Issue #1 (Volume 12 2023)

Large-scale military actions on Ukraine’s territory have led to extraordinary challenges for budget policy. This study aims to evaluate the budget policy of Ukraine and substantiate its strategic priorities in martial law. The paper used economic and statistical methods to assess the ultimate budget indicators. It was determined that budget revenues decreased due to the economic recession, and expenditures, primarily for defense and security, increased. In 2022, compared to 2021 (the full-scale war against Ukraine began on February 24, 2022), tax revenues decreased by 7.6%. In contrast, the study observed an increase in budget expenditures by 65.0%, in the budget deficit by 4.5 times (financed mainly by external borrowings and military bonds bought by the National Bank of Ukraine), and in state and guaranteed state debt by 52.4%. In the context of military operations, the budget policy aims to ensure a balance between financing the most critical items of the budget and stimulating the economy’s recovery. At the same time, the institutional capacity of state authorities allows controlling how a country survives in this challenging period. In order to restore the economy, the Ukrainian government must implement a prudent budget policy, assess fiscal risks associated with changes in the macroeconomic environment, and increase the efficiency of budget expenditures.

Developing countries are characterized by a low level of tax compliance arising from weaknesses in tax administration and trust deficits. This poses a critical challenge toward the attainment of developmental goals. This paper aims to examine the moderating role of trust in tax authorities for the relationship between tax administration and personal income tax compliance in Nigeria. The study used a survey design to obtain data through a structured questionnaire administered to randomly selected individual taxpayers from Nigeria; 365 responses were collected. The OLS results revealed that tax administration significantly influences personal income tax compliance (β = 0.301, t = 4.068, and p-value = 0.000). Trust in tax authorities significantly influences personal income tax compliance (β = 0.183, t-value = 3.650, and p-value = 0.000). Furthermore, the result showed that trust in tax authorities positively moderates the relationship between tax administration and personal income tax compliance (β = 0.323, t = 4.098, and p-value = 0.000). This study concludes that tax administration significantly affects personal income tax compliance, and trust in tax authorities moderates this relationship in Nigeria.

Although the theory of soft budget constraints is widely presented in the literature, little is known about the factors of soft budget constraints in public hospitals in Poland. This study is relevant because many Polish hospitals struggle with serious debt problems. The study aims to systematise the regulatory and legal provision of soft budget restrictions in the activities of healthcare institutions, particularly public hospitals in Poland, and to assess the impact of these restrictions on their further functioning. An analysis of hospitals’ regulatory and legal activities shows the implementation of various soft budget restrictions. On November 20, 2019, Poland returned to the soft budget constraints, which functioned immediately after the introduction of reforms in the late 90s of the last century. As of 2021, out-of-pocket costs for treatment have decreased to 19.56%, but costs are gradually increasing and in 2020, according to the World Bank, they amounted to 71.89%. The provision of medical services mainly by public hospitals owned by local governments and scattered healthcare debt make it difficult to liquidate an inefficient public hospital in the event of its default. The study proves that the main reason for not eliminating the soft budgetary constraints of hospitals through their commercialization was the inconsistency of the carried out reform of commercialization of hospitals with the financial condition of local authorities.

Acknowledgment
The authors thank the Institute of Economic and Financial Expertise in Łódź for financial support in publishing this paper.

The development of Ukraine’s credit market occurs under periodic economic crises. Available destructive processes inhibit the development of credit relations, negatively affecting the lending of economic entities and restraining the development of the national economy. This study aims to highlight the basic transformations in the development of the credit market of Ukraine, which are formed in macroeconomic instability. The economic development trends in Ukraine were assessed using classical statistical methods. The correlation regression analysis was used to analyze the influence of macroeconomic parameters (exchange rate, average salary, and cost of loans) on the volume of bank lending. The results show that the national economy of Ukraine during 2005–2021 developed in the conditions of periodic macroeconomic instability, and the pre-crisis (an indicator of 2013) parameters of bank lending volumes have not restored within the credit market. The paper stresses the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: in 2020, the volume of bank lending decreased by 10.38 billion USD. Moreover, the econometric analysis of the influence of specific macroeconomic parameters (exchange rate, average salary, and cost of loans) on the development of bank lending in Ukraine demonstrated that the stability of the national currency exerts the greatest influence on the lending processes of economic entities in Ukraine. Its provision in the long term allows the creation of favorable conditions for the credit market functioning after the shock periods.

Acknowledgment
This study is conducted within the framework of the scientific project “Transformation of the households’ behavior in the financial services market in the context of digitalization” with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis on the topic of public policy and financial regulation in preventing and combating financial fraud using a variety of bibliometric methods and tools, including the in-built tools of Scopus by Elsevier (SciVal) and Web of Science by Clarivate Analytics, as well as VOSviewer software. The most relevant publications related to the search terms were identified. Based on the results, a map illustrating the interrelationships of concepts such as “financial fraud,” “public policy,” and “financial regulation” with other categories was created, allowing for the identification of five clusters, each of which was characterized in detail. The results of the evolutionary and temporal analysis of scientific research showed that before 2000, scholars focused on the legislative aspects of combating financial fraud; from 2000 to 2015, on risk management and the impact of financial fraud on economic growth; from 2016 to the present, on the search for methods and tools to detect and combat financial fraud. The spatial analysis confirmed a predominantly intercontinental connection between researchers. The comparison of subject areas demonstrated the interdisciplinary nature of the study, with a predominant focus on the fields of “computer science” and “economics, econometrics, and finance,” which is logical considering the economic nature and the ongoing technological transformation of financial fraud. The results can be utilized to develop new strategies, policies, and legislative initiatives to ensure financial integrity and increase confidence in financial systems.

