In this paper, we explore the static and dynamic effects of oil rent on competitiveness in Saudi Arabia’s economy during the period 1970–2022. In addition, we examined the short-run, strong and long-run relationships between exports and industry, inflation, energy use (oil rents) and agriculture using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach developed. The analysis showed that government spending will contribute to enhancing the competitive environment with a difference of one year. Moreover, the industry will contribute to increasing competitiveness for a positive relationship in the long term. The results stated that there is an insignificant relationship between competitiveness, inflation, and oil rents. The analysis also shows that inflation has a negative impact with statistical significance in the short term. In addition, the error correction model (ECM) coefficient is negative and has statistical significance at 0.76 at a 1% significant level, which indicates the existence of an error correction mechanism and thus the existence of a long-term relationship between the variables.

The hopes and aspirations of Law No. 6/24 on Village autonomy has faced several problems and challenges. These problems and challenges arose when the village government had to undertake various delegated tasks assigned by the regency, provincial, and central governments. As a result, the village is preoccupied with delegated tasks assigned by supra-village authorities, straining its resources and budget. The shift in focus resulted the village government are unable to perform their main tasks and responsibilities. This situation is akin to the Village Head functioning as a state employee. Stunting is one of the assignment programs that causes various problems and instrumentalizes villages. This process involves mobilizing village institutions, human resources, and budgets to ensure the program’s success. This study employed exploratory-qualitative approach to investigate the challenges arising from the stunting program’s implementation in Ngargosari Village. The research informants included the village head, village officials, posyandu cadres, community leaders, and program beneficiaries. The data were gathered through in-depth interviews were validated and reconfirmed using Focus Group Discussions. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis was carried out to obtain findings related to village instrumentalization in the stunting program. The findings revealed that the stunting program’s implementation involved mobilizing village institutions, resources, and budgets. The village government lacked bargaining power against supra-village policies, despite their alignment with local values and wisdom. The central government dictated the system, procedures, mechanisms, and methods for handling stunting in a centralized manner, disregarding local wisdom and the authority of village governments as outlined in Law Number 6 of 2014 on Villages. Consequently, the stunting program represents a form of village instrumentalization akin to the New Order era, with centralistic initiatives that relegate village heads to the role of state employees.

Consumers, particularly women, pursue beauty and health in order to uphold their image within society, which has contributed to consistent demand for cosmetics. The cosmetics market, driven by globalization and cultural exchange, sees Thai cosmetics gaining popularity among Chinese women. There has been a significant rise in the popularity of Thai cosmetics, known for their natural ingredients and innovative formulations. With a growing interest in cross-cultural consumer behaviour, particularly in the context of skincare and make-up products, understanding how different age groups perceive and choose Thai cosmetics is crucial for effective marketing strategies. The main issue is the development of consumer preferences over time among Chinese women who have only recently been given the opportunity to choose among many brands. This qualitative study explores the intergenerational differences in Chinese female consumers’ preferences for Thai cosmetics, aiming to uncover rich insights into their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours. The target population is female Chinese who have visited Thailand and purchased or used Thai-branded cosmetics. Key themes emerge regarding the perception of product efficacy, the cultural authenticity and the role of digital media and trends in influencing product choices. Findings highlight nuanced generational preferences, with older cohorts emphasizing trust and familiarity with established brands, while younger cohorts prioritize innovation, sustainability, and personalized beauty experiences. These insights provide valuable implications for marketers seeking to tailor strategies and product offerings to engage effectively diverse generational segments within the competitive cosmetics market.

Global transformational processes associated with the geopolitical fragmentation of the world, changes in supply chains, and the emergence of threats to food, energy, logistics security, etc. have impacted the increase in the freight traffic volumes through the Ukraine-European Union (Ukraine-EU) land border section. In this context, the transport and logistics infrastructure on this section of the border was inadequate for the growing demand for international freight transport, leading to huge economic, social, and environmental damage to all participants in foreign trade. The aim of this paper is to study the efficiency of the functioning of the transport and logistics infrastructure on the Ukraine-EU border section. The taxonomy used in the paper made it possible to look into economic, security, geopolitical, logistics, transport, legal, and political factors shaping the freight traffic volumes, structure, and routes; their key trends and impact on the generation of freight traffic are described. Statistical analysis of freight traffic by border sections and with respect to border crossing points allowed the identification of bottlenecks in the functioning of the transport and logistics infrastructure and outlining ways to address them. The results of the study will be helpful both to researchers working on the issues of freight transport and to policymakers involved in transport and border infrastructure development.

Background: India’s rich educational heritage dates to ancient times, with popular institutions like Nalanda, Takshashila, and Banarasi-Kasi flourishing as early as the 6th century BC, which offered diverse courses spanning medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and more. Invasions by the Mughals and British during the 12th to 18th centuries disrupted India’s traditional education systems. Post-independence, India faced the challenge of transitioning from ancient to modern education. Remarkably, the country managed to preserve its popular traditional education through a strategic change management approach by the educational institutions. The Government of India has introduced in the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) in July 2020, to bring transformational reforms in school and higher education systems. In this manuscript, we have summarized the salient features of the NEP 2020 and the preparedness steps to its effective implementation in Indian educational institutions. Method: We have utilised standard databases like PubMed, Science Direct, or Google Scholar, and/or public domains and the NEP 2020 document for this literature survey. Value addition: NEP 2020 aims to ensure access, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability with more flexible curricular structure, and holistic approaches. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact, dynamic planning, and collaboration among public and private institutions, and industries supported the effective implementation of NEP 2020. Notably, the change management approach, which has been a constant throughout India’s educational journey, played a pivotal role in keeping pace with technological advancements and fostering growth in the higher education system in India.

The author puts forward the idea that decentralized finance doesn’t act without managerial influence. The management moves from the external circuit to the internal one, there occurs self-ruling and “self-regulation” of the financial system. This indicates the appearance of a new type of financial intermediation—a cyber-social one. The potential of using decentralized finance in post-Soviet countries are formulated the following: freeing up the time of transaction participants due to the autonomy of transactions; a superior degree of information security compared to traditional forms of financial intermediation; financial intermediation cost saving, freeing up human resources; reduction in the speed of transactions; increasing accuracy in contractual relations due to the elimination of the human factor influence; stimulating the development of new business areas expands the competitive environment; information safety due to the constant creation of a large number of backup copies. At the same time, the author identified and substantiated the risks associated with decentralized financial flows, which may have an impact on the well-being of the population of post-Soviet countries. The purpose of this study is to determine the prospects for applying decentralized finance as a growth factor in the well-being of the population in post-Soviet countries.