Abstract This article investigates the dynamic changes in the interdependence structure and strength among ten financially significant stock markets across Asia, Europe, and the USA, in the context of recent global public health events and regional conflicts. Employing the Vine-Copula model, our analysis reveals that major events exert varying impacts on the interdependencies across different regions. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted European markets from a symmetric dependence structure to an asymmetric structure that is more sensitive to negative news. Conversely, the impact on Asian markets is the opposite, and the interdependence between China’s stock market and other major markets shows a decreasing trend. The Russia–Ukraine conflict has had minimal impact on stock markets, excluding Russia. Moreover, stock markets exhibit stronger co-movements during market downturns. Our research provides new insights into how global events impact stock market interdependencies and underscores the importance of region-specific strategies in managing financial risks and maintaining market stability.

Abstract Although vertically integrated agricultural industry organizations play a crucial role in bridging the gap between smallholders and large markets, the uneven distribution of benefits within such organizations remains a challenge. Drawing on decades of agricultural reform in China, a quasi-integrated organizational model has emerged that preserves farmers’ autonomy in production and management while achieving factor integration through contractual services, thereby enhancing production efficiency. This study uses household-level data ( n = 1,876) collected between 2015 and 2022 from five major agricultural provinces – Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, and Sichuan – to examine the heterogeneous effects of quasi-integrated organizations on farm efficiency through a Multinomial Choice Model. The findings indicate that participation in quasi-integrated organizations significantly improves production efficiency, particularly among cash-crop growers, farmers in eastern and central regions, and those without prior technical training. These results suggest that governments should adopt targeted and differentiated agricultural policies to promote scientific management and optimize labor allocation.

Abstract This study investigates how market competition affects firm investment and the moderating effect of national governance quality (CGI) on the relationship between competition and firm investment in research and development (R&D) and tangible assets. The sample consists of 16,493 observations from World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES) in 88 countries in 2016 – 2022. The regression results show that both the competition and the level of market competition encourage firms to invest more in R&D and tangible assets. The quality of national governance also adjusts the relationship between competition and firm investment. Notably, the better quality of national governance strengthens the relationship between competition and firm investment. However, it weakens the relationship between a higher degree of competition and firm investment. In addition, the marginal effects examination suggests that variations in the quality of national governance influence the relationship between competition and investment in R&D investment, which is more pronounced than tangible investment in the presence of at least one competitor. In conclusion, the relationship between competition and investment is moderated by changes in CGI, the starting level of CGI score, and the market structures. The empirical results propose some implications for firm managers and policymakers to boost investment and a transparent environment for firm investment.

Abstract This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the multifaceted relationship between digital literacy, human capital development, and organizational performance in the context of digital transformation. Through a rigorous mixed-methodology approach combining quantitative surveys and real-time digital usage tracking, we analyzed data from 250 employees across 23 organizations spanning multiple sectors (technology 26.5%, finance 16.7%, healthcare 13.6%). The research employs structural equation modeling and demonstrates robust interrelationships between variables (correlations ranging r=0.689 to 0.817), with digital literacy and employee commitment exhibiting the strongest correlation (r=0.817). Statistical analysis reveals that human capital significantly mediates the relationship between employee factors and organizational performance, explaining 72.3% of performance variance (R²=0.723). All constructs demonstrated strong reliability (Cronbach’s α: 0.739-0.787) and convergent validity (AVE>0.5). Multiple regression analysis identified attitude (β=0.218) and human capital (β=0.184) as primary performance predictors, while frugal innovation showed significant influence (β=0.172, p<0.001). The study found that 69.1% of participants utilize digital tools multiple times daily, with 44.4% at intermediate digital literacy levels. Path analysis confirmed significant positive relationships (p<0.001) across all variables, with attitude demonstrating the highest direct effect on organizational performance (0.525). The research extends human capital theory by empirically validating digital competencies’ role in organizational success and identifies a critical digital literacy divide impacting performance outcomes. In work environments (48.1% hybrid, 42% on-site, 9.9% remote), findings demonstrate the universal importance of digital competencies across different operational models. These results have substantial implications for management practices, organizational strategy, and human resource development in the digital era, particularly in fostering comprehensive digital skill development programs and addressing organizational digital divides.

Abstract In the aftermath of the Cold War era, the world shifted from a tale of two competing superpowers, to a highly complex and multi-polar narrative. In a new world order, geopolitical relations, diplomacy, power plays and conflicts among countries became so perplex that any attempt to emulate realistic scenarios, conduct robust simulations, all the more so deduct foreseeable outcomes, would be nothing short of tenuous, if not practically infeasible. Besides, unlike physical systems for which universal uniformities factually and fundamentally exist, social systems do not obey implicit and exact “natural-laws-of-physics”. And while a plethora of modeling approaches have been deployed hitherto to tackle with the intrinsic complexity of warfare dynamics, however the required interdisciplinary synthesis has not been explored in the literature. In a first attempt to attain this fusion of cutting-edge methodologies, I propose a novel hybrid approach to conflict analysis.

