Journal articles on the topic 'Mortgage loans – Government policy – Europe'

The subject of the researchis the availability of mortgage as a credit resource for investment funding. The relevance of the problem is due to the development of the mortgage credit lending in the country. The policy of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the Russian Government aimed at combating inflation and planned reduction of the key rate created favorable conditions for establishing acceptable bank rates on mortgage loans, which significantly raised the mortgage demand over the past few years. The research shows that Russian commercial banks have reduced mortgage rates and are offering refunding of previously issued mortgage loans, which demonstrates the confidence of the banking sector in the government and economic stability at the macro level. At the same time, the easy access to home mortgage lending can lead to a “financial bubble” problem on the Russian banking market and, moreover, to deterioration of the borrowers’ solvency, and, therefore, loan default.The purpose of the researchwas to examine the current affordability of mortgage as a source of credit resources for investment funding and develop recommendations for improving this process. The paperconcludesthat the government policy of economic and financial stabilization through inflation combating measures and maintaining the key rate by the CBR at the level acceptable for economic growth should be continued. At the same time, the transition from the participation finance to the project-tied system of housing construction financing can possibly increase the loan interest burden on developers and affect the price per square meter for the final buyer. The main factors contributing to the reduction of mortgage rates are the planned reduction of the key rate by the CBR and low inflation rates, the program of the Government subsidies to the mortgage market as well as the increased supply of low-income housing by developers.

The issues of state support of mortgage lending in Ukraine as a tool to stimulate the housing market, expand the opportunities of a wide range of citizens to meet housing needs and ensure the stable development of the national economy are considered. The fragmentation of the state housing policy and various instruments of state support for housing market participants are noted. Emphasis is placed on the significant unrealized potential of the construction sector, whose contribution to the domestic economy is three times smaller than the European average. The state and dynamics of the housing stock of Ukraine, the development of which remains highly sensitive to changes in the economy, are analysed. The problem of inaccessibility of mortgage lending for the general population is emphasized, which is mitigated both by market decisions of banks to reduce real mortgage rates and government initiatives to introduce and improve programs for affordable loans and housing. The practice of state programs in the housing market is analysed and the preservation of problems of their effective implementation is noted, including limited and instability of financing, the ambiguity of participation conditions, narrow target orientation, the inconsistency of responsibility of program participants. The peculiarities of the current mortgage lending are determined, among which the increase of new mortgage loans, the dominance of agreements on the secondary market, the limited number of mortgage lending banks, the provision of mortgage loans for a short period. New government initiatives to stimulate mortgage lending are considered, among the positive aspects of which is the priority of reducing the % of loan servicing, harmonization of relevant regulations, clarification of the procedure for participation. It is proposed to apply a systematic approach to the development of state support programs, which will be based on priorities by stimulating the growth of incomes and solvency of broad sections of citizens and the involvement of innovative developers in programs.

Securitization of Assets is a tool in the asset-liability management of banks and financial institutions to tide over the liquidity and other risks and also to supplement income by way of profit on sale of loans. Housing finance sector is one area where securitization is in practice and government has identified National Housing Bank as a facilitator for providing guarantee. This paper focuses on development of securitization in the US and Europe where it has diversified from a mortgage loan phenomenon in the 70’s into non-mortgage based loans giving rise to Asset Based Securities (ABS). It also brings out the impediments and constraints in the way of realising the potential of ABS in India. The growth of securitization in India has been affected mainly due to the non-development of the debt-market. The onus of developing and popularising the asset based securities in India lies on the merchant banker.

Abstract Using loan level data on mortgage loans originated by Dutch banks during 1996 to 2015, we analyse the determinants of the incidence of non-performance. We find that both the originating loan-to-value ratio (OLTV) and the debt-service-to-income ratio are significantly positively associated with the probability of non-performance. The results suggest that mortgages with government-loan-guarantees perform better. Moreover, several mortgage loan and borrower characteristics, such as the (interest-only) loan type and the underwater status of the borrower, increase credit risk. Our model predictions suggest a novel policy implication: in order to avoid acceleration of non-performance probabilities, the OLTV-limit should be set to about 70–80% for uninsured mortgages, and to about 90% for those with mortgage insurance.

Regional shocks are an important feature of the US economy. Households' ability to self-insure against these shocks depends on how they affect local interest rates. In the United States, most borrowing occurs through the mortgage market and is influenced by the presence of government-sponsored enterprises (GSE). We establish that despite large regional variation in predictable default risk, GSE mortgage rates for otherwise identical loans do not vary spatially. In contrast, the private market does set interest rates which vary with local risk. We use a spatial model of collateralized borrowing to show that the national interest rate policy substantially affects welfare by redistributing resources across regions. (JEL E32, E43, G21, G28, L32, R11, R31)

Policymakers and leaders usually fail to grasp a sound lesson from the eco- nomic hurdles and crises countries face. This paper, thus, is intended to review and articulate the causes and effects of the global financial crisis, and how the Ethiopian monetary policy reacted and mitigated the crisis. The data for the analysis were collected from various sources including IMF, World Bank, National Bank of Ethiopia, and research articles from 2003 to 2019. The review reveals that even during the crisis in 2009, Ethiopia was among the top five fastest-growing countries in the world by an average of 10.5%, which is twice the average growth of Sub-Sahara African countries (5 %). It had become the seventh-largest economy in Africa and the 69th in the world with a GDP PPP of 118.2$ Billion as of 2013. Some of the main reasons for the con- tinued growth of the country amid crisis could be the desynchronization of the country’s financial market with the international financial market, an insig- nificant share of mortgage loans in domestic financial sector services, and high-level government-led infrastructure investment coupled with China’s economic alliance. However, the significant effect of the crisis was observed in the country’s exports, remittance, and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). To shun the related inflationary effect, the government increased the minimum deposit interest rate, reserve, and liquidity requirements, and reinstated the credit restrictions. Also, the immediate alert was given to commercial banks to give proper attention in managing credit risk and reducing non-performing loans to below 5% and overdraft facilities. Given the above-mentioned facts, the monetary policy measures were effective to stabilize the economy & sus- tain the growth. In the end, the offshoots & setbacks of the unsynchronized financial market, government-led investment & fettered mortgage loans are addressed, and the way forward is marked out.

The article dwells upon one of the most essential needs and benefits of the population – providing their own housing. Most young people are unable to solve housing problems on their own, so government support is significant to them. The issue of creating appropriate conditions that will increase the level of housing for the population is still relevant today. Theoretical and practical results of the study were obtained using the following methods: synthesis, analysis of evaluation methods, logical generalization. The works of many domestic scientists are devoted to the research of the problems of the state housing policy, among which: V.O. Omelchuk, V.B. Averyanov, M.F. Holovaty, P.I. Shestopalov, E.A. Sokolovskiy, E.O. Bublyk and others. The article analyzes the state and identifies the main features of the implementation of state programs of youth housing loans. Insufficient state funding for these programs, the constant growth of the number of citizens who need the state to ensure appropriate social living standards. All this encourages the search for new ways to improve the availability of real estate financing systems. One of them may be affordable mortgage loans. This will allow to effectively develop, in addition to housing programs for youth soft loans, a socially oriented mortgage market. Proposals have been made for the provision of affordable mortgage loans, depending on the level of solvency of the population, which will solve critical social problems of both young people and other categories of citizens. The opportunity to get their own housing in the future will increase the level of protection of vulnerable social groups, which in turn will encourage people to live and work in Ukraine.

The Korean government has tried to change the structure of residential mortgages in Korea from the short-term variable-rate non-amorting loans to the long-term fixed-rate amorting loans since the early 2000’s. This study examines he borrower’s net yield from that new type of loans, which is defined as the difference between the lender’s yield out of the borrower’s repayment and the borrower’s yield from the expected gain on the portion of housing equity funded by cosnumer. The main hypothesis tested is that the borrower’s net yield will be affected by the time of loan origination and the level of mortgage interest rate charged because the future fluctuations of housing values and that of market interest rates are expected to be key determinants. The results confirm the hypothesis in that borrower’s net yields show positive or negative values according to the time of loan start, the level of fixed loan rates, or home regions. The results documented can offer a useful information as to the financial consumers’decision on loan amount and the timing of loan application considering the housing and mortgage market condition, which in turn can provide policy implication to regulating the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio regulations.

Depending on the economic situation, real estate policies have been announced with the goal of stabilizing real estate or revitalizing the economy. Before implementing real estate policies, effective operation and evaluation of government policies are essential. Real estate exhibits different regional variations due to its unique location fixity, and as a consumer and investment good, it is a commodity that is affected in a complex way, such as liquidity, supply, macroeconomics, and psychology. Real estate policies vary by tax policies such as holding tax and capital gains tax, and housing finance regulations (LTV, DTI). From this point of view, there is a need for a tool that can analyze the comprehensive policy effects including various types of real estate policies of the government. In this study, the available variables among the macroeconomic variables of the real estate market macroeconomic model designed on the premise of the ripple path following the implementation of real estate policies and the apartment sales transaction price index in the metropolitan area and nationwide, which is a proxy for apartment houses, were set as variables and analyzed through multivariate analysis. Analyze dynamic variations between variables. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of housing finance regulation on housing mortgage loans in the national and metropolitan areas among real estate policies and the effect of tax policies and mortgage loans on apartment house prices (apartment sale price index) among real estate policies. We would like to focus on analyzing the effectiveness of the policy.

Depending on the economic situation, real estate policies have been announced with the goal of stabilizing real estate or revitalizing the economy. Before implementing real estate policies, effective operation and evaluation of government policies are essential. Real estate exhibits different regional variations due to its unique location fixity, and as a consumer and investment good, it is a commodity that is affected in a complex way, such as liquidity, supply, macroeconomics, and psychology. Real estate policies vary by tax policies such as holding tax and capital gains tax, and housing finance regulations (LTV, DTI). From this point of view, there is a need for a tool that can analyze the comprehensive policy effects including various types of real estate policies of the government. In this study, the available variables among the macroeconomic variables of the real estate market macroeconomic model designed on the premise of the ripple path following the implementation of real estate policies and the apartment sales transaction price index in the metropolitan area and nationwide, which is a proxy for apartment houses, were set as variables and analyzed through multivariate analysis. Analyze dynamic variations between variables. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of housing finance regulation on housing mortgage loans in the national and metropolitan areas among real estate policies and the effect of tax policies and mortgage loans on apartment house prices (apartment sale price index) among real estate policies. We would like to focus on analyzing the effectiveness of the policy.

Purpose The transmission of monetary policy rates to lending rates is viewed as a crucial path of monetary policy. As an integral part of the financial system and the recent financial crisis, securitized assets have the potential to affect the interest rate pass-through process and monetary policy effectiveness. This paper aims to investigate the influence of securitization on the transmission of policy rate changes to lending rates and how rate transmission has changed since the recent financial crisis. Emphasis is placed on differences among the mortgage, consumer credit and business loan securitization markets and between agency and private-label securitization transactions. Design/methodology/approach The empirical framework is an error-correction model augmented to directly measure the influence of securitization. Monetary policy effectiveness is measured by the size and speed of transmitted policy rate changes to lending rates. An efficiency measure of relative adjustment accounts for differences in the size of long-run responses across loan markets and changes in efficiency from securitization within loan markets. Findings The size and speed of interest rate pass-through tend to increase with securitization. Liquidity, capital relief and funding from securitization help to make lending rates more responsive. Increases in pass-through with securitization are less in the consumer credit and business loan markets after the recent financial crisis relative to before the crisis. In contrast, mortgage markets tend to have larger pass-through after the financial crisis. Differences in rate transmission after the recent financial crisis point to the role on nonbanks in consumer credit and business loans and asset purchase programs of the Federal Reserve in mortgage markets. Securitization tends to make the adjustment process more efficient, and gains in efficiency from securitization are larger after the financial crisis. Originality/value A key contribution of the study differentiates securitization across markets and types to determine the effects on the interest rate pass-through process. The results show that increases in the efficiency of the adjustment process from securitization tend to be greater in mortgage markets and for all private-label securitized assets. These findings have implications for proposed government-sponsored entity (GSE) reform to reduce the role of GSEs in the housing market, promote private-label mortgage credit and strengthen securitization deals.

