• Energy Research
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Access to reliable and affordable energy is vital for sustainable development. In the off-grid areas of developing countries, decentralized energy solutions have received increasing attention due to their contributions to reducing poverty. However, most of the rural population in many developing countries still has little or no access to modern energy technologies. This paper assesses the factors that determine the successes and failures of decentralized energy solutions based on local harmonized case studies from heterogeneous contexts from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. The case studies were analyzed through the coupled lenses of energy transition and the Water–Energy–Food Security (WEF) Nexus. The findings indicate that access to modern decentralized energy solutions has not resulted in complete energy transitions due to various tradeoffs with the other domains of the WEF Nexus. On the other hand, the case studies point at the potential for improvements in food security, incomes, health, the empowerment of women, and resource conservation when synergies between decentralized energy solutions and other components of the WEF Nexus are present.

Abstract To empirically verify whether financial risk affects global carbon emissions, this study investigates the financial risk-emission nexus by employing a global balanced panel dataset of 62 countries over the period 2003–2018. Furthermore, we explore the mediation effect of technological innovation on the financial risk-emission nexus. Fully considering potential regional heterogeneity and asymmetry, this study further analyzes the heterogeneous and asymmetric relationships among the variables, such as the difference between regional comprehensive economic partnership countries and other countries. The empirical results indicate that: (1) a mediation effect between financial risk and global carbon emissions exists; in other words, increased financial risk not only reduces global carbon emissions directly, but can also have an indirect impact in mitigating carbon emissions by promoting technological innovation; (2) the impacts of financial risk and technological innovation on global carbon emissions show significant regional heterogeneity; and (3) financial risk and technological innovation show asymmetry across different quantiles. To be specific, technological innovation and financial risk have a significant inhibitory effect on global carbon emissions only in the 10th quantile, while promoting carbon emissions in other quantiles.

This study examined the effect of energy consumption represented by electric and oil energy on economic growth in Jordan for the period of time (1992-2016). The study used the multiple linear regression model to test the hypothesis of the study. The study concluded that the energy consumption in general has a statistically significant effect on economic growth in Jordan, and the study found that the consumption of electric power has a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth in Jordan, i.e., the increase in consumption of electric power by 1% leads to an increase in economic growth by 1.870686% .The results also showed that oil consumption has a positive and statistically significant impact on the economic growth in Jordan, where the increase of 1% of oil consumption leads to an increase in economic growth by 1.969848%. The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is increasing interest in the energy sector by investing in it and using the best technologies to maintain the positive energy effect on economic growth and work to improve it.

Public secondary schools in Nigeria in the 21st century are faced with challenges on the use of electronic-learning (e-learning) programs and medium, especially in contemporary Nigeria where greater emphasis is now being placed on human, national and technological development. If the educational system in Nigeria is to have A global standard through the use of e-learning facilities for knowledge acquisition within and beyond the classroom. This study examined the obstacles as well as the gap on the use of e-learning in public secondary schools in Edo State in the 21st century. The study, based on a descriptive survey, assessed public secondary for the most urgent solution. The method of data analysis employed was mean ( ) and standard deviation (SD). Findings revealed that there is a gap on e-learning in the schools surveyed. Inadequate e-learnng facilities/equipment and Lack of regular electricity in Nigeria were found to be the challenges. The percentage of Nigerian secondary school teachers with basic computer skills was low compared to their counterparts in developed countries. It was recommended that an in-service training programme should be organized for teachers for the implementation of information and communication technology (ICT), as an aid to e-learning program, government should appropriately fund secondary schools to provide equipment and technical expertise for teachers among others to with steady supply of electricity for effective operation of the e-learning.

The purpose of this study is to examine a dynamic interdependence between national and interregional growth, money, monetary policy, residential structures, spatial amenity, price of goods, land rent, housing rent in a comprehensive analytical framework. The economy consists of multiple regions and each region has industrial and housing sectors. The model is a synthesis of the four models in the growth theory, urban economics and monetary economics in a multi-regional context. Industrial production and capital accumulation follow the Solow model. Regional population distributes over the urban area according to the Alonso model and regional housing production follows the Muth model. The microeconomic foundation for determining time distribution, savings, spatial location and consumption follows the approach proposed by Zhang. We simulate the model and examine effects of changes in some parameters.

The article provides an overview of state programs that determine the prospects for the development of the agro-industrial complex in Belarus. Despite the positive results of the agro-industrial complex development in Belarus, a lot of technological, economic and social problems remain unresolved. Some solutions have been proposed. In particular, the focus is on the need for developing a social responsibility strategy in the context of the interest balance among agroindustrial enterpises, the region and the state.

PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2019 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly becoming the productive drivers of economic growth and development in South Africa. This is so because SME sector is the engine of employment creation and the key contributor to the GDP of the country. Despite their contribution to the development of the economy, the rate of failure and discontinuity of SMEs in South Africa is still one of the highest in the world. A lot of business scholars have addressed the issue plaguing the sector by identifying the causes of SME failure but have not provided a solution on what needs to be done for these business ventures to become sustainable. The purpose of this study therefore was to develop a framework for enhancing the sustainability of SMEs in municipalities of the North West province of South Africa. A number of objectives were set to accomplish the purpose of the study that built up to the development of the proposed framework to enhance the sustainability of SMEs in this region. In order to attain the objectives of this study, the study used five principal theories that address the sustainability of SMEs: the financial gap theory, the resource dependence theory, the theory of mergers and acquisitions, investment theory and trickle-down theory. The pragmatist research paradigm underpinned supported the adoption of a sequential explanatory mixed method approach for collecting and analysing quantitative data in a first phase, while the qualitative phase was built on the outcomes of the preliminary quantitative results. The target population of this study was drawn from the current number of formal (duly registered) SMEs in the North-West province as indicated by the Central Supply Database of the Provincial Department of Finance. This population was chosen from the four district municipalities of the North-West province of South Africa and a non-probability sampling method was used to select a sample size of 400 small business owners and managers for the quantitative phase and 20 for the qualitative phase. The Statistical Package for Social Science was used to analyse quantitative data and Atlas-Ti software was used to analyse qualitative data. The findings of the study indicate that the major causes of SME failure and discontinuity in the North West province is due to various factors such as lack of strategic business planning, lack of sufficient finance, poor management, lack of innovation, lack of business research and low level of human capital education and training. Therefore, it is imperative for SME owners and managers to formulate and pursue a strategic business plan for their businesses, seek for measures to foster an improved flow of finances and implement strategic management in their businesses. More so, it is necessary for SME owners and managers to be innovative in business, conduct business research and upgrade the level of education and training of their human capital to ensure successful and sustainable business enterprises. More importantly, because of their contribution to economic growth of the country, the government should endeavour to support and encourage this sector to develop by offering financial and technical assistance to small business enterprises through relevant departments and agencies. Doctoral

Abstract During successive industrial revolutions, the objective has not only been for industry to improve and satisfy its direct needs, it has also been to improve society’s standard of living and make life easier for the consumer. Therefore, economic growth should always go hand in hand with each industrial revolution. The medical industry, energy conservation and, in particular, production technologies will be transformed through new value chain models. Globalization, urbanization, demographic change and energy transformation are the transforming forces estimating the technological impetus for a better identification of solutions for a world on the move. In recent years, successive revolutions have made remarkable contributions to a person’s quality of life, safety, industrial economy, comfort and health. This work aims at improving the energy consumption of buildings. To achieve this goal, we have created a Digital Twin that accurately reflects the behavior and characteristics of a future or existing building. To reproduce a copy of the future or existing building, we chose to use the Autodesk REVIT solution to meet several constraints. These have a significant influence on the energy behavior of the building.

Land degradation poses a major threat to agricultural production and food security in Ethiopia, and sustainable land management (SLM) is key in dealing with its adverse impacts. This paper examines the covariates that shape rural livelihood diversification and examines their effects on the intensity of adoption of SLM practices. Household-level data were collected in 2017 from 270 households in three drought-prone watersheds located in northwestern Ethiopia. We used the Herfindahl–Simpson diversity index to explore the extent of livelihood diversification. A stochastic dominance ordering was also employed to identify remunerative livelihood activities. A multivariate probit model was employed to estimate the probability of choosing simultaneous livelihood strategies, and an ordered probit model was estimated to examine the effect of livelihood diversification on the adoption intensity of SLM practices. In addition to mixed cropping and livestock production, the production of emerging cash crops (e.g., Acacia decurrens for charcoal, and khat) dominated the overall income generation of the majority of farmers. Stress/shock experience, extent of agricultural intensification, and agro-ecology significantly affected the probability of choosing certain livelihood strategies. Livelihood diversification at the household level was significantly associated with the dependency ratio, market distance, credit access, extension services, membership in community organizations, level of income, and livestock ownership. A greater extent of livelihood diversification had a significant negative effect on adopting a greater number of SLM practices, whereas it had a positive effect on lower SLM adoption intensity. Overall, we found evidence that having greater livelihood diversification could prompt households not to adopt more SLM practices. Livelihood initiatives that focus on increasing shock resilience, access to financial support mechanisms, improving livestock production, and providing quality extension services, while also considering agro-ecological differences, are needed. In addition, development planners should take into account the livelihood portfolios of rural households when trying to implement SLM policies and programs.