The latest reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has recently been accepted, identifying important challenges for EU agriculture, but proposing only limited changes to the previous CAP. Now it is time for the implementation of the new measures. However, from a theoretical point of view, it seems that the CAP can hardly meet the challenges it faces due to the inconsistencies between the predefined challenges and the measures proposed to meet them. The aim of the paper is to systematically analyse the consistency between the challenges of European agriculture and the policy measures aimed at meeting them. It seems that not all measures are consistent with the challenges.
The EU is the global frontrunner on sustainability and has introduced regulations under the Renewable Energy Directive and Fuel Quality Directive that lay down sustainability criteria that biofuels must meet before being eligible to contribute to the binding national targets that each Member State must achieve by 2020. In Europe, the revised EU Renewable Energy Directive for 2020-2030, approved in December 2018, sets a target for a 14% share of renewable energy in the transport sector by 2030, with a sub-target of at least 3.5% use of advanced biofuels and biomethane. The Directive also places a 7% cap on the share of the overall target that can be met by conventional biofuels based on feedstocks that also could be used as food, reflecting EU concerns about competition between food and fuel and about potential indirect land-use change impacts. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for the Renewable Fuel Standard program. This establishes specific annual volume requirements for renewable fuels, which rise to 36 billion gallons by 2022. These regulatory requirements apply to domestic and foreign producers and importers of renewable fuel used in the U.S. ; Az EU a fenntarthatóság globális éllovasa, és a megújuló energiáról szóló irányelv és az üzemanyag-minőségére vonatkozó irányelv értelmében meghatározzák azokat a fenntarthatósági kritériumokat, amelyeknek a bioüzemanyagoknak meg kell felelniük ahhoz, hogy beszámítható legyen a 2020-ig kötelezően vállalt nemzeti célok teljesítésébe. A 2018 decemberében jóváhagyott és a 2020–2030 közötti időszakra szóló megújuló energiáról szóló irányelv a megújuló energiaforrások 14%-os részesedését tűzi ki célul 2030-ra a közlekedési ágazatban, ebből legalább 3,5%-os részcélként a fejlett bioüzemanyagok és biometán arányát. Az irányelv emellett 7%-os felső határt ír elő az élelmiszernövényekből készült hagyományos bioüzemanyagok részarányára, ami tükrözi az EU aggodalmát az élelmiszerek és az üzemanyagok termőföldért folytatott versenye és a közvetett földhasználat-változás miatt. Az Egyesült Államokban a Környezetvédelmi Ügynökség felel a megújuló üzemanyag szabványra vonatkozó programért. Ez a program specifikus éves mennyiségi követelményeket határoz meg a megújuló üzemanyagokra, amelyek 2022-re 36 milliárd gallonra emelkednek. Ezek a szabályozási követelmények az Egyesült Államokban használt megújuló üzemanyagok hazai és külföldi gyártóira és importőreire vonatkoznak.
The economic, political and social changes experienced globally in recent years have influenced international migration in various countries. The aim of our study is to present the economic and non-economic aspects which determine the quantitative evaluation of migration and to reveal which of the two main factor groups is more dominant. In January 2017, an online questionnaire survey was conducted on the subject of migration. The group of respondents consisted of 438 full-time BSc, MSc and PhD students in Hungarian higher education institutions. Based on these questionnaires, two independent samples t-test, and one-way ANOVA, factor analysis and binary logistic regression procedures were performed. Based on the findings obtained, it was concluded that anti-migration behaviour cannot be explicitly explained by its economic impacts on the labour market. The rejecting attitudes observed on behalf of certain respondents were not in significant correlation with their highest educational levels or their given social class. As a result of the statistical analysis performed, it was concluded that the integration of foreigners is hindered by the so-called socio-cultural barriers, which cannot be removed solely by economic policy measures. Social conflicts of interest have to be eliminated in order for migration to have an active and permanently positive impact on the economy.