SUMMARY In Europe, the need for additional funding coming from either budget cuts and/or increased costs due to increased competition in university quality has reopened the debate on the financing of university systems. An attractive alternative to the current general-tax-financed subsidies is Income Contingent Loans (ICL), a flexible scheme that puts more weight on private resources while enhancing progressivity. One challenge of the viability of ICL systems is the functioning of the labor market for university graduates. This paper offers a general analysis of the economics of ICL, followed by an application to Spain. We set up a loan laboratory in which we can explore the distributional effects of different loan systems to finance tertiary education at current costs as well as to increase university funding to improve its quality. We use simulated lifetime earnings of graduates matching the dynamics of employment and earnings in the Spanish administrative social security data to calculate the burden of introducing ICL for individuals at different points of the earnings distribution and for the government. We find that (1) our proposed structure is highly progressive under all specifications, with the top quarter of the distribution paying close to the full amount of the tuition and the bottom 10% paying almost no tuition and (2) the share of total university education subsidized by the government is between 16 and 56 percentage points less than under the current system.

NHS clinical directors are responsible for balancing departmental budgets, which can encompass staffing, equipment and operating theatres. As trust income is generally fixed, expenditure reduction is often attempted via recurrent cost improvement plans. In orthodox monetary theory, a departmental deficit contributes first to the hospital, then to the NHS, then to the national deficit. In the orthodox view, governments in deficit need to increase taxes and/or borrow money by issuing bonds (akin to mortgage loans), the interest on which is paid off for generations. Modern monetary theory offers a different perspective: government deficits do not matter as much as orthodox theory claims, if at all. This is because governments have the monopoly right to create the money in which the deficit is denominated (so do not ever need to borrow something that they can create). Therefore governments cannot default on debt in their own currency. Furthermore, government deficits equate to private surplus. This new perspective should influence microeconomic budget management at the clinical director level: the new emphasis being to deliver value and not just implement local savings to eliminate departmental deficits. This approach will become increasingly important in managing the huge surgical waiting lists that have accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The author of this paper (Dr. Ivo Pezzuto) has been one of the first authors to write back in 2008 about the alleged "subprime mortgage loans fraud" which has triggered the 2008 financial crisis, in combination with multiple other complex, highly interrelated, and concurrent factors. The author has been also one of the first authors to report in that same working paper of 2008 (available on SSRN and titled "Miraculous Financial Engineering or Toxic Finance? The Genesis of the U.S. Subprime Mortgage Loans Crisis and its Consequences on the Global Financial Markets and Real Economy") the high probability of a Eurozone debt crisis, due to a number of unsolved structural macroeconomic problems, the lack of a single crisis resolution scheme, current account imbalances, and in some countries, housing bubbles/high private debt. In the book published in 2013 and titled "Predictable and Avoidable: Repairing Economic Dislocation and Preventing the Recurrence of Crisis", Dr. Ivo Pezzuto has exposed the root causes of the financial crisis in order to enables readers to understand that the crisis we have seen was predictable and should have been avoidable, and that a recurrence can be avoided, if lessons are learned and the right action taken. Almost one year after the publication of the book "Predictable and Avoidable: Repairing Economic Dislocation and Preventing the Recurrence of Crisis", the author has decided to write this working paper to explore what happened in the meantime to the financial markets and to the financial regulation implementation. Most of all, the author with this working paper aims to provide an updated analysis as strategist and scenario analyst on the topics addressed in the book "Predictable and Avoidable" based on a forward-looking perspective and on potential "tail risk" scenarios. The topics reported in this paper relate to financial crises; Government policy; financial regulation; corporate governance; credit risk management; financial risk management; economic policy; Euro Zone debt crisis; the "Great Recession"; business ethics; sociology, finance and financial markets. This paper aims to contribute to the debate about the change needed in the banking and finance industries and to supervisory frameworks, in order to enhance regulatory mechanisms and to improve global financial stability and sustainability.

The article analyzes main aspects of V. Orban's policy of strengthening Hungarian economic sovereignty. The Hungarian leadership had to find out balanced and reasonable approach to tackle the world economic crisis. Hungarian ballot package included reform of economic regulation on a state's level, taking moderate protectionist measures and foreign trade diversification. V. Orban's government succeeded in constitutional reform that allowed to consolidate power to deliver coherent economic policy and to harmonize separation of powers with that goal to be reached. Moreover, transferring of economic regulation to constitutional level lead to stabilization of monetary sphere. V. Orban's government enhanced state sector of economy in vulnerable areas, rose taxation on large business and shrank loans' burden of citizens in order to maintain positive economic growth. This measures ensured potential to advance further inside demand rates and to galvanize market capacity. Finally, V. Orban announced "openness to the East" policy aimed at diversifying foreign trade of Hungary. The main focus of the policy was trade with China and Russia. However, supranational authorities of European Union objected this policy goals on the grounds of economic and political consideration. But Hungarian leadership advocated its policy in a very tough way, which is a good example of self-reliance and pragmatism for the future of Europe.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of major historical developments in agricultural finance, with particular emphasis on agricultural credit. It reviews the development of Raiffeisen and related banks that emerged in Germany and Europe throughout the nineteenth century and how the cooperative banking system made its way into the banking system of the USA in the early twentieth century. The paper emphasizes the role of the state in the developing of agricultural credit, especially with respect to farm mortgages, securitization, and bond structures. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a historical synthesis of historical literature on agricultural credit. Findings This paper shows the direct linkage between the developments in Raiffeisen credit cooperatives and the Farm Credit System (FCS) and details the emergence of the land banks, farm credit banks, agricultural bonds and the role of joint-stock banks in agricultural credit policy. Originality/value In total, 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 1916 Federal Farm Loan Act which set in motion the USs’ first Government Sponsored Enterprise and catalyzed the formation of the FCS as it operates today to provide credit to farmers and rural communities on a cooperative basis. Although there are a few wonderful books written on certain aspects of the FCS the story of how the FCS was initiated and the many struggles it faced up to the 1933 Act has not been told often enough. This paper tells the story of the evolution of agricultural credit that ultimately led to the formation of the FCS.

In 2008 the world faced a powerful economic crisis, which led to significant problems in the EU. Some states, such us Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain, were on the verge of default. In such conditions the EU had to take appropriate measures to save European countries. The author reviewed the measures which concerned Ireland. At the beginning of the century Irish economy showed rapid growth. But in 2010 the default threatened “The Celtic tiger”. It was conditioned by the collapse of mortgage landing system and the rapid outflow of foreign capital. As far as Ireland participates in the euro zone the other European countries are interested in the stabilization of Ireland’s economy. All measures of saving Ireland’s economy could be divided to two groups. The first group includes the measures taken by the government of Ireland. This is state financing of bank sphere, which was done without being agreed with the EU (moreover, the European council reacted negatively), and changing of tax rate approved by the EU. The second group is represented by the measures of European institutes. It includes preferential credits and suppression of sanctions for violation of Maastricht criterion in exchange for austerity budget. In Ireland’s case such policy doesn’t seem really effective. The level of Ireland’s budget deficit is more than 3 % of GDP and its current economic growth does not permit to redeem the loans. Economic problems provide political instability, that’s why Ireland’s government cannot elaborate long-term financial policy. Though European institutes managed to find consensus between different national interests, the EU needs no less than 15 years to return to pre-depression economic level.

Francoism in the initial period of its existence focused on building a self-sufficient economic system. The policy pur-sued by the fascist countries, primarily Italy, was taken as a model. This choice was due not only to the ideological close-ness and assistance that these states provided to the Fran-coists during the civil war, but also to objective factors. The World War II limited international trade, and afterwards Spain was in international isolation. Under these conditions, the main task was to reduce dependence on imports. To do this, the government actively intervened in the economy, setting prices and controlling the distribution of resources. The re-sults of the first decade were modest, some of the worst among non-belligerent countries in Europe. In the 1950s the policy was adjusted: control over the economy was relaxed, equipment purchases abroad were more active. This allowed for significant growth. The growing trade deficit was covered by US loans, as well as tourism income. Nevertheless, the basic principles of the autarkic policy persisted, which led to a severe economic crisis in the late 1950s.

The financial equilibrium (“financial health”) of the enterprises is a prerequisite for their sustainable development, which ensures macroeconomic stability of the economy and the welfare of the state. It should be supported by the banking system, which performs the function of the effective reallocation of capital. Recently, the Ukrainian banking system itself is in a challenging situation and is undergoing a period of transformation. The purpose of the study is to assess how sufficiently the banking system of Ukraine supports the financial equilibrium of enterprises and to find the possibilities to strengthen its role in the progress of the real sector of economy. The authors single out three stages of financial equilibrium growth; each of them can be supported by the relevant banking services. The empirical analysis proves that the Ukrainian banks successfully ensure only the first stage, namely, liquidity balancing. To quantitatively assess the role of the banking system in supporting the enterprises’ financial equilibrium, a multivariate regression applying mathematical gnostic analysis in the program shell R Console is used. The research makes it possible to find out that only the economy monetization, the share of time deposits of economic entities and growth rate of mortgage loans have a positive effect. The authors conclude that the problems of both enterprises and the banking system are in the sphere of development and implementation of government economic policy and are aggravated by the restrictive monetary policy.

Household energy constitutes an important share of affordable housing. Unaffordable housing and inadequate household energy represent a new dimension of poverty. Connections between energy, housing affordability and well-being are still under-researched. Building on housing affordability framework, this study explores the magnitude in changes in affordability of acquisition and use of an apartment between January 2018 and January 2022. Over the last four years, the real estate market in Europe has changed significantly. This paper deals with primary data for the Czech Republic, where acquisition prices of residential real estate increased depending on the region in the range of 50 to 120%. Since January 2022, there has been a sharp rise in energy prices and a tightening of conditions for the acquisition of mortgage loans. All these factors affect the standard of living in the Czech Republic. The article quantifies the magnitude of this change by calculating shares of total housing costs to total average net household income for the period January 2018 and January 2022. It is found that the affordability of owner-occupied housing in the Czech Republic has deteriorated and part of the middle class will be forced to move to the rental housing sector, multifamily housing and sharing. Finally, we argue that energy poverty needs to be considered in addressing the government housing policies. The aim of the article is to analyze the changes that have taken place in the real estate market over the last four years in relation to the growth of total housing costs and energy costs associated with housing.

The democratic development of society has shown that the growth of the welfare of the overwhelming majority of the population through the implementation of effective social and economic policy in the country positively influences public attitude to the government and increases the level of trust in the public sector. A successful mechanism to address the social needs of citizens is the development of an affordable housing financing system for the population. The purpose of the study is to analyze the state of affordable housing financing in Ukraine and determine its relationship to trust in the public sector. The article examines the use of state-administrative mechanisms for realizing the housing rights of Ukrainian citizens. Analysis of the current state of implementation of affordable housing programs is proposed, considering the size of mortgage payments and the volume of housing financing. The analysis highlighted the existence of a housing crisis in Ukrainian society as a result of the extremely low level of funding for the sector. The study provides a comparative analysis of the housing affordability index and the level of trust in government in Europe, according to the Global Value Survey. This has helped determine the place of social housing policy in the system of trust relationships between government, local governments and citizens. According to the sociological monitoring platforms, a dynamic analysis of the balance of trust-distrust of the population of Ukraine to the state apparatus and local government bodies was conducted. Based on a comprehensive and critical assessment of the leading affordable housing programs in the country and trust indicators, this study found that the distribution of powers, incentives, responsibilities, and budget funds within the framework of the decentralization process between the central government and local authorities, contribute to the achievement of the main goals of the state's social policy regarding affordable housing, which positively affects the level of citizens trust in local authorities. As a result, it was determined that during periods of economic and political uncertainty, financing of affordable housing is quite important, because due to such actions the state reduces the level of uncertainty, forms positive expectations of citizens, promotes the increase of stability and trust necessary for sustainable economic and social recovery.

