درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Agriculture plays a pivotal role in Africa's development and is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the agricultural sector is inherently exposed to production risks, and many farmers in the developing world lack access to reliable agricultural insurance coverage. This situation arises due to limited data and knowledge about farmers' insurance needs and the high costs associated with insuring against severe agricultural risks. Promoting agricultural insurance as an instrument can have several significant impacts, aligning with multiple SDGs. It can help stabilize farmers' income, thereby contributing to the goal of reducing poverty (SDG 1). Moreover, agricultural insurance can provide a safety net for food producers, helping them manage the impacts of climate-related risks and aligning with SDG 13, which addresses climate action. Additionally, by enhancing the resilience of farmers and ensuring more predictable income, agricultural insurance can contribute to addressing hunger (SDG 2) and ultimately create a more sustainable and prosperous agricultural sector in Africa. Therefore, this study evaluated agricultural insurance as an instrument for sustainable food supply systems in Nigeria. This study adopted a survey design. This study captured thoughts, experiences, and observations of selected agricultural underwriters in the Nigerian insurance industry through structured questionnaire. A descriptive statistic was employed in the data analysis. This study results indicated that aside from farmers’ awareness which showed some level of yardstick with respect to farmers behavioural metrics, all other metrics played no significant roles. It was also recorded that why farmers’ age, gender, family size and farming experience have no significant roles in the uptake of agricultural insurance, all other participatory factors have major effects. The study contributed significantly to knowledge with the graphical representations of the challenges confronting the agricultural insurers in Nigeria. The study provided suitable recommendations that endear achievable SDGs in Nigeria.

Iran’s agricultural exports have grown significantly in recent years. Cropland products (HS07) have become the second most important group in Iran’s agricultural exports over the last years. However, few studies have investigated the export potentials of cropland products. Therefore, this study aims to determine the main factors of Iran’s cropland products exports and calculate the export efficiency and potential in the trading partners. For this aim, the stochastic frontier gravity model is estimated based on balanced panel data covering 21 importing countries over the period of 2001 to 2021. The results indicated that economic and physical size of importing countries have positive and significant effect on the exports of Iran’s cropland products. In addition, common border between Iran and trading partners and economic sanctions have also positive and significant effect on the cropland products exports, while geographical distance between Iran and importing countries has negatively effects on the exports. The results of export efficiency showed that Iran does not have 100 percent efficiency in any destination market over the period of 2015 to 2021. Iran has an export efficiency of more than 50 percent only in Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Canada and Iraq. According to the results, Iran has the highest potential for exports of cropland products in Iraq. Hence, considering the high potentials in neighboring countries and significantly positive effect of common border partners, it is suggested that trading countries with common border like Iraq should be a top priority for the exports of cropland products.

Making decisions regarding capital structure is among the most challenging issues ahead for firms and the most critical decisions for their survival. On the other hand, several significant aspects, such as behavioral factors, have been overlooked in this field. Thus, the present study mainly seeks to identify the factors affecting capital structure in Iranian firms, emphasizing the role of behavioral factors. The present study employs mixed qualitative and quantitative research methods. From the qualitative point of view, capital market experts were inquired, and theoretical saturation was achieved using the snowball method. After the interviews, research components were extracted through coding. The opinions of a group of experts and managers of firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange were used in the quantitative section, and a structural equation form was used to perform confirmatory factor analysis on the research model. A total of 63 concepts in the form of six categories were identified at the first stage, which was reduced to 58 in the form of six categories and was confirmed after the concepts were sent back to the experts. The principal components included behavioral factors, macroeconomic factors, political factors, socio-cultural factors, firm features, and corporate governance. Results were validated through factor analysis in the quantitative portion of the study. The present study can be considered among the comprehensive studies at the construct level with an integrated approach to firms' capital structure. The emergence of behavioral finance resulted from understanding the importance of measuring human behavior as a factor with transcendent consequences for financial decisions. Hence, most behavioral finance studies are focused on observable behaviors. However, the item response theory presents an integrated method for disciplines that work with cognitive variables. Accepting opportunities for new knowledge is essential for firm decisions to respond to the mental views of financial managers. The present study sought to identify the factors influencing firms' capital structure in Iran. The tool used in the present study reflected the elements making up the capital structure. In this regard, the notable point is how the classic criterion of structural capital components can explain financial managers' perception of decision-making. The research results in this area are interesting since we have confirmed a capital structure theory at the construct level. The conformity of the results and the obtained reliability levels indicate that this theory fits the given dimensions well. Moreover, relevant evidence indicates that senior financial managers adopt various states considering internal and external factors at the structural level, which can cause cognitive bias in decision-making.

This paper attempts to compare a Markov-Switching Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (MS-DSGE) model by including deep habits consumption to a MS-DSGE model without deep habits. It is concluded that the deep habit adjusted model with regime switching is able to fit the Iranian data better. The results of estimating parameters indicate that deep habit formation, together with the persistence of habit stock, are significant parameters. The results also confirm that current and future consumption demand, expected marginal cost and stock of habits are effective driving forces in extracted New Keynesian Philips Curve considering deep habits. However, in contrast with Ravn et al (2006, 2010) findings, it is shown that presence of deep habit consumption in the model for Iranian economy, cannot lead to reduce inflation in response to monetary shock while the amount of increase in inflation in response to monetary shock in the model with deep habit is less than inflation increase in model without deep habits. Furthermore, in response to fiscal shock in the model considering deep habits, the negative effect of wealth could not be compensated in Iranian economy. Therefore, consumption begins to decrease in response to fiscal shock, although these reduction in the model without deep habits takes more longer than in the model with deep habits.