This study delves into the dynamic landscape of pension funds in Colombia, examining both its current research status and practical implications. Understanding the state of pension systems is crucial for individuals' financial security and a country's overall economic stability, especially given factors such as an aging population and evolving socio-economic dynamics. By comprehensively analyzing scholarly publications on Colombian pension funds using the Scopus database, this research sheds light on key trends and contributors shaping policy formulation and financial planning. The analysis covers a period from 1987 to 2023, identifying 71 relevant articles through keyword searches and filters. Various metrics, including publication trends, citations, international collaboration, and authorship dynamics, were quantitatively assessed. The results reveal an annual growth rate of 5.37%, with research articles comprising 81.69%, review articles 7.04%, and other formats like books, book chapters, and conference papers making up 11.27% of the total documents. Notably, countries such as the UK, the USA, Spain, and Colombia emerge as key contributors to the literature. Among authors, Mesa-Lago, L., stands out as a significant figure, with one of the earliest publications on the topic. The findings underscore the growing importance of pension funds in Colombia, particularly in the context of fund performance research amid financial crises. The prevalence of international collaboration suggests a global interest in understanding and contributing to the development of Colombian pension systems. Furthermore, the study identifies research gaps, particularly in areas concerning the socio-economic impact of pension policies, providing a roadmap for future investigations. Policymakers, financial practitioners, and researchers can leverage these insights to inform strategic decision-making and address critical challenges in optimizing pension fund management in Colombia.

In recent years, the foundry sector has been showing an increased interest in reclamation of used sands. Grain shape, sieve analysis, chemical and thermal characteristics must be uniform while molding the sand for better casting characteristics. The problem that tackled by every foundry industry is that of processing an adequate supply of sand which has the properties to meet many requirements imposed upon while molding and core making. Recently, fluidized bed combustors are becoming core of ‘clean wastes technology’ due to their efficient and clean burning of sand. For proven energy efficient sand reclamation processing, analysis of heating system in fluidized bed combustor (FBC) is required. The objective of current study is to design heating element and analysis of heating system by calculation of heat losses and thermal analysis offluidized bed combustorfor improving efficiency.

The research aims to map environmental protection strategies and the related control tools and to identify the links among companies with the largest number of employees and sites in Hungary. The research questions were answered using a questionnaire survey method. The authors used cluster analysis to classify the 205 company strategies into the identified strategy clusters: Leaders, Awakeners, and Laggards. Then, the examined 21 environmental management control tools in the sample were divided into four groups: strategic, administrative, methodological and economic. Economic and strategic methods were the most common in the sample. The authors used cross-tabulation analysis to examine whether there is a statistically proven relationship between belonging to environmental strategy clusters and specific control tools. The analysis showed significant but weak to moderate relationships. According to Cramer's V and the contingency coefficient, the closest relationship between the tested environmental management control tools and membership in environmental strategy clusters is shown by evaluating investments, assessing the economic viability of environmental strategies, and running an environmental training program for employees. In case of the robust lambda indicator, a significant relationship was found by examining the economics of environmental strategies and identifying environmental success factors and eco-balances. It can be concluded that the companies under examination follow a set of environmental goals, which they have incorporated into their strategic objectives. They use the available environmental management control toolbox to develop their strategies and to monitor their implementation to varying degrees.

The Human Development Index, which accounts for both net foreign income and the total value of goods and services generated domestically, illustrates how income becomes less significant as Gross National Income (GNI) rises by using the logarithm of income. South Africa ranks 109th out of 189 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) within the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) economic bloc, raising long-term sustainability concerns. The study explores the relationship between economic, demography, policy indicators and human development in South Africa. South Africa’s unique status as a developing country within the BRICS economic group, alongside its lengthy history of racial discrimination, calls for a sophisticated approach to understanding Human Development. Existing research considered economic, demography, policy indicators independently; the gap of understanding their interconnection and long-term effects in the South African contexts exists. The study addresses the gap by using Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to investigate the short-term and the long-term relationship between economic, demography, policy indicators and human development in South Africa. By discovering these links, the study hopes to provide useful insights for policymakers seeking to promote sustainable human development in South Africa. The findings indicate that growth in GDP is a key factor in the HDI since it shows that there are more financial resources available for human development. By discovering these links, the study hopes to provide useful insights for policymakers seeking to promote sustainable human development in South Africa.

In order to diversify a portfolio, find prices, and manage risk, derivatives products are now necessary. There is a lack of understanding of the true influence of derivatives on the behavior of the underlying assets, their volatility consequences, and their pricing as complex instruments. There is a dearth of empirical research on how these instruments impact company risk exposures and inconsistent findings. This study examines corporate derivatives’ impact on stock price exposure and systematic risk in South African non-financial firms. Using a dataset of listed firms from 2013 to 2023, we employ Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models to assess the effect of derivatives on return volatility and beta, a measure of systematic risk. Additionally, we apply the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to address potential endogeneity between firm characteristics and derivatives use. Our findings suggest that firms using derivatives experience lower overall volatility and reduced systematic risk compared to non-users. The results are robust to various control factors, including firm size, leverage, and macroeconomic conditions. This study fills a gap in the literature by focusing on an underrepresented emerging market and provides insights relevant to global risk management practices.

This paper analyzes the characteristics and influence mechanisms of financial support for China’s strategic emerging industries. Using a sample of 356 listed companies across nine major industries, we conduct an in-depth analysis of the efficiency of financial support and its influencing factors. In addition, this paper analyzes the influence mechanism of financial support for strategic emerging industries based on the relevant theory of financial support for industry development. It clarifies the internal and external influencing factors. Based on the theoretical analysis, a two-stage empirical investigation was conducted: The data of 356 listed companies in strategic emerging industries from 2010 to 2022 were selected as a sample, and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method was applied to measure efficiency. The influencing factors were then analyzed using a Tobit regression and an intermediate effects test.