The article considers the development trends of the main banking markets of active operations for the eight months of 2021. The analysis of market trends has showed that despite significant efforts of the Government to intensify lending under the programs "Affordable Loans 5-7-9%" and "Mortgage Lending", the dynamics of growth of banks' loan portfolios can notmeet expectations. The banking regulator has adopted new legal and regulatory requirements that significantly cool the banking business in conducting new lending operations. Banks with state participation in capital dominate the volume of credit operations. There is a tendency to reduce the volume of negatively classified assets in banks with the participation of the state in capital. The downward trend in negatively classified assets provides prospects for attracting foreign capital to the balance sheets of these banks. In general, the global trend of enhancing the role of the state in solving problems during the crisis has manifested itself in the economic processes of Ukraine. Trends regarding the increase of the role of the state in the financial sector during the economic crisis in modern literature is called the "new Keynesianism". In the banking sector of Ukraine there is a situation when banks have a reserve of liquidity to expand lending. But the regulatory requirements for financial monitoring of banking operations and reserve requirements for active operations of banks have become stiffer in terms of resource support for the economy.In addition, the strengthening of legal requirements for personal criminal liability of bank management is a brake on resource support of the economy. Fiscal housing at this stage of development of the financial system of Ukraine is manifested in the significant activity of banks in the government securities market. It is not worth expecting significant economic support due to the increase in bank lending without changes in regulatory policy in the crisis of 2021.

Introduction. The implementation of debt policy in the EU countries is associated with a range of problems, in particular, rising social spending, and increasing budget deficits. In recent years, Member States have had a negative impact on the debt crisis, which is primarily due to unbridled fiscal policies of individual countries and the banking crisis. Purpose. The article is devoted to issues of implementation of debt policy in the EU countries and the problems of overcoming the consequences of the debt crisis, which began in 2008 and extends to today. An estimation of the possibilities of using this experience in Ukraine is made considering the fact that the country is on the verge of a debt crisis. Results. It has been determined that the sovereign debt crisis is a crisis of confidence for the EU, in particular the euro zone. This required adjusting both the socio-economic and financial policies of the EU. It can be argued that the Stability and Growth Pact did not take place and that now Europe needs to form a qualitatively new budget system that could more effectively cope with the adverse economic consequences or even the failure of a Member State to fulfill its obligations. It has been determined that one of the main items of budget expenditures of the European Union countries is government debt service costs. Public debt management, above all, is carried out through government debt securities. There is a tendency to reduce the share of shortterm public debt and increase the long-term, which provides reduction of budget expenditures for servicing public debt. In particular, in some EU countries there are strict rules that determine the conditions for external borrowing, for example, new loans should not exceed the annual amounts of debt to be repaid. Conclusions. It has been established that a number of measures have been implemented in the EU countries to address the consequences of the debt crisis, in particular: diversification of sources of state debt financing and optimization of terms of circulation of government debt securities; fiscal consolidation; increase maturity of debt obligations and optimize the structure of the public debt portfolio. It is concluded that the measures taken by the EU countries to overcome the consequences of the debt crisis may be useful for Ukraine and, in fact, is a step-by-step guide for the presentation of crisis phenomena, taking into account positive and negative experiences.

The article proves that an important condition for the economic growth of the country is to find effective mechanisms in the state regulation of investment activity in construction, for this it is necessary: to clearly define the priorities for the development of construction for the long-term period; to ensure a system of coherence and stability of the legislative framework, especially on the formation and functioning of special economic zones, territories for priority development; to reduce the tax burden on enterprises investing resources in the investment development of the construction industry; create equal conditions for competition; to direct investment in priority construction projects in terms of efficiency; provide government guarantees to investors and consolidate them at the legislative level; to ensure minimization of investment risks and the like. It was noted that the main tasks of implementing the initiatives of digitalization of state institutions in the process of state regulation of investment in construction. As a result of the conducted research, the organizational and economic model of the state mechanism for attracting investments in the construction of Ukraine has been developed, which differs from the existing components of investment activity in construction (goal, subjects, objects) by the system association, taking into account international directions of state regulation of the industry, methods of forming investment policy in the field of construction; taking into account the modern concept of the development of the digital economy and the society of Ukraine, approved by the government for the next two years. It is noted that in order to solve the housing problem, first of all, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for the companies involved in the construction, design and reconstruction of residential buildings. These conditions include improving the system of crediting housing construction (including commercial objects), corporate and monetary funds, attracting additional international resources, etc. Promising elements of housing policy development are the creation of mortgage, residential loans, insurance companies and other market structures that make it possible to finance housing construction. Of course, it is impossible to fully implement a new housing policy without reforming the wage system, which would create conditions for the interest of the population in using their incomes and savings for the construction, acquisition, and rental of housing.

The article is devoted to the study of the problems of the development of rural agglomerations of a coal-mining region. It was revealed that the intensive development of the coal industry leads to negative consequences for the environment, which affect the socio-economic development and the quality of life of the population of a region. The rural areas of the Russian Federation and each individual region are strategic resources, however, the lack of opportunity to meet their urgent needs, difficult living conditions of the rural population, isolation of rural settlements from scientific and technological achievements, poor development of transport infrastructure and communications do not allow unlocking the potential of rural areas. Analyzing the decisions made in recent years by the Government of the Russian Federation to regulate the development of rural areas and the agro-industry, we can conclude about a qualitatively new approach to state regulation of the agrarian sector. At the same time, the financial position of the overwhelming majority of the rural population does not allow contracting house construction mortgage loans. The level of improvement of the rural housing stock is 2-3 times lagging behind the urban one. Coal mining entails disturbance of land, which cannot be further used. It is accompanied by a high incidence of respiratory diseases and cancers, which tends to grow. The resources allocated for welfare programs do not allow the residents in rural areas to significantly improve their living conditions, to increase the availability of social services and their quality. To solve the identified problems, it is proposed to create rural agglomerations, allowing for more efficient and independent development of rural areas; to reduce the overlapping of management functions through streamlining management structures; implement a more equitable social policy for the residents of rural areas.

This article explores one aspect of the US policy in Europe between 1945 and 1948. Following World War II, Washington’s increased influence required new mechanisms and ways of behaviour. US diplomacy needed to combine its traditional course meant to protect American interests with the intention of expanding its influence and support democratic governments in the liberated states. However, the policy was accompanied by several serious problems and contradictions, e.g. the US relations with Czechoslovakia concerning the compensation for the nationalised and requisitioned property of American citizens. Conducted to improve and recover its economy within the socialist reforms course, the measures were perceived in the US as evidence of an increased Communist and Soviet influence. The inability of the Czechoslovak government to pay compensation and prolonged negotiations put American diplomats in front of a choice between the protection of their citizens’ property interests and continuing to support pro-Western forces in Czechoslovakia. The weakness of the Czechoslovak economy and its limited financial resources were not accepted by the Americans as a good enough reason for concessions. Washington took a principled stand declaring the need for adequate and effective compensation as a condition for the development of any other relations. It used financial pressure — blocking loans and credits which Czechoslovakia was desperate for. This led to a deterioration of bilateral relations and influenced the decline of popularity of pro-Western political forces in Czechoslovakia, ending with the Communist takeover in 1948, which made compensation impossible for a few decades to come.

The article is devoted to the problem of the relationship between expected results and real institutional, structural, and financial consequences of agrarian reforms aimed at the capitalization of land. The purpose of the publication is to summarize the positive and negative experience of the peasant reform of 1861 on changes in the relations of ownership and land use in the budgetary and financial sphere and foreign economic activity. Research is based on the history-institutional methodology using tools of economic comparability, retrospective analysis, and historical reconstruction. It is defined that the opening of the land market and the creation of a system of mortgage land loans allowed to increase the share of private land ownership of peasants, but did not turn them into effective owners and did not solve the problem of peasant land. Rising land prices contributed to the development of land speculation and increased rents, encouraging the farmers to predatory land use and depletion of soils without increasing productivity. The capitalization of land and the expansion of the hired labor market contributed to economic growth, increased government revenues and expenditures, and overcame the chronic state budget deficit. At the same time, the credit indebtedness of peasants grew, while ransom payments depleted peasant farms, reducing the potential for capital formation and investment. The public policy of forcing grain exports and supporting large agribusiness allowed to replenish the gold reserves of the treasury, but also led to the impoverishment of farmers, reduced quality of the exported grain, increased share of fodder crops, and lower share of food crops and finished goods. Intensified international competition to expand the supply of cheap grain led to lower prices, weaker competitive position of domestic exporters, and the growing dependence of the economy on world markets for agricultural products, and the local agrarian business - on foreign capital. The article provides recommendations to the government about taking into account the historical experience in the implementation of modern agrarian transformations, in particular, comprehensive support for farming as the main link of agricultural production and the guarantor of food security of the country. Their implementation will help prevent the risks of over-concentration of land, the proletarianization of the peasantry and its mass migration to cities and abroad, growing environmental problems, and vulnerability of the economy due to increasing dependence on the world markets for agricultural raw materials.

The article is devoted to the problem of the relationship between expected results and real institutional, structural, and financial consequences of agrarian reforms aimed at the capitalization of land. The purpose of the publication is to summarize the positive and negative experience of the peasant reform of 1861 on changes in the relations of ownership and land use in the budgetary and financial sphere and foreign economic activity. Research is based on the history-institutional methodology using tools of economic comparability, retrospective analysis, and historical reconstruction. It is defined that the opening of the land market and the creation of a system of mortgage land loans allowed to increase the share of private land ownership of peasants, but did not turn them into effective owners and did not solve the problem of peasant land. Rising land prices contributed to the development of land speculation and increased rents, encouraging the farmers to predatory land use and depletion of soils without increasing productivity. The capitalization of land and the expansion of the hired labor market contributed to economic growth, increased government revenues and expenditures, and overcame the chronic state budget deficit. At the same time, the credit indebtedness of peasants grew, while ransom payments depleted peasant farms, reducing the potential for capital formation and investment. The public policy of forcing grain exports and supporting large agribusiness allowed to replenish the gold reserves of the treasury, but also led to the impoverishment of farmers, reduced quality of the exported grain, increased share of fodder crops, and lower share of food crops and finished goods. Intensified international competition to expand the supply of cheap grain led to lower prices, weaker competitive position of domestic exporters, and the growing dependence of the economy on world markets for agricultural products, and the local agrarian business - on foreign capital. The article provides recommendations to the government about taking into account the historical experience in the implementation of modern agrarian transformations, in particular, comprehensive support for farming as the main link of agricultural production and the guarantor of food security of the country. Their implementation will help prevent the risks of over-concentration of land, the proletarianization of the peasantry and its mass migration to cities and abroad, growing environmental problems, and vulnerability of the economy due to increasing dependence on the world markets for agricultural raw materials.

This paper analyses India s potential, performance, and problems in software export over the years. The results of the study show that software export has been growing con~istently at a higher rate of 50-60 per cent in the 1990s. Growing respect for Indian software industry in international market, continued rise in offshore services, entry into new markets. Y2K data conversion business and of course various steps taken by Government to promote export by simplifying procedures, tax concessions. by establishing software technology parks, and by initiating more liberal foreign investment policies, are considered to be the major factors that gave a fillip to the phenomenal growth of Indian software export. A close look at the destinations of the software export shows that USA continues to top the list followed by Europe, South East Asia, Japan and others. The study finds the important comparative advantage that India possesses over other countries are: worlds second largest pool of scientific manpower with English speaking skill, low cost of labour. investment friendly economic climate and policy, locational time difference with the Western world, etc. The major problems affecting Indian software export are: shortage of competent professionals. inadequate telecommunication facilities and other infrastructural bottelnecks, weak domestic market. etc. Some of the few suggestions that the present study makes are: reorienting and restructuring the educational systems in tune with the current needs of the economy, conducting a national level test in line with the engineering or medical entrance after 10+2 to draw the best talents to IT field, introduction of computers at school (Ind college levels, providing easy access to loans to IT students, providing high quality infrastructure and communication facilities , attraction of more private participation, both domestic and foreign in IT industry.

