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This paper devises a new indicator (ArCo) of technological capabilities that aims at accounting for developed and developing countries. Building on similar attempts as those devised by UN Agencies, including the UNDP Human Development Report''s Technology Achievement Index (TAI) and UNIDO''s Industrial Performance Scoreboard, this index takes into account a number of other variables associated with technological change. Three main components are considered: the creation of technology, the technological infrastructures and the development of human skills. Eight subcategories have also been included. ArCo also allows for comparisons between countries over time. A preliminary attempt to correlate ArCo to GDP is also presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Behavioral economics is now receiving greater acceptance in the economics profession. One illustration of this acceptance is the Nobel Prize awarded to George Akerloff in 2001.Akerloff’s work included issues of rationality, work norms, and asymmetric information in both more and less developed countries. Leibenstein was one of the first economists in recent decades to explore behavioral economics. This was accomplished through his development of X-efficiency theory, but not exclusively through X-efficiency theory. This paper will show similarities in the work done by Akerloff and Leibenstein, and cite examples of how Akerloff extended some of Leibenstein’s work, leading to Akerloff’s much deserved Nobel Prize. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), including low back and upper extremity disorders, represent one of the greatest work-related health concerns facing industrialized nations. Recently, two national groups were charged with developing research agendas aimed at increasing our knowledge of the prevention of these disorders. The first agenda, developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health''s (NIOSH) National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) MSD team, was based on input from several hundred practitioners and safety and health experts representing industry, labor, and academia. The second agenda, developed by the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine''s (IOM) National Panel on Musculoskeletal Disorders and the Workplace, was based on input from leading researchers in the fields of medicine, information science, and ergonomics. This paper summarizes the findings of the two groups and compares the two research agendas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The objective of this paper is to contribute to progress in the choices of strategies for further development of goat farming in the 21st century. During the last 20 years, the number of goats around the world increased (by about 60%) not only in the countries with low income (75%) but also in those with high (20%) or intermediate (25%) income. This situation is due to the capacity for adaptation by goats to very different environments, to the development of goat farming in developing countries where subsistence farming, barter economy and community culture are important, and where the market economy is relatively limited, and to the ecological image of goat farming and products in developed countries. Goat farming is in a good position to pursue its development in the 21st century, if a satisfactory policy is applied tactfully. For that, the factors explaining goat farming success during the end of the 20th century must be maintained and developed as the social aspects of goat farming in developing and developed countries, particularly in land management and the sociological integration into an economically sustainable life. Moreover we have to improve or maintain the good image of goat products. The two main improvements to bring into goat farming in the 21st century concern research organisations, which must encounter the needs of goat farmers and be well adapted to different production systems in order to lower the research deficit in the goat sector, and investments for better supplies particularly to the poor goat farmers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There is a growing literature on an overall direct relationship between health and social position in developed countries. The relationship, however, is less well documented in developing countries where social hierarchies are changing more rapidly, demographic and health transitions are less advanced, and this topic has received less attention from researchers than in some developed countries. This paper presents an empirical investigation of the relationship between social stratification and social development and population health using data on over 6000 adults from the National Health Survey of Pakistan, a nationally representative health examination survey of people in that country. We analyze four indicators of poor nutrition in adults from this data set. The findings reveal complex relationships among social development, social stratification and the consequences for the health of the people of Pakistan. Underweight is related to economic status, anemia to education and social development, and both severe dental caries and a monotonous diet are related to both development and economic status which interact with each other. These results suggest that continued conceptual refinement and the development of standardized measures of stratification and development would contribute to building cross-nationally comparable data sets addressing issues of the relationship among health and economic development and health transitions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reductions in traffic-related fatalities in developed industrialized countries have been substantial in the last 30 years. Most analyses have attributed this reduction to changes in vehicle design, better road design, increased seat-belt use, and reductions in driving under the influence of alcohol. This paper analyses the impact of improvements in medical treatment and technology. Data from the International Road and Traffic Accident Database (IRTAD), which includes all developed countries, was used in combination with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Health Care data. Using proxy measures to account for improvements in medical treatment and technology it is found that these proxy variables are significant and capture much of the residual time trend in the data when they are omitted. Changes in age cohorts, such as fewer young people, also have contributed to a reduction in fatalities. These results suggest that medical technology improvements are associated with reductions in traffic-related fatalities over time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper derives and presents the multivariate Edgeworth–Sargan (ES) density, discusses some of its properties, and estimates it for three exchange rates in emerging markets (Chile, Hungary and Singapore). The ES density fits the data adequately, and the model is estimated simultaneously for all variables. This involves estimating a highly non-linear model with 32 parameters. A multivariate Student''s t is also estimated, and both sets of results are compared. The empirical results show that, (a) the ES density applies to emerging markets as well as to more developed economies, as shown in previous research, (b) it is feasible to estimate a multivariate density of large dimensionality, and (c) independent estimation of the marginal densities, although a consistent procedure, yields significantly different results from the multivariate estimation for some parameters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper compares the appropriateness and explanatory power of marginal tax rates, average tax rates and tax progressivity as measures of the impact of taxation on growth. Data are organized as a panel of 25 industrialized countries from 1970 to 1998. Contrary to previous empirical research, but consistently with theory, we find that marginal effective tax rates and tax progressivity have a negative influence on economic growth. This negative correlation turns out to be robust after controlling for state and policy variables. Average tax rates, on the other hand, seem not to affect output dynamics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper provides a synopsis of the experience in combating iron deficiency in industrialized countries and identifies the reasons for the considerable success and future challenges. Significant progress has been made over the last century in reducing and even eliminating iron deficiency in many industrialized countries. Current estimates are that the prevalence of iron deficiency has declined to <20% in many of these countries, even among women and young children, compared with 30 to 70% in many developing countries. The reasons for this success cannot be attributed solely to a single approach but rather to a range of factors that have occurred over time as a result of both economic development and the implementation of specific policies. Several factors have contributed to improving both iron intakes and reducing iron losses; these include fortification, supplementation, dietary diversification and public health measures. For example, the decline in anemia in infants can be attributed to the introduction of iron-fortified formula and complementary foods in the 1960s to 1970s. Similarly, the enrichment and fortification of cereals with iron that began during World War II in North America and Europe is a result of effective public-private partnerships. Despite these successes, iron deficiency remains a public health concern in industrialized countries for selected subgroups such as women of reproductive age with excess menstrual losses