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Business & Economics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 23-Oct-2026 09:16 ET (23-Oct-2026 13:16 GMT/UTC)

The use of robots increases productivity in SMEs, but does not boost exports

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A UOC study based on data from nearly 5,000 manufacturing firms concludes that robotization improves efficiency, especially that of smaller and less innovative companies

Journal: Journal of the Knowledge Economy

How do foreign direct investments affect employment and income in rural areas?

Wiley
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An analysis in Contemporary Economic Policy has found that foreign direct investment raises employment but has no significant effect on income in rural US counties.

Journal: Contemporary Economic Policy

Social norms can accelerate or undermine climate action, new model finds

University of Waterloo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new mathematical model suggests that social norms may be just as important as economics in determining how the world responds to climate change. The research shows that efforts to reduce emissions in one region can unintentionally influence climate action elsewhere, with consequences that could either strengthen or weaken global progress.

Journal: Nature Communications

Early menopause affects 1 in 14 women in low and middle income countries

BMJ Group
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Early menopause affects 1 in 14 women aged 30 to 49 living in low and middle income countries, finds a pooled data analysis of its prevalence in 44 nations published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health. The incidence is consistently higher in rural areas than it is in urban areas across all regions and countries included in the analysis, but education and delayed childbearing strongly minimise the risk.

Journal: BMJ Global Health

Employees who feel overqualified view more work tasks as unreasonable

Penn State
Peer-Reviewed Publication

When hospitality employees believe they are overqualified for their roles, they are more likely to consider tasks to be unfit for them, which can contribute to disrespectful or insubordinate behavior, according to a new study conducted across three continents by researchers in the Penn State School of Hospitality Management.

Journal: International Journal of Hospitality Management

Homegrown catnip lotion proves to be an effective mosquito repellent in rural Uganda

Society for Experimental Biology
Reports and Proceedings

Plant researchers from Wales and Uganda have collaborated on a community enterprise project in rural Uganda, becoming the first to create affordable and highly effective mosquito repellent distilled from locally grown catnip plants. Laboratory and field experiments reveal that the catnip-based repellent skin lotion is just as effective as DEET and offers a much cheaper alternative for preventative action against mosquito-borne diseases in malaria-endemic regions, while also providing new economic opportunities for local Ugandans.

Meeting: SEB Conference 2026

Halving fertility treatment costs could more than double births, major global study shows

European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A landmark international study has found that halving patient out-of-pocket costs was associated with a 2.67-fold increase in births achieved through assisted reproductive technology (ART).

Meeting: ESHRE 42nd Annual Meeting

“Climate spread”: The cost of warming for Italy’s public finances and economic growth

CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change
Reports and Proceedings

A new CMCC analysis quantifies, for the first time, the link between climate risk and Italy’s public finances, showing how climate change could further weaken the country’s already fragile economic growth and worsen debt sustainability. Warming could cost Italy up to 6 percentage points of GDP by the middle of the century and double the refinancing risks of Italian debt. Losses are not distributed evenly across Europe: southern and eastern regions are more exposed, while Italy faces the risk of weaker long-term growth and a more fragile fiscal outlook.

NTU Singapore and Japanese technology firm Fusic to explore development of AI-enabled systems for next-generation satellite constellation management

Nanyang Technological University
Business Announcement

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Japanese technology company Fusic Co., Ltd. are collaborating to explore the development of artificial intelligence-enabled ground systems that could help operators manage increasingly large and complex satellite constellations. The collaboration will study how AI could assist ground-control teams with routine satellite operations, mission scheduling, ground-station allocation and the early detection of technical problems.These proposed systems can also be used to automate routine tasks with human oversight, helping operators respond more quickly and manage larger satellite fleets more efficiently. The partnership aims to bring together NTU's satellite operations expertise with Fusic's capabilities in cloud computing, artificial intelligence and software engineering. The NTU-Fusic Memorandum of Understanding was signed today, 6 July, at SPACETIDE 2026, a major space business conference held in Tokyo, as Singapore and Japan mark 60 years of diplomatic relations.

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