The agricultural sector ensures food security and is a major source of employment, income, and economic activity in rural areas. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) considers that family farms are the key to a sustainable future in Europe and Central Asia. In Romania, small farms represent the pillar on which Romanian society has been developed. Although the trend has been a reduction in the number of small farms and an increase in the number of large farms, the Government of Romania understands the importance of small farms and therefore supports them through policies involving direct payments, rural development instruments, special initiatives, and loans and outstanding obligations, among others, which focus on increasing their economic performance. The aim of our research was to determine the relationship between farmers’ motivation, their job satisfaction, and the farm economic performance in the case of small Romanian farms. The research sample consisted of 900 small farms (utilized agricultural area (UAA): under 20 ha; standard output (SO): under EUR 15,000). The data obtained after applying the questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and Amos 24.0. For the exploratory factor analysis, values of Bartlett’s test of sphericity, the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were calculated for each dimension of the proposed model. The hypothesis that motivation, job satisfaction, and farm economic performance directly and positively influence each other was confirmed. An important finding was that the correlation coefficient between farmers’ motivation and farm economic performance was ρ = 0.78, while that for the relation between farmers’ job satisfaction and farm economic performance was ρ = 0.53, which was similar to the correlation coefficient calculated for the relationship between farmers’ motivation and farmers’ job satisfaction. This result allows us to conclude that the influence of farmers’ motivation factors on farm economic performance is stronger than the influence of job satisfaction in the case of Romanian farmers on small farms. This might explain why, although work in agriculture is considered to be worse than an office job and the people that work in agriculture are sometimes stigmatized and receive lower incomes, there are still very strong motivators for Romanian farmers to continue their work in agriculture. This is proven by the fact that Romania has the highest number of small farms in Europe, and this number is not decreasing.

The article reveals development and essential changes of higher education in Great Britain in XX–XXI centuries. During last century Great Britain higher education system has changed dramatically – from elite higher education in the beginning of XX century, which was available for very small part of society, to mass higher education with variety of institutions and education programs. Nowadays there is almost half of Great Britain population (of certain age group) obtaining higher education certificate or diploma. The junction of XX and XXI centuries was signed with significant shift in the gender structure of higher education students: more women obtained fist university degree than men. Ten years later the same was recorded in higher degrees. The intense change of Great Britain higher education from elite to mass inevitably influenced the higher education finance sector. Great Britain used to cover all expenses of higher education from the budget. However, the financial crises occurred in the last decade of XX century, and the government was forced to seek for new financing models of higher education. First time in Great Britain higher education history the tuition fee was introduced. Striving to ensure the higher education accessibility for all social groups in Great Britain, the tuition fees were complemented with the grants and loans with special repayment (or without) conditions. Nevertheless, the financial reform, started in 1998, already was changed several times and has raised lots of critics. Along with the financial reform Great Britain deals with the higher education quality issues. There was no essential discussions about higher education quality in the beginning of the XX century as it was elite higher education. Moving to the mass higher education with variety of institutions and dramatically growing student number, the quality question becomes relevant. Despite the owning the largest number of worldwide level elite universities in Europe, Great Britain seeks to ensure the quality in all higher education institutions in the country. Therefore the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education was established. The Agency puts students and the public interest at the center of everything they do. Great Britain higher education quality policy is implemented basing on the Quality Code for Higher Education.

Relevance of research topic. The number of Ukrainian holding-type organizations and their land bankcontinues to grow, "displacing" small and medium-sized producers from the agricultural economy.Since 2019, state policy has been refocusing on forced support for small and small-scale farms, and after the Ukrainian decentralization reform the leadership of the united territorial communities of the new tools they received depends on the development of small and medium-sized businesses. Formulation of the problem. Today, the actualization of local economic development requires significant financial resources from the united territorial communities. And the formation of their budget depends on the effectiveagricultural sector operation. After the Ukrainian reform of local self-government and decentralization, the economic development of the territories and of Ukraine as a whole, depends on the using of new tools and resources by the community leadership. The solution of theagrarian sphere problems of the united territorial communities is in the plane ofsmall agrarian entrepreneurship state support, strengthening of the state control over the activity of large agro-traders, as well as their social and financial responsibility to the united territorial communities. Analysis of recent research and publications. Theoretical questions on the study of small agrarian entrepreneurship in the development of united territorial communities were engaged in such scientists of the Institute of Economics of NASU, Institute of Agrarian Economics of NAAS of Ukraine, as Shemyakin D., Finagina O. V., Lysetsky A. S., Onishchenko O. M., and other national and foreign scientists. Selection of unexplored parts of the general problem. The issue of the impact of decentralization on theagricultural sector development of the united territorial communities needs to be detailed and further researched. Setting the task, the purpose of the study. The article aim is to investigate the theoretical aspect of organizational and legal foundations of the formation of united territorial communities in Ukraine, assess thesmall agricultural business current state and trace its relationship with the activities of united territorial communities for economic development. Method or methodology for conducting research. The set of general scientific methods of cognition and special methods of economic research are used in the work. Among them: analysis and synthesis, generalization and comparison, system-structural and comparative analysis, systematic method of cognition of economic processes and phenomena, index method and method of statistical groupings for analysis of united territorial communities activity development of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine. Presentation of the main material (results of work). The article considers the theoretical aspect of organizational and legal foundations of the united territorial communities formation in Ukraine, assesses the current state of small agricultural business and reveals it’s main relationships with the united territorial communities activities for region economic development. Territorial communities are voluntary associations of residents of city, village and settlement councils, which directly receive funding from the state budget for the development of education, medicine, sports, culture, and social protection. Financial support from the state gives more opportunities to local communities to implement their own projects. The more active the territorial community, the more projects will be implemented and theterritorial communityprofitability level will be higher, which it will spend on the development of territories. This is the main incentive to attract additional investment to improve people's living standards. In 2020, theUkrainian Cabinet of Ministers adopted 24 orders on the definition of administrative centers and approval ofregional community’s territories. There are 1469 territorial communities in our country. After the launch of the decentralization process in Ukraine – the transfer of powers and resources to places from which the community itself determines the direction of funding, small communities require forresource lack for rural development. The solution has beena decision to consolidate several councils by merging, which allowed communities to use common resources for territorial development. Ukraine owns 60.3 million hectares, which is about 6% of Europe's territory.There are 32.7 millionarable land hectares of land in the structure ofUkrainian agricultural territory, of which almost 9 million are used as pastures, hayfields and other agricultural lands. The quarter of agricultural land was never distributed, remaining on the balance of the state. Thus, state and the communal property include 10.5 million hectares of agricultural land, which is 26% of the total area, of which 3.2 million hectares – in the permanent use of state enterprises, 2.5 million hectares – in stock, and the rest – for rent. Almost 40% of the total number of Ukrainian enterprises in the agricultural sector and 38% of the area of agricultural land cultivated by agricultural enterprises are absorbed by agricultural holdings and large agricultural traders. On June 1, 2019, there were more than 160 large agricultural holdings in the country, they cultivate more than 3.6 million hectares of agricultural land. Thus, today in Ukraine the number of holding-type organizations and their land bank continues to grow, "displacing" small and medium-sized producers from the agricultural economy. Thecommunity agrarian branch is a complex multi-sectoral system, the individual subsystems of which are unevenly represented in different territorial formations, but are in close interaction with each other. The role of small agrarian businesses in the development of united territorial community’sagriculture is constantly growing. In recent years, the share of farms has increased by 30%. With the development of farming in the agricultural regions of Ukraine, the opportunities to solve the problem of employment in rural areas and the revival of territories in general are increasing. Therefore, state support for agricultural producers is an important step in order to obtain funds for small business development in the agro-industrial sector. If earlier the preference of vectors of state support was in large agro-traders, then from 2019 the policy of the state was reoriented to the strengthened support of small and small-scale farms. Such support is confirmed by financial preferences for small agribusiness through regional branches of the Ukrainian State Farm Support Fund. Agricultural cooperatives will receive state support through cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of Ukraine with the assistance of the Department. Thus, today the promissory note form of payment has been abolished, and 70% of the cost of their equipment has been reimbursed for cooperatives. As a result of the crisis of 2014-2016, many Ukrainians started doing business and many successful cases of micro and small agricultural enterprises operating in the regions appeared in the country. However, barriers to rural development are a lack of financial resources and a lack of economic knowledge. Therefore, in order to maximally support farms and agro-industrial entrepreneurship in rural areas by the state, high-quality interaction and communication on the ground is needed. Thus, in addition to financial support, the state program also includes advising agricultural producers. Experienced specialists will help to structure the business, calculate the financial and create a business plan. In 2020, the budget of financial support for the agro-industrial sector of Ukraine is set at 4 billion UAH, which is only 43% of the limit – does not meet 1% of GDP. the real need for financial state support of a key sector of Ukraine's economy. The implementation of the program of financing micro and small agribusiness has great potential not only in the country, but also within each united territorial community. Each of them, which participates in the program of state support of small agrarian business, annually receives about 75 thousand UAH of taxes to its budget. On a national scale, this is an additional UAH 75 million ($ 3.06 million) in taxes to local budgets over 5 years. The possibility of organizational and legal forms of micro and small agribusiness, according to the current legislation of Ukraine, to hire labor – partially solves the problem of unemployment in rural areas. A significant contribution is also made by micro and small agribusiness in increasing the volume of gross domestic product in Ukraine. Small and medium business in Ukraine brings 55% of gross domestic product to the country's economy, and micro and small business 16%, while in Europe the figure is twice as high, and their efficiency is 10 times higher than in our country. It is the subjects of small and medium-sized businesses in the field of agriculture that are powerful catalysts and stimulators of business activity, determine the unification of all participants in economic relations in the country. Therefore, state support and effective development of united territorial community’sagribusiness create the basis for the emergence and functioning of the institutional environment. Thus, giving 12% of Ukraine's GDP and providing jobs for members of the local community, small agribusiness entities need the development of agricultural equipment suppliers, agricultural processors, research institutions that conduct breeding work and develop modern technologies, logistics infrastructure, market structures, as well as institutions of agricultural education. The agro-industrial sphere of the community is the main means of ensuring the socio-economic development of territorial united territorial communitiesand the effective functioning of rural areas. However, the distribution of agricultural land and land ownership remains an urgent problem for united territorial communities, as in addition to the territorial base, the land is a means of agricultural production. The population of the united territorial community is the main consumer of agricultural products produced by small agricultural enterprises. So, it provides a reproduction of labor for the industry. The vector of development of united territorial community’sagricultural production depends on the availability of natural, productive and labor resources of the community. The most energy-intensive are the production of vegetable crops, sugar beets, potatoes, industrial crops, as well as certain livestock industries, which are more often engaged in by farms and small agricultural enterprises. The study found that in Ukraine, government measures are the main obstacle to the development of agro-industrial entrepreneurship in united territorial communities, because it creates an extremely unfavorable climate for the development of small and medium enterprises or prohibits it altogether. For many years in a row, the sources of budget formation, which are generally local taxes, remain a significant problem in the development of agriculturally oriented united territorial communities. The limitation of incomes of agricultural enterprises and the population is the low efficiency of agricultural enterprises, the main reason for which is the low wages of peasants. The reason for this problem in the agricultural sector is low productivity, which forms the added value of agricultural products. Examining the structure of Ukrainian small agrarian business, its players in general education were classified into two large groups: 1. Farmers and agricultural producers living and working in rural areas. They live in a society within the lands of which they rent shares, pay all the necessary taxes, provide residents of general education with jobs, finished agricultural products at affordable prices. 2. Farmers who are registered in Ukrainian cities, however, use the land of the community, paying only the rent of agricultural land, depleting them due to non-compliance with crop rotations. Such agro-traders enjoy state support, soft loans and other preferences, receive super-profits and in no way contribute to the development of agricultural areas and society. These are the activities of large agro-industrial holdings, the form of interaction with rural general education and the mechanisms of social responsibility which need to be worked out with the help of the following measures by the government and agricultural producers: 1) development and restoration of the infrastructure of the united territorial communities and its elements used by agricultural holdings; 2) use of modern ecologically safe agrotechnologies. 3) training of qualified specialists in the field of agro-industrial complex, their employment in modern agro-industrial companies; 4) state support, restoration and preservation of recreational and health facilities of the united territorial communities, including agricultural lands, which are leased by large agricultural holdings; 5) involvement in the economic activity of the agricultural holding of farms on a partnership basis. Thus, partnerships and cooperation between large agricultural holdings and small agricultural producers of united territorial communities can contribute not only to the development of small agricultural businesses in Ukraine, but also to the socio-economic development of society and rural areas in general. The field of application of results. Thescientific research results on the problems of small agricultural entrepreneurship in the development of united territorial communities can be used in the field of state regulation of agribusiness and united territorial communities to support local agricultural producers. Conclusions according to the article. The agro-industrial sphere of the communities is the main means of ensuring the socio-economic development of territorial communities and the effective functioning of rural areas, because the development of farming opportunities increases the problem of rural employment and the revival of territories in general. That is why state support for agricultural producers is an important step to obtain funds for small business development in the agro-industrial sector.