and pregnant women who cannot meet increased requirements from the diet alone. Constant vigilance and innovative approaches for screening and combating this problem are thus still required even in developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient and sustainable operation of building energy systems is playing an increasingly important role in most industrialized countries. At the same time, building energy systems are becoming increasingly complex; fault-free and optimal operation, under dynamic boundary conditions, is becoming more and more challenging. There are many approaches in research to address the optimal control problem of building energy systems, such as Rule-based Control, Model Predictive Control, or Adaptive Control. However, most methods rely on models of the system dynamics with high prediction accuracies. This is especially the case in Model Predictive Control, where the model is part of a continuously executed optimization problem; but models are also required when it comes to the optimal design of Rule-based Controllers, the safe pre-training of Adaptive Controllers, or model-based fault detection. A limiting factor for the manual development of physical models, for building energy systems, are the low monetary incentives for engineering services, due to the low energy prices in most countries. In addition, the creation of such models is time-consuming and error-prone, even for domain experts. Another weakness is that changes in the system dynamics are not automatically adapted within the models. These challenges are contrasted by an increasing availability of monitoring-data and computational power in recent years; with machine-learning algorithms, these resources are used in numerous application areas to achieve very promising results. Machine-learning methods can help to obtain data-driven, self-calibrating models, which can be learned from monitoring-data. In this paper, we apply methods for automated data-driven model generation. We demonstrate how machine-learning algorithms together with structured hyper-parameter tuning can be used to model individual subsystems as well as a complete energy supply system. To represent the dynamics of the supply system, it is first decomposed into simple functional relationships, which are aggregated into the overall system after training of the comparatively simple subsystem models. We evaluate the accuracy of the data-driven subsystem models using established metrics for the evaluation of regression models, namely the R2-score and the RMSE. The considered system is integrated into a district cooling network and consists of two compression chillers and an ice storage unit. Our investigations show that the dynamics of the subsystems can be learned with high accuracies, depending on the operation mode and the selected features. The prediction of the power demand of the compression chillers is learned with R2-scores between 0.94 and 0.99 and RMSE values between 2.02 kW and 3.51 kW. Also, the prediction of the percentage of ice formation within the ice storage is learned accurately with a R2-score of 1 and RMSE values between 0.08 % and 0.72 %. The dynamics of the aggregated system also show plausible behavior and can thus be used in future work. This work is part of an ongoing research project with the aim to optimize the operation of the entire campus cooling energy supply system. Our results show that, if detailed monitoring-data are available, data-driven modelling represents a viable alternative to the labor-intensive physical modelling approach. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of structured hyper-parameter tuning, discuss the specifics of different machine-learning algorithms, and elaborate on possible future developments in this research area. • Modelling of energy systems is labor-intensive and uneconomical in many cases. • Data-driven modelling represents a promising alternative. • Different dynamics of a cooling supply system are modelled via machine-learning. • We demonstrate the process and show promising results but also discuss limitations. • Investigating the intersection of data infrastructures and automated modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different assumptions and methodologies prompt divergent policy recommendationgs for combatting climate change. Although climate scientists would like to be as precise as possible, policymakers with different attitudes towards climate change will always choose the result that matches their own value judgments. This paper discusses the impact of climate change attitudes on optimal mitigation in 15 regions. The climate change attitude is refined by a meta-analysis of 27 climate damage estimations and distilled into five damage functions. The optimal mitigation is calculated using the non-cooperative scenario of the regional integrated model of climate economy (RICE). The results show that the optimal mitigation paths in developing countries are more sensitive to climate change attitudes than they are in developed countries. In 2100, the range of optimal emissions represents 20% of the average optimal emissions by developing countries, which is twice the value of average optimal emissions by developed countries. The average social carbon cost in developing countries is 20 times higher than that in developed countries. This large uncertainty may be the combined result of high shadow prices of capital and large quantities of future emissions in these developing countries. • Climate change attitudes significantly affect the optimal mitigation path and the social cost of carbon. • Optimal mitigation path and social carbon cost are more sensitive to climate change attitudes in developing countries. • The average social carbon cost in developing countries is 20 times higher than that in developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Review of 70 representative hydrological models. • Provides pathway of selection of hydrological models for developing countries. • Strengths and weaknesses of models at varying spatial scales are examined. • Testing schemes are summarized to select a model for dilemma among similar models. Development and use of global, continental, and country scale hydrological models has attracted an increasing attention over the last two decades. Though developed countries are a head in development and assessment of these models, most developing countries, if not all, even do not have their own models. Therefore, an appropriate model selection process is necessary for these regions to improve the skill in hydrological modelling and prediction at the local-to-global scales. Therefore, a framework for model selection is provided to help hydrological modelers from various skills. Keeping the framework in view, this paper reviews 70 representative models to provide a lucid pathway of selecting models at global, continental and country scales over catchment scale models. In the process, strengths and weaknesses of models designed for each spatial extension are examined depending on their spatio-temporal resolutions, the model parameterization schemes for representing multiple hydrological processes, and the number of parameters. We summarize testing schemes to assess models to decide among multiple similar models. Finally, we summarize the remaining challenges and discuss future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concepts of accessibility planning are widely adoptedworldwide in city planning policies for better access to various urban amenities. In urban areas, spatial accessibility to services has received attention in developed countries. However, accessibility planning studies in developing countries are still in nascent stages. This paper presents a set of identified indicators for measuring accessibility to all amenities, services and facilities (ASFs) by connecting public transit (bus stops) in two Indian cities considering minimum walking distances. These measures are divided into two categories, Euclidean distance measure and Network distance measure. This study also attempts to use descriptive statistics to compare the accessible distance between ASFs and public transit (PT). Results show different scenarios with respect to different ranges of distances i.e. accessibility levels of ASFs, and variation in Euclidean and network measures. This emphasizes the local barriers and network connectivity issues that affect the actual distance. The study concludes with possible recommendations for policymakers and to identify the gaps in public transit coverage for reaching the ASFs and allows key implementation for future planning which can be done using this distance criteria. • Google API, ArcGIS tools are used for accessing distance from bus stops to all Amenities, Facilities and Services (ASFs). • Statistical comparison for Euclidean and Network Distance determines the variation in accessibility levels. • This study assists in policies for better spatial access as it integrates public transit, built-up area and AFSs. • The complexity of measuring the variation in distances will identify the physical barriers and their scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Inverse Care Law states that the availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need of the population served, with previous research indicating that migrant populations might be particularly at risk of this phenomenon. However, the degree to which the law applies to long-term care services (LTCS) in diverse ageing societies, where sizable older migrant populations need to be accounted for, has not been well investigated. To ensure equitable service provision, and to achieve European goals promoting a social right to care, it is critical to assess the extent to which such diverse