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As a common cultural phenomenon in China and the West, alchemy not only embodies the scientific spirit of people before modern times, but also contains certain religious beliefs, and even creates unrealistic secular imaginations. When Catholicism entered China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Chinese also projected this imagination of alchemy onto the missionaries. Behind this imagination actually lays the strong interest of Chinese people in the financial resources of the missionaries. On the one hand, there is the historical influence of traditional Chinese alchemy, and on the other hand, there is the curiosity caused by the lifestyle of missionaries in China. The imagination of alchemy not only reflects a historical aspect of the encounter between China and the West during the Ming and Qing dynasties, but also reflects a complex social psychology of mixed curiosity, panic, suspicion, and vigilance in pre-modern China.

[...]our empirical analysis on Bitcoin market in Korea could provide significant insight on the nature of cryptocurrency market and crypto investors. Pre-2017 September data yields positive and significant relationship between Bitcoin and KOSPI trading volume, but post-2017 data provides negative and significant relationship. [...]we can conjecture that, in the early stage of Bitcoin market development, the successful investment stories in Bitcoin market increase the total capital with high-risk profile. [...]our study broadens the understanding of the nature and systemic risk of cryptocurrency market. [...]our results confirm the financial regulators' concerns on the systemic risk of cryptocurrency market. [...]this research provides the pathway to cryptocurrency market regulations.

This report brings together the results of an eight-part series of presentations by leading experts in issues directly related to microfinance institutional sustainability. It is intended for microfinance institution (MFI) board members, managers, and staff members as well as for government regulators, supervisors, and donor staff members. The first four chapters include topics in risk management: (1) risk management systems, (2) good governance, (3) interest rates, and (4) micro-insurance. The last four chapters include four topics in new product development and efficient delivery methodologies: (5) housing microfinance, (6) micro-leasing, (7) disaster preparedness products and systems, and (8) new technologies. The objectives of the series were as follows: i) to strengthen MFIs by disseminating innovative approaches in risk management, cost control, governance, and new technologies; ii) to promote a South-South exchange of experiences and lessons learned; iii) to promote greater ties among the MFIs in the region and between MFIs and government supervisors and regulators; and iv) to highlight the Bank's ability to mobilize international technical expertise in microfinance.

This study chooses industrial enterprises with great innovative capacity and above a designated size in Jiangsu as the research object to examine the real mechanism of their innovative activities. We apply the DEA model to calculate the technical efficiency, technical progress, and total factor productivity (TFP) of industrial enterprises from 1999 to 2009, finding that technical progress is the most significant factor in increasing TFP. In order to ensure the efficient flow of capital and labor, the empirical results of this study provide useful evidence to promote the industry frontier technical progress and to improve the average efficiency level.

In the past decade, Somalia has reached some important milestones in reconstructing its economy as well as normalizing relations with international financial bodies, providing renewed hope for its nation and the international community. In the semi-autonomous states of Puntland and Somaliland, peace and stability have been present for over 20 years. Furthermore, the newly formed federal government under the president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has taken some strides in reestablishing the nation as an international player. Reforms are helping the Somali economy slowly gain momentum with modest growth. Establishing a National Development Plan in 2017 had helped provide the nation with a clear direction of helping reorganize the economy. However, in order for any government to be successful in executing its plans and initiatives, it must have the resources required to achieve such objectives. Finance is considered to be a significant variable in the development of countries. Access to finance is something, which can significantly help or hinder the socio-economic development of a country. This paper explores traditional and non-traditional sources of funds in relation to Somalia, highlighting the Binding Challanges Somalia currently faces. Moreover, it provides a detailed profile on conventional external sources of development finance. Additionally, it explores non-traditional sources of development finance through a blended finance approach. The author explores ways in which Islamic finance can contribute the economic social development of Somalia. It goes further to explore the role in which the diaspora community can play in the next phase of the development of Somalia and how the large amounts of funds, which are remitted, on a regular basis can be used for sustainable development purposes.

This paper analyzes features of formation and development of vertically and horizontally integrated structures in Russian metallurgical engineering industry; trends in their development, the place and the role they play in the domestic and global economy are shown; real opportunities for modernization and innovation development are identified, dynamics of the major macro-and microeconomic performance of industry in the world, in Russia, in the areas of the Ural region and thelargest holding companies — producers of steel, cast iron, rolled steel, copper, titanium, aluminum, zinc and bauxite is shown. A measure of the impact of the global economic crisis on metallurgicalengineering industry of Russia in general and steel industry in particularisrevealed. It is shown that thecrisis has substantially reduced the production and export performance of enterprises engaged in manufacturing of basic metals and fabricated metal products; the processes of concentration and centralization of production and capital through the acquisition and absorption is investigated; the sources of fundings necessary for the development of the industry are analyzed; the mechanism, consequences and possible ways of adaptation of metallurgical enterprises and industries related to Russia’s WTO accession are reviewed.

