Episodes of extreme international capital inflows in emerging and developing economies: The role of global economic policy uncertainty.

Based on annual data for 31 emerging and developing economies in the period 2000-2020, this paper explores the impact of global economic policy uncertainty on episodes of extreme international capital inflows. Following previous researches, we identify episodes of surges and stops. The results show that the global economic policy uncertainty can significantly increase the probability of surges and decrease the probability of stops in emerging and developing economies. The heterogeneity tests show that these effects vary with economic growth, financial development, the degree of economic globalization and global liquidity. Above effects are significant in the groups with higher economic growth, higher financial development, higher economic globalization and higher global liquidity. Further analyses show that as global economic policy uncertainty rises, its impact on surges and stops gradually declines. In addition, global economic policy uncertainty has a significant negative effect on the surge in advanced economies, which could confirm the above conclusion to a certain extent.

Extending UTAUT with national identity and fairness to understand user adoption of DCEP in China.

The introduction of digital currency electronic payment (DCEP) by the Central Bank of China is conducive to the central bank's timely grasp of macroeconomic dynamics and the internationalization of RMB. As DCEP is one of the first digital currencies issued by the central bank to be used on a large scale internationally, it is necessary to conduct research on its user adoption. Therefore, this research extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to explore factors affecting the adoption of DCEP. The researchers cooperated with city banks that have started to use DCEP, and distributed questionnaires to users in the lobbies of these banks. A total of 295 valid questionnaires were empirically examined with Smart-PLS. The results indicate that perceived fairness, habits, social influence and national identity have significant effects on usage, with p values less than 0.05. National identity is shown to be a significant moderator of the relationships between perceived fairness, habit, perceived risk and usage, with p values less than 0.05. National identity is shown to have no moderating effect between social influence and usage, with a p value greater than 0.05. This research provides the central bank and the government with suggestions to increase user enthusiasm and reduce user perceived risks, thereby promoting the widespread use of DCEP.

Impact of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation on testosterone concentrations and BMI in elderly women: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that numerous clinical studies have evaluated the positive effects of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation on testosterone concentrations and on the body mass index (BMI), more evidence is needed to certify that DHEA is a BMI-reducing agent in the elderly. This meta-analysis aims to clarify the various incompatible results and investigate the impact of DHEA supplementation on serum testosterone levels and lean body mass in elderly women. METHODS: Four scientific databases (EMBASE, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science) were searched from inception until 20 August 2020 for trials comparing DHEA with placebo. Results were presented as weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) based on the random effects model (DerSimonian-Laird approach). RESULTS: Nine arms with 793 subjects reported testosterone as an outcome measure. The overall results demonstrated that testosterone levels increased significantly after DHEA administration in elderly women (WMD: 17.52 ng/dL, 95 % CI: 6.61, 28.43, P = 0.002). In addition, DHEA administration significantly decreased the BMI (WMD:-0.39 kg/m2, I2 = 0.0 %). CONCLUSION: The results of the current meta-analysis support the use of DHEA supplementation for increasing testosterone concentrations in elderly women.