populations are being neglected. This paper investigates the relationship between income and utilization of LTCS in Sweden amongst older native-born residents and older migrants born in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. The universality of its welfare system and the documented income differentials between foreign- and Swedish-born persons makes Sweden a particularly interesting case for assessing whether the most disadvantaged are the most underserved. The analysis uses register data on a total population of all older residents in Sweden, encompassing approximately two million persons. The results indicate that the Inverse Care Law does not apply to the utilization of LTCS by Swedish-born older people, nor by the majority of older migrants. However, the Inverse Care Law does appear to operate for older persons born in low-income countries who do not have a partner. • The Inverse Care Law (ICL) does not apply to Swedish-born older persons. • The ICL is not applicable to many of older migrants in LMICs. • Older persons with no partner, from low-income countries experience aspects of ICL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The population growth rates in the core were growing faster than in the ring over the last decade. • With the exception of France this has resulted in population recentralisation. • There is some variation as to when the population turnaround happened, and national policy seems to have had some influence on that. • The impacts of reurbanisation on suburbia strongly differ between prosperous and less prosperous urban regions. • There is a need to better understand the socio-demographic implications of reurbanisation on the different types of settlements in the ring. Following decades of urban decline in many European cities, there is now an abundant literature identifying a process of reurbanisation, which has now also reached many secondary cities, including those in post-industrialised regions. Reurbanisation is an umbrella concept involving several related but distinct processes, though has its roots in spatial cycle models that consider reurbanisation to be a specific stage in the development of urban regions. Most of the emerging reurbanisation debate, however, is primarily concerned with processes in and impacts on the urban core while suburbia (the ring) is notably absent from much of this discussion. This is all the more surprising since part and parcel of many definitions of reurbanisation is the relationship between the core and the ring. This paper seeks to fill this gap, looking at four highly developed countries in Northwest Europe from a comparative perspective: England, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Far from being uniform, reurbanisation differs substantially between the countries in terms of temporal and spatial patterns due to differences in policy responses in both the urban core and suburbia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper examines OA effect when a journal provides two types of link to the same subscription article: OA and paid content. • OA links perform better than paid content links. When not indicating the OA status of a link, the performance drops greatly. • OA benefits all countries, but its positive impact is slightly greater for developed countries. • Combining social media dissemination with OA appears to enhance the reach of scientific information. Scholarly journals are increasingly using social media to share their latest research publications and communicate with their readers. Having a presence on social media gives journals a platform to raise their profile and promote their content. This study compares the number of clicks received when journals provide two types of links to subscription articles: open access (OA) and paid content links. We examine the OA effect using unique matched-pair data for the journal Nature Materials. Our study finds that OA links perform better than paid content links. In particular, when the journal does not indicate that a link to an article is an OA link, there is an obvious drop in performance against clicks on links indicating OA status. OA has a positive effect on the number of clicks in all countries, but its positive impact is slightly greater in developed countries. The results suggest that free content is more attractive to users than paid content. Social media exposure of scholarly articles promotes the use of research outputs. Combining social media dissemination with OA appears to enhance the reach of scientific information. However, extensive further efforts are needed to remove barriers to OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capacity to generate energy from renewable sources has given rise to a flourishing research stream, especially in reference to developing countries, which are frequently the most exposed to the effects of climate change, but have limited resources for adaptation and/or mitigation policies. They therefore often benefit from monetary funds from developed countries and/or international organizations, which are qualified as Official Development Assistance (ODA). This paper assesses whether the generation of a greater share of renewable energy by a country increases the ODA allocated for energy and the environment by donor countries, and how vulnerability and social development affect the distribution of funds. A panel of 85 countries in the time span 1995–2015 was analysed. The results show that the ODA received by developing countries tends to be directly linked to their vulnerability but inversely linked to their social development. The relevance of these funds for the development of developing countries and the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions also emerges. Efforts are therefore needed to provide better assistance to beneficiary countries in order to optimize the advantages resulting from the use of the resources received, starting from improving the managerial capacities of the beneficiaries to create value from these funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to evaluate the impact of the oil refinery industry on water resources worldwide from the point of view of sustainable development (SD). The local laws, reports from the industry and environmental agencies, conditions of the final disposal system were analysed. Key aspects, such as existing approaches for treatment systems, quality of treated wastewater, and ways to assure the safety of them were compared. The comparison between industrialised (represented by the USA and EU) and developing countries (Kazakhstan used as an example) shows that several obstacles, such as loopholes in legislation, historical contamination, and miscommunicating between stakeholders, exist, despite the formal promotion of the SD concept. That policy should be implemented based on the relevant scientific investigation through the possibility of integrating the respective technological development, an adequate system of environmental impact assessment, and fair operational monitoring. • Oil refineries still discharge contaminated wastewater into water bodies worldwide. • Principles of Sustainable water use for the oil refinery sector are defined. • An adequate policy regulation makes Sustainable water use in the industry achievable. • The policy should implement the Circular Economy, a fair Environmental Impact Assessment, and the transparent environmental monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We build an inventory of intercity aviation emissions of six countries. • Emissions per capita are polarized between developed and developing countries. • Emissions in developing countries are concentrated within a few large cities. • The proportion of emissions from short-haul flights in China is quite small. • HSR may be an effective means of reducing emissions from short-haul flights. This paper builds an inventory of intercity aviation emissions (CO 2 , NO x , SO x , CO, HC, and PM) and conducts a comprehensive international comparison, including the USA, Canada, Australia, Mainland China, Brazil, and India. We find that, first, the emissions per capita are significantly higher in developed countries than in developing countries. Second, the distribution of emissions in developed countries is disperse, while the emissions in developing countries are concentrated within a limited number of large cities. Third, the proportion of emissions from short-haul flights in China is much smaller than that in other countries. The development of high-speed rail in China may be one of main reasons for such a pattern. Finally, several policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, immigration flows among developing countries have grown at a faster pace than immigration to advanced economies. Despite the documented welfare benefits of immigration, adverse policies and negative public opinion toward immigrants appear to be as common in developing countries as in developed ones. In such a context, understanding natives' attitudes toward immigrants may help inform measures to smooth free human mobility. This paper applies choice experiments to elicit individual preferences with regard to immigrants' attributes, the first such application in a developing country. Aligned with previous literature, the results indicate that younger immigrants with greater levels of education, higher-skilled professions, and fluency in the local language are preferred by natives. An interesting result is that foreigners from developed countries tend to receive greater support for admission. Also, there is significant heterogeneity in the estimations that is not explained by observable characteristics of the respondent, suggesting that most heterogeneity is idiosyncratic. Lastly, the experimental designs compare