درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

In order to survive and compete with other financial institutions, banks, and financial institutions are required always to evaluate the efficiency of their branches. In this paper, we evaluate and analyze the efficiency of bank branches in the five last years (from 2018 to 2022). To calculate and present the branch efficiency score, we have considered an undesirable component called Nonperforming Loans (NPL) as an undesirable output in evaluating the efficiency of Tose'e Ta'avon Bank branches. Due to the high inflation in Iran, the increase in the NPL of loans causes a decrease in the banks' deposits and profitability, and ultimately, it causes a considerable decrease in inefficiency. In addition, in extreme cases, it may even cause the bank to go bankrupt. Therefore, to calculate the efficiency of the Tose'e Ta'avon Bank branches using the data envelopment analysis method, we have considered operating costs and non-operating costs as two inputs, total deposits, total loans, and also two categories of revenue (Revenue from Jointly Funded Assets and Fee-based incomes as four desirable outputs and based on Islamic banking methods with Nonperforming loans as an undesirable output. In this paper, to deal with undesirable output issues, we use a direct approach that is more suitable to deal with NPLs since it is more convenient and evident to incorporate undesirable outputs directly into the DEA model. We used the dynamic cross-efficiency technique of DEA with undesirable outputs (DEA-UO) to obtain the efficiency of the branches over five years.

Herd behavior, the tendency of individuals to mimic the actions of a larger group, significantly impacts capital markets by influencing stock prices, market liquidity, and overall market stability. This phenomenon has garnered significant attention in financial studies due to its implications for both institutional and individual investors, contributing to increased market volatility and potential crashes. Various methodologies have been developed to assess herd behavior, revealing its presence across diverse market conditions, including periods of high distress and volatility. This study examines macro herding in the Tehran Stock Exchange from March 2016 to February 2024, using weekly asset returns to measure herd behavior among listed companies. For the first time in Iran, we employ the TV method to calculate herding. The TV method offers two primary advantages: it is adept at identifying macro herding because it captures the collective trading direction of investors, and it operates independently of asset pricing models, minimizing biases associated with those models. Focusing on the collective trading direction, we aim to detect significant deviations in stock price movements indicative of herd behavior. Our findings indicate that herd behavior is more pronounced during extreme market conditions, both positive and negative, with a particularly notable increase during periods of negative market returns. This study provides insights into the dynamics of investor behavior in the Tehran Stock Exchange, highlighting the importance of monitoring such behavior to mitigate its potential adverse effects on market stability.

One important issue in data envelopment analysis (DEA) which has been studied by many researchers is returns to scale (RTS). The authors developed DEA models to evaluate the efficiency of two-stage networks in returns to scale variable and introduced a new definition to determine return to scale classification in two-stage networks. The current article proposed an approach for determining the stability region of returns to scale classification in two-stage network DEA. The data were collected from insurance companies in Iran in 2019. We consider the insurance industry process as a two-stage network; the stage of marketing and that of investment. The effectiveness of insurance companies was evaluated, and, after determining the classification of returns to scale, we found a sustainability interval to classify returns to their scale.