An institutional perspective is employed to illuminate the complexity of frauds in various diverse economies, in order to enhance the efficacy of previous accounting concepts. In this study, the effects of the legal, regulatory and human framework of the strength of auditing and reporting standards, and the governance capital related to global sustainable competitiveness and economic growth, etc. are analysed by linear regression (OLS) methods. Moreover, the role of other indicators i.e. financial freedom, the extent of director liability and legal origin, are interrelated with the number of fraud cases. From the results, it appears that an increased level of governance capital, financial freedom from government pressure, strengthened transparency and more protected minority investors through liable directors might increase the number of reported fraud cases in the countries and years examined. The existence of legal origin also seemed to be an appropriate proxy for an improved understanding of fraud characteristics. This evidence suggests it is worth investigating in depth the nature of financial crimes across countries for a better understanding of this phenomenon. In this way, these findings might have sufficient potential in the case of adequate policy implications within a less litigious business environment to resolve the undesirable consequences of impending financial downturns, and to achieve sustainable competitiveness and economic development.
An institutional perspective is employed to illuminate the complexity of frauds in various diverse economies, in order to enhance the efficacy of previous accounting concepts. In this study, the effects of the legal, regulatory and human framework of the strength of auditing and reporting standards, and the governance capital related to global sustainable competitiveness and economic growth, etc. are analysed by linear regression (OLS) methods. Moreover, the role of other indicators i.e. financial freedom, the extent of director liability and legal origin, are interrelated with the number of fraud cases. From the results, it appears that an increased level of governance capital, financial freedom from government pressure, strengthened transparency and more protected minority investors through liable directors might increase the number of reported fraud cases in the countries and years examined. The existence of legal origin also seemed to be an appropriate proxy for an improved understanding of fraud characteristics. This evidence suggests it is worth investigating in depth the nature of financial crimes across countries for a better understanding of this phenomenon. In this way, these findings might have sufficient potential in the case of adequate policy implications within a less litigious business environment to resolve the undesirable consequences of impending financial downturns, and to achieve sustainable competitiveness and economic development.
Since COVID-19 was confirmed in Bangladesh in March 2020, the government have enacted stringent measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has had a significant impact on people's lives. Food consumption habits of consumers have shifted as a result of declining grocery shopping frequency, negative income shock, and food prices shooting up. This paper aims to explore Bangladeshi consumers' buying behaviour in association with the stress generated from a food supply shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-outbreak perception of the food industry, using a dataset with 540 online samples collected between July and August 2021. A two-stage cluster sampling method and self-administrated questionnaire techniques were adopted for collecting the data during the third wave of COVID-19. Using partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) and multivariate multiple ordered logit regression (MVORD) to reveal the pertinent structure between all the blocks, this study provides two key findings. First, a higher intensity of COVID-19 impact translates into higher food stress associated with income reduction and higher food prices. Second, food stress directly affects consumer buying and consumption behaviour. We strongly recommend connecting consumers with local producers and collective use of shared warehouses through institutions, policies, and reforms to prevent disruption in the food supply chain and to keep food prices stable. Additionally, food producers, distributors, stakeholders, and policy planners should strengthen the food supply chain to stabilize food security.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become the main priority across the globe due to their significant role in economic growth and propensity. However, in particular, it is not yet known how governments can achieve SDGs through non-profit organisations (NPOs) by providing financial and non-financial incentives. The present study included 263 Pakistan NPOs in a primary survey using a questionnaire. The results obtained from the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) highlight that: (i) government incentives do not directly influence community development; (ii) The government non-financial incentives have a significant direct effect on environmental activities to reduce pollution, energy consumption and waste; (iii) Resource management fully mediates the paths between government incentives and community development while partially mediates environmental activities; and finally, (iv) resource management has a favourable influence both on the goals of community development and environmental activities. This research paper contributes to the knowledge in that government incentives do not have a direct influence on social development, but has an indirect influence through efficient management. Recommendations are that government and public bodies need to support NPOs to engage actively in philanthropic activities. Similarly, NPOs should efficiently utilize and manage the resources to benefit the maximum number of poor and needy individuals. First published online 22 September 2020
