This paper explores a price-setting oligopoly game where labor-managed firms have the option to provide lifetime employment as a strategic commitment. The game unfolds in two stages. In the first stage, each firm independently and simultaneously decides whether to provide lifetime employment as a strategic commitment. If a firm provides lifetime employment, then it chooses an output level and establishes a lifetime employment agreement with the required number of employees to reach the output level. In the second stage, each firm independently and simultaneously selects a price level to maximize its objective function value. At the conclusion of the second stage, the market opens, and each firm sells at its own price. The paper delves into the equilibrium of the labor-managed Bertrand oligopoly game. The analysis reveals that the equilibrium aligns with the Bertrand solution when no lifetime employment is offered. Consequently, the paper concludes that using lifetime employment as a strategic commitment device is not advantageous for labor-managed firms in the price- etting competition.

Keywords: Labor-managed firm; Lifetime employment; Price-setting model; Substitute goods
JEL classification: C72; D21; L13

The essence of land reforms is to ensure the availability of land for the proper purpose and to avoid victimisation of the have-nots in society. Many economies focus land reform towards helping develop the agricultural sector, similar to Russia’s land reforms. Land as a crucial factor of production is captured in an augmented growth model to assess its impact on the growth of the agricultural economy in Russia. Having met the criteria for ARDL estimation techniques, it was established there is a co-integration between the dependent and independent variables with a high convergence rate. The results further attest that land reforms are crucial to developing the agricultural sector in Russia in the short and long run. Other growth factors have established diverse consequences for developing the agricultural sector in Russia. Therefore, sustaining the current land reform and improving the availability of farming purposes is essential.

Keywords: Land Reform, Agricultural sector, Russia, economic growth, ARDL

In contemporary organizational landscapes, the intersection of stakeholder theory and value for money audits has garnered significant attention from scholars and practitioners. Stakeholder theory, originating from R. E. Freeman’s seminal work in the 1980s, shifts organizational focus from shareholder - centric to broader stakeholder considerations. It emphasizes understanding and managing multifaceted relationships with stakeholders, promoting sustainability and ethical practices. Value for money audit, rooted in accountability and efficiency, assesses resource utilization in achieving optimal outcomes. This study explores their intersection, highlighting how stakeholder engagement influences value-for-money audit outcomes and organizational success using information from secondary sources such as books, journals, and magazines. The study also explores the concepts’ foundations, including stakeholder salience and audit processes, highlighting their roles in organizational management and governance. The integration of stakeholder theory and value-for-money audit presents a synergistic approach to organizational governance, emphasizing stakeholder engagement, efficiency, and sustainability. The study explores their interconnection, addressing challenges, opportunities, and future directions in enhancing organizational resilience, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder satisfaction. Opportunities for digital transformation, inclusiveness, and advanced analytics are highlighted alongside the potential for global standards and collaborative frameworks. Organizational management balances financial concerns with societal responsibilities through stakeholder theory and value for money audit. Emphasizing continuous improvement, it anticipates future relevance amidst global trends, fostering resilience and stakeholder well-being.

Keywords: Accountability, efficiency, stakeholder theory, sustainability, value for money audit.

This study explored the influence of financial capability, government support, market accessibility, management and labor, and technological capacity on the growth of cashew processing firms in Tanzania. Collected data from 300 participants, obtained through questionnaires, were analyzed with descriptive statistical methods in SPSS. The theoretically established relationships among the variables were examined through structural equation modeling with Smart PLS. The results revealed that financial capability, government support, market accessibility, and technological capacity had significant and positive effects on the growth of cashew processing firms. On the other hand, the influence of management and labor on the growth of the firms was insignificant. The findings of this study can assist managers, owners, industrial development agencies, and policymakers in making informed decisions and prioritizing efforts to overcome the factors affecting the growth of cashew processing firms. This study recommends that the government design policies and collaborate with financial institutions to provide low-interest, long-term development funds to processing industries, enabling them to operate at their optimum capacity.

Keywords: Cashew processing firms, Financial capability, Government support, Market accessibility, Technological capacity, Tanzania.
JEL Codes: L25, M21, Q13

The paper analyses the trends and composition of public debt in BRICS countries in the post liberalisation period. The study found that the public debt has been increased gradually over years in the BRICS countries and in some years, there are declining trend. Among the external debt, the short-term debt is highest for China compared to other countries during 2009 to 2018. The South Africa has the highest PPG debt, whereas the China has the lowest PPG debt. The second highest PPG debt is made by Russia then followed by India. Brazil has the highest PNG debt, whereas, the China has the lowest PNG debt during 2009 to 2018. India’s debt ratio to GDP (67.27%) is highest among these five nations followed by Brazil (56.8%) and South Africa (46.41%). The least debt ratio to GDP is in Russia (13.41%) and followed by China (22.4%). As the study found that the public debt has been increased in BRICS countries, the government of these countries must try to reduce it by adopting several policies such as reducing the unplanned expenditure, rising the revenues without raising the tab base, encourage the foreign direct investment to boost the production and reduce the investment, increase the public-private partnership (PPP) in the large project investment such as physical infrastructure, etc.

Keywords: public debt, economic growth, BRICS, expenditure.
JEL Classification: F01, F02, F34, H63