Academic literature on the topic 'Relative financial indicators'

Investors are inextricably linked to financial institutions, money managers, and the products they market. Mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), hedge funds, and pension funds manage or hold roughly $55 trillion in combined wealth. This chapter examines these topics with a behavioral finance approach, focusing on two main ideas: the performance and rationality of each group, and the behavioral biases that relate to individuals’ selection of particular investments within each group. Research indicates that actively managed mutual funds and hedge funds underperform passive investments. Pension funds generate alpha of roughly zero on a risk-adjusted basis. The fees involved in investing in such funds exacerbate the observed underperformance in mutual funds and hedge funds. Behavioral biases provide one perspective on sources of underperformance. Further, individuals exhibit a wide range of behavioral biases that may lead to suboptimal asset allocation, including the selection of mutual funds, ETFs, and hedge funds.

Hard coal mining is characterised by features that pose numerous challenges to its current operations and cause strategic and operational problems in planning its development. The most important of these include the high capital intensity of mining investment projects and the dynamically changing environment in which the sector operates, while the long-term role of the sector is dependent on factors originating at both national and international level. At the same time, the conditions for coal mining are deteriorating, the resources more readily available in active mines are being exhausted, mining depths are increasing, temperature levels in pits are rising, transport routes for staff and materials are getting longer, effective working time is decreasing, natural hazards are increasing, and seams with an increasing content of waste rock are being mined. The mining industry is currently in a very difficult situation, both in technical (mining) and economic terms. It cannot be ignored, however, that the difficult financial situation of Polish mining companies is largely exacerbated by their high operating costs. The cost of obtaining coal and its price are two key elements that determine the level of efficiency of Polish mines. This situation could be improved by streamlining the planning processes. This would involve striving for production planning that is as predictable as possible and, on the other hand, economically efficient. In this respect, it is helpful to plan the production from operating longwalls with full awareness of the complexity of geological and mining conditions and the resulting economic consequences. The constraints on increasing the efficiency of the mining process are due to the technical potential of the mining process, organisational factors and, above all, geological and mining conditions. The main objective of the monograph is to identify relations between geological and mining parameters and the level of longwall mining costs, and their daily output. In view of the above, it was assumed that it was possible to present the relationship between the costs of longwall mining and the daily coal output from a longwall as a function of onerous geological and mining factors. The monograph presents two models of onerous geological and mining conditions, including natural hazards, deposit (seam) parameters, mining (technical) parameters and environmental factors. The models were used to calculate two onerousness indicators, Wue and WUt, which synthetically define the level of impact of onerous geological and mining conditions on the mining process in relation to: —— operating costs at longwall faces – indicator WUe, —— daily longwall mining output – indicator WUt. In the next research step, the analysis of direct relationships of selected geological and mining factors with longwall costs and the mining output level was conducted. For this purpose, two statistical models were built for the following dependent variables: unit operating cost (Model 1) and daily longwall mining output (Model 2). The models served two additional sub-objectives: interpretation of the influence of independent variables on dependent variables and point forecasting. The models were also used for forecasting purposes. Statistical models were built on the basis of historical production results of selected seven Polish mines. On the basis of variability of geological and mining conditions at 120 longwalls, the influence of individual parameters on longwall mining between 2010 and 2019 was determined. The identified relationships made it possible to formulate numerical forecast of unit production cost and daily longwall mining output in relation to the level of expected onerousness. The projection period was assumed to be 2020–2030. On this basis, an opinion was formulated on the forecast of the expected unit production costs and the output of the 259 longwalls planned to be mined at these mines. A procedure scheme was developed using the following methods: 1) Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) – mathematical multi-criteria decision-making method, 2) comparative multivariate analysis, 3) regression analysis, 4) Monte Carlo simulation. The utilitarian purpose of the monograph is to provide the research community with the concept of building models that can be used to solve real decision-making problems during longwall planning in hard coal mines. The layout of the monograph, consisting of an introduction, eight main sections and a conclusion, follows the objectives set out above. Section One presents the methodology used to assess the impact of onerous geological and mining conditions on the mining process. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is reviewed and basic definitions used in the following part of the paper are introduced. The section includes a description of AHP which was used in the presented analysis. Individual factors resulting from natural hazards, from the geological structure of the deposit (seam), from limitations caused by technical requirements, from the impact of mining on the environment, which affect the mining process, are described exhaustively in Section Two. Sections Three and Four present the construction of two hierarchical models of geological and mining conditions onerousness: the first in the context of extraction costs and the second in relation to daily longwall mining. The procedure for valuing the importance of their components by a group of experts (pairwise comparison of criteria and sub-criteria on the basis of Saaty’s 9-point comparison scale) is presented. The AHP method is very sensitive to even small changes in the value of the comparison matrix. In order to determine the stability of the valuation of both onerousness models, a sensitivity analysis was carried out, which is described in detail in Section Five. Section Six is devoted to the issue of constructing aggregate indices, WUe and WUt, which synthetically measure the impact of onerous geological and mining conditions on the mining process in individual longwalls and allow for a linear ordering of longwalls according to increasing levels of onerousness. Section Seven opens the research part of the work, which analyses the results of the developed models and indicators in individual mines. A detailed analysis is presented of the assessment of the impact of onerous mining conditions on mining costs in selected seams of the analysed mines, and in the case of the impact of onerous mining on daily longwall mining output, the variability of this process in individual fields (lots) of the mines is characterised. Section Eight presents the regression equations for the dependence of the costs and level of extraction on the aggregated onerousness indicators, WUe and WUt. The regression models f(KJC_N) and f(W) developed in this way are used to forecast the unit mining costs and daily output of the designed longwalls in the context of diversified geological and mining conditions. The use of regression models is of great practical importance. It makes it possible to approximate unit costs and daily output for newly designed longwall workings. The use of this knowledge may significantly improve the quality of planning processes and the effectiveness of the mining process.

