Journal of World Economy

The Impact of Climate Resilience and Financial Inclusion Interaction on Poverty in Africa’s Most Unbanked Nations

Ayuk Takemeyang, Henry Jong Ketuma, Tambi Andison Akpor — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of climate resilience and adaptation capacity, financial inclusion, and their interaction on poverty in Africa’s most unbanked nations. Design/methodology/approach: The study makes use of panel regressions such as DOLS and FMOLS. using panel data econometric techniques. Secondary data covering Africa’s most unbanked nations from 2004 to 2022 were obtained from the World Bank, Global Findex Database, and climate disaster records. Panel Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) estimators were employed to account for endogeneity, serial correlation, and long-run cointegration among variables. Findings: The findings indicate that weak climate resilience and limited adaptation capacity significantly increase poverty vulnerability, while financial inclusion reduces poverty. Importantly, the interaction between climate resilient and financial inclusion is negative and statistically significant, suggesting that financial inclusion mitigates the poverty-increasing effects of climate shocks. Other core drivers of poverty include GDP per capita growth, inflation, and money supply. The coefficients of the variables of interest (i.e. financial inclusion, climate resilience, and their interaction) show consistency in terms of size, signs, and significance, suggesting robustness in the results. Practical implications: The results underscore the importance of inclusive financial systems as a climate adaptation and poverty reduction strategy in Africa. Thus, Africa’s governments and relevant authorities are advised to fight and control climate change to ensure effective poverty reduction impact of financial inclusion. This will guarantee that intended groups receive the benefits of financial inclusion, leading to poverty reduction. Originality/Value: The study combines climate change and financial inclusion in a novel context (Africa’s unbanked nations) using advance econometric techniques (DOLS/FMOLS) to address endogeneity and cointegration.

The Paradox of Digital Enforcement: Analyzing the Implementation Friction of EFRIS among Urban SMEs in Kampala

Kikomeko Joseph, Andrew Kyambadde, Dr. Joel Emojong — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The global shift toward digital tax administration promises enhanced efficiency and transparency, yet its implementation in developing economies often faces severe structural headwinds. This study investigates the “implementation friction” of the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System (EFRIS) among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Rubaga Division, Kampala. Utilizing a qualitative case study design, the research gathers data from 35 participants, including SME owners and tax officials, to understand the operational dissonance between policy design and grassroots reality. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Slippery Slope Framework, the study reveals that the imposition of high-tech digital solutions on a semi-formal sector lacking basic digital infrastructure has created a “compliance paradox.” Instead of simplifying tax payment, EFRIS has introduced new barriers related to connectivity, cost, and technical literacy, leading to alienation and resistance. The study concludes that without parallel investments in digital literacy and infrastructure, digitization efforts may inadvertently widen the tax gap. It recommends a phased, human-centric digital integration strategy and the adoption of “offline-capable” compliance mechanisms.

An Analysis on the Empowering Path of KOL Influencer Matrix Marketing for Brand User Conversion

Meiying Jin — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Driven by social media, cross‑border DTC brands have gradually shifted from single‑KOL placement to the multi‑tier influencer matrix model. Nevertheless, matrix placement generates dual effects of collaborative gains and internal friction. Taking cross‑border health‑oriented DTC consumer goods as the research object, this paper integrates the S‑O‑R model, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and configurational causal theory to construct an analytical framework of “matrix structural characteristics‑consumer psychological perception‑hierarchical conversion performance”. Mixed empirical tests are carried out utilizing PLS‑SEM and FSQCA based on panel data of 62 brands and 427 consumer questionnaires (Lou S & Yuan L., 2021). The study finds that matrix vertical heterogeneity, tier matching balance and cross‑platform synergy significantly positively drive user conversion, while matrix narrative conflict exerts a significant inhibitory effect. Perceived information richness and perceived trust play a prominent chain‑mediating role. Multiple equivalent configurations exist for high conversion performance, and maintaining narrative conflict at a low level serves as a common constraint for all high‑conversion paths. Consumers of health‑category products perceive higher risks, and their demand for matrix vertical matching degree rises by 37.6 % compared with ordinary fast‑moving consumer goods (Zhang H & Li Y., 2024). This research expands the network perspective of KOL marketing matrix and provides quantitative decision‑making support for the overseas marketing of cross‑border health consumer goods.

Evaluation of Capital Efficiency of Public‑Infrastructure Projects Based on Project Financial‑Cost Governance Theory

Peidi Chen — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Traditional efficiency evaluation for public‑infrastructure projects focuses on physical performance while ignoring soft factors of financial governance, suffering from imperfect systems and imprecise causal identification. Based on the Engineering‑Financial Governance Nexus (EFGN) theory, this paper uses panel data of 117 U.S. public‑infrastructure projects from 2011 to 2022. Super‑SBM‑DEA, Malmquist‑Luenberger (ML) index, Tobit regression and PSM‑DID models are adopted to explore the causal impact of financial‑cost governance on infrastructure capital efficiency. The results show that the average capital efficiency of sampled infrastructure projects is merely 0.723, and governance deficiency acts as the primary cause of capital inefficiency (Tone, K., 2001). The annual average growth rate of infrastructure total‑factor productivity reaches 4.1 %, driven almost exclusively by technological progress with marginal contributions from governance optimization. Audit supervision and joint engineering‑financial collaborative review significantly improve capital efficiency, whereas project scale and high‑debt financing produce notable inhibitory effects. This study remedies defects of traditional evaluation frameworks and provides references for optimal capital allocation and governance upgrading of public‑infrastructure projects.

Research on Product Iteration and Optimization Path of DTC Personal‑Care Brands Based on Buyer Feedback Data

Jin Huang — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Against the backdrop of digital trade, DTC personal‑care brands have rapidly penetrated the market relying on the disintermediation model. Nevertheless, new‑product failure rates remain persistently high. Conventional market research suffers from lags and high costs, making it difficult to adapt to brands’ fast‑paced iteration demands. Multi‑source buyer feedback data has become a core carrier for excavating users’ real‑world demands. Grounded in the Signaling Theory, Closed‑Loop Product Innovation Theory and Configurational Theory, this paper constructs a five‑order closed‑loop analytical framework. Drawing on 126 427 pieces of buyer feedback data from overseas DTC personal‑care brands, this empirical research adopts LDA topic‑sentiment mining (Martilla, J. A., & James, J. C., 1977), IPA analysis, fsQCA configurational analysis and multi‑case validation. This study extracts five core dimensions of user feedback including product efficacy and performance. It verifies that no single necessary condition exists for high‑performance product iteration, and the synergy of multiple elements forms four equivalent optimization paths. Moreover, the research confirms that iteration proactively excavating explicit and implicit demands delivers remarkably better outcomes than passive negative‑review remediation. It provides theoretical support and practical references for data‑driven product innovation of DTC personal‑care brands.