Seawater desalination has been studied with interest due to the scarcity of fresh water for human consumption. Solar distillation is an old method; the productivity, energy consumption of the process and the cost of the desalinated water thus obtained depend on the efficiency achieved in each of the stages of these systems. The limited capacity to absorb solar radiation and transform it into useful heat for evaporation, interaction with the surrounding medium, and heat losses restrict the overall efficiency of the thermal process and productivity. Since the energy comes from solar radiation, the maximum productivity of this process will be constrained by the magnitude of the total solar radiation available in an area of the planet due to its geographic location, time of year and local climatic conditions. The processes of this energy will be thermodynamically limited by the heat transfer coefficients achieved in the equipment, the maximum value that the evaporation heat can reach, as long as the losses to the environment by convection and radiation are minimal. Comparative analyses of several proposed models, reported data of distillers, reported data of solar radiation that reach average values of up to 7.2–7.4 kwh/m² in some regions of the planet are presented and estimates are made for productivity of these equipments that they reach between 6.7 and 6.9 kg/m² day with a theoretical maximum efficiency of about 0.16 of the total solar radiation.

The relationship between transport infrastructure and accessibility has long stood as a central research area in regional and transport economics. Often invoked by governments to justify large public spending on infrastructure, the study of this relationship has led to conflicting arguments on the role that transport plays in productivity. This paper expands the existing body of knowledge by adopting a spatial analysis (with spillover effects) that considers the physical effects of investment in terms of accessibility (using distinct metrics). The authors have used the Portuguese experience at regional level over the last 30 years as a case study. The main conclusions are as follows: i) the choice of transport variables matters when explaining productivity, and more complex accessibility indicators are more correlated with; ii) it is important to account for spill-over effects; and iii) the evidence of granger causality is not widespread but depends on the regions.

The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of single and mixed infections of nematode (Meloidogyne javanica), fungus (Fusarium oxysporum) and bacterium (Xanthomonas axonopodis) on nodulation and pathological parameters of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterrenea (L.) Verdc.) in field condition. Nematode infested field was used while other pathogens were obtained from diseased plants. The Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was adopted in a 5 × 9 × 5 factorial design (5 blocks, 9 treatments and 5 replicates per treatments) resulting in 225 experimental units. In each experimental unit, three seeds were sown to a depth of 5cm and thinned to one plant per planting hole after germination at day 7. Treatments were inoculated into test plant following standard methods. As a result, the control treatment recorded the highest number of nodules (64.0 ± 6.91), followed by bacterium (45.2 ± 5.11) while N + F + B had the lowest number of root nodules (23.4 ± 2.42). Simultaneous treatment (N + F + B) gave the highest percentage reduction in nodulation (63.44%), followed by treatment N + F7 (56.25%). Fungus treatment recorded the highest mean wilted plants (3.8 + 0.20) followed by N + F7 treatment (3.40 + 0.40). Gall formation in the nematode treatment increased proportionately by 56.33% as the highest recorded, followed by treatment N + F7 with 50.0%. Treatment N + F7 had the highest reproduction factor (Rf) value of 9.30 followed by nematode (8.30), N + B7 (7.40), N + F + B (6.80) and N + F14 (6.50). Zero (0) Rf value was recorded in fungus, bacterium and control treatments. The observed differences in nodulation and pathological parameters among the treatments are significant (P < 0.05). The data provided in this work is important in the control of the three pathogens affecting the productivity of Bambara nut. Formulation of a single protectant should be designed to have potent effects on the three pathogens to achieve effective protection and good production of Bambara nut.

Total factor productivity (TFP) is essential for disentangling the determinants of economic growth, productivity, and the standard of living. Understanding the variations in TFP, however, is greatly challenging because of the many assumptions that comprise the theoretical growth framework. In this paper, we aim to explore the determinants of TFP growth for countries at different stages of information and communication technology (ICT) development. To address the endogenous nature of the associated growth variables, we implement a three-stage-least (3SLS) square panel regression to improve the efficiency and asymptomatic accuracy of the estimators. We find that transmission channels, such as financial openness and trade globalization, have contributed substantially to growth in both advanced and developing countries. However, we also discover that greater financial openness can undermine a country’s TFP growth if the financial system is not sufficiently developed. When time horizons are decomposed into pre-ICT development and post-ICT development periods, a significant crowding-out effect is observed between ICT investment and financial openness in the pre-period, implying that the allocation of resources is critical for countries in the developing stage. Trade and finance policies that are adopted by advanced and developed countries might not be ideal for underdeveloped countries. Discretion in choosing adequate policies regarding financial integration and trade liberalization is advised for these emerging countries.

As digital technologies continue to shape the economy, countries are faced with increasing scrutiny in the use of digital transformation to aid productivity and improve performance. In South Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated Small and medium-sized businesses’ (SMEs’) uptake of digital technologies, as many businesses had to shift their operations online and adopt new digital tools and technologies to solve the challenges posed by the pandemic. This has led to an increased focus on digital transformation mechanisms among South African firms. Therefore, the study examines the effect of digital transformation on the productivity of firms using cross-sectional data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) (2020). The survey was based on firms and is a representative sample of the private sector in the South African economy and covers a wide variety of business environment themes, such as infrastructure, competitiveness, access to finance, and performance indicators. We found that digital transformation improved productivity of South African firms. Furthermore, empirical findings are reassuring robust to the IV-2SLS and quantile regression model, size of business, sectoral and provincial analysis. Finally, we recommend that policy makers should develop and implement initiatives to improve digital infrastructure, including high-speed internet access and reliable connectivity, especially in rural and underserved areas.

This study explores the scale efficiency of four star hotels in a small tourist destination in Croatia. The number of overnight stays and the increase in hotel beds are two indicators of the development of a tourist destination. Among the accommodation facilities, hotels play a significant role in the development of a tourist destination, but they are increasingly facing a labor force crisis. Data envelopment analysis is used to rank hotels by efficiency coefficient. The aim of the paper is to investigate the efficiency of the hotel by taking certain inputs and outputs, which are explained in detail in the paper. The paper uses the CCR (Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes) and BCC (Banker, Charnes, and Cooper) models to calculate hotel scale efficiency and also presents an overview of previous research around the world.