Economy and mankind are inextricably interlinked. Just as the economy or the production of material wealth is unimaginable without a man, so human existence and development are impossible without the wealth created in the economy. Shortly, both the goal and the means of achieving and realization of the economy are still the human resources. People have long ago noticed that it was the economy that created livelihoods, and the delays in their production led to the catastrophic events such as hunger, poverty, civil wars, social upheavals, revolutions, moral degeneration, and more. Therefore, the special interest of people in understanding the regulatory framework of the functioning of the economy has existed and exists in all historical epochs [A. Sisvadze. Economic theory. Part One. 2006y. p. 22]. The system of economic disciplines studies economy or economic activities of a society. All of them are based on science, which is currently called economic theory in the post-socialist space (the science of economics, the principles of economics or modern economics), and in most countries of the world - predominantly in the Greek-Latin manner - economics. The title of the present book is also Modern Economics. Economics (economic theory) is the science that studies the efficient use of limited resources to produce and distribute goods and services in order to satisfy as much as possible the unlimited needs and demands of the society. More simply, economics is the science of choice and how society manages its limited resources. Moreover, it should be emphasized that economics (economic theory) studies only the distribution, exchange and consumption of the economic wealth (food, beverages, clothing, housing, machine tools, computers, services, etc.), the production of which is possible and limited. And the wealth that exists indefinitely: no economic relations are formed in the production and distribution of solar energy, air, and the like. This current book is the second complete updated edition of the challenges of the modern global economy in the context of the coronary crisis, taking into account some of the priority directions of the country's development. Its purpose is to help students and interested readers gain a thorough knowledge of economics and show them how this knowledge can be applied pragmatically (professionally) in professional activities or in everyday life. To achieve this goal, this textbook, which consists of two parts and tests, discusses in simple and clear language issues such as: the essence of economics as a science, reasons for origin, purpose, tasks, usefulness and functions; Basic principles, problems and peculiarities of economics in different economic systems; Needs and demand, the essence of economic resources, types and limitations; Interaction, mobility, interchangeability and efficient use of economic resources. The essence and types of wealth; The essence, types and models of the economic system; The interaction of households and firms in the market of resources and products; Market mechanism and its elements - demand, supply and price; Demand and supply elasticity; Production costs and the ways to reduce them; Forms of the market - perfect and incomplete competition markets and their peculiarities; Markets for Production Factors and factor incomes; The essence of macroeconomics, causes and importance of origin; The essence and calculation of key macroeconomic indicators (gross national product, gross domestic product, net national product, national income, etc.); Macroeconomic stability and instability, unemployment, inflation and anti-inflationary policies; State regulation of the economy and economic policy; Monetary and fiscal policy; Income and standard of living; Economic Growth; The Corona Pandemic as a Defect and Effect of Globalization; National Economic Problems and New Opportunities for Development in the conditions of the Coronary Crisis; The Socio-economic problems of moral obsolescence in digital technologies; Education and creativity are the main solution way to overcome the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus; Positive and negative effects of tourism in Georgia; Formation of the middle class as a contributing factor to the development of tourism in Georgia; Corporate culture in Georgian travel companies, etc. The axiomatic truth is that economics is the union of people in constant interaction. Given that the behavior of the economy reflects the behavior of the people who make up the economy, after clarifying the essence of the economy, we move on to the analysis of the four principles of individual decision-making. Furtermore, the book describes how people make independent decisions. The key to making an individual decision is that people have to choose from alternative options, that the value of any action is measured by the value of what must be given or what must be given up to get something, that the rational, smart people make decisions based on the comparison of the marginal costs and marginal returns (benefits), and that people behave accordingly to stimuli. Afterwards, the need for human interaction is then analyzed and substantiated. If a person is isolated, he will have to take care of his own food, clothes, shoes, his own house and so on. In the case of such a closed economy and universalization of labor, firstly, its productivity will be low and, secondly, it will be able to consume only what it produces. It is clear that human productivity will be higher and more profitable as a result of labor specialization and the opportunity to trade with others. Indeed, trade allows each person to specialize, to engage in the activities that are most successful, be it agriculture, sewing or construction, and to buy more diverse goods and services from others at a relatively lower price. The key to such human interactions is that trade is mutually beneficial; That markets are usually the good means of coordination between people and that the government can improve the results of market functioning if the market reveals weakness or the results of market functioning are not fair. Moroever, it also shows how the economy works as a whole. In particular, it is argued that productivity is a key determinant of living standards, that an increase in the money supply is a major source of inflation, and that one of the main impediments to avoiding inflation is the existence of an alternative between inflation and unemployment in the short term, that the inflation decrease causes the temporary decline in unemployement and vice versa. The Understanding creatively of all above mentioned issues, we think, will help the reader to develop market economy-appropriate thinking and rational economic-commercial-financial behaviors, to be more competitive in the domestic and international labor markets, and thus to ensure both their own prosperity and the functioning of the country's economy. How he/she copes with the tasks, it is up to the individual reader to decide. At the same time, we will receive all the smart useful advices with a sense of gratitude and will take it into account in the further work. We also would like to thank the editor and reviewers of the books. Finally, there are many things changing, so it is very important to realize that the XXI century has come: 1. The century of the new economy; 2. Age of Knowledge; 3. Age of Information and economic activities are changing in term of innovations. 1. Why is the 21st century the century of the new economy? Because for this period the economic resources, especially non-productive, non-recoverable ones (oil, natural gas, coal, etc.) are becoming increasingly limited. According to the World Energy Council, there are currently 43 years of gas and oil reserves left in the world (see “New Commersant 2007 # 2, p. 16). Under such conditions, sustainable growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) and maximum satisfaction of uncertain needs should be achieved not through the use of more land, labor and capital (extensification), but through more efficient use of available resources (intensification) or innovative economy. And economics, as it was said, is the science of finding the ways about the more effective usage of the limited resources. At the same time, with the sustainable growth and development of the economy, the present needs must be met in a way that does not deprive future generations of the opportunity to meet their needs; 2. Why is the 21st century the age of knowledge? Because in a modern economy, it is not land (natural resources), labor and capital that is crucial, but knowledge. Modern production, its factors and products are not time-consuming and capital-intensive, but science-intensive, knowledge-intensive. The good example of this is a Japanese enterprise (firm) where the production process is going on but people are almost invisible, also, the result of such production (Japanese product) is a miniature or a sample of how to get the maximum result at the lowest cost; 3. Why is the 21st century the age of information? Because the efficient functioning of the modern economy, the effective organization of the material and personal factors of production largely depend on the right governance decision. The right governance decision requires prompt and accurate information. Gone are the days when the main means of transport was a sailing ship, the main form of data processing was pencil and paper, and the main means of transmitting information was sending letters through a postman on horseback. By the modern transport infrastructure (highways, railways, ships, regular domestic and international flights, oil and gas pipelines, etc.), the movement of goods, services and labor resoucres has been significantly accelerated, while through the modern means of communication (mobile phone, internet, other) the information is spreading rapidly globally, which seems to have "shrunk" the world and made it a single large country. The Authors of the book: Ushangi Samadashvili, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University - Introduction, Chapters - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11,12, 15,16, 17.1,18 , Tests, Revaz Shengelia, Doctor of Economics, Professor of Georgian Technical University, Chapters_7, 8, 13. 14, 17.2, 17.4; Zhuzhuna Tsiklauri - Doctor of Economics, Professor of Georgian Technical University - Chapters 13.6, 13.7,17.2, 17.3, 18. We also thank the editor and reviewers of the book.

