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I grew up surrounded by activists: in the seventies, my mother hosted conversations with other feminists and artists and my father would take me to lengthy meetings where bearded men in bell-bottoms talked about the economy, socialism and democracy. At University, I became deeply involved in student politics myself, as a founder member of the Association of Students of Commercial Studies, and as part of the student council (KSU). I had also embarked on writing satirical scripts for theatre and television, focusing on themes of social justice and the environment. Concurrently, I completed an Economics degree with first class honours - but could not shake off a terrible feeling that maximizing GDP and minimizing inflation rates were not the end-game I wanted to pursue in my career ; peer-reviewed

We set out to examine the relationship between cultural engagement and wellbeing in a European Union state, Malta. We specify a conceptual model of wellbeing, captured by self-assessed life satisfaction as the predicted variable. Armed with a rich dataset (n = 1,125), drawn from a nationally representative sample, we construct variables that capture the diverse forms of cultural participation including a variable that identifies artists. We test three hypotheses, namely that passive cultural participation (audience) is positively associated with life satisfaction, that active (productive) cultural participation is positively associated with life satisfaction, and that artists have a higher level of life satisfaction, all else being equal. We find that both active and passive participation activities are associated with higher levels of life satisfaction; that active participation (including production, donation and travel) manifests a stronger relationship with life satisfaction than passive participation; and that life satisfaction is higher among those who identify as artists even after the effects of all other control variables are parsed out. This being the first nationally representative study on life satisfaction in Malta, the study makes a useful contribution in this regard, finding that factors like employment, health, engagement in sport, politics, religion, environment, as well as region of residence and migration are all significant correlates of life satisfaction.

We set out to examine the relationship between cultural engagement and wellbeing in a European Union state, Malta. We specify a conceptual model of wellbeing, captured by self-assessed life satisfaction as the predicted variable. Armed with a rich dataset (n = 1,125), drawn from a nationally representative sample, we construct variables that capture the diverse forms of cultural participation including a variable that identifies artists. We test three hypotheses, namely that passive cultural participation (audience) is positively associated with life satisfaction, that active (productive) cultural participation is positively associated with life satisfaction, and that artists have a higher level of life satisfaction, all else being equal. We find that both active and passive participation activities are associated with higher levels of life satisfaction; that active participation (including production, donation and travel) manifests a stronger relationship with life satisfaction than passive participation; and that life satisfaction is higher among those who identify as artists even after the effects of all other control variables are parsed out. This being the first nationally representative study on life satisfaction in Malta, the study makes a useful contribution in this regard, finding that factors like employment, health, engagement in sport, politics, religion, environment, as well as region of residence and migration are all significant correlates of life satisfaction. ; peer-reviewed

The creation of successful business environments is an important prerequisite for durable and sustainable competitiveness. This chapter documents the type of constraints that may hinder business success as well as the policy approaches that may create operating environments conducive to business success in small island contexts. Surrounding influences and circumstances are well known to make considerable difference for business―both on a national and global level. The defining characteristics of small island economies themselves have also been explored and documented in what is now a considerable body of research. Less well known is the manner in which conditions in small island contexts may make a difference to business. The contribution of this chapter lies in juxtaposing knowledge on the type of contextual conditions that may result in business success against situational considerations applicable in small island contexts. The chapter reviews the kind of market and regulatory failures that may hinder business success and then proceeds to examine a number of good-practice examples in the domains of connectivity, sector-led initiatives, innovation, place-based approaches, sustainable tourism, circular economics, and climate change. Drawing lessons from islands that have managed to actively capitalize on their geographic specificities and succeeded in attaining higher levels of competitiveness, the chapter provides a synthesis of factors that create the right environment for business to develop and flourish in small island contexts, and that boost marine island economy competitiveness. Today's marine economy is, however, dependent upon onshore infrastructure; labour; expertise; and healthy and stable ecological, social, and political environments, none of which can simply be taken for granted. The very factors that make islands ideal for hosting marine activities—such as an extensive land-sea interface and density-facilitated agglomeration economies—may be placed at risk by marine economyoriented island development. It is thus that economic activities on the land-sea interface—whether port services or coastal tourism—can reduce islanders' access to the sea as well as lead to environmental degradation that threatens the continued viability of the economic activities in question. Those pursuing island development should take care to balance short-term and longterm objectives while leveraging the very real competitive advantages that arise from island spatialities. ; peer-reviewed

Over the past half century, a literature has developed across a range of disciplines exploring the relationship between religion and environmental engagement, including pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Empirical results are diverse and the relationship seems to vary in size and direction, depending on definitions and the method of investigation adopted. An increasingly important phenomenon which has received far less attention is that of spirituality, within/out the context of a religion. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the question in a predominantly Roman Catholic European Union country where church attendance is in decline. It employs a nationally representative dataset (n=1,029) which includes diverse measures of religiosity and spirituality, as well as measures of interest in environmental issues, in wildlife and natural history, and engagement in countryside activities and gardening, together with relevant socio-economic control variables. Our findings confirm that the usual socio-economic determinants are associated with this type of environmental engagement. We find that church attendance adds no further explanatory power to environmental engagement. On the other hand, participation in socio-cultural religious activities and self-assessed spirituality are positively and significantly associated of various dimensions of environmental engagement. ; peer-reviewed