choice settings with a 'neither' option versus those with a forced choice, indicating that the former, arguably a more realistic setting, returns a lower probability of admission. • What drives natives' attitudes toward immigrants? • We apply choice experiments to elicit individual preferences with regard to immigrants' attributes. • The results indicate that younger immigrants with greater levels of education, higher-skilled professions, and fluency in the local language are preferred by natives. • Foreigners from developed countries tend to receive greater support for admission. A large share of variability in attitudes seems to be driven idiosyncratic factors. • Proving neither-option in choice experiment returns a lower probability of admission than forced-choice settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reasons why people decide for or against seeking medical help for infertility are still far from clear. With advances in reproductive medicine, use of medically-assisted reproduction has increased over the last three decades. Over the same period, an appreciable amount of quantitative studies on the determinants of medical help-seeking for infertility has accumulated. However, to our knowledge this narrative review is the first to summarize and evaluate findings from these studies. This review includes 39 studies carried out in 11 countries, covering the period 1990–2019. We have identified five categories of determinants of help-seeking: socio-demographic variables, socio-economic factors, reproductive history, attitudes, and psychological factors. Each category consists of several variables. Considerable knowledge has accumulated on socio-economic variables, indicating that there is social inequality in access to treatments in several countries. Less is known about marital status, attitudes and psychological factors. Findings on the latter two mostly derive from two US surveys. Overall, the body of research appears heterogeneous and fragmented. Studies differ in central aspects of study design (definitions of the analysis sample and of help-seeking, type of analysis (bivariate or multivariate), set of variables included in multivariate studies) making comparisons of findings difficult. Low comparability is reinforced by country differences in the provision of treatment, legislation on access and treatment coverage. The majority of papers lack a theoretical foundation or reference to any theory. Using a theoretical framework to guide empirical research could help to overcome the problems described above. Single-country studies should include information on legal and cultural context. More studies from countries other than the US are needed as well as multi-country studies in order to develop a systematic understanding of how macro-level structures relate to decisions about medical help-seeking. This review should assist future researchers in their attempt to conduct studies on help-seeking for infertility. • Differences in study design make studies of infertility help-seeking hard to compare. • There is evidence for social inequality in access to fertility treatment. • Using theory helps overcome conceptual and methodological problems in studies. • Each country's particular macro-level setting has to be considered. • Studies should use stages of help-seeking rather than binary indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence on income-related inequalities in self-assessed health in nine industrialized countries. Health interview survey data were used to construct concentration curves of self-assessed health, measured as a latent variable. Inequalities in health favoured the higher income groups and were statistically significant in all countries. Inequalities were particularly high in the United States and the United Kingdom. Amongst other European countries, Sweden, Finland and the former East Germany had the lowest inequality. Across countries, a strong association was found between inequalities in health and inequalities in income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is poverty necessary in one of the wealthiest and most advanced industrial nations? Whether poverty should be considered a public problem requiring expanded state involvement or a private and individual problem for which the state should accept minimal responsibility? The conservative ideology maintains that the social programs have helped to establish a culture of dependency that has institutionalized permanent poverty. It is believed that government programs to aid the poor encourage dependency and render them less and less capable of self-help, self discipline, and a successful entry into the work force. The belief that the causes of poverty are rooted in failed individuals and families rather than a failed public economy and discriminatory public policy requires a fundamental reexamination of the politics of poverty and the policy related to social services and redistribution of wealth. What is the extent of poverty in major Canadian cities? This paper attempts to examine the ideologies, and policy-programs of governments and the role of nongovernmental organizations in dealing with the problem of poverty in Canadian cities and argues for a major paradigm shift in social policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life expectancy at birth has risen in all industrialized countries during the last 100 years, but mortality improvements by gender and region often have proceeded at very different rates. Although some countries have experienced increases in overall mortality during recent decades, the levels of life expectancy gains in countries such as Japan have confounded demographic predictions and have led to renewed research and debate over future mortality decline and the limits to human life. This paper reviews levels of and changes in life expectancy at birth and at older ages in industrialized countries during the 20th century. Trends in mortality and morbidity at older ages are summarized in the context of the historic epidemiological disease transition from infectious to chronic. Cause-specific and active/inactive decompositions of life expectancy are examined, as are initial attempts to correlate life expectancy with physical attributes that may reflect differential nutritional status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last two decades have witnessed a growing interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) worldwide by corporations, investors, policy makers, and researchers across different disciplines. This paper is part of a Special Issue devoted to CSR practices of firms in emerging market economies (EMEs). It complements prior research focusing mainly on developed countries. We begin with an assessment of CSR practices in EMEs, and examine their determinants and performance implications. We then review key findings in the empirical CSR literature, including studies published in the Emerging Markets Review Special Issue. We conclude by describing pertinent avenues for future research. • We offer an assessment of of the determinants and performance implications of CSR practices in emerging market economies (EMEs). • We review key findings in the CSR literature on determinants/consequences of CSR. • Both country- and firm-level determinants matter for CSR. • CSR has a positive impact on firm performance in general. • We conclude by describing pertinent avenues for future research in EMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decentralized blockchain technology has been increasingly recognized as a game changer for all centralized things, including traditional centralized energy. Meanwhile, the energy sector has been undergoing transformation from a traditional centralized energy supply system to a distributed energy resource. This work is aimed to explore what the decentralized blockchain technology means to the changing energy sector from the perspectives of basic research and real world applications. After introducing the background information of the blockchain technology, this work investigates the number of publications, subject categories, research areas, cooperation network, research hotspots by combining the bibliometric technique and visual analysis. And then, real-world application cases corresponding to research hotspots are offered. The key findings are as follows: (i) the basic research on the blockchain technology in the energy sector is growing rapidly over time, which means that blockchain energy is a rising research field. (ii) China, a developing country, leads the basic research of blockchain in the energy sector in terms of the total number of publications, institutions and highly cited papers, and cooperative relationship. (iii) keyword hotspot analysis and keyword trend analysis indicate the future research directions of blockchain technology in the energy sector: the decentralized energy market, micro grid, smart grid, energy internet, smart contract, peer-to-peer, renewable energy and electric vehicle. (iv) The real-world application cases are mainly concentrated in the developed countries, especially in the United States, the European Union and Australia. There are relatively few typical application cases in developing countries, which is sharply different from the results of basic research. This work could serve to stimulate meaningful discussion from basic research to real-world applications of blockchain technology in the energy sector. • Exploring what the blockchain technology mean to the energy sector. • This work combines bibliometric analysis and visual analysis. • Characteristics of research of blockchain technology in energy sector are offered. • Research hotspots is used to linking the research and typical application cases. • Imbalance between