Editorial Note

Abstract

This issue of Applied Economics Journal (AEJ) consists of six research papers and a review article covering a wide range of economic issues across several countries. The first paper investigates and identifies ways to foster the sufficiency economy philosophy among small rice farmers in Northern Thailand. In the second paper, data envelopment analysis is employed to evaluate government efficiency in Sumatra, Indonesia. The third paper examines the optimal mix of size, timing, and policies of fiscal policy action—currently a topic of heated contention—using the Markov-switching vector autoregression model to study the effects of Pakistan’s fiscal policy shocks. The fourth paper draws on Goal 12 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals to analyze the responsiveness of environmental sustainability to non-performing loans in Africa. The effects of monetary policy on economic growth in Ghana and those of financial development on poverty in African emerging economies are discussed in the fifth and sixth articles, respectively. The final article reviews the barriers to scalable start-up entrepreneurship, as well as the contribution of these start-ups to local economic development in emerging economies. The editorial team hopes that the empirical evidence and analysis presented in this issue will be beneficial to academic researchers and policymakers, particularly in developing countries.