Bahrain and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The launch of the Bahrain FinTech Bay in 2018 was a significant step for Bahrain toward becoming a technology and innovation hub. It continues to develop its infrastructure to enable the developments using Fourth Industrial Revolutionrelevant technology while updating the corporate governance framework in an attempt to curtail investor uncertainty and exposure in the region. Bahrain differentiates itself from its larger neighbors by highlighting its well-trained population and low cost of living and running a business. This report shows that these factors, combined with an innovative regulatory environment, attract a more diversified pool of foreign investors, especially venture capital and other alternative financial investors in sectors such as information and technology or tourism. However, the recent emphasis on startups and technology brings challenges that could threaten the resilience of the new Bahraini economic model. First, most of the firms created have fewer than 10 employees, while Bahrain needs more medium sized companies to reach its economic goals. Second, the size of Bahrain’s labor market will not be able to accommodate the increasing demand for highly skilled workers. Third, the transition to a digitalized economy and its new requirements can be costly for existing firms, especially the smaller ones, which are the majority. Moving forward, these challenges could be alleviated by: - Helping micro firms grow. - Removing the remaining obstacles in hiring foreign workers in sectors where the qualified local labor supply is weak. - Ensuring that wages in the private sector are competitive. - Educating smaller firms on existing services that can help them transition to the digitalization of the economy. Finally, Bahrain’s ambition to become a technology, innovation, and talent hub could play a significant role in the region if the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were to strengthen their economic coordination

Bahrain and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The launch of the Bahrain FinTech Bay in 2018 was a significant step for Bahrain toward becoming a technology and innovation hub. It continues to develop its infrastructure to enable the developments using Fourth Industrial Revolutionrelevant technology while updating the corporate governance framework in an attempt to curtail investor uncertainty and exposure in the region. Bahrain differentiates itself from its larger neighbors by highlighting its well-trained population and low cost of living and running a business. This report shows that these factors, combined with an innovative regulatory environment, attract a more diversified pool of foreign investors, especially venture capital and other alternative financial investors in sectors such as information and technology or tourism. However, the recent emphasis on startups and technology brings challenges that could threaten the resilience of the new Bahraini economic model. First, most of the firms created have fewer than 10 employees, while Bahrain needs more medium sized companies to reach its economic goals. Second, the size of Bahrain’s labor market will not be able to accommodate the increasing demand for highly skilled workers. Third, the transition to a digitalized economy and its new requirements can be costly for existing firms, especially the smaller ones, which are the majority. Moving forward, these challenges could be alleviated by: - Helping micro firms grow. - Removing the remaining obstacles in hiring foreign workers in sectors where the qualified local labor supply is weak. - Ensuring that wages in the private sector are competitive. - Educating smaller firms on existing services that can help them transition to the digitalization of the economy. Finally, Bahrain’s ambition to become a technology, innovation, and talent hub could play a significant role in the region if the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were to strengthen their economic coordination

Weighing Down America: 2020 Update A Community Approach against Obesity

Obesity impacts segments of the US population differently based on their behavioral and socioeconomic profiles. The Milken Institute COVID-19 Community Explorer sorts US counties around eight profiles of communities that share common patterns across behavioral, economic, and social factors. This report uses these communities and identifies which of the 26 factors considered are systemically correlated with high obesity rates for each community. This report identifies three groups of factors that matter for a large part of the US population: • Social and behavioral factors, such as unemployment, excessive drinking, smoking, post-secondary education, and single-parent households, have the strongest association with obesity prevalence across all eight communities' profiles. • Urban-rural factors, including rurality, housing concerns, population density, metropolitan area, violent crime rate, and the number of fast-food establishments per 100,000 people, have the second strongest association with obesity prevalence across four communities, representing 78 percent of the US population. • The Black population factor has the third strongest association with obesity prevalence across four communities. These communities represent 61 percent of the US population. The analysis combines health, behavioral, economic, and social data sets and suggests that some aspects of the obesity epidemic would be better addressed at the local level, while others would benefit from a federal initiative. It also identifies factors for each community to consider when coordinating national and local authorities and other partners such as health-care professionals, business and community leaders, school, and child care. Finally, our analysis shows that the data sets collected need to be properly combined, processed, and analyzed to inform policy in a meaningful and actionable manner

ESG ratings: the road ahead

In this study, we show that using a common set of variables would partially resolve inconsistencies and the lack of comparability across rating providers that often confuse investors. Furthermore, we dissociate the impact of the rating agencies’ different focus on “E”, “S” or “G” from that of using different data. While the former, if properly disclosed, can be useful as it allows investors to choose what rating will be more in line with their preferences, the latter necessarily requires harmonization of the data collected

Disagreement among ESG rating agencies: shall we be worried?

In this study, we show that using a common set of variables would partially resolve inconsistencies and the lack of comparability across rating providers that often confuse investors. Furthermore, we dissociate the impact of the rating agencies’ different focus on “E”, “S” or “G” from that of using different data. While the former, if properly disclosed, can be useful as it allows investors to choose what rating will be more in line with their preferences, the latter necessarily requires harmonization of the data collected

GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY INDEX 2021 Focus on Latin America

this report uses the 2021 Global Opportunity Index and its different categories to provide an overview of Latin America's attractiveness to foreign investors, especially when compared to other emerging markets and developing economies (EMDE). It also offers an in-depth look at Latin America's global capital inflows (emphasizing their composition and evolution over the past decade) and the regions' cross-border M&A activity

Populist Mobilization: A New Theoretical Approach to Populism*

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112280/1/j.1467-9558.2011.01388.x.pd