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Poverty is a big threat to prosperity in developing countries like Pakistan. Alleviating poverty needs concerted efforts including how to measure and analyze poverty. Therefore, this paper employs synthetic panel technique and uses repeated cross-sections household survey dataset (Household Integrated and Economic Survey (HIES)) of Pakistan for 2010–11 and 2015–16, to derive poverty bounds for Pakistan. The findings of the paper suggest that 17% of population still remains in poverty in 2015–16 as they were in 2010–11. They don't move in or out of poverty. In the same periods 19% population affected by poverty. The 2.5% poor's of 2010–11 moves out of poverty in 2015–16. This constitutes the first attempt to provide an insight into poverty dynamics in Pakistan using the available survey data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how and to what extent mechanization in land preparation (MLP) can help improve irrigation water productivity (IWP) (measured as rice yield per unit volume of irrigation water). We employed an endogenous treatment regression model to estimate the 2021 China Land Economic Survey (CLES) data collected from Jiangsu province, China. The results reveal that MLP adoption increases IWP significantly; a higher IWP is determined by whether or not farmers adopt MLP rather than through which channel they access their farm machines; the effects of MLP adoption on IWP are monotonically increasing across the selected quantiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an empirical economic data-based survey of the costs and revenues of geographical data and Web services across public administration in Czechia. The survey was composed of questionnaires and interviews. The data was collected from the 19 biggest public producers of geographical information and 25 organizations that use geographical information. The results focus on the economic consequences of data opening, splitting finances within public administration bodies, the prioritization of activities related to geographical information, licensing issues and life cycle planning etc. We also consider user opinions on the restrictions on the (re)use of geographical information of public administration, including open data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the Australian Twins Economic Preferences Survey (ATEPS). The data set comprises a wide variety of preference and behavioral measures (risk aversion, impatience, ambiguity aversion, trust, confidence) elicited using incentivized decision tasks. One-thousand one-hundred twenty Australian adult twins (560 pairs) completed the survey, making it one of the largest data sets containing incentivized preference measures of twins. As the survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also collected information on experiences related to the pandemic, along with a variety of questions on political attitudes and mental wellbeing. We hope that ATEPS can make a valuable contribution to social science and genetics research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers news briefs of interest to members of the Missouri Bar as of January 1, 2022. The bar association has released the 2021 version of its "Economic Survey." Members can sign up for a no-cost standard membership with Affinity Insight. A calendar of events of interest to lawyers is presented which include a webinar on preparing demonstrative evidence.

In this paper we investigate the trend and pattern of nutritional status of women and children in North East India and explore the factors that perhaps explain the same. The analysis is based on secondary data available from various rounds of NFHS survey, Economic survey of India and other supporting secondary literature portrait the dichotomy between growth and development through the lenses of nutritional parameter. Apparently different NER states have flared differently in nutritional parameter and thereby urge to have states specific approach in identifying and targeting factors contribute the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The IMPACT survey aimed to elucidate the humanistic, clinical and economic burden of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) on individuals with OI, their families, caregivers and wider society. Research methodology, demographics and initial insights from the survey have been previously reported. The cost of illness (healthcare resource use, productivity loss, out-of-pocket spending) and drivers of the economic impact of OI are reported here. Methods: IMPACT was an international mixed-methods online survey in eight languages (fielded July–September 2021) targeting adults (aged ≥ 18 years) or adolescents (aged ≥ 12–17 years) with OI, caregivers with or without OI and other close relatives. Survey domains included demographics, socioeconomic factors, clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, quality of life and health economics. The health economic domain for adults, which included questions on healthcare resource use, productivity loss and out-of-pocket spending, was summarised. Regression and pairwise analyses were conducted to identify independent drivers and associations with respondent characteristics. Results: Overall, 1,440 adults with OI responded to the survey. Respondents were mostly female (70%) and from Europe (63%) with a median age of 43 years. Within a 12-month period, adults with OI reported visiting a wide range of healthcare professionals. Two-thirds (66%) of adults visited a hospital, and one-third (33%) visited the emergency department. The mean total number of diagnostic tests undergone by adults within these 12 months was 8.0. Adults had undergone a mean total of 11.8 surgeries up to the time point of the survey. The proportions of adults using queried consumables or services over 12 months ranged from 18–82%, depending on the type of consumable or service. Most adults (58%) were in paid employment, of which nearly one-third (29%) reported missing a workday. Of the queried expenses, the mean total out-of-pocket spending in 4 weeks was €191. Respondent characteristics such as female sex, more severe self-reported OI and the experience of fractures were often associated with increased economic burden. Conclusion: IMPACT provides novel insights into the substantial cost of illness associated with OI on individuals, healthcare systems and society at large. Future analyses will provide insights into country-specific