basic research and typical applications is uncovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the fast-growing fields of technology expansion is communication technologies. The attention is often focused on the social and cultural effects of these expansions; however, the economic implications of the fast-growing digital technologies can be substantial. This paper is an empirical investigation to find a relationship between digital technology expansion and ICT developments on one major economic issue: unemployment. In this way, three indexes of technology (ICT Development Index, The Digital Index, and Technological Readiness) were chosen according to their focus on digital and ICT indicators, and also their sufficient number of observations to provide a global view. The data consists of 163 countries and is structured in a cross-sectional form including observations of the year 2016. Then, the data were subject to an empirical investigation following OLS and GLS estimation methods, along with stability tests. The results show a significant polynomial degree 2 relationship between unemployment and digital technology indexes. The empirical methodology indicates that the relationship is positive in degree 1 and negative in degree 2 coefficients, so it can be concluded that: as digital technologies are expanding, unemployment grows to a maximum and then begins to decline as technology expansion exceeds a specific value. • Unemployment and digital technology have a saddle-shaped cross-sectional relationship. • Unemployment increases as digital development is at its first steps –as it is in several countries- and after reaching a maximum begins to decline. • Developed countries should beware of thier technolgy stage to prevent unemployment while they are expanding digital technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green public procurement (GPP) has been extensively adopted as a public administration tool for achieving sustainability outcomes. However, there is a marked lack of understanding regarding the determinants of GPP adoption beyond, that is, the characteristics of the contracting authority. Indeed, most studies have focused their attention on these micro determinants, with little being known about the macro and meso factors involved. In this paper, we contribute to the literature by analyzing macro and meso adoption factors. To do so, we explore GPP in the award criteria for twentyfive European countries as recorded in Tenders Electronic Daily database for the period 2006–2017. Our results show significant cross-country differences in GPP uptake and we identify factors beyond those of the contracting unit itself that condition GPP adoption. Specifically, more developed countries and a larger government size impact positively on GPP. GPP adoption has evolved favorably over time, and regional and local administrations show a clearer preference for GPP than is shown by national governments or EU authorities. We find that better governance is linked to GPP adoption and that larger contracts are more likely to include GPP. Our results confirm that join procurement between contracting authorities more probability to adopt GPP. Our results are useful for defining a more comprehensive decision-making framework for GPP. • Macro and meso determinants of GPP have largely been omitted from previous studies. • We explore GPP in the award criteria in the European TED database. • Size of government and economic development are positively associated with GPP adoption. • Good governance and local and regional government also have a positive impact. • Positive effects on GPP adoption over time and across-country exist as do differences by sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Most countries should strengthen NDC targets for reaching the long-term climate goals. • The reduction efforts of major countries for meeting the climate goals are determined. • Many developed regions should halve their NDC emissions in 2030 for reaching 1.5 °C. • Global GDP losses for meeting 2 °C and 1.5 °C decrease by 69% and 50% through permits trading. Aggregated mitigation efforts represented by current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) fall far short of meeting the 2 °C and 1.5 °C Paris goals, and Parties should enhance their mitigation targets through a ratcheting-up mechanism to close the large gap. The paper first assesses the stringency of major emitters' NDCs based on a comparison with the seven equity allocations. Then, it proposes a novel ratcheting-up scheme which distributes the mitigation gap between aggregated NDCs and the Paris goals based on key equity criteria and calculates the additional emission reduction rates for countries with insufficient ambitions. To fully consider different ambition levels of NDCs and also avoid overambitious outcomes, lower and upper limits are set for individual country's reduction rate, thus improving the equity and feasibility of the scheme. The results indicate that most countries should strengthen current efforts. By 2030, countries with insufficient NDCs need to reduce their aggregated emissions by 23% and 36% respectively to achieve the 2 °C and 1.5 °C goals. Most developed countries should undertake reduction rates which are above the global average level. Under the 1.5 °C pathway, many developed countries need to reduce their NDC emissions by about 50% in 2030. The mitigation costs of achieving the Paris goals as well as the benefits of international emissions trading have been evaluated. The results show that global GDP losses in 2030 for achieving 2 °C and 1.5 °C could decrease by 69% and 50% respectively through permits trading, and regional GDP losses would also be reduced, highlighting the importance of an effective global carbon market for meeting the Paris goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ascertaining cleaner production and sustainability is a major issue in the developed and developing world; income and international trade are the predominant factors behind this. This article explores the heterogeneous impacts of export product diversification, extensive margin, and intensive margins on the CO 2 emissions for developing and developed countries. To this end, the authors analyze the annual data of variables from 1971 to 2014 and employ unrestricted fixed effects and system GMM to solve the research problem. The empirics suggest that all three indicators of export diversification significantly reduce CO 2 emissions in 63 developed and developing countries as a global sample. The fixed effect models reveal that product diversification and intensive margin have a negative and significant impact in developed economies. The negative impacts of product diversification show that economic sophistication is an important tool to reduce emissions. Further, the Chow test proved the statistical difference between developed and developing economies, which contributes to policy recommendations. Based on the empirical outcomes, the study suggests innovative policies for cleaner production and industrial manufacturing purposes, making the policies more effective in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Image 1 • This study analyzes 63 countries as global sample for the period from 1971 to 2014. • The research work applied product diversification, intensive and extensive margin to understand the CO 2 emissions. • The paper used Chow test, Fixed effects, and system GMM to analyze the diversification-carbon nexus. • The empirical findings suggested negative impacts of product diversification on CO 2 emissions. • Product diversification, extensive, and intensive margins are strategic tools in developing and developed economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meat consumption has increased significantly in the last 50 years. This trend raises various health and environmental issues, as well as moral concerns regarding farm animal welfare. In this paper, we discuss the regulation of meat consumption in developed countries. Specifically, we discuss possible justifications for this regulation in terms of environmental, health and animal welfare considerations, as well as the effect of fiscal, informational and behavioral regulatory instruments. Finally, we present a list of challenges that policy makers and food scholars may need to confront in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different from the expectations of energy development in other industrialized countries, China is pursuing an orderly-synergistic energy transition. The necessity and effect of orderliness-synergy in the sustainable development of China's power generation industry during the transition period is focused in this paper. The orderly-synergistic development process can be regarded as the game of interest balance for both the clean energy power generation enterprises and the thermal power generation ones. Hence evolutionary game method with six Assumptions, basic model and normative analysis is adopted. And then to explain the process more scientifically, the numerical simulation with scenario analysis is used to study two types of power generation enterprises. Three important conclusions are drawn: (1) when two types of power generation enterprises make the "same direction" decision at the same time, the population stability can be formed within the industry; (2) the revenues of both clean power generation enterprises and thermal power generation enterprises have shown a positive correlation with adopting active strategies; (3) when the power generation industry tends to the policy orientation, the orderly-synergistic benefits will be smaller, however, when the power generation industry tends to the market orientation, the orderly-synergistic benefits will be greater. And then