimids destroyed the Aditya Sun Temple, though they signed a truce with Hindu kingdoms of surrounding areas against Maḥmūd of Ghazni without foreseeing its consequences. Multan’s political and religious dynamics in the medieval era were intricately intertwined with the political, moral, and financial economy as the economic, political, and multicultural religious dynamics were in deep nexus.

This paper examines the course of the deregulation and privatisation of public enterprises in the UK since 1979. The UK privatisation programme has been the most significant in the OECD involving the transfer of ownership of over 7% of GDP from the public to the private sectors. We examine the history and genesis of this programme, the development of the regulatory system based around RPI-X price control and the evidence on the effects of the privatisation. We conclude by evaluating the policy in the terms of its original aims. We find that public enterprise privatisation successfully reduced government involvement in industry, led to increased economic efficiency and a reduced fiscal deficit. Less clearly, it contributed to the curbing of Trade Union power and wider share ownership. Most significantly of all, as the most sustained and consistent policy of the 1979-97 Conservative governments, it gained sustained advantage for pro-market political forces in the UK.