economic impact, humanistic impact and the healthcare journey of individuals with OI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analysed gender disparities in Pakistan focusing on access to primary education and women's education in light of National Education policies from 1947 to 2017 to achieve universal primary education. This study aimed to trace the evolution of National Education policies (1947–2017) in the attainment of universal primary education and gender disparities in Primary education in Pakistan. A qualitative document analysis technique was employed to extract relevant data related to policy objectives, strategies, and targets of primary education, gender disparities, and women's education. The quantitative data was extracted from the Pakistan Economic Survey 2022–2023, Pakistan Education Statistics 2020–2021, and all National Census 1951, 1961, 1972, 1981, 1998, and 2017. The study found that education policies highlighted the importance of primary education but did not dedicate larger sections to women's education in the first 40 years. The recent education policies addressed the importance of women's education for achieving gender parity. These findings, which stem from a review of national education policies' documents, are in line with the findings drawn from the quantitative data extracted from authoritative reports which stated that significant gender disparities existed in the numbers of primary schools, access to primary education, and students' enrolments throughout the history of Pakistan. The study also found significant gender disparities in the number of primary schools per 100,000 children, with male students comparatively attending schools more than female students. The study found consistent gender disparities in primary education enrolment in Pakistan with notable progress in recent years but have not been able to eliminate these disparities. Gender disparity is evident in literacy rate, gross enrolment rate (GER), and net enrolment rate (NER). The study recommended that the revision of existing policies and formulation of new education policies should be based on comprehensive documentation on women's education and its impact on the economy, literacy rate, and universal primary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of sheep stocks has been declining in Germany for years. The reason for this seems to be the tense economic situation in sheep farming. To verify this thesis as well as analyzing essential factors on the economy, data from all in Germany active advisory initiatives of the years 2013 to 2019 were brought together and, as far as possible, placed on a comparable basis. As part of a follow-up project, regular surveys on economic efficiency in sheep farming are to be continued and evaluated centrally by uniform data masks by the advisory initiatives. The present investigation refers to the profitability results of > 700 farm surveys on full-time holdings with > 450.000 ewes in 8 federal states. The results show that for a total income of € 280 €/ewe + year, about 60% comes from public grants. In spite of this high proportion of funding, no positive calculatory operating result will be achieved in German sheep farming. In practice, this is compensated by a low reward of own work of about 6 €/hour. Increased public grants, lamb prices and/or productivity figures are required for a working time reward of > 15 €/hour, corresponding to agricultural level. In this context the relatively high lamb prices in the year 2021 are a welcome development. Due to large differences between holdings, regions and years, the results show partly large variations. For improving the economic situation in sheep farming, optimization options must also be exhausted in the shepherds, e.g. on the use of consulting services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We administer a survey of economic policy preferences to a representative sample of the Turkish voting-age population. We show that policy preferences are distributed in non-linear ways that are at odds with what could be expected from a conventional left-right division. We find that while objective socioeconomic differences are bad at predicting economic policy preferences, the latter are distinctly associated with politically salient cleavages built on religiosity and ethnicity. We also examine how preferences of each party's voters compare with party programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the heterogeneous results about the impact of temporary jobs on subsequent labour market performances and to provide policymakers with further information on the effects of temporary contracts under particular circumstances. Design/methodology/approach: The authors present a quantitative systematic review on the debate about the "stepping stone vs dead end" hypothesis related to the causal effect of temporary jobs on future labour market performances. Findings: Among 78 observations from 64 articles, 32% support the hypothesis according to which temporary contracts are a port of entry into stable employment positions, 23% report ambiguous or mixed findings and the remaining 45% provide evidence in favour of the dead end hypothesis. The results from meta-regressions suggest that the stepping stone effect is more likely to emerge when self-selectivity issues are dealt with. The studies focussing on temporary work agency jobs and casual/seasonal jobs support more easily the dead end hypothesis. Finally, in more recent years and when the unemployment rate is larger, the dead end hypothesis is more likely to prevail. Originality/value: Although many studies have been published on this issue, to the best of the authors' knowledge, there are no recent analytic economic surveys on the "stepping stone vs dead end" debate. The main contribution of this article is to fill this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Fractional data suffering from large proportion of values at boundaries are very common in the social and economic surveys. Existing literature usually separates the whole data into three parts and specifies a three-part regression model to them. In this article, we develop an attractive two-part latent variable model for fractional data. The separated three parts are synthesized into two parts to characterize the association among the whole data. Moveover, latent variables are incorporated into the data analysis to interpret extra heterogeneity and item-dependence. We also include a structural