AbstractCircular economy principles remain relatively new tendencies in Albanian economy sectors, with some attempts throughout recent years, and until now, little research has been done in this aspect, especially in the construction sector. As the construction sector is connected with other sectors of the economy, its development or slowdown affects the indicators of other sectors. Moreover, this sector possesses numerous challenges, as special attention is needed on the impact that the momentum of construction and the expansion of the real estate market can have on the stability of the financial sector. Integrating the circular economy into the construction sector means understanding the role of stakeholders, their interactions, and the influences they can exert on the process itself, by adding value in each step of this chain process. By categorizing different groups of stakeholders and analyzing their activity regarding the circular economy approach in the construction sector in Albania, this paper presents a clear overview of what has been done until now, the consequences and benefits of these attempts, and also what can be improved in the future. The stakeholders’ theoretical analysis has shown that the relation between different stakeholders presents difficulties in cooperation, although these groups aim towards mutual objectives and goals. In this context, Albanian economy presents difficulties, as this approach is widely influenced not only by political decisions, but also by cultural and financial matters, making it more challenging to make progress.

AbstractIn recent years, organizations are putting an increasing emphasis on anomaly detection. Anomalies in business processes can be an indicator of system faults, inefficiencies, or even fraudulent activities. In this paper we introduce an approach for anomaly detection. Our approach considers different perspectives of a business process such as control flow, data and privacy aspects simultaneously.Therefore, it is able to detect complex anomalies in business processes like spurious data processing and misusage of authorizations. The approach has been implemented in the open source ProM framework and its applicability was evaluated through a real-life dataset from a financial organization. The experiment implies that in addition to detecting anomalies of each aspect, our approach can detect more complex anomalies which relate to multiple perspectives of a business process.

AbstractTransport and tourism are rising economic sectors based on their mutual growth on reliable technological tools, affordable energy sources in relatively peaceful decades. This growing trend, faced along years of sudden slowdown caused mainly by the financial and health crisis; one of the most severe and recent episodes was the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic outbreak is representing a global turning point for both international markets of tourism and transport which can be addressed with innovative solutions looking to retake the growing trends. In such a changing framework CIVITAS DESTINATIONS European project addressed the main challenges of tourism and resident mobility at local (rural, urban area, large city) and regional levels, focusing on six European islands (Malta, Cyprus, Elba, Crete, Gran Canaria, Madeira) aiming to implement and evaluate 83 different sustainable mobility measures. The project proves to have a cumulative relevant impact on environmental indicators such as CO2 emission avoided, fossil fuel saved and energy saved. Additionally, the project findings focus on the quality of life and economic development to grant long-run environmental and financial sustainability of tourism and transport at the local and regional levels. The main aspects observed were related to public participation and governance models in touristic mobility integrated with the residents’ needs, touristic mobility the island, role of technologies to focus on final user needs, growing trends of elder and disabled people, new integrated and innovative business in tourism and mobility markets, health at the core of future trends.

