Search

The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre was commissioned to undertake an independent economic analysis of the cost of providing paid family and domestic violence leave to workers on the modern award wage by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), as part of the ACTU’s submission to the Fair Work Commission’s 2021 review of family and domestic violence leave. This report estimates the following: Costs of providing 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave Costs of not providing 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave Benefits of providing 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave. The report estimates that: Entitlement to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave to award-covered employees is estimated to incur a total annual cost to employers of between $13.1 million and $34.3 million The estimated cost to employers from the time lost due to absenteeism of award-covered employees because of family and domestic violence is estimated at $14.3 million

This paper examines the effect of national income on the total fertility rate (children born per woman). We estimate the effects on fertility of shocks to national per capita income using plausibly exogenous variations in oil price shock as an instrument for income and using instrumental variable generalized quantile regressions (IV-GQR). Using data for a panel of 122 countries spanning the period 1965–2020, our results show that national per capita income has generally a negative and significant effect on the total fertility rate. Looking at the entire spectrum of the fertility distribution, the IV-GQR estimates exhibit considerable heterogeneity in the impact of income on fertility. The income elasticity of fertility is relatively low at the upper tail of the distribution (for countries with high fertility) compared to the value at the median.

Governments and policymakers worldwide have been setting targets to achieve an ambitious net-zero emission target by 2050 to tackle the pressing issue of climate change. However, achieving the net-zero emission target by 2050 depends on the factors determining the transition from traditional fossil fuel energy sources to renewables. In connection with this, policymakers have emphasised the need to transition from a linear to a circular economy. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of the progress towards a circular economy in reducing CO2 emissions and promoting environmental sustainability. To do so, we use annual historical data for a panel of 29 European countries from 2000 to 2020. Using an identification strategy that adopts heteroscedastic-based instrumental variables and addresses endogeneity issues, we find that progress towards a circular economy significantly improves environmental quality via reducing CO2 emissions. Our findings suggest that business strategies promoting recycling and circular economy practices play an important role in environmental sustainability by reducing emissions.

This report, the sixth in the Focus on Industry series provides an in-depth look at the arts and cultural sectors within the Western Australian economy. With the boundaries of the sector defying definition by standard statistical collections, this report takes a more conceptual view of what are broadly termed ‘creative industries’ and ‘creative workers’, covering the more traditional arts through to newly emerging creative activities, such as digital design and software development for gaming. The report explores the contributions that the creative industries sector makes to WA’s economy and society, and the strengths, opportunities and challenges faced by creative entrepreneurs and workers in this State. Key findings: Nationally, there has been a marked shift from print to digital platforms as mediums for accessing creative output. Nationally, employment in creative occupations grew at almost twice the pace of overall employment growth. In WA, workers in the creative occupations are twice as likely to hold a university degree or higher qualification than all employed workers. The majority of Western Australians report that arts and culture has a large impact on their health and wellbeing, creative thinking, and ability to express themselves. In recent years, WA government funding in culture and the arts has been higher than the national average on a per capital basis.

An extensive number of studies uses trade-to-GDP as a proxy for globalisation in environmental research. Globalisation encompasses much more than just trade in goods. Globalisation is the integration of various countries and includes spillovers of ideas and technology, financial flows, the worldwide movement of labour, and national governments meeting on an international level in a bid to solve social and political problems. This study considers the effect of globalisation on carbon dioxide emissions by using a more flexible and comprehensive measure based on the KOF globalisation index for a panel of 21 OECD nations covering the period 1970–2014. Since the globalisation process is not uniform across countries and time, we use a fully-fledged nonparametric technique to estimate the time-varying coefficient and trend functions. Our results show that the effect of globalization on CO2 emissions is positive up until 2000, then switches to turns negative thereafter.

Amaha Kahsay,1 Hadush Gebregziabher,1 Znabu Hadush,2 Dejen Yemane,2 Abebe Hailemariam,3 Afework Mulugeta1 1Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia; 2Department of Environmental Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia; 3UNICEF Head Office, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Amaha KahsayDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, PO Box: 1871, Ayder, Mekelle, Tigray, EthiopiaTel +251 920322629Email amahakahsay@gmail.comBackground: Adolescence is a time of tremendous physical growth and mental development, with high nutrient requirements. Ethiopia is among the countries with a high prevalence of nutritional deficiencies among the women of reproductive age group, whilst adolescent girls from rural areas suffered disproportionately. However, there is a dearth of evidence regarding the barriers that hinder adolescent girls to utilize the available nutritional services.Purpose: The current study aimed to qualitatively explore the range of barriers for the uptake of nutritional interventions among adolescent girls in rural communities of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.Methods and Participants: We employed an explorative qualitative study among purposively selected adolescent girls and school teachers from rural districts of Tigray region. We conducted 11 focused group discussions with adolescent girls, 17 in-depth interviews (seven with teachers, seven with in-school adolescent girls, and three with out-of-school adolescent girls) using a semi-structured guide. Data was audio-taped, transcribed verbatim in local language, translated into English, and imported into ATLAS.ti version 7.5 qualitative data analysis software for analysis.Results: Adolescents perceived that stunting, anemia, and thinness are among the main nutritional problems in

Child malnutrition remains high in Ethiopia, and inadequate complementary feeding is a contributing factor. In this context, a community-based intervention was designed to provide locally made complementary food for children 6–23 months, using a bartering system, in four Ethiopian regions. After a pilot phase, the intervention was scaled up from 8 to 180 localities. We conducted a process evaluation to determine enablers and barriers for the scaling up of this intervention. Eight study sites were selected to perform 52 key informant interviews and 31 focus group discussions with purposely selected informants. For analysis, we used a framework describing six elements of successful scaling up: socio-political context, attributes of the intervention, attributes of the implementers, appropriate delivery strategy, the adopting community, and use of research to inform the scale-up process. A strong political will, alignment of the intervention with national priorities, and integration with the health care system were instrumental in the scaling up. The participatory approach in decision-making reinforced ownership at community level, and training about complementary feeding motivated mothers and women's groups to participate. However, the management of the complex intervention, limited human resources, and lack of incentives for female volunteers proved challenging. In the bartering model, the barter rate was accepted, but the bartering was hindered by unavailability of cereals and limited financial and material resources to contribute, threatening the project's sustainability. Scaling up strategies for nutrition interventions require sufficient time, thorough planning, and assessment of the community's capacity to contribute human, financial, and material resources.