equation to explore the interrelationships among the multiple factors. To downweight the influence of the distributional deviations and/or outliers, we develop a semiparametric Bayesian analysis procedure. Parameter estimation and model assessment are obtained via Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling method. A real example pertaining to the cocaine use is presented to illustrate the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current measures for monitoring progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) do not adequately account for populations that do not have the same level of access to quality care services and/or financial protection to cover health expenses for when care is accessed. This gap in accounting for unmet health care needs may contribute to underutilization of needed services or widening inequalities. Asking people whether or not their needs for health care have been met, as part of a household survey, is a pragmatic way of capturing this information. This analysis examined responses to self-reported questions about unmet need asked as part of 17 health, social and economic surveys conducted between 2001 and 2019, representing 83 low-, middle- and high-income countries. Noting the large variation in questions and response categories, the results point to low levels (less than 2%) of unmet need reported in adults aged 60+ years in countries like Andorra, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Thailand and Viet Nam to rates of over 50% in Georgia, Haiti, Morocco, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. While unique, these estimates are likely underestimates, and do not begin to address issues of poor quality of care as a barrier or contributing to unmet need in those who were able to access care. Monitoring progress towards UHC will need to incorporate estimates of unmet need if we are to reach universality and reduce health inequalities in older populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Health economic (HE) models are routinely used to support health policy and resource allocation decisions but are often considered "black boxes" that may be prone to error and bias. Open source models (OSMs) have been advocated to increase the transparency, credibility, and reuse of HE models. Previous studies have demonstrated interest in OSMs among the health economics and outcomes research community, but the number of OSMs remains low.Methods: We conducted an online survey of ISPOR (the leading professional society for health economics and outcomes research) members' perspectives on the usefulness of OSMs and barriers to their development and implementation.Results: Respondents (N = 230) included academics (27%), pharmaceutical (or related) industry representatives (23%), health research or consulting representatives (21%), governmental or nonprofit agency representatives (10%), and others (19%). Respondents were generally not familiar with barriers to the development and adoption of OSMs. Most agreed that OSMs would improve transparency (92%), efficiency (76%), and HE model reuse (86%) and promote confidence in using HE models (75%). The use of OSMs by health technology assessment authorities was considered a very important indicator of the usefulness of OSMs by 49% of respondents. Three-quarters of respondents perceived legal concerns and the ability to transfer data as important barriers to the development and use of OSMs.Conclusions: Respondents believe that OSMs could increase the transparency, efficiency, and credibility of HE models, but that several barriers hamper their widespread adoption. Our results suggest that fundamental changes may be needed across the health economics and outcomes research community if OSMs are to become widely adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims an investigating the impact of the agricultural sector on the economic growth of Pakistan. Johansen co-integration was used to show the long-run relation between livestock, fisheries, major crops, minor crops, gross capital formation, and economic growth in Pakistan. The data were taken from the Pakistan Economic Surveys for the period 1987-2017. The Vector-Correction Model results show that in the short run livestock and fisheries have a negative and insignificant effect on growth. The significant negative value of the Vector Error Correction Model coefficients shows that the parameters will do adjustment and return to equilibrium in the long run. The co-integration results showed a positive link between sub-sectors of agriculture and economic growth. The study is crucial for policy makers regarding the promotion of agricultural sector. The agriculture sector is very important for the growth of Pakistan’s economy, but it has not been given due importance. The study recommends the formulation of suitable policies to promote the livestock and fisheries sector in Pakistan to raise the sources of foreign revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates constraints to yield enhancing technology adoptions, highlighting credit using data pooled from the first three waves of the Ethiopian socio-economic surveys. Design/methodology/approach: Direct elicitation methodology is used to identify household's non-price credit rationing status. The panel selection model specified to examine causal effects of credit constraint on adoption variables allows us to tackle self-selection into adoptions and potential endogeneity of credit constraint while controlling for unobserved heterogeneity in both the selection and main equations. Findings: Results show that about 54% of sample households face credit rationing, predominantly demand-side risk rationing. There is a negative association between measures of credit constraint status and adoption variables. The effect is stronger when the demand-side credit rationing is accounted for and when within household variation in credit constraint status overtime is considered as opposed to across constrained and unconstrained households. Practical implications: Expanding physical access to institutional credit alone may not necessarily spur increased uptake of credit and instant investment by farm households. For a majority of them to take advantage of available credit and improved technology, interventions should also aim at minimizing downside risks. Originality/value: This paper incorporates the role of downside risk in influencing farmer's decisions to uptake credits and subsequently his/her adoption behaviors. The researcher approached the topic by state-of-the-art method which allows obtaining more reliable results and hence more specific contributions to research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Odisha, an eastern Indian state, has reported an increasing number of humanelephant conflicts in recent years. Odisha's economic survey (2014-15) reveals that, up until January 2014, about 42,371.86-hectares of forest land had been destroyed for developmental activities. The loss of natural habitat has increased the frequency of conflict. The household survey conducted in nine villages within the Nilagiri forest range, captured various costs of conflict such as crop damage, human fatalities and injury, property damage, and livestock depredation. Findings suggested that crop-raiding was persistent and severe, which threatened food security and livelihoods. