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This paper presents an explorative holistic analysis of digitally-constructed gamification processes in mathematics education. The main aim of this study is to identify the key issues, intentions and trends by examining peer-reviewed publications using a combination of social network analysis (SNA), computerized lexical analysis and content analysis. Research findings indicate that there is a growing trend in gamification in mathematics education (GIME) research. GIME is mostly employed in primary school level. It was also found that, numbers is the most gamified math topic. Another research finding reveals that the researchers mostly use gamification to improve mathematical problem-solving, math achievement and math performance apart from the motivation and engagement. According to SNA findings, the most strategic terms in GIME research are as follows; geometry, fractions, mobile-learning, gender-studies, human-computer interaction, intelligent tutoring systems and tangible user-interfaces. GIME research is mostly influenced by USA and Brazil hence, the developing countries have an increasing interest in GIME research. Finally, findings on general research discourse implies that the general discourse among the sampled papers is positive. The findings obtained in this study may be useful to improve mathematics education by mapping a research agenda for researchers and educators with the exploration of potentials of GIME research.

The attitude towards ICT determines the amount of incentive for practicing with it, which may directly affect ICT literacy. So, students' attitude inter alia is one of the substantial building blocks of ICT literacy, which in turn is an important component of improved student achievement brought about by it. This paper is devoted to exploring the determinants of students' attitudes towards ICT. On recognizing the complexity of integration of ICT into education systems and unlike previous research that has largely focused on the idea that student's learning engagement can be boosted through the availability and use of ICT alone, this paper acknowledges that integrating ICT into education is a complex process and the link between supplying ICT resources and enhanced student attainment is far from straightforward. Using rich PISA 2018 survey data from N = 129,724 students in 47 countries/economies, the results from this paper indicate that girls have better attitudes towards ICT than boys; students in private schools have more interest in ICT than those in public ones; students using ICT outside of school for leisure have a higher level of interest; and students with higher levels of fear of failure are more interested in ICT.

Purpose: Digital literacy is not the mere ability to use a digital device or know to use various software. It is a domain of exploration for sociology, psychology, education and, of course, technology. This study aims to present a quantitative analysis of the literature on digital literacy using a bibliometric approach. Design/methodology/approach: Using data from the Web of Science database, the importance of the research is evaluated by reviewing 2307 publications and examining the yearly publication, field category productivity, citation structure, most cited resources, documents, most-cited authors, most productive authors, and country in the field of digital literacy. Further, a cluster analysis is conducted to see the most recurrent keywords and emerging trends in this field. At last, the authors analyzed the thematic progression of keywords over these five years based on the normalized citations. Additionally, a graphical representation of the bibliometric data using VOSviewer is presented in the paper. Findings: The results suggest a steady rate of publication in this field, with most of the research published in education and library fields and the USA leading the country in this realm. The emerging themes in this field are 'Fake News', 'Competence', 'Educational Technology', 'Health Literacy', 'Self-Efficacy' and, interestingly, 'COVID-19'. The results also revealed that COVID-19 has been examined and associated with fake news, higher education, social media and information literacy. Originality/value: This paper provides an overall summary of the most recent research work published from 2017 to 2021 on digital literacy in the backdrop of COVID-19. The study presents the thematic progression over the years and particularly the new keywords that emerged in the limelight of the pandemic. It contributes by updating the existing body of knowledge in the field of digital literacy and presents preliminary results related to COVID-19.

The importance of inclusive education receives global acceptance. The current paper presents a bibliometric analysis of 8398 papers dealing with inclusive education between 1980 and 2019. The research aim is to gain information on scientific productivity, international collaboration activities, and the conceptual structure of this research field. Descriptive analyses, co-authorship collaboration analysis and co-word analysis were conducted to obtain a comprehensive knowledge map of inclusive education research. The results show a fast growing body of research in inclusive education over the years with intensive international collaboration patterns. Six research clusters could be identified. Major and intensively studied research themes are disability issues, teacher professionalisation, teacher practices, attitudes towards inclusive education, social processes, support, curricular issues, student perspective, parent perspective, intercultural education, policy, etc. Research addressing inclusive education from a queer perspective, bullying, stigmatisation, digital education and emerging technologies in inclusive settings are under-represented and should be intensified in future studies.