AbstractHaving a job is an important indicator of economic and social wellbeing, and two-earner families are becoming the norm rather than the exception. As a result, many more women, including mothers, are in the labour force now than ever before. Balancing family and work responsibilities therefore becomes ever more important, not just for women but also men who are sharing the caring load with their partners, especially when young pre-school children are present. However, employment is not equally distributed across families, and some families have noone in a job which leads to financial vulnerability. Even one-earner families that depend on a low-skilled, low-wage earner may struggle to get by and provide their children with the opportunities to succeed in life and achieve mental, physical and financial wellbeing. This may lead to the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage and poor outcomes from parents to children. Gender inequality and ongoing inequalities relating to gender divisions in work and family may lead to women being particularly vulnerable in terms of earnings capacity and retirement savings when a relationship ends. One-parent families are specifically at risk as they often have no partner with whom to share the care-taking role, making work-family balance difficult to achieve. In this chapter we review the Australian evidence on these issues and provide policy implications.

The study designed and recommended a portfolio selection framework that can outperform traditional investment benchmarks in the cryptocurrency market. The study utilized technical analysis indicators to choose the investment pool. The study considered the top 169 cryptocurrencies in Yahoo Finance with a market cap of at least $100M. The technical analysis indicators used were Simple Moving Average (SMA), Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), Relative Strength Index (RSI), and On-Balance-Volume (OBV). The resulting safety-first and mean-variance portfolio outperformed the benchmark (S&P500 market index) in terms of descriptive statistics and pair-return difference T-test. Therefore, the portfolios generated could be viable investment alternatives for investors looking to build a portfolio in cryptocurrency markets.

The purpose of the article is to increase the efficiency of financial profitability of insurance activity. In terms of market relations, one of the performance indicators of all organizations is profitability. It becomes the economic development of the organization and the strengthening of the basis of its financial relations with all participants in the processes of entrepreneurial activity. At the same time, the result of the influence of a combination of negative factors is a decrease in the level of financial profitability of enterprises, receiving a loss or even ceasing operations. Achieving a high level of this indicator of improvement of the economic study of the formation of financial results of the organization's vital activities. Every enterprise strives to improve profitability. The results. The grouping of influencing factors into internal and external ones was carried out and the influence of these factors on the activity of the insurance company was revealed. The activity of the insurance company "ARKS" was considered. The main goal of managing the financial perspective of an insurance organization is to ensure the maximization of the welfare of the owners of the enterprise in the current and current period. This goal is designed to simultaneously harmonize the interests of the owners with the interests of the state and the company's personnel. Based on the conducted analysis, as well as the general view of various researchers of this issue, in order to increase the efficiency of the financial profitability of PJSC "ARKS Insurance Company" it is also necessary to reduce the level of costs and unprofitability of insurance operations in connection with the expansion of the level of coverage of the insurance field. Value/originality. In order to achieve the financial stability of insurance companies, the criteria for its provision have been studied in detail. Profitability is one of the most important indicators that reflect the economic state of the enterprise. It supports the purpose of entrepreneurial activity. The main result of the enterprise's activity is increased with the help of indicators, which are divided into absolute and relative: the absolute indicator is the profit of the enterprise; the relative indicator is the profitability of the enterprise. Profit is the economic difference between total income and expenses for the production and sale of products and services, taking into account losses from various business operations in the reporting periods. Profitability indicators, capable of using the final results of the organization's activities, help to trace the totality of consumed resources with invested capital.

The methodological and practical bases of integrated assessment of the financial condition of an agricultural enterprise are considered in the work. It is emphasized that the integrated method of assessment is the most objective for such an analysis, as it allows you to quantify and evaluate the relationship between the main factors and predict their level in the future. An expert method was used to determine the system of basic relative indicators for assessing the level of financial stability of the enterprise and their ratios. Verification of co-ordination of opinions of experts was conducted by the method of grade correlation with a calculation to the Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and determination of statistical importance of opinions of experts on the Pearson criterion χ2. The normative values of indicators were also adapted in accordance with the specifics of the industry and modern operating conditions. The values of the standards were determined on the basis of the results of financial and economic activities of the most efficient enterprises in the region, selected by the method of rating and scoring. Approbation of the developed model of financial condition assessment was carried out on the basis of financial reporting data of agricultural enterprises of Vinnytsia district for five years. The obtained results of calculations were used to check the presence of multicollinearity of factor features, which allowed to establish linearly dependent groups of relative indicators and to optimize the proposed model accordingly. A detailed econometric analysis of a number of dynamics of the integrated indicator of financial stability over ten years was conducted on the example of the most successful agricultural enterprise of Vinnytsia district. Theoretically and practically checked the presence of anomalous levels; the presence of a trend is determined; smoothing and alignment of a number of dynamics is carried out; the trend model is selected and its parameters are calculated; the trend model for adequacy, accuracy and presence of autocorrelation of residues is investigated; point and interval forecasting was carried out.

This chapter measures the effect of growth in Islamic Banking assets on economic performance in a sample of 32 developed and developing countries based on data for the period 2000-2017. The findings show that, although Islamic banks are considered small relative to the total size of the financial sector, these are positively correlated with economic growth even after controlling for financial structure, macroeconomic factors and other variables. The outcome is robust across different econometric specifications like pooling OLS, fixed effects, and panel data with over-identified GMM. The results are confirmed on two different indicators of Islamic banking and hold for different periods. Empirical findings confirm theoretical expectations that although Islamic banking still represents a relatively very small share of the financial system, it is growing and generating an economic boost to ensure a stable banking industry.