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified factors influencing perceptions of the adequacy of compensation. Results show that respondents were less likely to say that compensation amounts were adequate if they had attended more than five years of schooling; if they had an annual family income greater than INR 13,500; and if the amount of compensation was more than INR 12,500. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Odisha, an eastern Indian state, has reported an increasing number of human-elephant conflicts in recent years. Odisha's economic survey (2014–15) reveals that, up until January 2014, about 42,371.86-hectares of forest land had been destroyed for developmental activities. The loss of natural habitat has increased the frequency of conflict. The household survey conducted in nine villages within the Nilagiri forest range, captured various costs of conflict such as crop damage, human fatalities and injury, property damage, and livestock depredation. Findings suggested that crop-raiding was persistent and severe, which threatened food security and livelihoods. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified factors influencing perceptions of the adequacy of compensation. Results show that respondents were less likely to say that compensation amounts were adequate if they had attended more than five years of schooling; if they had an annual family income greater than INR 13,500; and if the amount of compensation was more than INR 12,500. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Context: Land is a key element for the practice of economic activities such as agriculture. In rural areas, its equitable access is an essential condition for sustainable development and the improvement of the living conditions of populations. The availability of land resources in an area like that of the Council of Koutaba in West Cameroon has encouraged agricultural migration to this area. Goal and Objectives: This study seeks to analyze land management and identify the modes of land acquisition by agricultural migrants in the Commune of Koutaba. Methodology: The methodology used is centered around data from primary sources such as socio-economic surveys of a sample of 126 agricultural households and interviews with administrative and traditional authorities. The literature review, the consultation of archival data and the exploitation of cartographic sources completed the methodological framework. Results: The main results highlight the presence of a dual land law, modern law and customary law. Furthermore, only 9% of the rural population holds a legal land title, while 48% of the migrant population has access to land thanks to donations made by the indigenous populations. Despite identity tensions between migrants and indigenous populations, the synergies of actors in the rural world put in place strategies to preserve social peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current work, the effect of integrating recyclable aluminum cans as tubular fins to a triple-flow solar air collector (TFSAC) has been numerically and experimentally investigated. In this regard, conventional (TFSAC) and aluminum can-integrated (TFSAC/F) systems have been simulated by applying computational fluid dynamics approach. Moreover, developed TFSACs have been fabricated and experimentally analyzed at fixed flow rate of 0.01 kg/s. According to the experimentally obtained results, utilizing recyclable aluminum cans as fins improved the average temperature difference as 14.02%. Additionally, average exergetic efficiencies for TFSAC and TFSAC/F were calculated as 18.87% and 23.25%, respectively. Economic and environmental analyses have also been performed for the developed TFSACs within the scope of the present survey. The simple payback periods for TFSAC and TFSAC/F were gained as 1.178 and 1.035 years, respectively. Moreover, the yearly CO 2 savings for TFSAC and TFSAC/F analyzed in this work were attained as 0.149 and 0.169, respectively. It should be stated that mean deviation between numerically and experimentally acquired exit air temperature values are 3.71% and 7.62%, respectively for TFSAC and TFSAC/F. • CFD and experimental analysis of triple-flow solar air collector with aluminum cans. • Average exergy efficiency was upgraded from 18.87% to 23.25% using recyclable cans. • Average COP was attained between 3.30 and 3.82 for both systems in six tests. • LCOH value was reduced by 12.50% using aluminum cans as fins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context and Background: Women represent close to 51% of the Cameroonian population and they are more than 70% active in food and market gardening activities (INS, 2010). To this end, they need land and capital to carry out their activities in order to make agriculture profitable and ensure food security for their families. The rural women of Baigom, like those elsewhere, are fighting with all the means at their disposal to gain access to land and participate in the agricultural development of this village. Goal and objectives: This contribution makes it possible to analyze the socio-economic and cultural context which is largely unfavorable to women's access to land in Baigom. Women who are active in agricultural production activities are limited by the unavailability of land resources, which nevertheless constitute a no less negligible factor of production. This state of virtual exclusion of these leading actors in family farming is detrimental to the development of the agricultural economy. Methodology: To conduct this study, the methodology adopted focused on primary and secondary