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The performance of SMEs will keep the wheel of the country’s economy turning. Upgrading the technologies currently used in SMEs will make the manufacturing process of food and beverage (F&B) industries more efficient. These firms are still using traditional equipment and machinery in their F&B manufacturing process; however, it is required to adopt the next level of technologies for maximum productivity, which they cannot afford. Thus, the study focuses on the intention to adopt upgraded technologies in F&B SMEs in developing countries. A total of 230 F&B SME owners and top management were surveyed in Bangladesh. The collected data were analyzed using PLS-SEM with SmartPLS software. The results showed that disaster preparedness and business continuity had significant effects on the intention to adopt; similarly, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence were also significant in the intention to adopt the next level of IR technologies. The moderating role of government support and policy had mixed effects on intention. The study is significant because disaster preparedness and business continuity plans are utilized in technology adoption and intention scenarios. To investigate this intention, the study adopted two perspectives: the influence and role of disasters and hazards on SMEs through disaster preparedness and business continuity plans, and secondly, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) for measuring the intention. The study contributed to these two theories in a new context with constructs. The study will also contribute to policymakers in developing constructive policies and providing effective financial and non-financial support for F&B manufacturing SMEs.

The development of the nation’s economy is supported by the growing diversity and enthusiasm of interest among academics, particularly in the transforming procedures with an entrepreneurial orientation. The study investigates changing entrepreneurial-oriented practices and the performance of SMEs utilizing a cross-sectional survey amongst the four top grocery registered SMEs operating in Ikorodu local government division of Lagos State, Nigeria. The tool for gathering data is a questionnaire with two sections: bio-data and research questions. While 100 respondents formed the sample size proportionally selected from the study focus. Pearson correlation is the statistical tool for data analysis. The study reveals that creativeness and alleviation of business loss have a highly significant impact on SMEs performance; with pro-activeness having a weak, but positive relevance on SMEs performance. In conclusion, to further improve and optimize entrepreneurial orientation practices and adapt to future threatening changes, firms need to strengthen the desire for healthy competition, identifying and targeting the weaknesses of their competitors. It is recommended that more innovativeness should be sought after as guiding principles for capability and adaptability to handle the complexity of the ever-changing business surrounding, while involvement in risk-taking should be adopted with inevitable zeal and willingness to attain organizational growth and improved performance. Pro-activeness should be given adequate consideration to maintain and surpass existing performance as opportunities come but once. Despite study limitations, future researchers may need to enlarge the sample size and create awareness of research conducted on SMEs generally. Keywords: Change, Entrepreneurial orientation, Performance, Practices, SMEs.

Technological progress has transformed the payment industry. Although alternative payment instruments such as bank cards share some characteristics with banknotes, they are not direct competitors to cash. First, cash possesses unique attributes—its functionality without electrical power and its inherent anonymity. Second, statistical data indicate that the ratio of cash to M1 has stabilized at approximately 10% in recent years, primarily due to its substitution with demand deposits. In this paper, we model the demand for banknotes by incorporating technology-related characteristics alongside conventional theories of money demand. Our approach has important implications for central bank, particularly in liquidity management, currency issuance, effective management of physical currency, and continued investment in digital payment infrastructures. We adopt a macroeconomic perspective that considers banknote demand from both transactional and asset viewpoints. To this end, we estimate an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, which allows us to analyze both short-term and long-term coefficients within a framework of model uncertainty. A key focus of our study is the estimation of a payment system development index using logistic growth and Gompertz models, through which we assess its impact on cash demand. Our empirical evidence supports the notion of S-shaped growth in the adoption of payment technologies. The findings demonstrate that advancements in the payment sector have led to a significant decline in cash demand. Moreover, while increased real economic activity exerts a positive and significant influence on cash demand, a higher opportunity cost of holding cash has a pronounced negative impact.

The implementation of an effective tax system requires specific conditions, among the most critical being equity and efficiency. Taxation on income must align with the principle of the ability to pay; therefore, governments strive to set tax rates appropriately and impactfully. An disproportionate increase in income tax rates can lead to significant social repercussions on income distribution and public welfare. Consequently, calculating the optimal tax rate to maximize social welfare is deemed essential. This paper models the strategic interaction between taxpayers and the tax authority to achieve an optimal tax rate and identifies the factors influencing this rate. By designing a game among taxpayers, assumed to be uniformly distributed within the interval [0, 1], and evaluating the revenue generation of the tax authority, the paper delves into the game formulation and analyses the results. Findings indicate that the optimal tax rate exhibits an inverse relationship with the assessment rates set by investigating groups. Additionally, under specific conditions, the optimal performance tax rate has been determined to be 18%.