some recommendations are put forward. • The evolutionary game method is used for the orderly-synergistic development of power generation industry. • This method is proposed for the necessity and effect of orderliness-synergy in terms of China's power generation industry. • Two types of power generation enterprises are analyzed by the numerical simulation with scenario analysis. • Conclusion section considers the policy orientation problem and market orientation problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing literature in comparative political economy and health economics has argued several cost-saving effects of a single-payer healthcare system. Despite this growing evidence, there has been no large-scale empirical examination of whether such an effect exists cross-nationally over time. This paper serves as the first attempt to find and calculate the extent to which healthcare spending is affected by the utilization of a single-payer scheme. I introduce an original dataset for OECD countries that measures when and where systems that qualify as single-payer exist, and employ it to test whether significant differences exist in health expenditures. Results demonstrate a significant difference between single- and multi-payer system expenditures. I estimate the utilization of a single-payer system is associated with decreased expenditure equal to 0.750 percentage-points of a nation's GDP. This would equate to the United States saving well over $1.5 trillion over ten years. • Over half of OECD countries have health insurance schemes considered single-payer. • Single-payer systems are associated with lower expenditures equal to 0.75% of GDP. • Results consistent with efficiency, bargaining-power and risk-pooling mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remanufacturing is a life cycle renewal process that is recognized as one of the most effective green strategies to attain sustainable manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to address the current challenges confronting by Malaysian remanufacturing industries and to explore its future opportunities. The research technique of this study is based on extensive scholarly literature review and scenario analysis in the field of remanufacturing. The findings highlighted five main challenges and two main future opportunities in Malaysian remanufacturing industries. The results based on scenario analysis suggested that Malaysia possessed the potential to become the center hub of automotive components remanufacturing and novel entire vehicle remanufacturing (rebuilt vehicle) in the Southeast Asia region by overcoming its current challenges. This study has shown that the challenges and opportunities in Malaysia remanufacturing industries are significantly different from the developed countries due to its distinctive business environments. The outcome of this study is to ensure the smooth implementation of the National Remanufacturing Policy and facilitate the sustainable development of remanufacturing industries in Malaysia and other developing countries with a similar business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Urban ecological landscaping needs benchmarks, yet rarely acquired or provided. • Bird metrics are plausible for reflecting landscape biophysical complexity. • The tool can be customized to consider regional variability. • The tool requires minimal cost, time and expertise for deployment. Ecological impairment is prevalent in built environment and habitat enrichment had begun in cities globally. Most commendable ecological landscaping initiatives are, however, centred around developed countries in temperate region. Thus the systemic approaches may be inept to capture and reflect the natural processes in tropical regions. This paper describes a novel attempt to address the deficiency by developing and testing the idea of using birds as a proxy to drive ecological landscaping in tropical cities. A range of a priori avifauna metrics were applied to measure the biophysical complexity of six exemplar strata in inner and periphery areas of Ipoh city, Malaysia. Data collected were analysed and the metrics were able to reflect biophysical complexity in each stratum, statistically. Additionally, a numerical rating index from "impaired" (0) to "excellent" (100) was also inferred from two reference strata, or "best performers", to provide urban landscape planners with a standardized comparative measure. Numerous intricacies emerging from the "best performers" are highlighted to inform ecological landscape planning and biomimicry design. The implications to the public, policymakers and other stakeholders are also succinctly discussed. The key strength of the system, known as the Avifauna-based Biophysical Index (ABI), is it fosters learning from nature. The system is open to the views of the local stakeholders and sensitive to the realities given that the benchmarks consider regional ecological and anthropogenic variability. The principles of the ABI system are universal since it does not advocate a "one size fits all" resolution. Hence, although the proof of concept was demonstrated in Ipoh, the ABI system is applicable to tropical cities elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In healthcare systems of developed countries, obtaining informed consent is a necessary and fundamental requirement for the administration of any medical treatment. In Italy, for the administration of the recipient's informed consent for a blood transfusion, a pre-printed form is used in line with the Decree of the Ministry of Health dated 2 November 2015. This paper aims to analyse this form in light of the European legal provisions and following the enactment of Italian Law No. 219 of 2017 on informed consent and advance treatment directives. Our review shows that the structure of the form can be improved in light of the new direction provided by Italian law, the scientific advancement on transfusion risks, and the potential to reduce the use of blood components. Revising this form could be the opportune time to include written information on Patient Blood Management strategies. Though not exhaustive, this proposal may stimulate debate on the point and produce further contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between bank competition and stability in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using financial statements on 221 banks from 33 countries over the period 2000–15, we provide evidence for a U-shaped relationship between bank competition and credit risk. Up to a certain threshold, higher levels of bank competition are associated with lower credit risk. Above this threshold, more competition increases credit risks as the positive effects of competition are outweighed by the adverse effects of rising competition. The optimal threshold appears to be higher for African banks compared to banks from developed countries. We also find that credit risk in Sub-Saharan Africa is not only related to macroeconomic determinants, such as growth, public debt, economic concentration and financial development, but also to the business and regulatory environment. In particular, bank risks appear to be lower in countries where credit registry coverage is higher and the tenure of supervisors is shorter. • This study investigates the impact of bank competition on credit risk in SSA. • We find evidence for a U-shaped relationship between competition and credit risk. • Up to a certain threshold, higher levels of competition enhance bank stability. • Above this threshold, more bank competition worsens bank stability. • Macroeconomic, institutional and regulatory factors also affect bank risk in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper and nickel are important metals for our society. Developing countries depend on copper and nickel for the construction of their infrastructure. Copper and nickel are also key elements for the transition to a fossil free electric energy production, which might lead to increased demand for these metals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and at which conditions a sustainable production rate of copper and nickel can be combined with an increase of the service level of the two metals for the entire future world population to the same level as in developed countries in 2020. We consider three ambition levels with regard to a sustainable production rate for copper and nickel: 1000 years, 500 years and 200 years of guaranteed, sufficient and affordable supply to the entire world population at a service level, which, in all countries, is equal to the service level in developed countries in 2020. The conclusion is that the highest sustainability ambition (1000 years) is only achievable with a combination of an optimistically large amount of available resources in combination with a high end-of-life recycling rate. Whether the required amount of resources will be available for an affordable price, remains uncertain. • Three ambition levels with regard to long term supply of copper and nickel are considered: 1000, 500 and 200 years. • The aspiration: resources are available for the entire world population at the level of developed countries in 2020. • The amount of available copper and nickel resources is uncertain. • The resources necessary for providing the world sufficiently depend on the recycling rate and the ambition level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology has been ushering in nothing short of a decentralized revolution. Distributed/decentralized energy is recognized the best way to ensure energy sustainability in the future. An open question is what promise the integration of blockchain and energy hold for energy future. This paper systematically reviews the theory of blockchain and explores the