sources and field observations. As for the primary sources, socioeconomic surveys were carried out with a target population made up of women producers in the village of Baïgom. Young girls are more like family labor in peasant agriculture. The socio-economic surveys reached 5% of women over the age of 15, in the end 150 questionnaires were collected in the five main districts of the village (Nkoupetgom, Nkou gahri, Chaanké, Mbayé, Njissen). The secondary data are the fruit of the literature review and the consultation of the archives. These archives are present in the decentralized services of the State of the specialized institutions which generate official statistics such as the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The webography was not, moreover, a source of acquisition of certain knowledge in terms of the gender approach to land issues in tropical Africa as a whole. Results: The main results indicate that women's access to land ownership is low, with only about 8% holding a land title. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of modern and customary rights complicates the marginalization of women's access to land, with a negative impact on agricultural production activities. In spite of these obstacles, solutions are envisaged by all the actors to involve women more in the management of rural land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses Socio-Economic Surveys covering the period from 2013 to 2019 and the 2015 Time Use Survey to investigate the extent to which household consumption changes at retirement in Thailand. A fuzzy regression discontinuity design is applied to evaluate the retirement effect on total household expenditure and expenditures on four major categories: food-at-home, work-related items, non-durable entertainment, and others. The results reveal that retirement decreases household expenditure by 11%. Further investigations show that the dramatic declines in expenditures on work-related and non-durable entertainment contribute significantly to the spending drop at retirement. The magnitudes of the declines are more pronounced for low-income and low-wealth households. The results also indicate that the retirees spend more leisure time on home production activities after retirement. Once accounting for this effect, it finds that the drop in total household expenditure decreases to 6%. These results suggest that the sizable consumption expenditure drop at retirement is due to substituting away from market purchased goods toward home-produced goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, data-driven approaches have been developed to analyze demographic and economic surveys on a large scale. Despite advances in multivariate techniques and learning methods, in practice the analysis and interpretations are often focused on a small portion of available data and limited to a single perspective. This paper aims to utilize a selected array of multivariate statistical learning methods in the analysis of income and expenditure patterns of households in the United States using the Public-Use Microdata from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE). The objective is to propose an effective data pipeline that provides visualizations and comprehensive interpretations for applications in governmental regulations and economic research, using thirty-five original survey variables covering the categories of demographics, income and expenditure. Details on feature extraction not only showcase CE as a unique publicly-shared big data resource with high potential for in-depth analysis, but also assist interested researchers with pre-processing. Challenges from missing values and categorical variables are treated in the exploratory analysis, while statistical learning methods are comprehensively employed to address multiple economic perspectives. Principal component analysis suggests that after-tax income, wage/salary income, and the quarterly expenditure in food, housing and overall as the five most important of the selected variables, while cluster analysis identifies and visualizes the implicit structure between variables. Based on this, canonical correlation analysis reveals high correlation between two selected groups of variables, one of income and the other of expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life history interviews from Ethiopia and Uganda, organised around experiences of wage labour, provide rich evidence on the working conditions of many poor, rural women and on what leads them to work for wages. The life histories confirm and illuminate arguments based on large-scale socio-economic surveys carried out in these two countries. Further, findings from the surveys and life histories challenge an influential literature that not only celebrates women's agency in poor rural areas, but also remains committed to methodological individualism and ideas of choice. Drawing on primary and secondary evidence from Africa (and elsewhere), we insist that violent coercion and catastrophe trump maximising rational selection among alternatives; that the social is fundamental to individual behaviour; and the non-market is key to (labour) market participation. We also provide a brief discussion of the policy implications of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power-to-Gas technologies are high-capacity systems, which can be used to optimise the use of renewable energy to meet energy demands. Among them, Power-to-Methane (PtM) stands out due to the ease of storage and use of the produced methane. However, its total storing efficiency (Power-to-Methane-to-Power) is likely still low as there are various losses. This paper presents an overview of PtM improvement through the utilisation of low-temperature waste heat produced upon the two steps by converting power to gas, namely electrolysis and methanation. An organic Rankine cycle, Stirling engine, and thermoelectric generator were chosen as promising technologies that could be implemented to recover the waste heat and improve the PtM system. Several experimental studies of each technology were reviewed. Moreover, some technological and economic surveys are described and discussed. At the end of the article, the study discussed the direction of further research and development for waste heat recovery in the system to increase the competitiveness of the PtM system and its efficiency. • Some possible Power-to-Methane configurations are described. • Power-to-Methane offers high energy density