A documentary review was conducted on the production and publication of research papers on studying the variable Digital Transformation, Education and COVID-19. The bibliometric analysis proposed in this document aims to know the main characteristics of the volume of publications registered in the Scopus database from 2020 to 2022, achieving the identification of 464 publications in total. The information provided by this platform was organized using tables and figures, categorizing the information by Year of Publication, Country of Origin, Area of Knowledge and Type of Publication. Once these characteristics were described, the position of different authors regarding the proposed topic was referenced through qualitative analysis. Among the main findings of this research, it is found that Spain, with 49 publications, was the country with the highest global production. The area of knowledge that made the most significant contribution to the construction of bibliographic material related to the study of Digital Transformation, Education and COVID-19 was the area of Social Sciences with 253 published documents, and the type of publication that was most used during the period mentioned above was the journal article, representing 54% of the total scientific production.

Students' action competence must be taught and developed, particularly for prospective science teachers, to have a pedagogical perspective as environmental educators. As indicated by publications in respected journals, researchers' focus and alignment on the issue of action competence are highly expected. This systematic literature review aims to compare the findings of research articles published by Web of Science-indexed journals. The keyword used to find the articles on the Web of Science's database was "action competence," which discovered 193 publications. Furthermore, 25 articles met the criteria to be analyzed. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis was the inclusion and exclusion model used. In the last three years, research focused on action competence has increased. The research employed several methods, i.e., qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and development research. Jelle Boevede Pauw and Wanda Sass were the authors who frequently published research that focused on action competence. The keyword action competence was directly associated with environmental education, sustainable development, education-based learning for sustainable development, and evaluation. The authors who published their research with this focus were from 16 countries, mainly from Europe, i.e., Sweden, Belgium, and Denmark. The continent diversity of authors who contributed articles indicated that the action competence issue had become a global concern. Furthermore, it was found that the number of non-collaborating publications (universities or countries) was higher than those collaborating, even though single authors rarely wrote the articles. The recent trend shows that publications are authored by scientists with various backgrounds such as fields, universities, and even countries. The authors of this paper developed and proposed eight ideas to be reflected by prospective science teachers or science teacher education providers in educating future science teachers concerned about action competence about sustainable development.

The study discussed in this paper is a systematic literature review related to the role of dual language programme (DLP) in mathematics education which has been published within the last 5 years. This study was conducted to identify the distribution of DLP studies in terms of year of publication, the study context covered in previous studies, the context of study areas used, focus and trends of past studies, research methods used in previous studies and the role of language in school mathematics education. This review study followed the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA) to analyze articles from Scopus and Web of Science. The findings of the study indicate that research trends in the implementation of the DLP on mathematics education for secondary school students showed an increase from 2017 to 2019. Most DLP-related articles are widely developed in the United States and Germany. The findings indicate that previous studies are more interested in studying the implementation of DLP in rural areas. Past studies have also preferred to use the design of either a qualitative study or a quantitative study to be implemented. Questionnaires, tests and interviews are among the research instruments that are often used for a study.

In this paper we consider the experiences of international students studying in Norway, analysing data from more than 5,000 survey respondents. Variations according to students' region of origin and whether they are full degree students or exchange students are the focus. Students report a high level of overall satisfaction, exchange students in particular, and the vast majority of students are content with the quality of teaching. Students from the African continent report being more content than others, despite struggling somewhat more with academic demands and having weaker social networks, something they have in common with Asian students. Multivariate analyses show that type of mobility (full degree cf. exchange), region of origin, coping with academic demands, satisfaction with teaching and interaction with Norwegians are predictors of overall satisfaction with studying in Norway. The patterns observed are assumed to be related to prior experiences and expectations.