current status of energy blockchain research and applications using a visual bibliometric analysis method and the Scopus database from 2014 to 2020. The results show that the number of publications about blockchain technology in the energy sector have been skyrocketing, especially since 2018, which indicates the combining blockchain technology with energy sector is a new cross-cutting research area with increasing attention. At the national level, developing countries begin to move to the world stage, catching up or even surpassing several traditional developed countries in the field of energy blockchain. Cluster analysis results show that the existing energy blockchain research focuses on renewable energy, trying to solve the bottlenecks in its development process, and providing better solutions for the replacement of fossil energy by renewable energy. We therefore contend that blockchain may be fueling the renewable energy and powering our energy sustainability. Finally, the possible future development trend of energy blockchain is offered. • Exploring what promise the blockchain technology hold for energy future. • The combining blockchain with the energy sector is a new cross-cutting research area. • Developing countries begin to move to the world stage in the energy blockchain. • The existing energy blockchain research focuses on renewable energy. • Blockchain is fueling the renewable energy, and powering our energy sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Incineration bottom ash usually contains 1.0–5.0 % of non-ferrous metals. • Pre-treatment is crucial for achieving effective NFe metals recovery. • NFe metals recovery is usually achieved by using eddy current separators. • The majority of NFe metal recovery plants use dry treatment for wet IBA. Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) is one of the leading technologies for municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment in Europe. Incineration bottom ash (IBA) is the main solid residue from MSWI, and its annual European production is about 20 million tons. The composition of IBA depends on the composition of the incinerated waste; therefore, it may contain significant amounts of ferrous and non-ferrous (NFe) metals as well as glass that can be recovered. Technologies for NFe metals recovery have emerged in IBA treatment since the 1990s and became common practice in many developed countries. Although the principles and used apparatus are nearly the same in all treatment trains, the differences in technological approaches to recovery of valuable components from IBA – with a special focus on NFe metals recovery – are summarized in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The reliability of the three dimensions of the SSI is assessed. • Indicators within each dimension show weak correlation. • Modified dimensions of the SSI show strong internal consistency. • The external validity of the three modified dimensions is supported. • Strong correlation between EPI, HDI, and the three modified dimensions. The Sustainable Society Index (SSI) is known as a comprehensive index that contains substantive aspects of all three dimensions of sustainable development (SD): social, environmental, and economic. This paper assesses the reliability (internal consistency) and external validity of the SSI for 154 developing and developed countries for the year 2016. Confirmatory factor analysis and standard measures of reliability are used to assess the internal consistency, and we use Kendall rank correlation coefficients to compare the country rankings of the social and economic dimension with the Human Development Index (HDI), and of the environmental dimension with the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). Our results clearly demonstrate that there are indicators within each dimension that need to be removed to achieve construct reliability. The three modified indices of the SSI show strong internal consistency. The external validity of the modified indices is supported as the country rankings are similar to those of the HDI and EPI and show a high correlation in 2014 and 2016. In the current sustainable development debate, this study highlights the need for a detailed statistical analysis and adjustment of the indices that represent sustainable development to achieve a theoretical and statistically reliable representation of the concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the development and impacts of air transport has hitherto focused mainly on developed countries in the Global North, and relatively little on less developed countries in the Global South. The seven papers of this Special Issue of the Journal of Transport Geography aim to address this imbalance and encourage further research on air transport development in the Global South. In recent years, the Global South has witnessed significant changes in air transport networks and policies, with implications for economic growth, spatial development and airline business models. This Special Issue explores some challenges to air transport development in the Global South for countries in Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia, including links between air transport and economic development, the evolution and key drivers of air transport growth and the spatial distribution of passenger airline networks, and the development and impact of low-cost carriers. It also identifies opportunities for future research in this growing area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on University-Industry Collaboration (UIC) have mainly focused on processes at the individual and institutional levels. The result has been a proliferation of literature on aspects of UIC implementation processes often accounting for contextual differences. A survey of previous systematic reviews showed a gap in integration of knowledge on UIC implementation processes from a holistic and economic context perspective. This systematic review of the literature seeks to cover that gap by integrating the literature on UIC implementation processes from developed and developing countries contexts. In total 68 publications were reviewed and the data extracted were qualitatively analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Three major themes are distinguished: channels of interaction, UIC mechanisms, and barriers to UIC. The channels of interaction were often presented in categories. The most comprehensive were found to be bi-directional, traditional, commercial and service channels. It was found that commercial channels are ranked by both industry and academia as the least important and the least preferred by collaboration actors. The review discerned three major forms of UIC implementation processes: (1) educational collaboration, (2) academic entrepreneurship and (3) research related collaboration. Mechanisms of implementing these three forms of interaction vary, but continuous interactions are frequently proposed as the best method of knowledge transfer, contrasting with the traditional linear view of UIC processes. Regarding barriers to collaboration, five categories of barriers (misalignment barriers; motivation related barriers; capability related barriers; governance-related barriers and contextual barriers) are identified. The review indicated also that there is still a research coverage gap in developing countries compared to developed countries, and that the educational collaboration form is somehow neglected. It is therefore recommended to use an action research approach to advance research in developing countries and to provide extra attention to educational collaboration mechanisms since this form is among the preferred means of UIC. This paper indicates that: • Topics covered by empirical literature revolve around Channels of interaction, trust formation, boundary spanning, UIC implementation mechanisms, and challenges/barriers to UIC. • The forms of interaction pertaining to the commercial channel category are not preferred by both researchers and industry members surveyed • The continuous model of collaboration can be viewed as the most adapted to the current fast changing and volatile technology environment, where demands tend to be individualized. • Different dimensions of UIC processes are observed, including individual versus institutional dimensions, direct versus indirect dimensions and formal versus informal dimensions. • UIC in lower income countries are often characterized by a weak demand in university knowledge by the industry, indirect interactions and often taking place informally. Besides, as opposed to studies in developed and emerging economies, studies in the lower income countries are rather conducted with an institutional dimension rather than individual dimension. • Barriers to collaboration are grouped into five categories: (1) misalignment barriers; (2) motivation related barriers; (3) capability related barriers; (4) governance related barriers and (5) contextual barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Systematic literature review and bibliometrics as methods of data collection. • Disclosure of the main barriers and perspectives in the adoption of sustainable remediation practices. • Sustainable remediation is more evident in developed countries than in developing countries. • Description of Brazil's regulatory structure of contaminated sites management and the insertion of sustainability aspects. • Contributions to the advancement of management practices in contaminated sites and the adoption of sustainable remediation. The sustainable remediation emerged as a paradigm shift within contaminated sites management. However, this approach still has difficulties and therefore its application is quite limited. Thus, this paper aims to present and analyze