and long-term capabilities. • An improvement of Power-to-Methane based on waste heat recovery is discussed. • Selected promising waste heat recoveries below 100.0 °C are described and compared. • Several techno-economic parameters for assessing the improvement are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We relate city and town growth to annual poverty rates for 497 Indonesian districts. • Satellite observations of night-time lights are used to measure urban growth. • Spatial econometric models show an important role for spillovers. • Growth of big city lit area is positively associated with poverty. • Expansion of Indonesia's secondary towns is negatively associated with poverty. There is increasing interest in assessing whether big city growth has effects that differ from the effects of secondary town growth, especially in terms of impacts on poverty. It can be difficult to study these issues with typical sub-national economic data because urban growth often occurs outside the administrative boundaries of cities. An emerging literature therefore uses remote sensing to measure patterns of urban growth without being restricted by limitations of data for administrative areas. We add to this literature by combining poverty estimates from annual socio-economic surveys fielded from 2011 to 2019 with remote sensing data on night-time lights for 41 big cities and for secondary towns in 497 Indonesian districts. We measure growth on the extensive (lit area) and intensive (brightness within lit area) margins, and distinguish between growth of big cities and of secondary towns and our spatial econometric models allow global and local spillovers. The extensive margin growth of secondary towns is associated with lower rates of poverty but no similar association holds for big city growth. These patterns corroborate earlier findings from India. Potential productivity advantages of big cities and concerns about agricultural land loss to expanding towns may imply that urban growth patterns that favour big cities are warranted, while on the other hand these new results suggest, from a poverty reduction point of view, that policies to favour secondary towns may be warranted. Policymakers in countries like Indonesia therefore face difficult trade-offs when developing their urbanization strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Descriptive analyses of socially important or theoretically interesting phenomena and trends are a vital component of research in the behavioral, social, economic, and health sciences. Such analyses yield reliable results when using representative individual participant data (IPD) from studies with complex survey designs, including educational large‐scale assessments (ELSAs) or social, health, and economic survey and panel studies. The meta‐analytic integration of these results offers unique and novel research opportunities to provide strong empirical evidence of the consistency and generalizability of important phenomena and trends. Using ELSAs as an example, this tutorial offers methodological guidance on how to use the two‐stage approach to IPD meta‐analysis to account for the statistical challenges of complex survey designs (e.g., sampling weights, clustered and missing IPD), first, to conduct descriptive analyses (Stage 1), and second, to integrate results with three‐level meta‐analytic and meta‐regression models to take into account dependencies among effect sizes (Stage 2). The two‐stage approach is illustrated with IPD on reading achievement from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). We demonstrate how to analyze and integrate standardized mean differences (e.g., gender differences), correlations (e.g., with students' socioeconomic status [SES]), and interactions between individual characteristics at the participant level (e.g., the interaction between gender and SES) across several PISA cycles. All the datafiles and R scripts we used are available online. Because complex social, health, or economic survey and panel studies share many methodological features with ELSAs, the guidance offered in this tutorial is also helpful for synthesizing research evidence from these studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify dietary trends in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and whether inequities in dietary patterns are changing. We extracted data from the Household Economic Survey (HES), which was designed to provide information on impacts of policy-making in NZ, and performed descriptive analyses on food expenditures. Overall, total household food expenditure per capita increased by 0.38% annually over this period. Low-income households spent around three quarters of what high-income households spent on food per capita. High-income households experienced a greater increase in expenditure on nuts and seeds and a greater reduction in expenditure on processed meat. There was increased expenditure over time on fruit and vegetables nuts and seeds, and healthy foods in Māori (Indigenous) households with little variations in non-Māori households. But there was little change in processed meat expenditure for Māori households and expenditure on less healthy foods also increased over time. Routinely collected HES data were useful and cost-effective for understanding trends in food expenditure patterns to inform public health interventions, in the absence of nutrition survey data. Potentially positive expenditure trends for Māori were identified, however, food expenditure inequities in processed meat and less healthy foods by ethnicity and income continue to be substantial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, many low- and middle-income countries have implemented health financing and system reforms to progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). In the case of Cambodia, out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) remains the main source of current health expenditure after several decades of reform, exposing households to financial risks when accessing healthcare and violating UHC's key tenet of financial protection. We use pre-pandemic data from the nationally representative Cambodia Socio-Economic Surveys of 2009 to 2019 to assess progress in financial protection to evaluate the reforms and obtain internationally comparable estimates. We find that following strong improvements in financial protection between 2009 and 2017, there was a reversal in the trend thereafter. The OOPE budget share rose, and the