This paper revisits the relationship between human capital and income inequality, using an updated data set on human capital inequality and a novel database on earnings inequality. We find an inverted U-shaped relationship between these two inequality indicators, but with significant differences across countries regarding the turning point. Skill-biased technological change is found to be an additional force that may blur the relationship between human capital and earnings inequality. Over and above the effect exerted through earnings inequality, the paper shows that human capital inequality has a direct positive effect on income inequality.

Research on augmented reality (AR) in education is gaining momentum worldwide. This field has been actively growing over the past decades in terms of the research and development of new technologies. Reviews in the field of AR in education consist of systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses (around 45), surveys (around 33), and only one bibliometric analysis. However, these reviews do not provide a general synthesis of the research published in the field to depict its evolution over the years. This study used the metadata of articles from a 25-year period (1995-2020) to conduct a bibliometric analysis. A total of 3,475 studies were considered. In this study, we used tools such as the Scopus database, the bibliometrix R package, and the VOSviewer analysis tool. The analysis of the literature is based on the metadata, author, content, and citation information extracted from the dataset. In addition, we focus on comparing literature published mainly in journals (articles, articles in press, and reviews) and those published in other sources (conference papers, books, and book chapters). Practitioners could use the results of this study to make decisions about the adoption of AR technologies in education.

Much research has been made in recent years on the effect of over and under education on earnings. In this paper, I examine the validity of the assumption that the return to over (under) education is independent of the level of education. I use data from the PIAAC survey to estimate the return to education. The findings show that while this assumption might be valid for the return to under-education, it seems to be wrong for estimating the return to over-education. I offer an alternative model where the return to over-education or under-education is not linear and depends on the level of education.

Canada is among the top three receiving countries for international students globally, and the leading sources of international students consist of countries in the Global South. Despite the multilingual reality of universities in Canada, most institutional language policies require only English or French to be used in instruction and assessment. The consequences of these policies include challenges in ensuring inclusive and equitable education. A translanguaging pedagogy has the potential to affirm and leverage the diverse language practices of international students, but it needs to be centered in the lived experiences, language practices, knowledge systems, and goals of a multilingual student body. This paper reports on the experiences and recommendations of international graduate students from the Global South related to pedagogical translanguaging in higher education. Data sources included interviews with 15 graduate students enrolled in the education faculty of a Canadian university. A thematic analysis of the data suggested that students' translanguaging practices are restricted to informal spaces and 'secret talk,' and influenced by their instructors' varied attitudes and language policies. Students' recommendations include affirming translanguaging as a right and pedagogical resource for international students, incorporating translanguaging in academic writing, diversifying hiring practices, and providing training for instructors and prospective teachers.

This paper presents research on girls' and boys' gendered perceptions of their learning during school closures due to COVID-19. The research was conducted in ten countries affected by displacement across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. We applied statistical analysis using multivariate logistic regression models from the results of a survey conducted with parents or caregivers and their children. We complemented the quantitative study with qualitative methodology, which provided a nuanced understanding of girls' and boys' perceptions of their learning and their voiced concerns during the COVID-19-related school closures. Our results show that the children in the displaced settings are likely to perceive a decline in learning during the pandemic, and that the factors influencing this perception differ between boys and girls. Girls' perceptions of learning "nothing" or only "a little bit" were more strongly associated with material barriers, such as limited access to learning materials and household economic circumstances, than was the case for boys. The boys' experience of learning "a little bit" or "nothing" was more strongly associated with increased negative feelings, including feeling sad or worried, increased violence in the home, and increased responsibility for looking after siblings or other children. This research notes the importance of supporting displaced children by providing adequate resources to enable equitable access to learning, and calls for cross-sectoral programming to support displaced children who are dealing with emotional pressure.