A critical analysis of the scientific literature on the issue of the economic efficiency of enterprises was carried out, the factors affecting the efficiency of the enterprise and the factors affecting the profit of enterprises were determined. The characteristics of the influence of factors on the change in profit from the sale of economic products are also given. Based on the conducted research and generalization of the information obtained, a methodology for analyzing the efficiency of economic enterprises is proposed, which includes the following stages: stage 1 – analysis of absolute indicators; stage 2 – analysis of relative indicators of the efficiency of the agricultural enterprise; stage 3 – determination of indicators of the degree of satisfaction of needs; stage 4 – determination of an integral indicator. The purpose Research of factors for increasing the efficiency of a business enterprise. Proposals have been developed to increase the efficiency of the enterprise. Methodology – the study is based on general research methods of analysis and synthesis, comparison, observation of the work of domestic and foreign economists in the industry, statistical for providing data on the general characteristics of the enterprise, the method of graphical analysis is used to visualize the statistical data of the enterprise, the method of forming tables for a convenient presentation of the general characteristics. Results. By conducting a comprehensive assessment using this methodology, an enterprise will be able to plan the size of profit growth and ensure the development and implementation of a financial policy that will contribute to uninterrupted operations under the influence of changes in the internal and external environment, since these stages cover not only absolute and relative indicators of activity efficiency, but also indicators of the degree of satisfaction of the needs of stakeholders. Practical implications. This study defines the calculation of the integral indicator of the efficiency of a business enterprise, using the proposed methodology. Value/originality. The optimization of the production structure of an economic enterprise was carried out and it was proven that such optimization allows the most effective use of the production potential of the enterprise. The feasibility of making further management decisions regarding economic development and increasing the competitiveness of economic products in the market was substantiated. The peculiarities of forming an enterprise development strategy were highlighted. Directions for increasing production efficiency were proposed, taking into account the integral indicator.

Agriculture is one of the most important types of economic activity for the Ukrainian economy, since together with other related economic activities it forms more than half of Ukraine’s GDP and the share of agriculture in the production of goods and services tends to increase. In such conditions, an important and urgent task is a retrospective study of the architectonics of financing of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine, the factors influencing it and the substantiation of the prospects for its optimization. The aim of the study is the empirical assessment of the formation of architectonics of financing of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine under the influence of macroeconomic factors and industry factors. For the empirical assessment of the architectonics of financing of agricultural enterprises of Ukraine, a system of absolute and relative indicators, regression and correlation analysis were applied. An empirical assessment of the financial support of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine in the context of agricultural development allowed to distinguish three periods: 2010-2013 – an increase of financial resources of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine subject to excess of equity, ensuring of financial stability of enterprises; 2014-2015 – reduction of financial resources of agricultural enterprises subject to excess borrowed funds, partial loss of financial stability of enterprises; 2016-2018 – an increase of financial resources of agricultural enterprises in the direction of restoring the potential of financial stability and a deterioration in the payment discipline of the resources of agricultural enterprises.

KPI stands for key performance indicator. The name suggests, a corporate KPI is nothing more than an indicator that measures the performance of a particular business activity or area. There can be instantly find out from car's speedometer and other indicators on the dashboard. Well-chosen KPI combination will allow to run business effectively, not only provide information on how business is doing. but will be able to identify emerging issues in time, take corrective action and see at least a little bit into the future. With KPI, there can be tracked not only a company's financial results, but also performance in all other important areas, such as sales, marketing, manufacturing, customers, suppliers or employees. KPIs also differ depending on the different sectors and the nature of the activity (production / trade / services / logistics ...). Performance indicators can take various forms: absolute number (e.g. sales achieved in €), relative data (% sales growth), ratio (number of pieces produced per day), ranking or rating (customer satisfaction). From a global perspective, it is the goal of all initiatives addressing the issue sustainable development to correctly define the essence of sustainability, to formulate principles and measures to improve and maintain economic, social conditions from an environmental point of view, to set acceptable targets, to contribute with active interventions to fulfill them, but also to choose the right indicators, indices or other permanent measures sustainability.

The paper presents the financial potential of recycling waste electronic equipment (WEE) in the form of printed circuit boards, hard drives, and Lithium-ion batteries. The metal contents in selected types of WEE were presented, as well as their price and importance from an environmental, economic, and political perspective using the indicators of relative supply risk and abiotic depletion potential (ADP). The potential benefits that recycling can bring to the company and the environment were presented. Furthermore, the mass balance and value of recovered metals were estimated for southern Poland and potential possibilities for the management of the remaining separation products were presented. Finally, verified methods for physical recycling of the presented WEE were described.

The paper deals with a complex quantitative evaluation of SMEs’ competitive advantage on the basis of a multiple criteria evaluation technique. Creation of a system of primary evaluation criteria having different significance is emphasized; the proposed set of criteria encompasses the financial indices of performance effectiveness as well as the composite indicators of efficiency of human and material resource management. The general index reflecting the relative competitive advantage of SME must be determined when applying presented evaluation models on the basis of the SAW method. The suggested technique has been applied to a Lithuanian logistics enterprise. The offered system can be used in developing a complex model for the evaluation of the financial status of small enterprises.

International and regional incentives towards environmental sustainability (e.g. the Paris Agreement, the European Green Deal, the EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance) not only include measures to mitigate climate change and contribute to other environmental objectives but also introduce sustainability reporting. Sustainability reporting is expected to become a key element of corporate reporting, potentially at least as significant as financial reporting. Sustainability reporting involves the use of new indicators and metrics, e.g. GHG emission intensity or GHG intensity based on net revenue. GHG emissions intensity is becoming a significant indicator within the suitability reporting framework. It measures GHG emissions in relative terms, enabling the comparison of companies (undertakings) not only within the same sector but also among different sectors. Financial institutions are likely to incorporate this indicator into their decision-making models and procedures, including credit provision. The aim of the study is to assess GHG emissions intensity in agriculture, also in comparison with other sectors (manufacture of birch plywood products, manufacture of metal products and electricity power generation). The findings of the study imply that GHG emissions intensity in agriculture is rather high compared to other sectors. However, incomplete data on Scope 3 emissions limit the generalisation of these findings. The results suggest that inter-sector comparisons based on this indicator may be unfavourable for agricultural companies. Therefore, further research is required before this indicator is widely adopted and incorporated into decision-making models, particularly in the banking sector.