the characteristics and trends of sustainable remediation approach in developed and developing countries, with an emphasis on Brazil case. Firstly, the background to sustainable remediation approach is presented. The discussion is carried out through a contextualization of the main barriers and challenges in sustainable remediation consideration and application in worldwide. The main perspectives and recommendations about the sustainable remediation were contextualized. Finally, approaches of sustainable remediation in developed and developing countries context was presented and analyzed, with emphasis on Brazilian situation. It is concluded that sustainable remediation is of great importance and that many advances have been made; however, the use of the term is still in adaptation process, especially in developing countries. In Brazil, at the same time as it is verified that has the regulatory structure focused on the management of contaminated sites is fairly recent, the sustainability considerations in this context are almost nonexistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Since about 2000, there has been an unexpected stagnation and regress in many dimensions of gender inequality in many parts of the world. • Gender gaps in labor markets are particularly persistent. • There is evidence of backlash against progress made by women. • The backlash is also related to the poor economic performance of most men in many countries. This survey argues that after decades of seemingly continuous progress in reducing gender inequality in developing and developed countries, since about 2000, there has been an unexpected stagnation and regress in many dimensions of gender inequality in many parts of the world. This is most visible in labor markets, but also visible across a range of dimensions of gender inequality. After documenting these developments, the paper suggests causes for this change before suggesting policies that might tackle remaining gender inequalities more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home-based records for child health are widely used for documenting primary healthcare services including vaccinations and health screening. It serves as an educational tool for parents and promote continuity of care as well as communication between health professionals and parents. In our previous systematic review, we identified that parents in low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries value such a record and consider it important for childcare, yet questions were raised about its wide distribution and utilisation in high-income countries. We therefore aim to examine predictors that could be related to the use/usefulness of the record book in a high-income country, Australia. We hypothesize that parent engagement with the child health home-based record may be influenced by early child development (in-terms of age and hitting milestones) as measured by parent evaluation of developmental status (PEDS) tool and first-born status of the child (as compared to later-born). To test these hypotheses, we will be conducting a community-based survey and review of the record books across New South Wales state of Australia. This paper includes a summary of the findings of our previous review study that prompted the development of these hypotheses and the study protocol we will follow to test these hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Car use evolution is a concern for policy makers to reduce its negative impact in urban area. • This study contributes to improve the knowledge of the evolution of daily car use determinants among young adults. • It is based on the Lyon conurbation household travel survey from 1995, 2006 and 2015. • No car use, full car use, and partial car use have to be explicitly modeled. • Car use is more related to changes in travel behavior than to the decline in driving license ownership. Urban mobility is one of the main concerns of the public authorities in developed countries. In France, household travel surveys are conducted every ten years in major cities to gather weekday mobility data. They enable decision-makers to better understand travel patterns, their change and their determinants, in order to adapt transport infrastructures to the population′s needs. While the automobile has allowed the level of mobility to increase since 1950, an unexpected finding has emerged from recent surveys in most developed countries, namely that there has been a marked decline in car use. Analyses show that this trend is mainly because young adults (18–34 years old) are less likely to acquire a driver′s license. This paper tries to better understand the decrease in the rate of driver′s license holding among young adults in the Lyon conurbation and to quantify the impact of the main explanatory factors in a temporal perspective. It also aims to analyze the consequences of this trend on private car use as a driver for daily trips. It quantifies the influence of economic, socio-demographic and spatial factors on driver ′ s license holding and car use by considering the responses to the last three household travels surveys conducted in the Lyon conurbation area (1995, 2006 and 2015). The temporal dimension allows us to highlight a change in the relationship between young adults and the private car in the French context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As cities grow, the continued development pressure and land-use change of peri-urban areas pose a key challenge for urban planners to address. In the planning of peri-urban areas, the complexity of intertwining physical, environmental, transportation, social and institutional planning dimensions, rapidness of change, demand for precision, and subjectivity of the situations; application of digital planning tools (GIS, PSS and similar) offers a result-oriented and at times the only way out for realistic planning. Like many other countries, peri-urban growth in Pakistan is being managed by the preparation of Peri-Urban Structure Plans (PUSPs). Since, 2009, such plans have been prepared for 36 urban centres of various scale which offer a considerable size to explore the usage pattern of digital planning tools in real-world practice and learn the lessons. Despite wider development and adoption of geographic information systems (GIS) based planning support system (PSS) in spatial planning all over the world, the utilization of digital planning tools in Pakistan to support planning practise has been very limited. This research adopts a case study-based methodology to review the legal requirements of peri-urban plan-making and highlight tasks where digital planning tools can add value. It investigates why there is a paucity of up taking digital planning tools in the spatial plan preparation and documents key stumbling factors. To understand the user's perspective, a survey of (n = 108) urban planners has been undertaken using an online questionnaire. The survey assesses their understanding of the terms and their perception behind the current utilization level of digital planning tools for plan preparation. The analysis reveals a very low familiarity of urban planners with digital planning tools, particularly planning support systems, in Pakistan which is aligned with the findings from technologically advanced countries. The causes behind low utilization have been documented and grouped under three dimensions, adopted from previous research including 'user acceptance', 'instrument quality' and 'diffusion'. Finally, the paper concludes by proposing a framework for bridging the utilization gap to improve spatial planning practice. • Pakistanto become predominantly urban by 2025 • After the Land-use Rules 2009, peri -urban growth in Punjab is managed primarily through peri-urban structure plans (PUSPs) • Currently the utilization of digital planning tools in spatial planning has been very limited in Pakistan • Based on the extensive survey of 108 urban planners, this research documents the reasons behind the low utilization • Finally, it recommends a framework to improve the adoption and utilization of digital planning tools [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deadly threat that landslide has brought about is drawing more and more attention to analyze the mechanisms of landslides and the relationship between landslides and climate change. Due to the limited record of historical landslides in developing countries, relevant research is mostly conducted in developed countries. Owing to the publicly available global long time-series Landsat images, such unbalance can be avoided by proposing a practical landslide detection model, especially in terms of national scale. This paper takes the advantage of google earth engine platform to synthesize the annual Landsat images covering the national scale of Nepal into one image and builds an end-to-end contour-based landslide detection deep learning framework. The framework consists of two parts, one is potential landslide detection using vegetation index and degradation of DEM, the other is exact landslide detection using semantic segmentation deep learning model based on the contour regions extracted from the detected potential landslide. The proposed method is applied to detect landslides of Nepal in the year of 2015 and achieves a satisfactory performance with 65% recall and 55.35% precision. The performance is 44% higher accurate than similarly published works, validating its promising applicability in practical landslide detection for national cases. • Resist the imbalanced distribution of landslides using contour-based method. • Avoid feature engineering by applying deep learning framework. • Enlarge the practical applicability by evaluation in Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]