Numerous studies in different science fields have examined the various aspects of educational interventions designed to facilitate learning outcomes in students with dyslexia. The aim of this study was to present an overview of empirical research related to interventions aimed at primary school students with dyslexia. Mapping was conducted to identify studies on this topic published from 2015 to 2019 and included in the Scopus database. The descriptive data from 57 studies were analyzed to present a classification scheme of research design, type of educational intervention, implementation of technology in educational interventions, and aim of the intervention. The results indicated an increasing trend in the last 5 years in the publication of papers in researched areas related to educational interventions for students with dyslexia, with uneven representation among countries. The analyzed empirical studies were mostly analytic, using different designs, with a slightly higher prevalence of (quasi) experimental versus descriptive designs. As expected, the goal of most educational interventions was directed toward the development of (pre)reading skills, with a wider prevalence of structured language-based programs, followed by software specialized to support learning, whereas adaptations of instructional materials and innovative information and communication technology (ICT) were less used. Mapping indicated the frequent use of ICT in all educational interventions, and more evidence is needed for complex rigorous experimental designs and interventions related to teaching in the classroom, as well as interventions aimed at facilitating the self-regulation of students with dyslexia.

The aim of this study was to explore the differential relationships between students' science performance and their ICT availability, ICT use, and attitudes toward ICT based on the data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 across the countries and regions including South/ Latin America, Europe, and Asia and Pacific. Before 2015, the PISA tests were paper-based, but in 2015, for the first time, a computer-based test was used. The mean score in science performance decreased dramatically in PISA 2015. In order to propose a plausible reason for this decrease, the relationships between students' science performance and students' ICT availability, ICT use, and attitudes toward ICT were examined. The ICT Development Indexes (IDI) of 35 countries were used to investigate whether the relationships vary across countries. Two-level regression was employed for the analysis, taking into account plausible values and sample weights. The results indicated that there was a differential relationship among countries and regions for how much of the total variance was explained through ICT related factors. Controlling major student- and school-level variables, as IDI scores of countries increase, explained variances of science scores by ICT use, availability and attitude increase in South/ Latin America, whereas, for countries in Europe, the explained variances decrease. In Asia and Pacific, explained variances across countries were similar. Further implications are discussed emphasizing the importance of regions-based perspectives.

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) captures important individual beliefs (attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behaviour control), which influence people's intentions towards performing a given behaviour. Due to the successful application of TPB to a number of areas of human activity, it has been adopted as a framework in a number of studies assessing teachers' intentions towards implementing inclusive education. However, little work has been done to synthesise these studies. In this study, we reviewed published studies on inclusive education (2007 to 2019), which used the TPB as a framework to understand reporting trends and identify research gaps. We followed the guidelines for the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). Five keywords were used to search for studies in nine databases, which resulted in the identification of 604 papers, of which 22 satisfied the pre-set inclusion and quality assessment criteria. Although the findings from some studies confirm the ability of TPB to predict teachers' intentions, the link between the predictors and actual behaviour was unclear. Moreover, there was divergence between the findings of the qualitative and quantitative studies. Limitations, recommendations for future studies and implications for inclusive practice are discussed.

Purpose: The Farmer Field School (FFS) has been used to enable farmers to adapt their farming decisions according to the field situation. This paper explores the methodological state, challenges and lessons learned, of the FFS around the World. Design/methodology/approach: We used a 52-item questionnaire to capture issues of design, implementation and evaluation of the FFS. Completed questionnaires were received from 57 ongoing or recent FFS programmes. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings: FFS programmes have diversified, including multiple crops and livestock. Farmer involvement in the design and planning of interventions was found to be critical. FFS programmes increasingly relied on farmers as FFS facilitators. Short training duration for FFS facilitators raised concern about FFS quality. Even though mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation were mostly in place, capacity for data analysis and data utilization were a concern. Practical implications: Results highlight strengths and shortcomings in design, implementation and evaluation of the FFS. The information acquired can be used to support the quality of ongoing and future programmes. Theoretical implications: This research contributed to understanding that the educational foundations of the FFS should be reflected in programme design and evaluation. Originality/value: Many studies of the FFS exist, but this is the first global overview on how farmer field school programmes are carried out, with various lessons learned.