incidence of catastrophic spending and impoverishment increased in nearly all geographical and socioeconomic strata. For example, 17.7% of households experienced catastrophic health expenditure in 2019 at the threshold of 10% of total household consumption expenditure, and 3.9% of households were pushed into poverty by OOPE. The distribution of all financial protection indicators varied strongly across socioeconomic and geographical strata in all years. Fundamentally, the demonstrated trend reversal may jeopardize Cambodia's ability to progress towards UHC. To improve financial protection in the short term, there is a need to address the burden created by OOPE through targeted interventions to household groups that are most affected. In the medium term, our findings emphasize the importance of expanding health pre-payment schemes to currently uncovered vulnerable groups, specifically the near-poor. The government also needs to consider extending the scope of services covered and the range of providers to include the private sector under these schemes to reduce reliance on OOPE. • From 2009 to 2017, Cambodia made substantial improvements in financial protection. • Increasing incidence of catastrophic and impoverishing spending from 2017 to 2019. • Trend reversal caused by faster growth of out-of-pocket spending than consumption. • Targeted interventions are needed to reduce the burden of out-of-pocket spending. • Extending pre-payment mechanisms to uncovered vulnerable groups will be critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale surveys have been used to estimate the value of recreational fishing over large areas and time periods in the past, but there is a lack of information regarding the value of smaller event based recreational fishing activities. Using the travel-cost method, we estimate the overall value generated by two regional spearfishing competitions in eastern Australia and the adjusted value per competitor. The 2021 Bluewater Classic was valued between $32,874 and $39,492 AUD, with past values up to $100,364. The 2021 Eden 3-way Championships was valued between $102,461 and $118,747. On a per-competitor basis, the adjusted mean expenditure was between $1,090 and $1,649. Both competitions generated substantial economic activity within the towns that hosted them, as we estimated that localised expenditure constituted 60 – 71% of a competition's overall value. These estimates demonstrate the value of recreational competitions for regional areas and the importance for economic surveys to consider smaller events. • Two regional spearfishing competitions were valued with the travel-cost method. • The Bluewater Classic was valued between $32,874 and $39,492. • The Eden 3-way Championships was valued between $102,461 and $118,747. • Data from past competitions demonstrated fluctuations in value. • Highlights the need to consider small-scale fishing events in valuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of climatic shock and women empowerment on multidimensional energy poverty using panel data from Uganda National Panel Surveys from 2013/14–2019/20, complemented by the World Bank African Rainfall Climatology version 2 (ARC2) database. We find that climatic shocks increase energy poverty. However, there is great potential in energy poverty alleviation when women are more empowered in relation to men, but it is even greater when both genders are empowered in the same household amidst climatic shocks. Combating the impacts of drought, floods, landslides, and irregular rainfall while enhancing women's economic empowerment avenues should be a priority on the policy agenda for multidimensional energy poverty alleviation in Uganda.Highlights Energy poverty is assessed using a multidimensional approach. Four waves of the Uganda National panel survey and weather data were used Climatic shocks increase energy poverty. Women empowerment reduces energy poverty amidst climatic shocks, more so when both genders are empowered in the same household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, renewable energy technologies, such as solar photovoltaic (PV) contribute significantly to sustainable development. However, adoption of solar PV is limited in many developing countries. Governments have rolled out policy strategies like financial inclusion to stimulate deployment of modern energy technologies. Notwithstanding, little is known about financial inclusion and household solar PV adoption. Using two waves of Uganda National Household Survey data covering 28,913 households, this paper examines the effect of financial inclusion on adoption of solar PV. The study employed logit model and pooled ordinary least squares for estimation. Taking endogeneity into account, we find that financial inclusion has a strong positive effect on solar PV adoption. The estimates show that unit increase in financial inclusion increases the likelihood of residential solar PV adoption by 3.6% (p < 0.01). This finding is consistent across all robustness checks. The findings further suggest that use of mobile money is more important for solar PV adoption. The study identified household income and education as possible pathways through which financial inclusion influences solar PV adoption. Thus, policy makers and renewable energy practitioners should continue prioritizing financial inclusion particularly use of mobile money and financial remittances so as stimulate adoption of solar PV. • The link between financial inclusion and adoption of solar PV in Uganda is examined. • The National Household Survey data for Uganda and logit regression model were used. • We found that financial inclusion increases adoption of solar PV in households. • Income and education are pathways by which financial inclusion affects PV adoption. • Policy on financial inclusion should prioritize use of mobile money and remittances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The East Central (EC) region of Uganda has the least viral suppression rate despite having a relatively low prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Although the viral suppression rate in Kamuli district is higher than that observed in some of the districts in the region, the district has one of the largest populations of people living with HIV (PLHIV). We sought to examine the factors associated with viral suppression after the provision of intensive adherence counselling (IAC) among PLHIV in the district.Methods: We reviewed records of PLHIV and used them to