The accounting treatment of intangibles – A critical review of the literature

Intangible investments have become the main value creators for many companies and economic sectors. However, these investments are rarely recognized as assets by current accounting standards. We provide a critical review of the literature on the consequences of this lack of accounting recognition of intangibles for the value-relevance of financial information, resource allocation in the capital market, growth of intangible investments, and the firm's market value. We then review recent empirical research on voluntary disclosure of information on intangibles. Our survey concludes that disclosure can considered as a solution to the negative consequences of non-recognition of intangibles in financial statements.     

A robust analysis of the relationship between renewable energy consumption and its main drivers

We provide a comprehensive and robust analysis of the drivers of renewable energy consumption for a panel of 64 countries, using both the static (Pooled OLS, Panel Fixed and Random Effects) and dynamic (difference and system GMM) panel data estimation approaches. We show that the dynamic panel data model provides more efficient estimators than the static ones and that increases in per capita CO₂ emissions and per capita trade with foreign partners mainly drive the changes in per capita renewable energy consumption. We also find limited evidence of oil price effects on renewable energy consumption, which reflects the fact that renewable energy is just a complement and not a perfect substitute of crude oil, at least in the short run.     

Convex duality for Epstein–Zin stochastic differential utility

This paper introduces a dual problem to study a continuous‐time consumption and investment problem with incomplete markets and Epstein–Zin stochastic differential utilities. Duality between the primal and dual problems is established. Consequently, the optimal strategy of this consumption and investment problem is identified without assuming several technical conditions on market models, utility specifications, and agent's admissible strategies. Meanwhile, the minimizer of the dual problem is identified as the utility gradient of the primal value and is economically interpreted as the “least favorable” completion of the market.     

FDI inflows,economic growth,and governance quality trilogy in developing countries: A panel VAR analysis

This study provides evidence of the triangular relationship between governance quality, foreign direct investment, and economic growth. Unlike previous studies in the governance—foreign direct investment—growth literature, this study employed the panel vector autoregressive model to examine the impact of governance quality and foreign direct investment on economic growth. Moreover, we used the impulse response function tool, which was developed in the same context, to better understand the reaction of the two main variables of interest, foreign direct investment, and economic growth, after shocks to the governance quality variable. Finally, the analysis was completed by the variance decomposition of all variables. These analyses were conducted for 102 developing countries from 1996 to 2014. Overall, the results show that inward foreign direct investment has a significant impact and can strongly encourage economic growth. These results indicate that the quality of governance in developing countries does not affect foreign direct investment and economic growth.     

Is Fiscal Decentralization Conflict Abating? Routine Violence and District Level Government in Java,Indonesia

Utilizing a newly created data set the authors examine the relationship between routine/everyday violence and fiscal decentralization in 98 districts of the Indonesian island of Java. By examining possible relationships between fiscal decentralization and routine violence, this paper fills a gap in the literature where the analysis of the relation between fiscal decentralization and violence is relatively scant. Routine violence, which is different from both civil war and ethno-communal conflict, centres around group brawls, popular justice or vigilante violence. Despite the uniform implementation of fiscal decentralization, subnational entities exhibit varying experiences with decentralization, but a common consequence is the increased size of local government. Fiscal decentralization, and the increased size of local government, can alleviate pent-up frustrations with a centralized state, as local government expenditure is seen to satisfy the needs of communities with which people identify more closely. The authors also find that the greater the share of locally generated revenues, the lower the number of violent incidents; but this capacity to generate more local revenues mainly lies in richer districts. Therefore, richer districts are likely to have a lower incidence of violence.     

Constructing a mediational model of small business growth

The purpose of this paper is to develop a mediational model of small business growth. It evaluates the links between human, social and financial capital of entrepreneurs, innovation and firm growth. Our goal through this model is to demonstrate that it is through the process of innovation these capitals are converted into growth. Based on an analysis of data from 228 Tunisian micro-enterprises, we concluded the mediation possibility of innovation on small business growth.     

Has the acceleration of privatization become inevitable in Bahrain?

Bahrain remains the most vulnerable Gulf country due to its limited savings and sharp rise in debt levels, leaving it exposed to high financing risks. The financial crisis has been deepened by the economic double blow of the decline in oil prices and the effects resulting from the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Bahrain has decreased subsidies and increased taxes on many products. Those measures seem, however, insufficient to mitigate the negative impacts on the economy. This paper presents a model based on a comparison between fast privatization and gradual privatization strategies undertaken in some Bahraini economic sectors. It shows that the contribution of privatization to economic restructuring is only as effective as the commitment of the government to maintain a high pace of privatization. This condition can provide needed revenues, and can particularly foster private investments and initiatives. Therefore, it may represent an appropriate context to elevate Bahrain out of the present equilibrium characterized by slow privatization and government dominance on the economy.