Since the 1980s, inequality has been rising in Europe, North America and parts of Asia. How does our understanding of global inequality dynamics change if coverage is extended to the rest of the developing world? To rebalance the perspective on global inequality trends, this paper surveys data and literature on recent inequality trends in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It finds that in these regions there are more countries with falling than rising inequality over the past 20 years, as measured by Ginis of income or consumption inequality. At the global level, therefore, there are signs of inequality convergence, as inequality has been falling in countries with high inequality in the 1990s (particularly Latin America), and rising in historically low-inequality countries. We discuss the political and economic drivers of inequality decline in countries with a steady fall in the Gini. This suggests some common trends across the globe, including the role of democratisation, the rise of new social movements, and the expansion of education and social safety nets and favourable commodity prices, in reducing income disparities. This paper calls for more country-level comparisons of inequality trends, to highlight the multiplicity of paths in this latest phase of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ties between Latin America and Asia by moving beyond the homogenisation of the two regions through elevating the importance of opposition to a third party, in this case an "imperialist" and developed North. In contrast to normative analyses based on outmoded conceptions of world history, it proposes an intellectual exercise that problematises the interregional bond by placing the emphasis on heterogeneities rather than broad bush approaches that ignore the complex and diverse national and regional realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces Kohonen self-organizing maps to the scholarly discussion of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We use data through the MDGs' approximate mid-point (2000–2008) to analyze three world regions: Africa, Asia and Latin America. We observe a handful of countries that showcase noteworthy progress, including Ghana, Senegal, China, Vietnam, India, and Brazil, and then examine more closely the three major regions of developing countries: Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Major statistical differences within Africa separate the northern and southern regions from the central, eastern and western regions. In contrast, Latin America and Asia are largely homogeneous in the MDG measures with the exceptions of Afghanistan, Haiti, and Bolivia, which lag far behind. The substantial differences between Africa and the other continents (and indeed within Africa itself) appear to be mainly attributable to deficiencies in education and information and communications technology infrastructure, both areas that are imperative for the achievement of other MDGs. The paper demonstrates self-organizing maps to be a useful tool in evaluating differential convergence over the three time periods under investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The causes presented in the literature of the middle-income trap are generic, emphasizing the quality of the legal institutions of the country, demographic problems, the lack of social infrastructure, poor macroeconomic policies, etc. were already present in developing countries when they were growing fast. Besides, the income interval used on the studies on the trap was too large. • Instead of promoting the growth, the liberalizing reforms, which were more radical in Latin America than in Asia, caused an increase in the interest rate and dismantled the mechanism that neutralized the Dutch disease – both facts leading to the chronic overvaluation of the exchange rate, which represented a competitive disadvantage of the companies utilizing the best technology available. • In the economic literature, it is well established that the currencies of the commodity-focused economies tend to be appreciated in the long run because they face the Dutch disease. On the other hand, central banks in the region tend to define a high interest rate around which they organize their monetary policy so as to attract foreign capital and "grow with external savings" – this representing a second major cause of overvaluation of the national currencies of Latin American countries. • The main conclusion of the research is that, in the period of 1980–2016, the Latin American countries didn't fall into middle-income but a liberalization trap; the reason why they have fallen into quasi-stagnation while Asian countries did not lie in the liberal reforms. Opening trade in countries that have the Dutch disease meant dismantling the pragmatic mechanisms that neutralized it; financial liberalization limited the ability of countries to control distorted flows of capital and created conditions for the increase in the interest rate. • The instrument to neutralize the Dutch disease on the domestic market side were import tariffs on manufactured goods. To the extent that they were just neutralizing the Dutch disease, they were not protectionist – they were just giving the local manufacturing industry equal conditions of competition with the companies of other countries. If the import tariffs on manufactured goods were higher than what was required to neutralize the Dutch disease, they would be also protectionist. This paper offers an alternative explanation to the slow-down observed in the growth of developing countries. Instead of a middle-income trap what happened was a liberalization trap. Growth didn't happen because countries turned middle-income, but happened in a given