With the continuous evolution of global trade dynamics, the role of customs authorities in ensuring efficient revenue collection has become very important. Effective customs performance measurement significantly enhances the efficiency and transparency of revenue collection processes. This study examines the performance metrics associated with revenue col­lection and safeguarding financial interests within the context of Macedo­nian Customs. The study focuses on key performance indicators such as the Proportion of customs collection of total revenue and Proportion of customs collection of total tax revenue, Rate of revenue target achievement, Varia­tion of customs collection over time as a percentage of GDP, and Level of customs collection relative to the variation of international trade-imports. This study utilized secondary data sourced from official statistics, employ­ing statistical methods to calculate the key performance metrics associated with customs revenue collection. Based on the determined key performance indicators, the study’s findings help identify areas where customs opera­tions can be improved to increase revenue collection efficiency and support well-informed resource allocation decisions.

The paper focuses on micro-regional structures in the Northern Bohemia, for which the tradition of industrial production is typical. In the case of the studied Děčín and Česká Lípa regions, in the past it was mainly a light processing industry. The micro-regions were defined on the basis of daily commuting data. Firm accounting data available in publicly available financial statements of companies were used to evaluate economic performance. From the relative indicators, value added labor productivity and the average monthly wage were used for the analysis. Surprisingly, an average high economic performance of the manufacturing industry was found in the monitored geographical structures. However, relatively low in the strongest industry, ie. in the automotive industry, which contributed most to the reindustrialisation of the Česká Lípa region. Ie. that foreign investment did not necessarily play a comprehensively positive role here. The typical textile industry in the Děčín region has practically completely disappeared and the whole region shows significant deindustrialisation tendencies.

ABSTRACT The achievement of international and mainly Olympic sporting success is increasingly vital to a country with a well-developed sport system. The number of medals won in Olympics Games and, other international sports competitions offer the most self-evident and transparent measure of success in high-performance sport. Increasing competition between nations to succeed in international sporting events also leads to increased financial investments in elite sports from state sources. Many countries invest in sports in which they have built traditions of success or are their social capital. In this article, the theoretical framework assumes that nations that give priority to the financing of certain sports improve the efficiency of the allocation of funds. The purpose of this study is to identify the indicators (criteria) for financial support of elite Bulgarian sports and answer the following questions: (1) whether and to what extent it is necessary to prioritize the financing of sports in Bulgaria; (2) if it is a guarantee of success; (3) and which are the sports that are given the highest priority. The technique of the coefficient of concentration or the share of funding allocated to the four most funded sports within this Olympic cycle was used. In 2021, 46 sports were funded, of which 33 were Olympic and 13 non-Olympic, with a budget of 27.459 million. The data collected show that the first four federations receive about 33.3% of the total budget share for the year — the next four -24.125%. So, the first eight funding proposals receive about 60% (59.175%) of the MMC’s total budget, the remaining -40%. Establishing the link between performance (sports performance) and the country’s policy on sports funding is a rather ambitious task. International sporting success in both summer and winter Olympic sports is primarily determined by factors that cannot be controlled solely by a country’s sporting policy, which makes success relatively relative.

Random strategy is currently an interesting alternative to traditional trading of financial instruments. The paper builds on existing research into the trading of investment instruments through random strategy and strategies based on technical analysis. The highly liquid USD/CAD currency pair was chosen for the US market research. We analyze five years of data, and in every intraday trading session, only a single position will be opened. Technical analysis strategy uses essential indicators such as Bollinger Bands, relative strength index (RSI), moving averages (MA) and other. Every trading position will have the risk-reward ratio (RRR) 3 to 1. In addition, another trading positions on the USD/CAD currency pair will be opened without technical analysis. The time of entry into position will be indicated randomly with a similar risk-reward ratio (RRR) 3 to 1. The aim of this paper is to assess which of the above strategies is more suitable for the investor. In other words, this paper aims to compare the strategy of technical analysis and the random strategy in intraday trading concerning the profitability of these trades. We expect that a random strategy will be more suitable for the investor in many points.

This work investigates the installation of a 10 MW solar PV power plant in a sustainable city in Sudan. Initially, the climatic data such as relative humidity, temperature and horizontal solar radiation over 30 cities in Sudan were collected from NASA web page, then the behavior of all climatic data was analyzed. Annual daily solar radiation on a tilted surface was also calculated over the 30 locations around the country. It was found that the maximum value of tilted average solar radiation is 6.61 KWh/day at Dungola from fixed mode and 8.93 kWh/m2/day from tracking mode. Consequently, the location was selected as an optimum spot for building the solar PV power plant. Additionally, the available solar PV panels on the market were judged according to the maximum module efficiency and high ratio value of module capacity to frame area. The project lifetime is considered as 25 years. RETScreen v.4 software was used to simulate the feasibility analysis of the project based on electric power generated from fixed and tracking modes of operation, financial analysis and greenhouse gas emissions. The study showed that, technically, the proposed plant can generate up to 16.209 GWh of electric energy annually from the fixed system and 21.828 GWh from the tracking system. Environmentally, the annual net GHG reduction is 16,000 and 21,600 tons of CO2 from fixed and tracking systems respectively. From a financial standpoint, the cost-effective indicators were calculated and it was found that the IRR and payback period for the fixed system plant were 0.6% and 23.6 years, respectively. While for tracking system plant, figures were 2.66% and 19.4 years, respectively.