EXTENDED ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION In the last decade, concern about the environment has increased increasingly around the world. One of the serious environmental challenges is urban solid waste, the management of which has been raised as one of the main concerns of human societies. According to the World Bank, by 2025, more than 1.4 billion people will live in cities around the world, and each of them will generate an average of 1.42 kilograms of municipal waste per day. Estimates show that municipal waste worldwide triples every year. The annual generation of municipal waste worldwide has increased from 0.68 billion tons to 2.2 billion tons. Based on available data from countries up to 2012, the World Bank has published a report focusing on municipal solid waste generation. Waste is materials or objects that are discarded or thrown away. Solid waste is waste or discarded materials and objects obtained from industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural, and general daily activities (Ugwu, Ozoegwu & Ozor, 2020). Solid waste is one of the serious environmental issues in developed and developing countries. Solid waste management is a major challenge in urban areas around the world, especially in developing countries. The main reason for this challenge is the rapid population growth along with the expansion of cities, the reduction of financial resources, and the weakness of urban planning. Human activities and changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns have led to an increase in waste production rates (Bovard & ilanloo, 2019). Controlling environmental pollution, including waste, is an important part of human duty in maintaining human health, which has a special place in new sciences and techniques according to economic health standards. Waste production is inevitable in human daily life and population increase will increase it. Municipal solid waste is defined as waste generated by human, commercial, and construction activities that are collected and treated by municipalities (Xiao, Dong, Geng, Tian, Liu, & Li, 2020). The main composition of these wastes is almost the same in different countries of the world. However, the amount of production waste, density, and share of each part of it is different from country to country and city to city. This difference is caused by economic development, geographical location, weather conditions, and cultural and social considerations (Afshar Kazemi, Eftekhar & Omrani, 2014). About, 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste is produced annually in the world, of which at least 33% is not environmentally managed. Worldwide, waste generated per person per day averages 0.74 kg but varies widely from 0.11 to 4.54 kg. Of course, it is predicted that by 2050, the amount of waste produced in the world will increase to 3.40 billion tons, which is equivalent to 2 times the population growth in that year. The East Asia and Pacific region produces the most waste in the world at 23%, while this number for the Middle East countries is about 6%. Of course, it is expected that the total waste production in this region will more than double by 2050. It is worth noting that in these areas, more than half of the waste is discarded without reuse. This waste growth will bring many adverse environmental, health, and welfare consequences. Therefore, it requires basic measures.     METHODOLOGY The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of circular economies in Persian Gulf countries in terms of Municipal Solid Waste Management. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive survey in terms of data collection. Its statistical population was formed from Persian Gulf countries. In this research, the per capita value of MSW production and the dimensions of the social progress index "basic human needs", "basics of well-being" and "opportunity" are used as input and recycling as output in the model. SPI indicators show how well society can cover the needs of its members and improve their quality of life. Data on MSW generation and recycling rates were obtained from the World Bank and data on the three SPI indicators were extracted from the Essential Social Progress website. The data of this research is for the year 2021. The DEA model was implemented in LINGO Softer.   FINDINGS The findings show that the countries of Kuwait (1), United Arab Emirates (0.952), Saudi Arabia (0.654) and Iran (0.453) respectively have the highest circular economy performance compared to other countries in the Persian Gulf. The aim of this study is to analyze the efficiency of DMUs from the perspective of variable returns to scale (VRS).   CONCLUSION The main purpose of this evaluation is the efficiency of circular economy in the Persian Gulf region in terms of urban solid waste management. The results show that Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates respectively have the highest circular economy performance compared to other areas of the Persian Gulf. Data analysis shows that according to the statistics of the World Bank, these three countries recycle 21% and 20% of manufactured products respectively. They have good performance compared to other input indicators. It should be noted that these results can be partially under the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. As, Iran will produce more solid food with more population and monitoring of health protocols. This could have caused it to fall to fourth place. Data analysis shows that production per capita in Iran is much lower than other countries. Iran has an average performance in terms of SPI indicators. But in terms of long-term performance, it has been ranked fourth. The reason for this is its very low recycling. Policymakers should use advertising, education, etc. to increase the collection rate of recyclable products. In order to improve their performance, the system needs to produce and at the same time increase the recycling rate. Education and public investment can help in this regard. Also, it should improve its performance in terms of SPI indicators. The province also improves access to basic medical care, food, water and housing. Also, they should provide access to basic education and even advanced education for those in the country who wish to increase their knowledge and skills. According to the results, it is suggested that other Persian Gulf areas improve their performance in recycling. The country's data shows that they recycle less than 10% of their production. It is suggested to evaluate the performance of the Persian Gulf with Europe for a better explanation. It is also suggested to use other indicators of reuse in calculating circular economy performance. Since it is new for environmental management and circular economy at the study level. This means that the special indicators of recycling evaluation and SPI indicators in previous years are different from previous years and practically will not reach a comparative output. For this purpose, it is suggested that future researchers study in different years with an interval of 5 years in the same field and compare the results of different years. However, there is no validity and reliability of this research. But more thought is needed in generalizing the results.

This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the energy supply chain in the petrochemi-cal industry with the approach of Malmquist cost efficiency index and fuzzy VIKOR, taking into account the importance coefficient of input variables. After reviewing the literature, first the inputs and outputs of the energy supply chain were identified. Then, the influential variables in the petrochemical industry in the energy supply chain were identified and prioritized with the fuzzy VIKOR approach. Then the weight of the input variables was calculated with the geomet-ric mean and the input variables were entered into the mathematical model based on their weight. Based on input type, a mathematical model was written to estimate input costs to ensure output and supply chain efficiency in two consecutive years. Then the Malmquist cost index was estimated based on the model outputs. The petrochemical company with the highest Malmquist total cost index and the lowest output cost was selected as the optimal solution of the model. The value of the objective function indicates the input costs. Our inputs include two variables, the number of employees, the value of materials used in fuel reproduction. Petro-chemicals 9, 7, 12, 10, 6, 5, 3, 4, 13, 11, 2, 8, 1 and 14 respectively have the lowest input costs, but it is necessarily due to efficiency that petrochemicals and the efficiency of petrochemicals is checked. The cost return is calculated from the relevant formula in the years 2021 and 2022.

Housing satisfies crucial needs, as shown in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Be that as it may, the Sustainable Development Goals evidently have one critical aspect missing in its 17 goals: achieving housing security for all. Goal 11 mentions urban settlement but fails to understand the concept of housing security. Over a billion people reside in slums and other informal settlements across the globe, and the number is expected to increase. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive, multidimensional, and validated instrument for measuring the extent of housing insecurity despite housing significantly impacting household’s health, economic, and psychological well-being. Methods: This study sought to apply and adopt a newly developed multidimensional household housing insecurity index (HHII), consisting of eight dimensions that respond to the lack of universally accepted measures of housing insecurity. This study used primary data with a sample size of 600 South African households collected in four types of areas in two provinces (Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal). Results: The findings indicated that merely 25% of households were deemed housing secure, in stark contrast to 75% facing varying levels of housing insecurity, from mild to severe. This concerning result highlights that, even after more than thirty years of democracy, housing remains a significant problem in South Africa. Conclusions: The study reveals that housing insecurity significantly impacts Black populations, with female heads of households in rural and informal settings facing the most severe challenges.