Social innovations are activities aiming at implementation of social objectives, including mainly the improvement of life of individuals and social groups, together with public policy and management objectives. The essay indicates and discusses the most important contemporary problems, solving of which requires social innovations. Social innovations precondition the progress of civilisation. The world needs not only new technologies, but also new solutions of social and institutional nature that would be conducive to achieving social goals. Social innovations are experimental social actions of organisational and institutional nature that aim at improving the quality of life of individuals, communities, nations, companies, circles, or social groups. Their experimental nature stems from the fact of introducing unique and one-time solutions on a large scale, the end results of which are often difficult to be fully predicted. For example, it was difficult to believe that opening new labour markets for foreigners in the countries of the European Union, which can be treated as a social innovation aiming at development of the international labour market, will result in the rapid development of the low-cost airlines, the offer of which will be available to a larger group of recipients. In other words, social innovations differ from economic innovations, as they are not about implementation of new types of production or gaining new markets, but about satisfying new needs, which are not provided by the market. Therefore, the most important distinction consists in that social innovations are concerned with improving the well-being of individuals and communities by additional employment, or increased consumption, as well as participation in solving the problems of individuals and social groups [CSTP, 2011]. In general, social innovations are activities aiming at implementation of social objectives, including mainly the improvement of life of individuals and social groups together with the objectives of public policy and management [Kowalczyk, Sobiecki, 2017]. Their implementation requires global, national, and individual actions. This requires joint operations, both at the scale of the entire globe, as well as in particular interest groups. Why are social innovations a key point for the progress of civilisation? This is the effect of the clear domination of economic aspects and discrimination of social aspects of this progress. Until the 19th century, the economy was a part of a social structure. As described by K. Polanyi, it was submerged in social relations [Polanyi, 2010, p. 56]. In traditional societies, the economic system was in fact derived from the organisation of the society itself. The economy, consisting of small and dispersed craft businesses, was a part of the social, family, and neighbourhood structure. In the 20th century the situation reversed – the economy started to be the force shaping social structures, positions of individual groups, areas of wealth and poverty. The economy and the market mechanism have become independent from the world of politics and society. Today, the corporations control our lives. They decide what we eat, what we watch, what we wear, where we work and what we do [Bakan, 2006, p. 13]. The corporations started this spectacular “march to rule the world” in the late 19th century. After about a hundred years, at the end of the 20th century, the state under the pressure of corporations and globalisation, started a gradual, but systematic withdrawal from the economy, market and many other functions traditionally belonging to it. As a result, at the end of the last century, a corporation has become a dominant institution in the world. A characteristic feature of this condition is that it gives a complete priority to the interests of corporations. They make decisions of often adverse consequences for the entire social groups, regions, or local communities. They lead to social tensions, political breakdowns, and most often to repeated market turbulences. Thus, a substantial minority (corporations) obtain inconceivable benefits at the expense of the vast majority, that is broad professional and social groups. The lack of relative balance between the economy and society is a barrier to the progress of civilisation. A growing global concern is the problem of migration. The present crisis, left unresolved, in the long term will return multiplied. Today, there are about 500 million people living in Europe, 1.5 billion in Africa and the Middle East, but in 2100, the population of Europe will be about 400 million and of the Middle East and Africa approximately 4.5 billion. Solving this problem, mainly through social and political innovations, can take place only by a joint operation of highly developed and developing countries. Is it an easy task? It’s very difficult. Unfortunately, today, the world is going in the opposite direction. Instead of pursuing the community, empathic thinking, it aims towards nationalism and chauvinism. An example might be a part of the inaugural address of President Donald Trump, who said that the right of all nations is to put their own interests first. Of course, the United States of America will think about their own interests. As we go in the opposite direction, those who deal with global issues say – nothing will change, unless there is some great crisis, a major disaster that would cause that the great of this world will come to senses. J.E. Stiglitz [2004], contrary to the current thinking and practice, believes that a different and better world is possible. Globalisation contains the potential of countless benefits from which people both in developing and highly developed countries can benefit. But the practice so far proves that still it is not grown up enough to use its potential in a fair manner. What is needed are new solutions, most of all social and political innovations (political, because they involve a violation of the previous arrangement of interests). Failure to search for breakthrough innovations of social and political nature that would meet the modern challenges, can lead the world to a disaster. Social innovation, and not economic, because the contemporary civilisation problems have their roots in this dimension. A global problem, solution of which requires innovations of social and political nature, is the disruption of the balance between work and capital. In 2010, 400 richest people had assets such as the half of the poorer population of the world. In 2016, such part was in the possession of only 8 people. This shows the dramatic collapse of the balance between work and capital. The world cannot develop creating the technological progress while increasing unjustified inequalities, which inevitably lead to an outbreak of civil disturbances. This outbreak can have various organisation forms. In the days of the Internet and social media, it is easier to communicate with people. Therefore, paradoxically, some modern technologies create the conditions facilitating social protests. There is one more important and dangerous effect of implementing technological innovations without simultaneous creation and implementation of social innovations limiting the sky-rocketing increase of economic (followed by social) diversification. Sooner or later, technological progress will become so widespread that, due to the relatively low prices, it will make it possible for the weapons of mass destruction, especially biological and chemical weapons, to reach small terrorist groups. Then, a total, individualized war of global reach can develop. The individualisation of war will follow, as described by the famous German sociologist Ulrich Beck. To avoid this, it is worth looking at the achievements of the Polish scientist Michał Kalecki, who 75 years ago argued that capitalism alone is not able to develop. It is because it aggressively seeks profit growth, but cannot turn profit into some profitable investments. Therefore, when uncertainty grows, capitalism cannot develop itself, and it must be accompanied by external factors, named by Kalecki – external development factors. These factors include state expenses, finances and, in accordance with the nomenclature of Kalecki – epochal innovations. And what are the current possibilities of activation of the external factors? In short – modest. The countries are indebted, and the basis for the development in the last 20 years were loans, which contributed to the growth of debt of economic entities. What, then, should we do? It is necessary to look for cheaper solutions, but such that are effective, that is breakthrough innovations. These undoubtedly include social and political innovations. Contemporary social innovation is not about investing big money and expensive resources in production, e.g. of a very expensive vaccine, which would be available for a small group of recipients. Today’s social innovation should stimulate the use of lower amounts of resources to produce more products available to larger groups of recipients. The progress of civilisation happens only as a result of a sustainable development in economic, social, and now also ecological terms. Economic (business) innovations, which help accelerate the growth rate of production and services, contribute to economic development. Profits of corporations increase and, at the same time, the economic objectives of the corporations are realised. But are the objectives of the society as a whole and its members individually realised equally, in parallel? In the chain of social reproduction there are four repeated phases: production – distribution – exchange – consumption. The key point from the social point of view is the phase of distribution. But what are the rules of distribution, how much and who gets from this “cake” produced in the social process of production? In the today’s increasingly global economy, the most important mechanism of distribution is the market mechanism. However, in the long run, this mechanism leads to growing income and welfare disparities of various social groups. Although, the income and welfare diversity in itself is nothing wrong, as it is the result of the diversification of effectiveness of factors of production, including work, the growing disparities to a large extent cannot be justified. Economic situation of the society members increasingly depends not on the contribution of work, but on the size of the capital invested, and the market position of the economic entity, and on the “governing power of capital” on the market. It should also be noted that this diversification is also related to speculative activities. Disparities between the implemented economic and social innovations can lead to the collapse of the progress of civilisation. Nowadays, economic crises are often justified by, indeed, social and political considerations, such as marginalisation of nation states, imbalance of power (or imbalance of fear), religious conflicts, nationalism, chauvinism, etc. It is also considered that the first global financial crisis of the 21st century originated from the wrong social policy pursued by the US Government, which led to the creation of a gigantic public debt, which consequently led to an economic breakdown. This resulted in the financial crisis, but also in deepening of the social imbalances and widening of the circles of poverty and social exclusion. It can even be stated that it was a crisis in public confidence. Therefore, the causes of crises are the conflicts between the economic dimension of the development and its social dimension. Contemporary world is filled with various innovations of economic or business nature (including technological, product, marketing, and in part – organisational). The existing solutions can be a source of economic progress, which is a component of the progress of civilisation. However, economic innovations do not complete the entire progress of civilisation moreover, the saturation, and often supersaturation with implementations and economic innovations leads to an excessive use of material factors of production. As a consequence, it results in lowering of the efficiency of their use, unnecessary extra burden to the planet, and passing of the negative effects on the society and future generations (of consumers). On the other hand, it leads to forcing the consumption of durable consumer goods, and gathering them “just in case”, and also to the low degree of their use (e.g. more cars in a household than its members results in the additional load on traffic routes, which results in an increase in the inconvenience of movement of people, thus to the reduction of the quality of life). Introduction of yet another economic innovation will not solve this problem. It can be solved only by social innovations that are in a permanent shortage. A social innovation which fosters solving the issue of excessive accumulation of tangible production goods is a developing phenomenon called sharing economy. It is based on the principle: “the use of a service provided by some welfare does not require being its owner”. This principle allows for an economic use of resources located in households, but which have been “latent” so far. In this way, increasing of the scope of services provided (transport, residential and tourist accommodation) does not require any growth of additional tangible resources of factors of production. So, it contributes to the growth of household incomes, and inhibition of loading the planet with material goods processed by man [see Poniatowska-Jaksch, Sobiecki, 2016]. Another example: we live in times, in which, contrary to the law of T. Malthus, the planet is able to feed all people, that is to guarantee their minimum required nutrients. But still, millions of people die of starvation and malnutrition, but also due to obesity. Can this problem be solved with another economic innovation? Certainly not! Economic innovations will certainly help to partially solve the problem of nutrition, at least by the new methods of storing and preservation of foods, to reduce its waste in the phase of storage and transport. However, a key condition to solve this problem is to create and implement an innovation of a social nature (in many cases also political). We will not be able to speak about the progress of civilisation in a situation, where there are people dying of starvation and malnutrition. A growing global social concern, resulting from implementation of an economic (technological) innovation will be robotisation, and more specifically – the effects arising from its dissemination on a large scale. So far, the issue has been postponed due to globalisation of the labour market, which led to cheapening of the work factor by more than ten times in the countries of Asia or South America. But it ends slowly. Labour becomes more and more expensive, which means that the robots become relatively cheap. The mechanism leading to low prices of the labour factor expires. Wages increase, and this changes the relationship of the prices of capital and labour. Capital becomes relatively cheaper and cheaper, and this leads to reducing of the demand for work, at the same time increasing the demand for capital (in the form of robots). The introduction of robots will be an effect of the phenomenon of substitution of the factors of production. A cheaper factor (in this case capital in the form of robots) will be cheaper than the same activities performed by man. According to W. Szymański [2017], such change is a dysfunction of capitalism. A great challenge, because capitalism is based on the market-driven shaping of income. The market-driven shaping of income means that the income is derived from the sale of the factors of production. Most people have income from employment. Robots change this mechanism. It is estimated that scientific progress allows to create such number of robots that will replace billion people in the world. What will happen to those “superseded”, what will replace the income from human labour? Capitalism will face an institutional challenge, and must replace the market-driven shaping of income with another, new one. The introduction of robots means microeconomic battle with the barrier of demand. To sell more, one needs to cut costs. The costs are lowered by the introduction of robots, but the use of robots reduces the demand for human labour. Lowering the demand for human labour results in the reduction of employment, and lower wages. Lower wages result in the reduction of the demand for goods and services. To increase the demand for goods and services, the companies must lower their costs, so they increase the involvement of robots, etc. A mechanism of the vicious circle appears If such a mass substitution of the factors of production is unfavourable from the point of view of stimulating the development of the economy, then something must be done to improve the adverse price relations for labour. How can the conditions of competition between a robot and a man be made equal, at least partially? Robots should be taxed. Bill Gates, among others, is a supporter of such a solution. However, this is only one of the tools that can be used. The solution of the problem requires a change in the mechanism, so a breakthrough innovation of a social and political nature. We can say that technological and product innovations force the creation of social and political innovations (maybe institutional changes). Product innovations solve some problems (e.g. they contribute to the reduction of production costs), but at the same time, give rise to others. Progress of civilisation for centuries and even millennia was primarily an intellectual progress. It was difficult to discuss economic progress at that time. Then we had to deal with the imbalance between the economic and the social element. The insufficiency of the economic factor (otherwise than it is today) was the reason for the tensions and crises. Estimates of growth indicate that the increase in industrial production from ancient times to the first industrial revolution, that is until about 1700, was 0.1-0.2 per year on average. Only the next centuries brought about systematically increasing pace of economic growth. During 1700- 1820, it was 0.5% on an annual average, and between 1820-1913 – 1.5%, and between 1913-2012 – 3.0% [Piketty, 2015, p. 97]. So, the significant pace of the economic growth is found only at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Additionally, the growth in this period refers predominantly to Europe and North America. The countries on other continents were either stuck in colonialism, structurally similar to the medieval period, or “lived” on the history of their former glory, as, for example, China and Japan, or to a lesser extent some countries of the Middle East and South America. The growth, having then the signs of the modern growth, that is the growth based on technological progress, was attributed mainly to Europe and the United States. The progress of civilisation requires the creation of new social initiatives. Social innovations are indeed an additional capital to keep the social structure in balance. The social capital is seen as a means and purpose and as a primary source of new values for the members of the society. Social innovations also motivate every citizen to actively participate in this process. It is necessary, because traditional ways of solving social problems, even those known for a long time as unemployment, ageing of the society, or exclusion of considerable social and professional groups from the social and economic development, simply fail. “Old” problems are joined by new ones, such as the increase of social inequalities, climate change, or rapidly growing environmental pollution. New phenomena and problems require new solutions, changes to existing procedures, programmes, and often a completely different approach and instruments [Kowalczyk, Sobiecki, 2017].