construct a retrospective cohort of patients that started and completed IAC during January - December 2019 at three high volume HIV treatment facilities in Kamuli district. We also conducted key informant interviews of focal persons at the study sites. We summarized the data descriptively, tested differences in the outcome (viral suppression after IAC) using chi-square and t-tests, and established independently associated factors using log-binomial regression analysis with robust standard errors at 5% statistical significance level using STATA version 15.Results: We reviewed 283 records of PLHIV. The mean age of the participants was 35.06 (SD 18.36) years. The majority of the participants were female (56.89%, 161/283). The viral suppression rate after IAC was 74.20% (210/283). The most frequent barriers to ART adherence reported were forgetfulness 166 (58.66%) and changes in the daily routine 130 (45.94). At multivariable analysis, participants that had a pre-IAC viral load that was greater than 2000 copies/ml [adjusted Prevalence Risk Ratio (aPRR)= 0.81 (0.70 - 0.93), p=0.002] and those that had a previous history of viral load un-suppression [aPRR= 0.79 (0.66 - 0.94), p=0.007] were less likely to achieve a suppressed viral load after IAC. ART drug shortages were rare, ART clinic working hours were convenient for clients and ART clinic staff received training in IAC.Conclusion: Despite the consistency in drug availability, counselling training, flexible and frequent ART clinic days, the viral suppression rate after IAC did not meet recommended targets. A high viral load before IAC and a viral rebound were independently associated with having an unsuppressed viral load after IAC. IAC alone may not be enough to achieve viral suppression among PLHIV. To improve viral suppression rates after IAC, other complementary services should be paired with IAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prelacteal feeding hinders early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding but is understudied in Uganda. We examined the prevalence and factors associated with prelacteal feeding among postpartum mothers in Kamuli district in rural eastern Uganda. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study between December 2020 and January 2021 at four large healthcare facilities and randomly sampled mother-baby pairs attending postnatal care and immunization clinics. Prelacteal feeding was defined as giving anything to eat or drink to a newborn other than breast milk within the first 0–3 days of life. Data were collected using a researcher-administered questionnaire and summarized using frequencies and percentages. The Chi-squared, Fisher's exact, and Student's t-tests were used for comparison while the factors independently associated with prelacteal feeding were determined using modified Poisson regression analysis, reported as an adjusted prevalence risk ratio (aPRR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Of 875 participants enrolled, 319 (36.5%) practiced prelacteal feeding. The likelihood of prelacteal feeding was lower among participants who were unemployed (aPRR 0.70; 95% CI 0.5, 0.91), married (aPRR 0.71; 95% CI 0.58, 0.87), had received health education on infant feeding practices (aPRR 0.72; 95% CI 0.60, 0.86), had a spontaneous vaginal delivery (aPRR 0.76; 95% CI 0.61, 0.95), had delivered in a health facility (aPRR 0.73; 95% CI 0.60, 0.89), and who knew that prelacteal feeding could lead to difficulties in breathing (aPRR 0.70; 95% CI 0.57, 0.86). Conversely, prelacteal feeding was more likely among participants who had attended antenatal care at a public health facility during the most recent pregnancy (aPRR 2.41; 95% CI 1.71, 3.39) and those who had travelled more than 5 km to a health facility for postnatal care services (aPRR 1.46; 95% CI 1.23, 1.72). Conclusions: The prevalence of prelacteal feeding among postpartum mothers in rural eastern Uganda is slightly higher than the national average. Accordingly, there is a need to continuously educate mothers and staff on infant feeding practices to tackle the factors influencing prelacteal feeding and promote appropriate infant and young child feeding practices as emphasized in the baby-friendly health facility initiative policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With over 70% of households without access to clean energy, Uganda presents a huge potential for increased adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies. However, their uptake is relatively low. This study employs a nationally representative data set from Uganda's National Electrification Survey of 2018 to analyze factors influencing households' choice of solar PV system. Conditional mixed process model was estimated for quantification of associations between flexible payment mechanism, influential persons, access to grid electricity and solar PV adoption in the first stage, then type of solar PV adopted in the second stage. We find that, the determinants of adoption as well as type of solar PV adopted are heterogeneous. Specifically, flexible payment mechanism is positive for uptake of solar home systems and solar kit; Influential people were insignificant in all cases, while grid access was negatively associated with uptake of both solar kits and solar home systems. We further find that, rural residence, income, type of house are significant drivers of solar PV type adopted. Conversely, education attainment was positive and significantly associated with adoption but insignificant for type of solar PV adopted. Sex of household head was significant for uptake of solar kit. Our findings suggest that, solar PV uptake is a rural phenomenon and affordability is the main driver of solar PV type adopted. Flexible payment mechanism enhances the ability of income constrained households to afford relatively expensive solar PV systems. Hence, any policy interventions geared at scaling uptake of solar home systems should address affordability. Solar companies should continue to offer flexible payment modalities and target rural household. • Drivers for adoption solar photovoltaic (PV) devices in Uganda are examined. • Conditional mixed process model is used as main analysis tool in this study. • Flexible payment mechanism rises chance of households adopting solar home systems. • Solar PV devices adoption is largely a rural phenomenon in Uganda. • Policy intervention should focus on addressing affordability issues in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]