Over the past half century, a literature has developed across a range of disciplines exploring the relationship between religion and environmental engagement, including pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours.Empirical results are diverse and the relationship seems to vary in size and direction, depending on definitions and the method of investigation adopted. An increasingly important phenomenon which has received far less attention is that of spirituality, within/out the context of a religion. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the question in a predominantly Roman Catholic European Union country where church attendance is in decline. It employs a nationally representative dataset (n=1,029) which includes diverse measures of religiosity and spirituality, as well as measures of interest in environmental issues, in wildlife and natural history, and engagement in countryside activities and gardening, together with relevant socio-economic control variables. Our findings confirm that the usual socio-economic determinants are associated with this type of environmental engagement. We find that church attendance adds no further explanatory power to environmental engagement. On the other hand, participation in socio-cultural religious activities and self-assessed spirituality are positively and significantly associated of various dimensions of environmental engagement.

This study tests whether psychological attachment to a political party influences voluntary participation in a government-promoted public-good scheme, positing that cooperation is higher among households that identify with the party in government and lower among households that identify with the party in opposition. The focus is participation in a voluntary recycling scheme, in the context of a European country (Malta) where two parties dominate the political landscape. A nationally-representative survey (n = 1037), yielded information on recycling participation rates and on environmental and political preferences. The survey was conducted shortly after a change in government and also gauged intent to participate in a new scheme with a split-sample manipulation in which the treatment group received a political prime. The results indicate that the initial uptake of the scheme launched by a Nationalist government was significantly lower among respondents close to the Labour Party. Five years later this effect had decayed. But intent to participate in the hypothetical scheme was lower among respondents close to the party in opposition (this time, the Nationalist Party), if primed with a cue that associates the new scheme with the Labour party. Formal modeling of scheme participation and intent (controlling for political and environmental ideology inter alia), yielded consistent results. These findings shed light on a new dimension which may be responsible for diverse rates of uptake of a public good schemes with practical implications for scheme promotion.

The authors wish to acknowledge Ms Marthese Pfeiffer Paris for her research support. ; Over the past half century, a literature has developed across a range of disciplines exploring the relationship between religion and environmental engagement, including pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Empirical results are diverse and the relationship seems to vary in size and direction, depending on definitions and the method of investigation adopted. An increasingly important phenomenon which has received far less attention is that of spirituality, within/out the context of a religion. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the question in a predominantly Roman Catholic European Union country where church attendance is in decline. It employs a nationally representative dataset (n = 1029) which includes diverse measures of religiosity and spirituality, as well as measures of interest in environmental issues, in wildlife and natural history, and engagement in countryside activities and gardening, together with relevant socio-economic control variables. Our findings confirm that the usual socio-economic determinants are associated with this type of environmental engagement. We find that church attendance adds no further explanatory power to environmental engagement. On the other hand, participation in socio-cultural religious activities and self-assessed spirituality are positively and significantly associated of various dimensions of environmental engagement.

Behavioral economics is an increasingly prominent field within economics and we review the case for its incorporation into undergraduate Economics curricula. We argue that behavioral findings can inform the teaching template itself and (economics) education policy more generally. The pedagogical and behavioral literature informs us that learners are more likely to recall economic content when it is presented as a narrative than when it is couched in abstract models. Film is one of the most evolved forms of story-telling, and its use (along with other media) enables learners to master a concept more quickly. This paper presents a database of 30 short film and media scenes and three detailed lesson plans that may be used as jumping-off points for instructors who wish to incorporate behavioral economics concepts alongside the rational-agent model of economic behavior. ; peer-reviewed

By the time you read this, Malta may, or may not, have elected a new government. By now you've probably already made up your mind about who's going to get your vote, if at all. Actually, perhaps you've voted, or given up your chance to do so, already. Amidst the promises, accusations, proposals, manifestos, conjectures, scandals, dreams, plans, flags, mass meetings, toothpaste-advert smiles, flyers and growls, VIDA caught up with a few individuals who accepted to go beyond blue, green or red and explain how they would improve our political system. David Vella meets Professor Godfrey Baldacchino, Marie Briguglio, Dr JosAnn Cutajar, Abigail Mallia, Lino Spiteri and Mario Vella. ; N/A

Circular economy goals have made their way towards the very heart of EU policy, promising the delivery of both economic and environmental goals, but key to their achievement is the active involvement and participation of businesses. Scholarly literature has made considerable headway in describing the diverse CE business model archetypes and the enablers and barriers that can nurture the transition toward them. However, little work has been done to assess a more profound distinction—that between enterprises that are born circular in contrast with incumbent businesses that grow into circularity. We review 18 case studies of businesses in Europe, which shed light on this distinction. A systematic analysis of their internal, contextual, and policy issues results in the identification of ten key enablers (including business targets, cost reduction potential, loyal customers, demographic aspects, growing waste flows, environmentalism, EU policy, circular policy, and dis/incentives as well as sectoral considerations) and ten key barriers (including bottom line concerns, problematic consumer preferences, lack of infrastructure, technological barriers, poor access to finance, competition, lack of EU harmonisation, uncertainty and lack of internalisation of externalities, and the presence of obstructive policy). We observe that businesses which are born circular seem to face fewer barriers than those seeking to grow into circularity, a finding which offers hope for the transition to a circular economy. Our analysis also suggests that while some enablers and barriers cut across different types of businesses, others tend to be more prevalent among enterprises of a certain size or sector.