The US Infrastructure Investment and Job Act (IIJA), also commonly referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, passed in 2021, has drawn international attention. It aims to help to rebuild US infrastructure, including transportation networks, broadband, water, power and energy, environmental protection and public works projects. An estimated $1.2 trillion in total funding over ten years will be allocated. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill is the largest funding bill for US infrastructure in the recent history of the United States. This review article will specifically discuss funding allocations for roads and bridges, power and grids, broadband, water infrastructure, airports, environmental protection, ports, Western water infrastructure, electric vehicle charging stations and electric school buses in the new spending of the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act and why these investments are urgently necessary. This article will also briefly discuss the views of think tank experts, the public policy perspectives, the impact on domestic and global arenas of the new spending in the IIJA, and the public policy implications.

This study addresses the crucial question of the macroeconomic impact of investing in railroad infrastructure in Portugal. The aim is to shed light on the immediate and long-term effects of such investments on economic output, employment, and private investment, specifically focusing on interindustry variations. We employ a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model and utilize industry-level data to estimate elasticities and marginal products on these three economic indicators. Our findings reveal a compelling positive long-term spillover effect of these investments. Specifically, every €1 million in capital spending results in a €20.84 million increase in GDP, a €17.78 million boost in private investment, and 72 new net permanent jobs. However, these gains are not immediate, as only 14.5% of the output increase and 38.8% of the investment surge occur in the first year. In contrast, job creation is nearly instantaneous, with 93% of new jobs materializing within the first year. A short-term negative impact on the trade balance is expected as new capital goods are imported. Upon industry-level analysis, the most pronounced output increases are witnessed in the real estate, construction, and wholesale and retail trade industries. The most substantial net job creation occurs in the construction, professional services, and hospitality industries. This study enriches the empirical literature by uncovering industry-specific impacts and temporal macroeconomic effects of railroad infrastructure investments. This underscores their dual advantage in bolstering long-term economic performance and counteracting job losses during downturns, thus offering valuable public policy implications. Notably, these benefits are not evenly distributed across all industries, necessitating strategic sectoral planning and awareness of employment agencies to optimize spending programs and adapt to industry shifts.

The aviation industry is experiencing over and over again a technological revolution, nowadays with airports at the forefront of embracing smart technologies to enhance operational efficiency, security and passenger experience. This article comprehensively analyzes the benefits, challenges, and legal implications of adopting smart technologies in airport facilitation and security control. It examines the regulatory framework established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on an international level and by sovereign states on a national level. It explores using smart solutions such as automated systems, data and biometric verification, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) devices in airport operations. The authors’ purpose is to highlight the improvements in airport facilities and security measures brought about by these technologies, while addressing concerns over privacy, cost, technological limitations and human factors. By emphasizing the importance of a balanced approach and considering innovation alongside legal and operational imperatives, the article underscores the transformative potential of smart and integrated technologies in shaping the future of air travel.

In the highly competitive employment environment, most college students have left their jobs for a short time after employment, and attention should be paid to students’ career adaptation. However, the further influence of skilled goal orientation, social support and career-determined self-efficacy on college students’ career adaptation needs to be confirmed. This study analyzes the effects of these factors on college students’ career adaptation. This study aims to analyze the impact of mastery goal orientation, social support, and vocational decision self-efficacy on career adaptation among 224 university students in East China. The results indicated that university students generally exhibit positive levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, vocational decision self-efficacy, and overall career adaptation. Female students demonstrate higher levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, vocational decision self-efficacy, and career adaptation compared to male students. As students progress in their academic years, their levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, vocational decision self-efficacy, and career adaptation tend to increase. Students majoring in humanities and social sciences have higher level than students majoring in science and engineering in all factors. Students majoring in humanities and social sciences exhibit more optimism in all factors compared to students in science and technology fields. The relationships among these factors show positive correlations. Mastery goal orientation, social support, and vocational decision self-efficacy all have positive effects on career adaptation. Among these, family support stands out as the most influential subordinate factor of social support on career adaptation. The most influential subordinate factor of vocational decision self-efficacy on career adaptation is conscious decision-making. Therefore, male, lower grade, science and engineering college students are the groups that need to be paid attention to in improving career adaptation. Skilled goal orientation, family support and conscious decision making have a better effect on the improvement of career adaptation. These results can provide important reference information for universities, counselors and college students in the training of career planning, and theoretically enrich the relevant research on college students’ career adaptation, and provide certain enlightenment for future researchers.

This study investigates the interaction between audit firms and key audit matters (KAMs) to measure their impact on financial reporting quality in Palestine, thereby enriching the discourse on financial reporting. A descriptive statistical method was used to analyze the audit reports of listed Palestinian firms from 2018 to 2022. A methodology that scrutinizes the clarity and informativeness of KAMs across different audit firms and KAM types, the research investigates how audit procedures and risk assessments contribute to the comprehensibility of KAM disclosures. The findings highlight a significant disparity in the readability of KAMs attributable to audit firm selection, with the non-Big Four firms exhibiting distinct approaches. This understanding, gathered through multivariate analysis, offers valuable contributions to the ongoing discourse on financial reporting quality, emphasizing the essential role of audit firms in shaping the effectiveness of audit reports and KAM disclosures.

Using the Resource Advantage Theory approach, this research aims to examine the gap between entrepreneurial opportunities and marketing performance, with market-based innovation capability acting as a mediating variable. The data collection method used non-probability sampling with a purposive sampling technique. The data that was eligible to be processed were 250 respondents. Hypothesis testing was used using the AMOS application. The research results show that market-based innovation capability can improve marketing performance as a mediating variable. In addition, market penetration strength can also improve marketing performance. As a strategic variable, market-based innovation capability (MBIC) converts entrepreneurial opportunities into competitive advantages relevant to market needs. In addition, business actors become more adaptive and responsive to market dynamics, increasing competitiveness sustainably. MBIC, rooted in the Resource Advantage Theory of competition, contributes to developing market-based innovation strategies in the UMKM sector.