The national economic mentality, which was formed over the centuries under the influence of various factors, determines the nature of the nation's socio-economic rules and their enforcement mechanisms, which, in turn, determine the formation of the historical trajectory of the nation's economic development. The formation of our national economic thinking is primarily due to a combination of historical-political and natural-geographical factors, under the influence of which our people had to live practically in survival mode for centuries. Households robbed as a result of constant enemy invasions or frequent internal conflicts, lack of land suitable for plowing and sowing, low and unstable yield - it is the long-term effect of these circumstances that is the echo of the established need in our society for a powerful mechanism of equal distribution in the country; To a large extent, the result of the influence of these events is that the level of paternalistic attitude towards the government is still quite high in our country; Due to the historically weak relationship between individual work and well-being, belief in the inevitability of fate was established in Georgian society and the idea of the possibility of living without work was established. The above-mentioned national-mental peculiarities are absolutely incompatible with the effective functioning of market mechanisms dependent on the individual initiative of people, therefore these peculiarities of Georgian economic thinking should be considered as important circumstances hindering the development of the country's economic processes. Orthodox ethics is another important factor influencing the formation of Georgian economic culture. Due to the fact that Christian doctrine does not consider material well-being as a source of human happiness, a kind of negative attitude towards the possession of property has firmly taken hold in Georgian society (we can connect the deepening of this attitude to another important factor determining modern Georgian economic behavior - the result of the influence of the ultra-socialist ideology characteristic of the Soviet era). It should also be noted here that the result of the centuries-old Christian preaching is the heightened sense of collective (family, group) responsibility and care for the poor and needy in our society. It is possible that such "non-market" nature of Georgian economic thinking will slow down the process of improving the nation's material well-being to some extent, but from the point of view of farming, it would probably be wrong to refer to this mental peculiarity only in a negative context - there is no doubt that collectivism also carries a positive charge for economic development; It is not controversial that the stable growth of the economy is determined by the reasonable distribution of national income. Another factor that did not go unnoticed in the process of forming our economic mentality is that at the beginning of the 20th century, as a result of the socialist revolution, the country was practically deprived of the means of natural evolution: capitalism did not manage to establish strong habits of work (and entrepreneurship) in Georgia, to work (and entrepreneurship) to establish the necessary positive attitudes in the psyche of the members of the society. The distribution equalization principle introduced as a result of the October Revolution has completely distorted people's economic thinking and instilled in a significant part of society such a mood that the volume-quality of work (activity) has no direct, determining importance for the level of satisfaction of human (personal) needs. The above-described brief historical retrospective of the formation of the Georgian economic mentality allows us to highlight the main values that our modern economic outlook is based on: state paternalism, traditionalism and collectivism. The evaluation of the influence of the above-mentioned triad on the development of our country and people is mixed: the value system based on the principles of mutual aid, solidarity, responsibility to society, loyalty to traditions and ideals, on the one hand, contributed to the strengthening of collective security in the country, alleviating the condition of the socially disadvantaged, maintaining a low level of crime, educating the masses distribution, development of science and culture or socially important (public purpose) creation of material and (especially) spiritual goods, while, on the other hand, limited private initiative, labor (entrepreneurial) motivation and competition, individual democratic rights, etc., which undoubtedly had a negative impact on the well-being of our population. The above-described moods, which are of decisive importance for economic behavior, are so firmly established (implemented) in the consciousness of our society that it is practically impossible to abstract from these moods to objectively study the vector development problems of the modern Georgian economy. Unfortunately, it should be noted that even the scientific studies of the most important issue of the differentiation of Georgian and European socio-economic institutions are often conducted in complete ignorance of the specific thinking of the Georgian ethnos at a time when the source of the mentioned differences should be sought in the mental value system. It should be said here that the Georgian economic outlook is more suitable to the Eastern one, but this circumstance should not be perceived as if the Western institutional matrix is fundamentally unacceptable to our society. The Georgian ethnos has a unique historical experience of equal openness to different socio-cultural spaces and receiving the benefits from these relations, which we must successfully use even today.

Abstract This paper examined the characteristics of public transport demand in some major Tunisian cities. It followed the research trend which calculated the public transport demand elasticities. The adopted procedure in this study consists in estimating a log linear dynamic panel model relating per capita bus patronage to bus fares, users’ income, and service quality. Two variants of the basic model were estimated for the most important Tunisian agglomerations for the period 2003-2020. In the first variant, this paper considered the same fare elasticity value for the different regions, whereas in the second it’s proceeded to the calculation of specific fare elasticity values for each region. The estimation results show interesting and different elasticities compared to those revealed by earlier studies for occidental agglomerations. This result can be explained by specifics users’ characteristics and networks’ configuration. Although these results may sometimes contradict the theoretical suggestions, they still highlight the specificities of the public transport demand in Tunisia and its users’ characteristics. The demand for public transport in large Tunisian agglomerations is not very sensitive to fares changes. Second, income does not have the same effect as that advocated by economic theories. Indeed, we have found a positive impact of income on demand for public transport. Finally, the quality of service has the most important effect on demand. Changes in travel habits and cultures, improvements in the quality of services and their differentiation can be more effective for public transport than fares changes.