The positive impacts of fiscal policy could be undermined when accompanied by uncertainty. We examined the effect of fiscal policy uncertainty on economic activities in the provinces of Iran. It includes production, investment, unemployment, and economic participation of the active workforce in these provinces, taking into account the effects of economic sanctions imposed on the economy. We employed two types of shocks: fiscal level shock (representing fiscal policy) and its volatility shock (as fiscal policy uncertainty), which derived from a specified fiscal reaction function. We estimated a Panel VAR model using provincial data from 2003 to 2020. The results of the impulse response function indicated that following the impulse in the fiscal policy uncertainty, the response shows an increase in the unemployment rate in the short run, a decrease in the capital investment, and an increase in the inflation rate in the short and medium terms. In the medium and long term, the response indicates a decrease in GDP growth and a reduction in the economic participation rate of the active workforce.

The exchange rate is a critical variable that impacts the economy in the international environment. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the two approaches to exchange rate determination outlined in the Law on Permanent Decrees of the Country's Development Programs under economic sanctions. The analysis involves a theoretical discussion of a set of mathematical equations and software results, obtained from the algebraic and numerical solving of a simulated version of a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model in the context of the international economy for a small open economy. The model is calibrated using the structural parameters of the Iranian economy. The criterion for evaluating the rule and comparing it with other policy options is the "stability" of macroeconomic variables, a key aspect of the Resistive Economy Strategy as the obliging basic document in economic policy-making and planning. The stability is quantified using the "Variance" index. Based on the results of this study, the adoption of the rule-based inflationary exchange rate determination approach, compared with the contingency approach to exchange rate determination, on the one hand, offers the possibility of achieving lower inflation rates and exchange rate growth pace. On the other hand, it will reduce the instability of selected macroeconomic variables, which is desirable from the perspective of the overall policies of the resistance economy strategy. Therefore, it is recommended that, in the presence of foreign economic sanctions, the economic authority should implement inflationary rule of exchange rate determination based on the current inflation rate.

On the northern shore of the Persian Gulf, not far from the coastline of Bandar-e Dayyer (Dayyer Port) in Bushehr Province, remains of a large archeological site can be seen in the form of dense piles of the rubble as well as architectural remnants scattering over ​​approximately 27 hectares, which is known as Bardoo. The remaining and main parts of the site are located in the south and southeast of the city of Bardestan, between a road leading to Bandar-e Dayyer and the western flank of salt marshes on the west bank of huge Bay (xowr), located about 2200 meters from the coastline of Bandar-e Dayyer itself. Archaeological excavations at this site reveal three periods, ranging from Parthian to the early Islamic era. 

Enterprise risk management (ERM) represents a new paradigm that supports organizations in identifying, evaluating, and managing risks. Several factors encourage different organizations, especially banks, to design and apply ERM; among them, the possibility of financial problems and related costs, financial performance decline, growth opportunities, and independence of the board of directors can be pointed out. In addition, applying a suitable risk management strategy is a competitive advantage for supporting companies. Following the previous comprehensive studies, the present study was done by integrating a meta-composition approach and multivariate fuzzy network analysis. In this research, to identify effective factors on ERM based on empirical evidence and selection of studies, description and classification of selected articles, analysis of the content of selected research articles, and finally, the importance and refinement of the identified factors based on the Delphi expert opinion polling technique, and multivariate fuzzy network analysis was discussed. The study aimed to identify and rank the factors affecting the effectiveness of ERM of the firms accepted in selected banks in Iran. While reviewing studies, a semi-structured interview was conducted using an Exploratory-Descriptive Qualitative (EDQ) research design to determine the factors that affect ERM effectiveness. The interviewed experts were comprised of 20 university professors, CEOs, financial analysts of investment and brokerage companies, and senior auditors with accounting and management education. The literature review and the results of the interviews indicate five main themes that classify the factors affecting ERM effectiveness in firms. In this study, key factors were identified, and then the fuzzy Delphi technique was employed to rank and find the weight of the factors. The results showed that corporate governance, financial indicators, environmental indicators, company characteristics, and management indicators effectively enhance ERM's effectiveness. Accordingly, capital market analysts and investment companies should take a broader perspective and make decisions based on companies' financial risks instead of paying attention to companies' profitability and stock price changes. The results demonstrated that five factors determine ERM effectiveness: 1. corporate governance indicators (monitoring the board of directors and ownership structure), 2. Financial indicators (return on assets (ROA), earnings volatility, merger and acquisition (M&A) activities, financial deficiency, and capital opacity), 3. Environmental indicators (performance excellence, industry competition, audit firm credibility, environmental uncertainty, and industry), 4. Firm characteristics (financial leverage, firm size, and growth opportunities), and 5. Management indicators (management career and business diversity).