In this paper, I utilize proprietary servicer call transcripts between a single servicer and the corresponding borrowers, whose loans they service, to shed light on borrower responses to the mortgage forbearance program contained in the CARES Act. My analysis reveals that borrowers (especially with non-performing loans) did not actively seek out mortgage forbearance (conditional on communication) in response to this policy, which was intended to prevent a pandemic-induced foreclosure. This is an outcome of the servicer’s differential treatment between government and private loans, as the CARES Act was designed for government loans only and left scope for servicer discretion for private loans. These results bring into question the effectiveness of ad hoc laws and the implementation thereof during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract In this paper, the Probit model was established based on the survey data of 105 loan officers in China’s Western Region, and the factors influencing the willingness of mortgage loan supply of farmland management rights under the government-led model were investigated from the perspective of financial supply. The research shows that farmers’ income, farmers’ policy awareness, farmland scale, loan experience, risk compensation system, legal perfection and policy stability have a positive impact on the willingness of loan officers to issue mortgage loans for farmland management rights. Factors such as farmers’ age and education level have a negative impact on the willingness to supply. In addition, by comparing the stability of the regression model before and after the addition of risk compensation system, legal perfection degree and policy stability degree, it is concluded that the policy variables have a great influence on the decision-making of financial institutions.

PurposeThis study investigates factors contributing to residential mortgage loans default by utilizing a unique dataset of borrowers' default data from one of the pioneer lending institutions in Malaysia that provides home financing to the public. Studies on mortgage loan default have been extensively examined, but limited studies utilize the individual borrower's data, as financial institutions generally hesitant to reveal their customers' data due to confidentiality issue.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses logistic regression model to analyze 47,158 housing loan borrowers' data for the year 2016.FindingsThe findings suggest that male borrowers, Malay and other type of ethnicity, guarantor availability, loan original balance, loan tenure, loan interest rate and loan-to-value (LTV) ratio are the significant factors that influence mortgage loans default in Malaysia.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies may expand the sample by employing data from other types of financial institutions that would give greater insights as findings might vary due to differences in objectives, functions and regulations. In addition, the findings are subjected to the censoring bias where future studies could perform the survival analysis to control for censoring bias and re-validating the findings of the present study.Practical implicationsThe findings provide valuable insights for lending institutions and the government to formulate housing loan policy in Malaysia.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study in the context of emerging economies that uses financial institution's internal data to investigate factors of mortgage loan default.

The International Development Association (IDA) is part of the World Bank Group that helps the poorest countries reduce poverty by providing concessional loans and grants for programs aimed at boosting economic growth and improving living conditions. Through the CPIA Exercise, the country will be assessed from the extent to which a government policy can encourage a country's development. That way, conducting a review of the parliamentary system and the form of the country will be able to provide an overview of how the performance of a country in the policy-making process by the government can influence the activities of the CPIA. The researcher will use the comparative political MSSD method to find out how the condition of a domestic government can affect domestic development, where it is found that the similarity of the parliamentary system and form of government does not ensure that a country will get the same results due to different domestic conditions. There are two objectives of this research, there are (1) to provide an overview of how the performance of a country in the policy-making process by the government can influence the activities of the CPIA: and (2) to find out how the condition of a domestic government can affect domestic development.

In 2011, Sherry Hunt was a vice president and chief underwriter at CitiMortgage headquarters in the United States. For years she had been witnessing fraud, as the company bought billions of dollars in mortgage loans from external lenders that did not meet Citi credit policy and sold them to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). This resulted in Citi selling to GSEs such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pools of loans that were considerably defective and thus likely to default. Citi had also approved hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of defective mortgage files for U.S. Federal Housing Administration insurance. After reporting the mortgage defects in regular reports, notifying and working closely with her direct supervisor (who was subsequently asked to leave Citi after alerting the chairman of the board to these issues) to stop the purchase of defective loans, leaving anonymous tips on the FBI's and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's websites, and receiving threats from two of her superiors who demanded that she change the results of her quality control unit's reports, the shy and conflict-avoidant Hunt had to decide who she should tell about the fraud, and how.The case gives students the opportunity to recommend how Hunt should proceed based on their analysis of the stakeholders involved. To aid instructors, the case includes Kellogg-produced videos of Hunt—the only on-camera interviews she has ever given—explaining what happened after she reported the fraud to Citi HR and, later, the U.S. Department of Justice. Within the case, students are also briefly exposed to legislation and bodies pertinent to whistle-blowing in the United States, including the Dodd-Frank Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the SEC Office of the Whistleblower.This case won the 2014 competition for Outstanding Case on Anti-Corruption, supported by the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), an initiative of the UN Global Compact. Analyze stakeholders' motivations to prepare counter-arguments to the resistance one might encounter when reporting unethical behavior Write a script for who to tell, how, and why Discuss how incentive structures, management, and culture play roles in promoting or hindering ethical behavior in organizations Identify behaviors that help a whistle-blower be effective Gain experience resolving ethical dilemmas in which two values may conflict, such as professional duty and personal ethics

In this research, we first evaluated the current practices of the Turkish local e-governments. Then, building upon an earlier study of local e-governments in Europe (Key Elements for Electronic Local Authorities’ Networks [KEeLAN], 2002), we compared the Turkish local e-government stages with their European counterparts to give a broader perspective. The basic framework focuses on the evaluation of current practices on the supply side (government), rather than the demand side (citizen). The emphasis of this research is on the evaluation of each web site in terms of nine basic public services (additional sub-services available) comprised of policy making, economic development, personal documents, credit and loans/financial support, education, building permits, environment, culture and leisure, and information dissemination. It is assumed that at least four of those services (randomly) are supplied in a local context among the Member Countries, including Turkey. We suggest the results might provide a deeper understanding of local e-governments in Turkey and lend support to advances in this under-researched area.

The article examines the current state of Ukraine's debt policy during the war. It was found that public debt is an integral part of the financial system not only of countries with a transitory economy, but also of highly developed ones. The reasons for the rapid growth of the national debt of Ukraine from 2014–2015 to the present are analyzed. The main sources of financing of the state budget of Ukraine are presented, which in turn were formed from external foreign cash flows and corresponding internal borrowings: military bonds, loans from international financial organizations, as well as bilateral loans and grants. It was established that Ukraine received about $4.2 billion in aid from four international organizations – the IMF, the European Union, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, and these were loans received on preferential terms. At the same time, Ukraine received considerable loans from the governments of such foreign countries: Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, and others. The most profitable assistance is a grant, because this money does not have to be returned. According to the analysis, America takes a leading position in this type of aid. It was also analyzed that at the moment the economic situation in Ukraine is difficult, but not yet critical, as there is $22 billion in state reserves. The main strategic directions and step-by-step actions of the Government of Ukraine in the context of optimizing the management of the public debt of Ukraine are highlighted, namely: the approval of the medium-term Strategy for the management of the public debt for 2021–2024, which is the basic document regarding the debt policy of Ukraine. In addition, according to the forecasts of leading economic experts, in order to improve the debt and budget policy, the state cannot issue national currency through the banking system (printing press) on a permanent basis, receiving financial assistance from international partners, and ultimately reducing non-priority state budget expenses, remains important. The strategy defines 4 main goals of public debt management for the next three years: increase in the share of state debt in the national currency; extension of the average term to repayment and provision of a uniform repayment schedule of the state debt; attraction of long-term preferential financing; continued development of strong relationships with investors and further improvement of the public debt management policy. The strategy also contains an analysis of forecast debt indicators and conclusions on debt sustainability, as well as an action plan for 2021–2024 and indicators of achieving goals — in particular, reducing the ratio of the amount of public debt to GDP by the end of 2024 to 47%. However, the strategy in an updated format, closer to global practices, was approved in 2019 and has proven its effectiveness as a tool for increasing the transparency of decision-making and improving communication with both investors and international partners. Thus, as a result of its implementation, it has already been possible to achieve important goals: an increase in the share of the state debt in the national currency (from 33.4% in 2018 to 38.2% in 2020), an improvement in the structure of the state debt in terms of repayment terms, and an increase in international ratings of Ukraine. Ukraine also received recognition at the international level: the international publication GlobalMarkets awarded Ukraine in the nomination "The best public debt management office in Central and Eastern Europe".