Abstract Contemporary financial theory upholds the market efficiency hypothesis, asserting that stock prices inherently embody all available information. In contrast, behavioral finance theory challenges this premise by proposing that psychological and emotional factors can wield influence over stock prices. This study delves into the repercussions of behavioral finance factors on investment decisions within the Saudi equity markets, utilizing risk perception and financial literacy as mediating variables. An online questionnaire was disseminated to 350 individual investors, yielding 315 completed responses deemed suitable for analysis. Employing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the collected data underwent rigorous scrutiny. The findings reveal that herding, the disposition effect, blue-chip bias, and overconfidence significantly and positively impact both risk perception and financial literacy. Furthermore, all four behavioral finance factors exhibit a substantial positive indirect effect on investment decision-making through the intermediaries of risk perception and financial literacy. It is imperative to acknowledge the study’s specific focus on these factors while recognizing the potential influence of other elements on risk perception, financial literacy, and investment decision-making. The research underscores the critical importance of incorporating an individual’s perception of risk into investment decisions, as it markedly shapes their proclivity for risk-taking and, consequently, the performance of their investment portfolio. The findings highlight the necessity for investors to recognize and address their behavioral biases. Additionally, the study advocates for advisors and policymakers to formulate strategies aimed at mitigating the impact of these biases. The comprehensive exploration of behavioral finance factors and their implications for investment decisions yields valuable insights for individual investors and stakeholders in financial advisory and policymaking roles.

Abstract The financial setbacks of the sub-Saharan African regions have necessitated this study. The study assesses the role of trade openness and foreign direct investment (FDI) in driving tax revenue growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The major parameter representing the dependent variable is tax revenue growth while the independent factors include trade openness, exports, imports, and GDP as a moderating element. The research runs from 1990 to 2022 and employs the vector error correction model (VECM), with a unit root test that yields order one, while the Johansen co-integration test shows a long-run connection for all variables. The VECM results suggest that the long-run disequilibrium is corrected at a positive rate of 8.5%. It is also noteworthy that a percentage change in trade openness would result in a 13.7% decrease in tax income, but fluctuations in all other parameters except GDP will enhance tax revenue growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The test for the impact of all criteria on tax revenue growth yields minor results; however, tax revenue growth initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa have a negative short- term effect on FDI but a favourable long-term impact. In addition, trade openness has a negative effect on GDP and exports in the short run, while imports have a negative impact on foreign investment. The policy implications include that bilateral trade policies will need to be reviewed, with an emphasis on exports, economic growth, and tax collection schemes. In addition, the governments in sub-Saharan African regions are encouraged to enact tax policies that would engender the inflow of overseas investment.

One of the important strategic objectives in the target programs for economic and social development adopted by the Government of Georgia is to improve the coordination of all types of transport – sea, rail, road, air, and pipeline. The methods of organizing and managing the transport system at different levels greatly impact solving the problems faced by water transport. Therefore, research in the field of improving the organization and management of the transport hub (port), as an integral part of this system, plays an important role in increasing the traffic volume and service quality of all types of transport on the transport corridors of Georgia. Foreign and domestic experience shows that a large percentage of waiting times for cargo operations by ships and berths is mainly due to the lack of coordinated actions between the adjacent modes of transport and ports and the imperfection of the organization and management of loading and unloading processes in ports. In this regard, it is necessary to focus on identifying and eliminating "vegetables". First of all, this link of the transport system connects water and land transport routes. Transport communications have long been called the arteries of life. Without them, the economy's rise and the country's prosperity, even if it has huge natural resources, is impossible. Whoever controls the transportation system holds the levers of economic management, which means that he can decide the fate of the entire state. The development of transport communications of the global transport system puts new demands on the quality of functioning of the existing intermodal corridor through Georgia. In particular, the transport corridor created by the EU countries under the name ITC TRACECA creates new challenges for the existing transport system of Georgia to maintain the transit cargo flows between Europe and Asia in competition with the seaports of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and partly Ukraine and Russia. In this regard, all the main directions of improving the organization and management of the technological processes of seaports become relevant: (i) increasing the capacity of berths and transport complexes in the Black Sea ports of Georgia to the maximum limit by reducing costs; (ii) creating new methods for identifying capacity reserves, which will ensure the competitiveness of Georgian seaports in competition with these ports; (iii) speeding up the process of transit cargo transportation through seaports, as well as reducing the processing time of cargo going to export and import in Georgian ports. Keywords: Transport hub, organization of technological processes, ship unloading work.