The consensus is that price stability promotes sustainable economic growth while excessive inflation harms growth. This study assesses the linkage between inflation and economic growth in South Africa to determine the optimal inflation rate threshold for the sustainable growth of the economy. Quarterly data from 1995 to 2022 was analysed through the ARDL and threshold regressions. The ARDL and threshold regressions estimate established a relationship between inflation and economic growth and computed the optimal inflation rate threshold for economic growth at 6 percent. The results also established that both the repo rate (repurchase rate) and real effective exchange rate have a negative relationship with economic growth. The Toda-Yamamoto causality test result indicated a unidirectional causality runs from inflation to economic growth. These results are crucial for the South African Reserve Bank to discharge its monetary policy functions to attain and maintain price stability. Therefore, this study offers the Bank a roadmap for targeting an inflation rate that aligns with the nation’s long-term objectives for sustainable economic growth.

The increase in energy consumption is closely linked to environmental pollution. Healthcare spending has increased significantly in recent years in all countries, especially after the pandemic. The link between healthcare spending, greenhouse gas emissions and gross domestic product has led many researchers to use modelling techniques to assess this relationship. For this purpose, this paper analyzes the relationship between per capita healthcare expenditure, per capita gross domestic product and per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the 27 EU countries for the period 2000 to 2020 using Error Correction Westerlund, and Westerlund and Edgerton Lagrange Multiplier (LM) bootstrap panel cointegration test. The estimation of model coefficients was carried out using the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) method adopted by Eberhardt and Teal, when there is heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence in cross-sectional units. In addition, Dumitrescu and Hurlin test has been used to detect causality. The findings of the study showed that in the long run, per capita emissions of greenhouse gases have a negative effect on per capita health expenditure, except from the case of Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia. On the other hand, long-term individual co-integration factors of GDP per capita have a positively strong impact on health expenditure per capita in all EU countries. Finally, Dumitrescu and Urlin’s causality results reveal a significant one-way causality relationship from GDP per capita and CO₂ emissions per capita to healthcare expenditure per capita for all EU countries.

The recent crisis-filled period has placed a significant burden on various businesses, including in the tourism sector. As a result, the concept of resilience, the flexible ability to resist, has become more and more tangible. This study aims to update the quantitative organizational resilience assessment scale of Orchiston, Prayag and Brown. The paper analyses a sample of 87 tourism service providers managing attractions, and factor analysis was carried out to identify the factors in order to be able to measure the resilience of tourism service providers. Four factors could be identified: Leadership and Organization, Strategy, Independence, and Internal Identity. These identified factors and the included 14 items mean the key contribution, as a new, updated assessment system.

Earnings disparities in South Africa, and specifically the Eastern Cape region are influenced by a complex interplay of historical, socio-economic, and demographic factors. Despite significant progress since the end of apartheid, persistent disparities in earnings continue to raise questions about the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing inequality and promoting equitable social system. Individual-level dataset from the 2021 South African general household survey were subjected to exploratory analysis, while Heckman selection model was used to investigate the determinants of earnings disparities in the study area. The results showed that majority of the population are not working for a wage, commission or salary, which also pointed to the gravity of unemployment situation in the area of study. Most of the working population (both male and female) are lowest earners (R ≤ 10,000), and this also cuts across all age-group categories. Majority of working population have no formal education, are drop out, or have less than grade-12 certificate, and very few working populations with higher education status were found in the moderate and relatively high earnings categories. While many of the working population are engaged in the informal sector, those in the formal sector are in the lowest earners group. Compared to any other race, the Black African group constituted the majority of non-wage earners, and most in this group were found in the lowest earners group. Some of the working population who were beneficiaries of social grants and medical aids scheme were found in the lowest, low, and moderate earnings categories. The findings significantly isolated the earnings-effect of age, marital status, gender, race, education, geographic indicators, employment sector, and index of health conditions and disabilities. The study recommends interventions addressing racial, gender, and geographic wage gaps, while also emphasizing the importance of equitable access to education, health infrastructure, and skills development.

