International Journal of Business and Economic Development

CVS Health Corporation owns the retail pharmacy chain and also owns CVS Caremark, the pharmacy benefits manager, and the Aetna health insurance provider (Kolakowski, 2023). Recent acquisitions in 2022 and 2023 include Oak Street Health, Inc., and Signify Health. CVS’s proactive growth strategy aims to acquire health care firms across various sectors of health care, yet the management is not averse to divesting the firm of less profitable subsidiaries. In November 2021 the firm announced the closing of 300 stores per year through 2024. A decline in stock price of CVS would suggest analyzing whether the company is still a good long-term investment. A deeper study may be warranted, but seven methods should suffice to either reject CVS immediately or accept CVS for further consideration. The analysis includes the following:

The price-to-earnings ratio or P/E multiple approach for validating stock price.

Evaluating expected return of the stock with the capital asset pricing model (CAPM).

The corporate valuation model using free cash flows for stock-price valuation.

A review of the company’s dividend history.

Comparison of the company’s capital structure with its peers.

Evaluating the company’s historical stock prices.

Review of the recent financial statements and the five categories of financial ratios to determine the overall health of the firm.

As a company with a large retail business unit, CVS stock would be considered a moderately conservative investment. A decision on long-term investing in CVS stock would consider the risk and potential returns. Subject to further scrutiny, this study accepts CVS as a potential investment choice. Although the acceptance is based on analysis, the author makes no guarantee of future results. This paper is the original work of the author and is not previously published.

Learning entrepreneurial skills has taken on a significance never before seen as a result of their significance to economic growth. In this study, the impact of skill development initiatives on Nigeria's economic development was examined. The study used two objectives: to look into how gender differences in skill acquisition affected economic development and to determine how skill acquisition affected economic development. A quantitative method in the form of a questionnaire was used to sample two hundred (200) unemployed youths. Results revealed that there is a significant gender difference in skill acquisition for economic development and that skill acquisition has a significant influence on economic development. The study concluded that youths perceive skill acquisition programmes to have a positive effect on employment creation. Likewise, gender equality is to be considered in skills acquisition training. In general, the involvement of both genders in skill acquisition programmes will go a long way toward improving the nation's economic development.

This paper aims to present the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the general inclusive growth of the world and Bangladesh in particular. With the passing of time, the world economy and economic systems have been changing rapidly in order to reach the development facilities of the deprived people living in the world. For this, the United Nations and world leaders have undertaken Millennium Development Goals to reduce the extreme economic hardship of the deprived people living there.  Based upon MDGs, the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has undertaken Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reduce the extreme poverty of the people living in Bangladesh. The study is mainly based on secondary information. Data have been collected from different publications from the United Nations, different websites, and institutional publications.

During analysis of the collected data, it is seen that the steps undertaken by the Government of Bangladesh to reduce extreme poverty have become effective and the economic development of Bangladesh has been moving towards sustainability because the deprived section of people has started improving their lives and to some extent starts entering into development opportunities available in Bangladesh.