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the drivers of default in the Malaysian housing market in the light of various policy interventions by the country’s central bank, and the government’s expressed concern to ensure balanced growth in the market. This paper assesses the importance of considering the endogeneity of loan-to-value (LTV) in predicting housing loan default and its implications. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the author addresses the endogeneity problem in the LTV variable using two instrumental variables (IV) in this probit regression: national residential property gains tax and the statutory reserve ratio of Bank Negara Malaysia. This study uses the instrumental variable probit model to consider endogeneity bias. This study assumes a latent (unobservable) variable (Y*), representing a borrower’s tendency to default, which is associated linearly with the borrower’s and loan characteristics and other variables (Xi). This study uses individual borrower-level information of 43,156 housing loan borrowers from the files of a well-established housing bank in Malaysia. Findings This study’s results confirm that endogeneity causes a substantial difference in the magnitude of the estimated effects of LTV on the default tendency. At the lower values of LTV, the probability of default is over-estimated, and at the higher values, the default probability is substantially underestimated. Endogeneity bias also affects the estimated coefficients of loan and borrower characteristics. The authors find that the interest rate is less relevant in predicting loan default. Other loan characteristics, such as loan age, tenure, payment amount and the built-up area, are relevant. This study’s result confirms that the borrower’s location matters, and an increase in state gross domestic product per capita and an increase in the supply of residential units reduce default probability. Research limitations/implications The present study did not explore the applicability of the “equity theory of default” in the Malaysian housing market. This study did not assess “strategic default” issues and the effect of borrowers’ characteristics, personality traits and self-control of Malaysian housing loan borrowers in the mortgage decision-making process. The evolving dynamics of the Malaysian housing market microstructure in property valuation remained unexplored in the present study. Practical implications The findings have crucial relevance in the decision-making process of commercial banks, the central bank and the government to frame policies to foster balanced growth and development in the housing market. The authors argue that striking a subtle balance between the concerns of financial stability and productive risk-taking by commercial banks in Malaysia remains a continuing challenge for the country’s central bank. The authors also argue that designing suitable taxation policies by the government can deliver its cherished goal of balanced development in the housing market. Originality/value Empirical research on the Malaysian housing market based on micro-level data is scarce due to a paucity of relevant data. This study is based on the individual borrower-level information of 43,156 housing loan borrowers from the files of a well-established housing bank in Malaysia. In this analysis, the authors find clear evidence of endogeneity in LTV and argue that any attempts to decipher the default drivers of housing loans without addressing the issue of endogeneity may lead to faulty interpretation. Therefore, this study is unique in recognizing endogeneity and has gone deeper in identifying the default drivers in the Malaysian housing market not addressed by earlier papers.

PurposeAffordable housing provision is one of the visions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as highlighted in Vision 2030. For about 21 months now, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has ravaged the world and has increased the level of economic crisis and financial uncertainty to achieve planned projects. Studies investigating the reality of how the COVID-19 pandemic may streamline the chances of achieving affordable housing for all in 2030 are scarce. Thus, this study examined the relevance of affordable housing, the perceived impact of COVID-19 on affordable housing and proffered measures to promote affordable housing finance in Vision 2030.Design/methodology/approachMedina, Riyadh and Al Qassim were the participants' cities engaged via panel interviews and supported by existing relevant Vision 2030 documents. The Delphi method was adopted to explore the government officials, financial operators (bankers), academicians and employees' opinions, and the analysed data presented in themes.FindingsFindings show that SA Vision 2030 blueprint expresses an exemplary country in all ramifications, including affordable housing finance for the citizens. Findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic threatens SA affordable housing finance Vision 2030. The increased housing shortage, high construction housing cost, increased foreclosures, increased eviction, possible homelessness, financial instability and vulnerability emerged as the perceived impact of COVID-19 on affordable housing finance in Vision 2030. Refinancing housing loans to boost Vision 2030, forbearance to promote Vision 2030, improve payment relief, among others, emerged as measures to promote affordable housing in the post-COVID-19 era.Research limitations/implicationsThe research only identified the possible negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on affordable housing finance in Vision 2030 and proffered policy solutions from the engaged participants' perspective. Also, the study covered three cities (Medina, Riyadh and Al Qassim). The suggestions that will emerge from this research may be adopted to address other sectors captured in Vision 2030 that are critical and hit by the ravaging pandemic.Practical implicationsMeasures such as refinancing mortgages and strengthening government housing agencies will promote affordable housing for Vision 2030 if the relevant policymakers and mortgage institutions are well implemented.Originality/valueThis research identified the perceived early threats from the COVID-19 pandemic that could affect affordable housing transformation in Vision 2030 from the participants' perspective. Studies regarding COVID-19 and affordable housing in Vision 2030 are very few.

Purpose The choice of Southern Europe is partly based on the observation that the sample includes a number of countries whose economies faced more severe difficulties than elsewhere in Europe. Economically they were less able to absorb the economic shock posed by COVID-19. It is also partly based on the characteristics of the pandemic. A number of countries in the sample were amongst the earliest in Europe to be hit by the pandemic and a several were harder hit in terms of both morbidity and mortality. Design/methodology/approach This study uses evidence from World Bank enterprise surveys of a sample of firms from six countries in Southern Europe. It examines the early evidence of the effects of COVID-19 on labour markets. The economic consequences potentially cover a wide range of issues. The focus of this study is on firm level evidence of the effect on labour. The evidence and the analysis are provided at a time when the pandemic is still in progress. The authors use both traditional regression analysis and IPWRA to assess the joint effect of loans versus government support on, firstly, the change in sales revenues and, secondly, the number of weeks that the firm would expect to survive with no sales revenues. Findings The study suggests that, despite efforts to support firms and hoard labour, there is a prospect of a significant number of firm closures with a consequent loss of employment. Temporary firm closures also represent a substantial loss of labour weeks. These are partly related to a significant number of workers subject to furloughs. The empirical findings suggest that COVID-19 cases and deaths have directly affected firm sales but government containment measures, particularly closures, have more strongly affected firms. Losses of sales were unsurprisingly related to losses of employment. Remote working has contributed to sustaining employment but online business has not affected most sectors. Research limitations/implications The future progress of COVID-19 and government containment measures is uncertain, and the full economic consequences will probably continue to emerge after the end of the pandemic. The full extent of the impact on labour will probably not be the first of these. There are obvious advantages in seeking to learn lessons from the early stages of the pandemic but there are also obvious constraints. The full economic consequences will take longer to emerge than the pandemic itself and the full consequences for employment will take longer to be evident than many other economic effects. Practical implications Both temporary closures and furloughs impose costs that will be borne by firms, workers and government. The effects of COVID-19 on firms differ across sectors. Adverse effects tend to be higher in hospitality, non-essential retail and travel. That many firms lack the capacity to survive further temporary closures of a similar duration to those in the earlier stages emphasises that the support provided in the near future is of critical importance to control employment losses through permanent firm closures. A long-term perspective suggests neither permanent closure nor laying off workers may be the best response to a temporary crisis in demand. A stakeholder model of the firm would often suggest that it is not an optimal for the point of view of workers or the wider economy either. Both imply a preference for labour hoarding. Social implications The most affected are sectors with a high proportion of female workers and, in consequence, most of the countries in the sample exhibit an early decline of the already lower than average share of women in employment. Originality/value The data used have been recently released and this is the first analysis using the data to look at the consequence on firms employment decisions during the Pandemic. The case of Southern Europe is much understudied, though one of the most dramatic as to the consequences of the pandemic. From a methodological point of view, the authors use not only traditional regression analysis, but also the matching approach to identify the effect of different policy options on labour demand by firms.