This study examines how financial aid shapes post-secondary enrollment and persistence among senior high school graduates, challenging assumptions in traditional human capital theory. While the theory posits that reducing financial barriers increases participation, findings suggest a more complex process. Drawing on survey data from the Batch 2024 graduates in Cagayan Valley, the study traces student trajectories across three points: college application (Wave 1), first-semester enrollment (Wave 2), and second-semester persistence (Wave 3). Guided by St. John’s (1992) framework, the analysis employs logistic regression to assess the relative influence of financial aid and non-financial factors on student decision-making. Financial aid is more effective in sustaining students already in college rather than initially attracting them. However, the positive impact of financial aid tends to wane over time. While aid may help students persist within an academic year, it is less effective at promoting re-enrollment in the following academic year. This suggests that educational investment is not a one-time choice made at enrollment but a continuous, iterative process. Persistence is shaped by an ongoing process of reassessment, influenced not only by costs but also by academic progress, psychosocial resilience, and institutional support. Non-financial factors—such as academic preparation, mental health, and social support—emerge as key determinants of persistence. Socio-demographic characteristics, including age, gender, and school background, also affect student outcomes. Decisions about educational investment are not solely economic but are shaped by structural, institutional, and psychological conditions. To sustain educational investments, aid must be part of a broader support ecosystem—including advising, mentorship, and mental health services—that reinforces student motivation and resilience. The findings offer qualified support for Human Capital Theory, pointing to a need for a more holistic financial aid model that integrates both financial and non-financial support systems. The strongest extension of the theory arises from the role of psychological traits, particularly grit, a psychological measure of an individual’s perseverance and passion for long-term goals (Duckworth et al. 2007), and a strong predictor of the intent to re-enroll. Traditional indicators are insufficient proxies for student risk. Policies should shift toward the persistence and re-enrollment stages, where aid is most effective, and expand eligibility to include students with academic and psychosocial vulnerabilities. An integrated model that addresses both financial and non-financial barriers can more effectively promote student success.

We show how policy uncertainty and conflict-related shocks impact the dynamics of economic activity (GDP) in Russia. We use alternative indicators of “conflict”, relating to specific aspects of this general concept: geopolitical risk, social unrest, outbreaks of political violence and escalations into internal armed conflict. For policy uncertainty we employ the workhorse economic policy uncertainty (EPU) indicator. We use two distinct but complementary empirical approaches. The first is based on a time series mixed-frequency forecasting model. We show that the indicators provide useful information for forecasting GDP in the short run, even when controlling for a comprehensive set of standard high-frequency macro-financial variables. The second approach, is a SVAR model. We show that negative shocks to the selected indicators lead to economic slowdown, with a persistent drop in GDP growth and a short-lived but large increase in country risk.

This report seeks to analyze the efforts among financial institutions to leverage the relationship between financial intermediation and remittance transfers. The impact of family remittances has been highlighted in the literature as an important one for development. A development impact is one that addresses issues relating to the distribution of wealth and overall improvements in the quality of people's lives. More recently, policy recommendations have stressed the importance of linking remittances to financial intermediation as a strategy to harness the development impact of such earnings. This paper attempts to identify emergent trends in the remittance and finance world that potentially point to a deepening connection between remittances and development vis-à-vis financial intermediation. It is a case study analysis of nine financial institutions, and focusing on three basic indicators: institutional ability to provide remittance transfers to its clients and community, to offer low cost remittance services, and to compliment transfer services with other financial services.

We provide the first comprehensive analysis of the flow-performance relation in Colombian open-end investment funds. We employ a rich dataset containing weekly information at the fund level, including balance sheets, portfolio holdings, liquidity indicators, capital flows, and returns, from January 2018 to December 2023. By analyzing fixed and variable-income funds separately, our empirical findings indicate that performance is relevant for the sensitivity of flows only in fixed-income funds. For these, outflows are more sensitive to poor performance than inflows to good performance. However, macro-financial variables significantly influence investing decisions for both fixed and variable-income funds.

While we are exposed to the physical effects of natural hazard processes, certain groups within a community often bear a disproportionate share of the negative consequences when a disaster strikes. This study addresses questions of why some places and population groups in Canada are more vulnerable to natural hazard processes than others, who is most likely to bear the greatest burden of risk within a given community or region, and what are the underlying factors that disproportionally affect the capacities of individuals and groups to withstand, cope with, and recover from the impacts and downstream consequences of a disaster. Our assessment of social vulnerability is based on principles and analytic methods established as part of the Hazards of Place model (Hewitt et al., 1971; Cutter, 1996), and a corresponding framework of indicators derived from demographic information compiled as part of the 2016 national census. Social determinants of hazard threat are evaluated in the context of backbone patterns that are associated with different types of human settlement (i.e., metropolitan, rural, and remote), and more detailed patterns of land use that reflect physical characteristics of the built environment and related functions that support the day-to-day needs of residents and businesses at the community level. Underlying factors that contribute to regional patterns of social vulnerability are evaluated through the lens of family structure and level of community connectedness (social capital); the ability of individuals and groups to take actions on their own to manage the outcomes of unexpected hazard events (autonomy); shelter conditions that will influence the relative degree of household displacement and reliance on emergency services (housing); and the economic means to sustain the requirements of day-to-day living (e.g., shelter, food, water, basic services) during periods of disruption that can affect employment and other sources of income (financial agency). Results of this study build on and contribute to ongoing research and development efforts within Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to better understand the social and physical determinants of natural hazard risk in support of emergency management and broader dimensions of disaster resilience planning that are undertaken at a community level. Analytic methods and results described in this study are made available as part of an Open Source platform and provide a base of evidence that will be relevant to emergency planners, local authorities and supporting organizations responsible for managing the immediate physical impacts of natural hazard events in Canada, and planners responsible for the integration of disaster resilience principles into the broader context of sustainable land use and community development at the municipal level.