It has long been acknowledged that interpersonal trust is the foundation of business partnerships. Interpersonal trust is frequently required in circumstances involving interdependence among parties, wherein each party is cognizant of the other’s vulnerabilities, the potential consequences of their actions, and the favorable anticipations of others. This study aims to examine and understand the impact of the development of interpersonal trust on the long-term sustainability of the Gayo Aceh coffee business, which has been operational since 1908. The unit of analysis in this study is the stakeholders of the Gayo Aceh coffee industry, including farmers, collectors, sellers, and distributors. This study utilizes a qualitative technique, specifically employing a case study design, for both data collection and analysis. To collect data, we utilized observations and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the research indicate that the establishment of interpersonal trust among producers, collectors, sellers, and distributors has had a discernible influence on the current sustainability of the coffee industry in Aceh Gayo.

The United States, Mexico, and Canada (USMCA) seek to promote fair wages and adequate working conditions, especially in Mexico, by strengthening labor rights and freedom of association. The objective of this research is to determine the factors that influence salary levels in the Mexican Automotive Industry (MAI), through a causality analysis in the Granger sense, to generate a panorama that allows a decision-making process in the Mexican salary policy. With data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, the Bank of Mexico and Statista, autoregressive vector models were estimated to determine causalities in the Granger sense. It was proven that minimum wage, employed personnel, production, total sales, and exports are some causes of remuneration in the sector, with the minimum wage being the most significant. The above suggests that the salary increase involves several actors, such as the government (minimum wage), the organization (production, sales and exports) and the market (employed personnel), therefore, the design of appropriate labor policies will contribute to the dignification of salaries inside the MAI.

The livelihood of ethnic minority households in Vietnam is mainly in the fields of agriculture and forestry. The percentage of ethnic minorities who have jobs in industry, construction, and services is still limited. Moreover, due to harsh climate conditions, limited resources, poor market access, low education level, lack of investment capital for production, and inadequate policies, job opportunities in the off-farm and non-farm activities are very limited among ethnic minority areas. This paper assessed the contribution of livelihood diversification activities to poverty reduction of ethnic minority households in Son La Province of Vietnam. The analysis was based on the data using three stages sampling procedure of 240 ethnic minority households in Son La Province. The finding showed that the livelihood diversification activities had positively significant contribution to poverty reduction of ethnic minority households in Son La Province. In addition, the factors positively affecting the livelihood choices of ethnic minority households in Son La Province of Vietnam are education level, labor size, access to credit, membership of associations, support policies, vocational training, and district. Thus, improving ethnic minority householder’s knowledge through formal educational and training, expanding availability of accessible infrastructure, and enhancing participation of social/political associations were recommended as possible policy interventions to diversify livelihood activities so as to mitigate the level of poverty in the study area.

The article provides evidence on the effect of local public governance on the impact of public investment on local and regional economic growth, using spatial and regional logic. The research uses the spatial Durbin model and produces a panel data set that was conducted on 63 provinces of Vietnam from 2006 to 2022. Based on the interaction between public governance and public investment, the main findings indicate that their interaction plays an important role in adjusting the effects of public investment and public governance on economic growth not only in the locality but also spillover to neighboring localities in both the short and long terms. It suggests that local public governance not only hampers the impact of local public investment on local economic growth but also has spillover effects on the growth of neighboring provinces or regions in Vietnam. Additionally, the results of detailed analysis of PCI component indicators show that many aspects of local public governance are hindering local economic growth but contributing to promoting neighboring localities economic growth. Or, it has no effect the locality but promote or hinder the regional economic growth. The findings in this study implies that authorities of localities need to be cautious when using resources to improve the various aspects of public governance when designing strategies to enhance the quality of local public governance. It also suggests that this spillover effect is a crucial factor in advocating for more redistributive fiscal policies and regional governance policies aimed at reducing economic disparities caused by territorial boundaries. Therefore, authorities should prioritize regional cooperation strategies in their decisions regarding public governance and public capital allocation.