Technological innovation allows nations to produce sophisticated products more efficiently and at higher quality to increase exports. Countries that aim to produce and export sophisticated products can improve their economic complexity and lead to the country’s economic development. Hence, the study investigates the impact of technological innovation on economic complexity in South Africa. Technological innovation, exports, and manufactured products were used as variables to examine South Africa’s economic complexity index. The study employed the ARDL method to determine the relationship among the variables. The ARDL F-bounds test reflected the long-run cointegration among the selected variables. The study produced long-run positive estimates of technological innovation, exports, and manufactured products on economic complexity, however, manufactured products and exports were insignificant. Granger causality indicated unidirectional causality on economic complexity to manufactured products, exports to technological innovation, and a bi-directional causal effect from exports to economic complexity and technological innovation to economic complexity. The study recommends that South Africa focus on innovation, create more diversified and sophisticated products and processes, and promote more manufacturing firms, particularly Agri-processed products.

This longitudinal study is dedicated to the evaluation of the comprehensive impact of educational reforms through a mixed research methodology which is a combination of the quantitative- and qualitative-oriented research methods to check the students' outcomes. Data was collected in the span of [mention the time frame] from various data sources for instance standardized test scores, school performance statistics, and through open-ended qualitative evaluation from both students and teachers. Data analysis carried on after the reforms had been put in place revealed that there was a considerable rise in mean test scores and success graduation rates. Therefore, formative evaluation demonstrates the need for implementing reforms that will eventually help the students in boosting academic performance. Besides, there is no difference among investor opinions on teachers, administrators, and students who are involved with the implementation of the reforms. Stakeholders manifest this new assistance as an outcome of lasting improvements in curriculum quality, methods of teaching, and student participation. The study approaches two main challenges that are confronted with education reform that is resourcelessness and to society the change of the educational system can be more suitable for the students to excel academically and it can have an impact on the whole community. Even though this study makes important advancements toward the realization of the complex education implementation process and its effect on student academics, there are elements in which it can be criticized. Both quantitative and qualitative performance improvement is important as well as all the important stakeholder participation. This way the transformation process becomes layered. In other words, these results point to the necessity of planning interventions for longer periods that target the challenges and the forces that maintain the low levels of education performance by the counties.

This article aims to examine the impact of fiscal decentralization on the performance of local government expenditure in Vietnam. By using a dataset including 63 provinces from 2012 to 2021, the research shows the more expenditure-based fiscal decentralization occurs, the better is the performance of local expenditure. Moreover, the level of provincial literacy and the size of the private sector have positive impacts on the local expenditure index, while the opposite effect can be seen in the case of the ratios of local citizens to total citizens of the country. Besides this, the study also provides some recommendations which are strictly related to the mechanism of fiscal decentralization to improve local expenditure performance of Vietnamese provinces, such as more effective decentralization of budget expenditures to local government, improving the vertical budget imbalance at local budget level, increasing local government budget autonomy, and establishing stronger mechanisms to control public spending.

This article examines how financial technology determines bank performance in different EU countries. The answer to that question would allow banks to choose their development policy. The paper focuses  on the main and most popular bank services that are linked to financial technology. A SWOT analysis of FinTech is also presented to show the benefits and drawbacks of FinTech. FinTech-based services are very diverse and are provided by financial  firms and banks alike. This paper looks at the financial technology provided by banks: internet usage (internet banking), number of ATMs, credit transfers in a country, percentage of the population in a country holding a debit or credit card and whether that population has received or made a digital payment. Using the multi-criteria assessment methods of CRITIC and EDAS, the authors analysed and compared the countries of the European Union and the financial technology used in them. As a result of the application of these methods, the EU countries under consideration were ranked in terms of the use of financial technology. Subsequently, three banks from different countries with different levels of the use of financial technology were selected for the study. For these banks, financial ratios of profitability were calculated to characterise their performance. Correlation and pairwise regression analyses between the banks’ profitability ratios and financial technology were used to assess the relationship and influence between these ratios. The main conclusion of the study focuses on the extent to which financial technology influences the performance of banks in the selected countries. It is likely that further research will try to take into account the size of the country’s population when analysing all financial technologies. Researchers also needed to find out what influence financial technologies have on the such financial indicators as operational efficiency (costs), financial stability, and capital adequacy.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial economic and psychological impact on workers in Saudi Arabia. The objective of the study was to assess the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic on the financial and mental well-being of Saudi employees in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Purpose: The COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in significant economic and societal ramifications. Current study indicates that the pandemic has not only precipitated an economic crisis but has also given rise to several psychological and emotional crises. This article provides a conceptual examination of how the pandemic impacts the economic and mental health conditions of Saudi workers, based on contemporary Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) models. Method: The current study employed a qualitative methodology and utilized a sample survey strategy. The data was gathered from Saudi workers residing in major cities of Saudi Arabia. The samples were obtained from professionals such as managers, doctors, and engineers, as well as non-professionals like unskilled and low-skilled laborers, who are employed in various public and private sectors. A range of statistical tools, including Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Pearson’s Correlation, Factor analysis, Reliability test, Chi-square test, and regression approach, were employed to analyze and interpret the results. Result: According to the data, the pandemic has caused a wide range of economic problems, including high unemployment and underemployment rates, income instability, and different degrees of pressure on workers to find work. Feelings of insecurity (about food and environmental safety), worry, dread, stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns have been generated by these challenges. The rate of mental health decline differs among demographics. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has universally affected all aspects of our lives worldwide. It resulted in an extended shutdown of educational institutions, factories, offices, and businesses. Without a question, it has profoundly transformed the work environment, professions, and lifestyles of billions of individuals worldwide. There is a high occurrence of poor psychological well-being among Saudi workers. However, it has been demonstrated that both economic health and mental health interventions can effectively alleviate the mental health burden in this population.

The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between remuneration, job satisfaction, and employee performance. Remuneration, in this context, refer to a system synchronization that is based on performance appraisal result. In this, regard, the research employed a descriptive quantitative method, with a population comprising all University of Padjadjaran lecturers which were a total of 2,090. Furthermore, in order to gather the research sample, a probability sampling technique was employed. This technique was selected because of its reputation as the most general strategic sampling technique in quantitative research to achieve representativeness (1). The obtained result showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between the remuneration and job satisfaction of lecturers in University of Padjadjaran. Accordingly, a significant value of 0.000 < 0.05 and a t-count value of 19.330 > 1.95 was observed, meaning the H1 hypothesis in this research was accepted. It is also expedient to acknowledge that a positive and significant relationship was found between job satisfaction and the performance of the lecturers in study area. For this relationship, a significant value of 0.010 < 0.05 and a t-count value of 5.676 > 1.95 was found. These findings led to the acceptance of the H2 hypothesis proposed in this research. Similarly, the relationship between remuneration and the performance of the observed lecturers was found to be positive and significant. The observed significant value in this regard was 0.000 < 0.05 and the t-count value was 4.057 > 1.95, indicating that H3 hypothesis was also accepted. Lastly, the relationship between remuneration and employee performance mediated by job satisfaction of lecturer in University of Padjadjaran was explored, and it was found to also be positive and significant, with a significant value of 0.000 < 0.05 and a t-count value of 5.429 > 1.95. This indicated that the H4 hypothesis proposed in the research was accepted.