…love is queered not when we discover it to be resistant to or more than its known forms, but when we see that there is no world that admits how it actually works as a principle of living. Lauren Berlant – “Love, A Queer Feeling” As the sun beats down on a very dusty Musgrave Park, the crowd is hushed in respect for the elder addressing us. It is Pride Fair Day and we are listening to the story of how this place has been a home for queer and black people throughout Brisbane’s history. Like so many others, this park has been a place of refuge in times when Boundary Streets marked the lines aboriginal people couldn’t cross to enter the genteel heart of Brisbane’s commercial district. The street names remain today, and even if movements across territory are somewhat less constrained, a manslaughter trial taking place nearby reminds us of the surveillance aboriginal people still suffer as a result of their refusal to stay off the streets and out of sight in homes they don’t have. In the past few years, Fair Day has grown in size. It now charges an entry fee to fence out unwelcome guests, so that those who normally live here have been effectively uninvited from the party. On this sunny Saturday, we sit and talk about these things, and wonder at the number of spaces still left in this city for spontaneous, non-commercial encounters and alliances. We could hardly have known that in the course of just a few weeks, the distance separating us from others would grow even further. During the course of Brisbane’s month-long Pride celebrations in 2007, two events affected the rights agendas of both queer and black Australians. First, The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Report, Same Sex, Same Entitlements, was tabled in parliament. Second, the Federal government decided to declare a state of emergency in remote indigenous communities in the Northern Territory in response to an inquiry on the state of aboriginal child abuse. (The full title of the report is “Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle”: Little Children are Sacred, and the words are from the Arrandic languages of the Central Desert Region of the Northern Territory. The report’s front cover also explains the title in relation to traditional law of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land.) While the latter issue has commanded the most media and intellectual attention, and will be discussed later in this piece, the timing of both reports provides an opportunity to consider the varying experiences of two particularly marginalised groups in contemporary Australia. In a period when the Liberal Party has succeeded in pitting minority claims against one another as various manifestations of “special interests” (Brett, Gregg) this essay suggests there is a case to be made for queer and black activists to join forces against wider tendencies that affect both communities. To do this I draw on the work of American critic, Lauren Berlant, who for many years has offered a unique take on debates about citizenship in the United States. Writing from a queer theory perspective, Berlant argues that the conservative political landscape in her country has succeeded in convincing people that “the intimacy of citizenship is something scarce and sacred, private and proper, and only for members of families” (Berlant Queen 2-3). The consequence of this shift is that politics moves from being a conversation conducted in the public sphere about social issues to instead resemble a form of adjudication on the conduct of others in the sphere of private life. In this way, Berlant indicates how heteronormative culture “uses cruel and mundane strategies both to promote change from non-normative populations and to deny them state, federal, and juridical supports because they are deemed morally incompetent to their own citizenship” (Berlant, Queen 19). In relation to the so-called state of emergency in the Northern Territory, coming so soon after attempts to encourage indigenous home-ownership in the same region, the compulsion to promote change from non-normative populations currently affects indigenous Australians in ways that resonate with Berlant’s argument. While her position reacts to an environment where the moral majority has a much firmer hold on the national political spectrum, in Australia these conservative forces have no need to be so eloquent—normativity is already embedded in a particular form of “ordinariness” that is the commonsense basis for public political debate (Allon, Brett and Moran). These issues take on further significance as home-ownership and aspirations towards it have gradually become synonymous with the demonstration of appropriate citizenship under the Coalition government: here, phrases like “an interest rate election” are assumed to encapsulate voter sentiment while “the mortgage belt” has emerged as the demographic most keenly wooed by precariously placed politicians. As Berlant argues elsewhere, the project of normalization that makes heterosexuality hegemonic also entails “material practices that, though not explicitly sexual, are implicated in the hierarchies of property and propriety” that secure heteronormative privilege (Berlant and Warner 548). Inhabitants of remote indigenous communities in Australia are invited to desire and enact normal homes in order to be accepted and rewarded as valuable members of the nation; meanwhile gay and lesbian couples base their claims for recognition on the adequate manifestation of normal homes. In this situation black and queer activists share an interest in elaborating forms of kinship and community that resist the limited varieties of home-building currently sanctioned and celebrated by the State. As such, I will conclude this essay with a model for this alternative process of home-building in the hope of inspiring others. Home Sweet Home Ever since the declaration of terra nullius, white Australia has had a hard time recognising homes it doesn’t consider normal. To the first settlers, indigenous people’s uncultivated land lacked meaning, their seasonal itinerancy challenged established notions of property, while their communal living and wider kinship relations confused nuclear models of procreative responsibility and ancestry. From the homes white people still call “camps” many aboriginal people were moved against their will on to “missions” which even in name invoked the goal of assimilation into mainstream society. So many years later, white people continue to maintain that their version of homemaking is the most superior, the most economically effective, the most functional, with government policy and media commentators both agreeing that “the way out of indigenous disadvantage is home ownership.”(The 1 July broadcast of the esteemed political chat show Insiders provides a representative example of this consensus view among some of the country’s most respected journalists.) In the past few months, low-interest loans have been touted as the surest route out of the shared “squalor” (Weekend Australian, June 30-July1) of communal living and the right path towards economic development in remote aboriginal communities (Karvelas, “New Deal”). As these references suggest, The Australian newspaper has been at the forefront of reporting these government initiatives in a positive light: one story from late May featured a picture of Tiwi Islander Mavis Kerinaiua watering her garden with the pet dog and sporting a Tigers Aussie Rules singlet. The headline, “Home, sweet home, for Mavis” (Wilson) was a striking example of a happy and contented black woman in her own backyard, especially given how regularly mainstream national news coverage of indigenous issues follows a script of failed aboriginal communities. In stories like these, communal land ownership is painted as the cause of dysfunction, and individual homes are crucial to “changing the culture.” Never is it mentioned that communal living arrangements clearly were functional before white settlement, were an intrinsic part of “the culture”; nor is it acknowledged that the option being offered to indigenous people is land that had already been taken away from them in one way or another. That this same land can be given back only on certain conditions—including financially rewarding those who “prove they are doing well” by cultivating their garden in recognisably right ways (Karvelas, “New Deal”)— bolsters Berlant’s claim that government rhetoric succeeds by transforming wider structural questions into matters of individual responsibility. Home ownership is the stunningly selective neoliberal interpretation of “land rights”. The very notion of private property erases the social and cultural underpinnings of communal living as a viable way of life, stigmatising any alternative forms of belonging that might form the basis for another kind of home. Little Children Are Sacred The latest advance in efforts to encourage greater individual responsibility in indigenous communities highlights child abuse as the pivotal consequence of State and Local government inaction. The innocent indigenous child provides the catalyst for a myriad of competing political positions, the most vocal of which welcomes military intervention on behalf of powerless, voiceless kids trapped in horrendous scenarios (Kervalas, “Pearson’s Passion”). In these representations, the potentially abused aboriginal child takes on “supericonicity” in public debate. In her North American context, Berlant uses this concept to explain how the unborn child figures in acrimonious arguments over abortion. The foetus has become the most mobilising image in the US political scene because: it is an image of an American, perhaps the last living American, not yet bruised by history: not yet caught up in the processes of secularisation and centralisation… This national icon is too innocent of knowledge, agency, and accountability and thus has ethical claims on the adult political agents who write laws, make culture, administer resources, control things. (Berlant, Queen 6) In Australia, the indigenous child takes on supericonicity because he or she is too young to formulate a “black armband” view of history, to have a point of view on why their circumstance happens to be so objectionable, to vote out the government that wants to survey and penetrate his or her body. The child’s very lack of agency is used as justification for the military action taken by those who write laws, make the culture that will be recognized as an appropriate performance of indigeneity, administer (at the same time as they cut) essential resources; those who, for the moment, control things. However, and although a government perspective would not recognize this, in Australia the indigenous child is always already bruised by conventional history in the sense that he or she will have trouble accessing the stories of ancestors and therefore the situation that affects his or her entry into the world. Indeed, it is precisely the extent to which the government denies its institutional culpability in inflicting wounds on aboriginal people throughout history that the indigenous child’s supericonicity is now available as a political weapon. Same-Sex: Same Entitlements A situation in which the desire for home ownership is pedagogically enforced while also being economically sanctioned takes on further dimensions when considered next to the fate of other marginalised groups in society—those for whom an appeal for acceptance and equal rights pivots on the basis of successfully performing normal homes. While indigenous Australians are encouraged to aspire for home ownership as the appropriate manifestation of responsible citizenship, the HREOC report represents a group of citizens who crave recognition for already having developed this same aspiration. In the case studies selected for the Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Report, discrimination against same-sex couples is identified in areas such as work and taxation, workers’ compensation, superannuation, social security, veterans’ entitlements and childrearing. It recommends changes to existing laws in these areas to match those that apply to de facto relationships. When launching the report, the commissioner argued that gay people suffer discrimination “simply because of whom they love”, and the report launch quotes a “self-described ‘average suburban family’” who insist “we don’t want special treatment …we just want equality” (HREOC). Such positioning exercises give some insight into Berlant’s statement that “love is a site that has perhaps not yet been queered enough” (Berlant, “Love” 433). A queer response to the report might highlight that by focussing on legal entitlements of the most material kind, little is done to challenge the wider situation in which one’s sexual relationship has the power to determine intimate possessions and decisions—whether this is buying a plane ticket, getting a loan, retiring in some comfort or finding a nice nursing home. An agenda calling for legislative changes to financial entitlement serves to reiterate rather than challenge the extent to which economically sanctioned subjectivities are tied to sexuality and normative models of home-building. A same-sex rights agenda promoting traditional notions of procreative familial attachment (the concerned parents of gay kids cited in the report, the emphasis on the children of gay couples) suggests that this movement for change relies on a heteronormative model—if this is understood as the manner in which the institutions of personal life remain “the privileged institutions of social reproduction, the accumulation and transfer of capital, and self-development” (Berlant and Warner 553). What happens to those who do not seek the same procreative path? Put another way, the same-sex entitlements discourse can be seen to demand “intelligibility” within the hegemonic understanding of love, when love currently stands as the primordial signifier and ultimate suturing device for all forms of safe, reliable and useful citizenly identity (Berlant, “Love”). In its very terminology, same-sex entitlement asks to access the benefits of normativity without challenging the ideological or economic bases for its attachment to particular living arrangements and rewards. The political agenda for same-sex rights taking shape in the Federal arena appears to have chosen its objectives carefully in order to fit existing notions of proper home building and the economic incentives that come with them. While this is understandable in a conservative political environment, a wider agenda for queer activism in and outside the home would acknowledge that safety, security and belonging are universal desires that stretch beyond material acquisitions, financial concerns and procreative activity (however important these things are). It is to the possibilities this perspective might generate that I now turn. One Size Fits Most Urban space is always a host space. The right to the city extends to those who use the city. It is not limited to property owners. (Berlant and Warner, 563) The affective charge and resonance of a concept like home allows an opportunity to consider the intimacies particular to different groups in society, at the same time as it allows contemplation of the kinds of alliances increasingly required to resist neoliberalism’s impact on personal space. On one level, this might entail publicly denouncing representations of indigenous living conditions that describe them as “squalor” as some kind of hygienic short-hand that comes at the expense of advocating infrastructure suited to the very different way of living that aboriginal kinship relations typically require. Further, as alternative cultural understandings of home face ongoing pressure to fit normative ideals, a key project for contemporary queer activism is to archive, document and publicise the varied ways people choose to live at this point in history in defiance of sanctioned arrangements (eg Gorman-Murray 2007). Rights for gay and lesbian couples and parents need not be called for in the name of equality if to do so means reproducing a logic that feeds the worst stereotypes around non-procreating queers. Such a perspective fares poorly for the many literally unproductive citizens, queer and straight alike, whose treacherous refusal to breed banishes them from the respectable suburban politics to which the current government caters. Which takes me back to the park. Later that afternoon on Fair Day, we’ve been entertained by a range of performers, including the best Tina Turner impersonator I’ll ever see. But the highlight is the festival’s special guest, Vanessa Wagner who decides to end her show with a special ceremony. Taking the role of celebrant, Vanessa invites three men on to the stage who she explains are in an ongoing, committed three-way relationship. Looking a little closer, I remember meeting these blokes at a friend’s party last Christmas Eve: I was the only girl in an apartment full of gay men in the midst of some serious partying (and who could blame them, on the eve of an event that holds dubious relevance for their preferred forms of intimacy and celebration?). The wedding takes place in front of an increasingly boisterous crowd that cannot fail to appreciate the gesture as farcically mocking the sacred bastion of gay activism—same-sex marriage. But clearly, the ceremony plays a role in consecrating the obvious desire these men have for each other, in a safe space that feels something like a home. Their relationship might be a long way from many people’s definition of normal, but it clearly operates with care, love and a will for some kind of longevity. For queer subjects, faced with a history of persecution, shame and an unequal share of a pernicious illness, this most banal of possible definitions of home has been a luxury difficult to afford. Understood in this way, queer experience is hard to compare with that of indigenous people: “The queer world is a space of entrances, exits, unsystematised lines of acquaintance, projected horizons, typifying examples, alternate routes, blockages, incommensurate geographies” (Berlant and Warner 558). In many instances, it has “required the development of kinds of intimacy that bear no necessary relation to domestic space, to kinship, to the couple form, to property, or to the nation” (ibid) in liminal and fleeting zones of improvisation like parties, parks and public toilets. In contrast, indigenous Australians’ distinct lines of ancestry, geography, and story continue through generations of kin in spite of the efforts of a colonising power to reproduce others in its own image. But in this sense, what queer and black Australians now share is the fight to live and love in more than one way, with more than one person: to extend relationships of care beyond the procreative imperative and to include land that is beyond the scope of one’s own backyard. Both indigenous and queer Australians stand to benefit from a shared project “to support forms of affective, erotic and personal living that are public in the sense of accessible, available to memory, and sustained through collective activity” (Berlant and Warner 562). To build this history is to generate an archive that is “not simply a repository” but “is also a theory of cultural relevance” (Halberstam 163). A queer politics of home respects and learns from different ways of organising love, care, affinity and responsibility to a community. This essay has been an attempt to document other ways of living that take place in the pockets of one city, to show that homes often exist where others see empty space, and that love regularly survives beyond the confines of the couple. In learning from the history of oppression experienced in the immediate territories I inhabit, I also hope it captures what it means to reckon with the ongoing knowledge of being an uninvited guest in the home of another culture, one which, through shared activism, will continue to survive much longer than this, or any other archive. References Allon, Fiona. “Home as Cultural Translation: John Howard’s Earlwood.” Communal/Plural 5 (1997): 1-25. Berlant, Lauren. The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship. Durham: Duke University Press, 1997. ———. “Love, A Queer Feeling.” Homosexuality and Psychoanalysis. Eds. Tim Dean and Christopher Lane. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2001. 432-51. ———, and Michael Warner. “Sex in Public.” Critical Inquiry 24.2 (1998): 547-566. Brett, Judith. Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class: From Alfred Deakin to John Howard. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ———, and Anthony Moran. Ordinary People’s Politics: Australians Talk About Politics, Life and the Future of Their Country. Melbourne: Pluto Press, 2006. Gorman-Murray, Andrew. “Contesting Domestic Ideals: Queering the Australian Home.” Australian Geographer 38.2 (2007): 195-213. Gregg, Melissa. “The Importance of Being Ordinary.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 10.1 (2007): 95-104. Halberstam, Judith. In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives. New York and London: NYU Press, 2005 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Report. 2007. 21 Aug. 2007 http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/samesex/report/index.html>. ———. Launch of Final Report of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry (transcript). 2007. 5 July 2007 . Insiders. ABC TV. 1 July 2007. 5 July 2007 http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2007/s1966728.htm>. Karvelas, Patricia. “It’s New Deal or Despair: Pearson.” The Weekend Australian 12-13 May 2007: 7. ———. “How Pearson’s Passion Moved Howard to Act.” The Australian. 23 June 2007. 5 July 2007 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21952951-5013172,00.html>. Northern Territory Government Inquiry Report into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse. Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle: Little Children Are Sacred. 2007. 5 July 2007 http://www.nt.gov.au/dcm/inquirysaac/pdf/bipacsa_final_report.pdf>. Wilson, Ashleigh. “Home, Sweet Home, for Mavis.” The Weekend Australian 12-13 May 2007: 7. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Gregg, Melissa. "Normal Homes." M/C Journal 10.4 (2007). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0708/02-gregg.php>. APA Style Gregg, M. (Aug. 2007) "Normal Homes," M/C Journal, 10(4). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0708/02-gregg.php>.