The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region has been hit by a crisis on multiple fronts. Countries in ECA are facing major, interrelated, external macro-financial shocks. The first is the global growth slowdown leading to falling export market demand. In addition, the prospects for inflows of remittances to low-income countries have been downgraded as economic activity in migrant host countries has declined. The second is the financial deleveraging by major banks and other financial institutions in developed economies, which has markedly reduced the availability, and increased the cost, of external finance across public, corporate, and financial sectors. The third is the recent commodity price changes, which have involved a reversal of much of the commodity price boom of 2007 and 2008. The main objective of the study is to understand the impact of these macroeconomic shocks on household well-being. In particular, it seeks to understand the key macroeconomic shocks confronted by the region and the impact of such shocks on household welfare, including the effect on household income flows, consumption levels, and liabilities. It will also assess possible strategies to cope with the crisis and manage the adverse social impact.

Chapter 9 explains two of the standard Data Sleuth analyses when an engagement necessitates the analysis of two or more data sources and those requiring an analysis of one data source. Analysis involving two or more data sources is comparative analysis, and its practical application, the use of spreadsheet software, is described in detail in this chapter. When data from one data source needs to be analyzed for anomalies, several different analyses are used depending on the source of the data. A high‐level summary of bank account and credit card account transactions, referred to as the Source and Use Summary, is explained within this chapter. The Source and Use Summary is a simple, effective tool to quickly identify transactions and types of transactions pertinent to the investigation priorities of a case.

The report estimated that in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region alone about US$80 billion a year of additional investments would be required in low-emission projects (green investments), resulting in a significant financing challenge. The report argues that the solution lies in understanding the causes of the financial viability gap, and then investigating how specific actions, including strategic subsidies, concessional financing, and public policy interventions and reforms, can bridge this gap to make green investment transactions viable. The green infrastructure finance framework also underscores the benefits of valuing and monetizing carbon externalities. Moreover, it recognizes the effects of policy distortions and other negative factors that impinge on financial viability, emphasizing the need for an approach to analyze and explain the gap and to attribute its components to different stakeholders. This report shows that it is essential to measure global and local externality benefits against the causes of the viability gap such as perceptions of added risks, cost differentials, policy distortions, and other factors. Once these elements are fully considered, policy makers can identify practical ways to better structure the financing of green investment projects that can be supported by the market. Three key principals have guided the development of the framework: (i) targeting green finance resources on sectors that have large numbers of projects with low abatement costs; (ii) setting ceilings on the value of support that will be provided for a tone of greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement in any sector or project; and (iii) using competitive mechanisms to ensure that projects do not receive more support than needed to make them financially attractive. This report is the second of a continuing series of green infrastructure finance publications. The first part undertook a stocktaking of leading initiatives and literature related to the green infrastructure finance theme. This second part is a conceptual piece that bridges ideas and concepts between environmental economics and project finance practices. Work will continue over the next months by operationalizing this framework (analytical methodology and assessment of green infrastructure investment climate) through a pilot in a selected EAP developing country. Given a better understanding of the financing challenges of different green projects, work will also continue in developing more customized and innovative financing instruments that can be specifically tailored to address the requirements of these projects.

This paper analyzes features of formation and development of vertically and horizontally integrated structures in Russian metallurgical engineering industry; trends in their development, the place and the role they play in the domestic and global economy are shown; real opportunities for modernization and innovation development are identified, dynamics of the major macro-and microeconomic performance of industry in the world, in Russia, in the areas of the Ural region and the largest holding companies — producers of steel, cast iron, rolled steel, copper, titanium, aluminum, zinc and bauxite is shown. A measure of the impact of the global economic crisis on metallurgical engineering industry of Russia in general and steel industry in particular is revealed. It is shown that the crisis has substantially reduced the production and export performance of enterprises engaged in manufacturing of basic metals and fabricated metal products; the processes of concentration and centralization of production and capital through the acquisition and absorption is investigated; the sources of fundings necessary for the development of the industry are analyzed; the mechanism, consequences and possible ways of adaptation of metallurgical enterprises and industries related to Russia’s WTO accession are reviewed.