Acknowledgment
This study is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and contains the results of the projects No. 0123U101945 “National security of Ukraine through prevention of financial fraud and money laundering: War and post-war challenges”, 0121U109559 “National security through the convergence of financial monitoring systems and cyber security: Intelligent modelling of financial market regulation mechanisms” and by the Vega Agency No. 1/0638/23.

This study deals with the impact of national debt on gross domestic product growth, which plays an essential role in economic development when the debt-to-GDP ratio achieves the optimal public debt ratio. The goal of this study is to comprehend the relationship between government debt and GDP growth, which becomes increasingly essential for economic development as the debt-to-GDP ratio approaches the optimal threshold of public debt. The study applied regression threshold models, unit roots, and Pearson correlation tests to the data collected in Vietnam from 2000 to 2020 to determine the optimum national debt-to-GDP threshold. The results show that the correlation between national debt-to-GDP and GDP growth was 85.2%. All the variables are stationary at the first difference and lag after one year, and the 38% threshold is the best level of national debt for GDP growth. This study contributes to the theoretical enhancement of the current knowledge of the factors that offer the Vietnamese government a point of reference for policy recommendations to control national debt successfully.

The purpose of this study is to ground the causality, its character, and power between economic growth and housing spending within government social protection to strengthen poverty reduction. The study is conducted on a sample of 27 EU countries for 2012–2021 according to the following indicators: government expenditure on housing within social protection, government expenditure on housing development, and GDP per capita growth. Correlation analysis revealed the relationship between the variables. The paper employed time lags with the most significance based on Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients depending on normal data (Shapiro-Wilk test). The causal analysis determined which of the studied indicators is the cause and consequence of established dependence based on the results of the Granger test. Calculations are made in STATA software. It is confirmed that government expenditure on housing within social protection influences GDP per capita growth in 14 countries (the highest impact is in Greece and Spain) and government expenditure on housing development – in 17 countries (the biggest influence is in Romania, the Slovak Republic, Ireland, and Lithuania). It is also emphasized that government expenditure on housing development influences economic growth more significantly and with higher strength than government expenditure on housing within social protection. The obtained results can be useful in further research and government decision-making in social and economic policy, particularly regarding the expediency of increasing government spending for affordable housing and its development according to social protection programs, poverty reduction, and inclusive economic growth.

Acknowledgments
The study is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (No. 0122U000781) and the Vega Agency (No. 1/0638/23).

In many countries, including China, traditional one-dimensional performance appraisal has led local governments to spend more on economic construction and less on human capital and public services. In 2013, China decided to abandon the traditional bias of performance appraisal. This study aims to analyze the effect of multidimensional performance appraisal on the local government expenditure structure in China. The study collected panel data from 31 provincial administrative regions in China during 2007–2018 for empirical analysis. By assigning different weights to economic-based performance appraisal pressure, livelihood-based performance appraisal pressure, and ecological-based performance appraisal pressure, the study observed the effects of performance appraisal criteria on local government expenditure structure. The results show that: local governments place more emphasis on tasks with higher relative incentive intensity and allocate more expenditures to them; the correlation between tasks affects the proportion of expenditures on related tasks; the basic principle of local government officials in balancing the expenditure structure is to maximize their own utility. They give priority to spending on tasks with high marginal revenue. In addition, this paper also discusses the causes and mechanisms of distortion in local government spending structure. Finally, the paper puts forward corresponding policy recommendations, which provide new ideas for multidimensional performance assessment of local governments.

As a Muslim-majority country, Indonesia possesses significant potential to harness Islamic banking as a key driver of its economy. This study aims to examine the effects of Sharia-compliant financing provided by Islamic banks in Indonesia on the unemployment rate and economic growth. The analysis utilizes data on Sharia-compliant financing for non-bank third parties, open unemployment rate, and gross regional domestic product at constant prices as proxies for economic growth. Annual panel data from 33 provinces in Indonesia covering 2010 to 2021 are employed. The analysis employs a fixed-effect regression model using the generalized least squares (GLS) estimator. The findings of this study indicate that Sharia-compliant financing has a positive impact on reducing the unemployment rate and fostering economic growth. However, it is observed that the effectiveness of Sharia-compliant financing in reducing unemployment diminishes as the share of such financing increases. Conversely, a higher market share of Sharia-compliant financing is associated with a more significant role in promoting economic growth. These findings highlight a trade-off between the impact of Sharia-compliant financing on growth and unemployment, suggesting that although growth driven by Sharia-compliant financing in Indonesia is present, it may need more inclusivity and more optimal job creation.