After a protracted period of financial deepening following a financial crisis at the end of the 20th century, the ratio of corporate bank loans to GDP in Colombia stagnated between 2016 and 2019. In this paper, we explore if firms have substituted bank loans for other financial instruments or if there has been a deleveraging process. From a longer-term growth perspective, we also aim to investigate whether fast-growing firms differ from others in terms of their financial leverage. We find that the decline in the ratio of bank corporate loans to GDP is related to a substitution of funding sources and is not part of a firm’s balance sheet deleveraging process. We also find that the slowdown in financial liabilities coincided with a decrease in the investment-to-GDP ratio that was part of the macroeconomic adjustment to a sharp deterioration of terms of trade between 2014 and 2016. An exploration of granular firm data indicates that fast-sale-growing enterprises typically display greater total leverage ratios, but their relative reliance on financial liabilities is less clear. On the other hand, financial leverage is higher for firms that exhibit large CAPEX-to-asset ratios. Thus, the association between financial intermediation and investment seems stronger than between financial intermediation and sales growth.

The mining industry is experiencing challenges in attracting and retaining sufficient skilled employees to meet strategic aims and production objectives, despite offering relatively high financial incentives. Human resources management theory indicates that many factors contribute to employee motivation and job satisfaction, and that these in turn influence performance and employee turnover. Although financial rewards are recognised as major motivating factors in mining employee job satisfaction, non-financial motivators are also desired. This paper examines the use of non-financial incentives to improve performance and productivity in mine operational employees and identifies incentives that could achieve these goals. With few studies focusing on non-financial methods of improving personnel performance in mining, studies from other industries are considered and applied to the mining industry. The paper finds non-financial incentives are likely to increase the motivation of employees in the mining industry, and that incentives which improve the employee’s workplace experience are particularly desired.

Many people argue that mobile money has the potential to increase financial inclusion and improve the livelihoods of poor people in Africa. However, while many African governments impose specific taxes on mobile money transactions, very little is known about their effect on the use of mobile money services. This study assesses the short- and long-term impact of the tax on money transfer fees that the Kenyan government introduced in 2013. The tax, more specifically an excise duty, was imposed on fees incurred in all money transactions, including mobile money. It was introduced at 10 per cent and increased to 12 per cent in 2018. Our analysis has two parts. We use country-level data to see if the tax affected the use of mobile money – transaction values and volume – and the number of active mobile money agents. In addition, we use four rounds of nationally representative survey data to estimate changes in the use of mobile money after introduction of the tax. We find that the excise duty did not have a significant impact on different aggregated indicators relating to the use of mobile money. However, survey data shows that the tax may have reduced the rate of increase in use of mobile money services affected by the changes in tax, such as sending and receiving money, compared to services that were not, like savings and paying bills. Importantly, while the amounts transacted may not change, users send and receive money within households less regularly. In addition, the tax seems to have a more detrimental impact on poorer households, which were less likely to be financially included before the tax was introduced. Larger households also show more negative effects after the tax. URI

Standard macroeconomic models find it difficult to reconcile slow recoveries and missing disinflations after deep deteriorations in the labor market. We develop and estimate a New-Keynesian model with search and matching frictions in the labor market, endogenous intensive and extensive labor supply decisions, and financial frictions. We conclude that the estimated combination of a low degree of nominal wage rigidities and a high degree of real wage rigidities, together with a small role for pre-match costs relative to post-match costs, is key in successfully forecasting slow recoveries in unemployment and missing disinflations in the aftermath of recessions, such as the Great Recession. We find that data on endogenous labor supply decisions (participation and hours) are very informative about the relative degree of nominal and real wage rigidities and the slope of the Phillips curve. We also show that none of the model-based labor market gaps are a sufficient statistic of labor market slack, but all contain relevant information about the state of the economy summarized in a new indicator for labor market slack that we propose.

The Caribbean Water Study describes the operational and financial performance of selected water utilities in the Caribbean as reported by the utilities as well as secodary sources, the situation of non-revenue water (NRW) among these utilities, the financial impact of COVID-19 on the utilites, and the issue of their resilience to natural disasters. Benchmarking of the key performance indicators for water utilities in the Caribbean shows how utilities are performing in relation to their peers across time. NRW is seen to be one of the biggest challenges for water utilities in the Caribbean and one of the most direct ways to improve a utilitys efficiency, financial performance, and quality of service. In addition, reducing NRW contributes significantly to climate change adaptation. Regarding financial impact of COVID-19, the Study found that due to the large decreases in non-residential consumption, most utilities registered a fall in revenues and in average tariffs. The Study elucidated the fact that their small size and limited resources of water utilities make it is difficult for them to recover from the devastation of a storm on their own and post-disaster response, natural disaster preparedness, investments to increase resiliency, and access to funds are of critical importance.