period, around the 1980s, when these countries faced a serious foreign debt crisis and were constrained to open their economies. The studies on the middle-income trap have adopted a broad income interval and were unable to offer new historical facts that explained why these countries stop growing fast. Differently, this paper shows that the trade liberalization and the financial liberalization that started in the 1980s involved the dismantling of the mechanism that neutralized the Dutch disease and the change from low to high interest rates – both facts leading to a long-term or chronic overvaluation of the exchange rate that made the manufacturing industry non-competitive and caused deindustrialization and low growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural transformation is a key feature of economic development. Developed countries all followed the same process of structural transformation. This paper asks whether developing countries also follow a similar process. Three key findings emerge from the detailed analysis. First, developing countries are following different paths of structural transformation that deviate from those of developed countries in different ways. Second, the paths of the subcontinents of Africa, Asia, and Latin America are distinct, and there is great heterogeneity within each region. Third, many countries experience substantial structural transformation during periods of economic stagnation or even decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A new social policy tool emerged a little more than a decade in Latin America and in Asia that brought immediate relief in the form of cash to poor families with children and conditioned the benefits on behavioral changes that would affect the long-term well-being of beneficiary households. By conditioning benefits on school attendance and obtaining health care and social support services, many countries, especially those in Latin America, were able to reverse intergenerational and intractable poverty rates. These programs, conditional cash transfers (CCTs) spread quickly throughout Latin America but have also become popular in other parts of the world. This paper looks at how CCTs have been used as a child policy strategy in Asia, summarizing the forms it has taken and the effectiveness of the programs in six Asian countries, and ends with a discussion of lessons learned from these experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on 'late development', or more precisely, 'late industrialization': the idea that the industrialization of one part of the world altered the possibilities for industrialization elsewhere, such that later industrializations would take different forms from the original industrial revolution. For half a century, following Alexander Gerschenkron's account of late Tsarist Russia, the leading role of the state has been seen in the literature as the major characteristic of late industrialization in Latin America, Asia and Africa. The paper endorses the emphasis on the importance of the role of the state, but argues that a gap has emerged between the economic historiography of late industrialization before the First World War, and the political economy literature on the more recent industrializations, written by Alice Amsden and others. A number of issues are identified for further research, in the direction of a unified analysis of the history of late industrialization. The paper goes on to argue that the study of 'late industrialization' needs to be given a thematically wider and chronologically deeper frame. This possibility arises from the approach to very long-term economic development developed over the last decade or so by Kaoru Sugihara. In his view, Asian development was distinguished from Western development not just by the greater role of the state but by greater labour (increasingly accompanied by skill) - intensity. The paper explores the significance and problems of Sugihara's distinction of plural 'paths' of very long-term economic development, defined by characteristic technical and institutional responses to relative factor endowments. Questions arise, for example, in the context of the different experiences of Latin America and Africa, as well as from variations across Asia. It is suggested that a research agenda emerges that may allow us to enrich the analysis of 'late industrialization', and set it firmly in the context of longer-term economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how differences in distinct institutional clusters of countries impact on the vital entrepreneurial activity of venture capital, and how individuals, organizatons, and their collective action in turn shape those institutions The focus on venture capital offers researchers the opportunity to view an industry that comes from a common root, with strong and consistent traditions, in which to examine how the differing institutional settings impact on behaviors in different markets, and how the institutions themselves may change in these settings. We also focus on emerging economies, since such economies offer a natural laboratory to study the impact of institutional change Specifically this paper employs an institutional theory perspective to examine venture capital n two regions of the world that form institutional clusters of countries -- Latin America and Asia. It is found that the venture capital industry exhibits a strong consistency across many dimensions; yet institutions in these two distinct settings result in significant differences in industry practice. Therefore this research is able to contribute to both empirical and theoretical understanding of emerging economies, institutions in those environments, and venture capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The contribution of copper-bearing intrauterine devices (IUDs) to overall contraceptive protection has declined in many countries, despite their well-known advantages. In response, initiatives to promote this method have been undertaken.Objective: To review and interpret the experience of interventions to promote use of IUDs in low- and middle-income countries in order to provide strategic guidance for policies and programs.Methods: We conducted a systematic search of Medline, Popline, Embase and Global Health electronic databases for relevant journal papers, reports and gray literature since 2010. Telephone interviews were held with two donors and six international family planning organizations.Results: We identified a total of 31 publications. Four reported the results of randomized control trials and three were derived from quasi-experiments. The majority were based on service statistics. Eight publications concerned interventions for HIV-positive women or couples, nine for postpartum or postabortion cases and 14 for general populations. Intervention approaches included vouchers, franchising of private practitioners, mobile outreach services, placement of dedicated staff in high-volume facilities and demand creation. Most publications adduced evidence of a positive impact and some reported impressively large numbers of IUD insertions. Results to date on the uptake of IUDs in postpartum interventions are modest. There is also almost no evidence of effects on IUD use at national levels. Implant uptake generally exceeded IUD uptake when both were offered.Conclusion: The evidence base is weak and offers few lessons on what strategies are most effective. The overall impression is that IUD use can be increased in a variety of ways but that progress is hampered by persistent adverse perceptions by both providers and potential clients. Provider enthusiasm is a key to success. The lack of a population impact stems in part from the fact that nearly all interventions are initiated by international organizations, with limited national reach except in small countries, rather than by government agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we take a look at the process of technology development in Latin America and the Caribbean using the surrogate measure of US patents granted as a tangible, quantified and recorded output of the technology development process. Our data include all the US patents granted between 1991-2008, in which at least one inventor was a resident of the country studied. We first compared the growth of patents developed in the top 10 economies in Latin America and the Caribbean with those of the top 10 economies of Asia. As expected, in terms of technology development, we observed wide variation among the countries in each of the two regions. We also observed the rapid growth exhibited by the Asian as opposed to the Latin American and Caribbean countries. We then investigated in detail the nature of technological development followed by Brazil in the South American region by studying: a) the category of the patent - utility or design; b) the ownership of the patents; c) the technology trajectory the patent belongs to; d) organisational status of the assignee, whether individual, corporate or an institute; e) residence status of the team of inventors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper challenges the idea that there exists a unique model of reform for infrastructure sectors which is equally applicable across regions and countries and expected to yield similar outcomes. We perform an empirical analysis of the impact of privatization of the fixed-line activity of the traditional telecommunications operator on network expansion, tariffs, and labor efficiency in a 1985–2007 data set on a selection of 108 countries that we split into regional sub-samples. We find that the performance of privatization depends to a large extent on regional factors related to market profitability, wealth, and geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Prenatal and delivery care are critical both for maternal and newborn health. Using the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data for thirty-two low-income countries across Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, and employing a two-level random-intercept model, this paper empirically assesses the influence of prenatal attendance and a wide array of observed individual-, household- and community-level characteristics on a woman’s decision to give birth at a health facility or at home. The results show that prenatal attendance does appreciably influence the use of facility delivery in all three geographical regions, with women having four visits being 7.3 times more likely than those with no prenatal care to deliver at a health facility. These variations are more pronounced for Sub-Saharan Africa. The influence of the number of prenatal visits, maternal age and education, parity level, and economic status of the birthing women on the place of delivery is found to vary across the three geographical regions. The results also indicate that obstetrics care is geographically and economically more accessible to urban and rural women from the non-poor households than those from the poor households. The strong influence of number of visits, household wealth, education and regional poverty on the site of delivery setting suggests that policies aimed at increasing the use of obstetric care programs should be linked with the objectives of social development programs such as poverty reduction, enhancing the status of women, and increasing primary and secondary school enrollment rate among girls. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recently, Asian and Latin American countries have engaged in a series of negotiations to liberalize trade and investment flows. This paper analyzes the potential impact of a free trade agreement (FTA) between countries of both regions, applying a world dynamic general equilibrium model (MIRAGE). An important feature of the model is that it includes a new way of modeling bilateral investment flows and bilateral investment agreements. This is especially important given that investment plays a major role in the economic relations of the two regions. Our results show that most countries will benefit from the agreement; nevertheless, the gains of Latin American countries will be higher, especially when all Asian countries participate. In addition, Latin America benefits from increased FDI inflows, mainly from developed Asian countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A social franchise in health is a network of for-profit private health practitioners linked through contracts to provide socially beneficial services under a common brand. The early 21st century has seen considerable donor enthusiasm for promoting social franchises for the provision of reproductive health services. Based on a compendium of descriptive information on 45 clinical social franchises, located in 27 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, this paper examines their contribution to universal access to comprehensive reproductive health services. It finds that these franchises have not widened the range of reproductive health services, but have mainly focused on contraceptive services, and to a lesser extent, maternal health care and abortion. In many instances, coverage had not been extended to new areas. Measures taken to ensure sustainability ran counter to the objective of access for low-income groups. In almost two-thirds of the franchises, the full cost of all services had to be paid out of pocket and was unaffordable for low-income women. While standards and protocols for quality assurance were in place in all franchises, evidence on adherence to these was limited. Informal interviews with patients indicated satisfaction with services. However, factors such as difficulties in recruiting franchisees and significant attrition, franchisees' inability to attend training programmes, use of lay health workers to deliver services without support or supervision, and logistical problems with applying quality assurance tools, all raise concerns. The contribution of social franchises to universal access to reproductive health services appears to be uncertain. Continued investment in them for the provision of reproductive health services does not appear to be justified until and unless further evidence of their value is forthcoming. Dans la santé, une franchise sociale est un réseau de praticiens privés à but lucratif tenus par contrat d'assurer des services socialement bénéfiques sous une même marque. Au début du XXIe siècle, les donateurs ont encouragé avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme les franchises sociales pour les services de santé génésique. Se fondant sur un recueil d'informations descriptives relatives à 45 franchises sociales cliniques, situées dans 27 pays d'Afrique, d'Asie et d'Amérique latine, cet article examine leur contribution à l'accès universel à des services globaux de santé génésique. Il révèle que ces franchises n'ont pas élargi l'éventail de services de santé génésique, mais se sont principalement centrées sur la contraception et, dans une moindre mesure, les soins maternels et l'avortement. Dans de nombreux cas, la couverture n'avait pas été étendue à de nouvelles zones. Les mesures prises pour garantir la viabilité vont à l'encontre de l'objectif d'accès des groupes à faible revenu. Dans près des deux tiers des franchises, le coût total de l'ensemble des services devait être payé par les patients et était inabordable pour les femmes à faible revenu. Les normes et les protocoles d'assurance qualité étaient en place dans toutes les franchises, mais on dispose de données limitées sur leur observance. Des entretiens informels avec des patients ont indiqué qu'ils étaient satisfaits des services. Néanmoins, les difficultés pour recruter des franchisés et une certaine usure, l'incapacité des franchisés de suivre des programmes de formation, l'utilisation d'agents de santé profanes pour assurer des services sans soutien ni supervision et des problèmes logistiques pour appliquer les outils d'assurance qualité sont autant de facteurs préoccupants. La contribution des franchises sociales à l'accès universel aux services de santé génésique paraît incertaine. Il ne semble pas justifié de continuer d'investir en leur faveur pour la prestation de services de santé génésique, à moins que de nouvelles données ne prouvent leur utilité. Una franquicia social en salud es una red de profesionales de la salud particulares con fines de lucro, vinculados mediante contratos para ofrecer servicios de beneficio social bajo una marca en común. A principios del siglo XXI se ha visto un considerable entusiasmo por parte de donantes para promover las franquicias sociales para la prestación de servicios de salud reproductiva. Basado en un compendio de información descriptiva sobre 45 franquicias sociales clínicas, situadas en 27 países de Ãfrica, Asia y Latinoamérica, este artículo examina su contribución al acceso universal a los servicios integrales de salud reproductiva. Se encontró que estas franquicias no han ampliado la gama de servicios de salud reproductiva, sino que se han centrado principalmente en servicios de anticoncepción y, a menor grado, en servicios de salud materna y de aborto. En muchos casos, no se había extendido la cobertura a nuevas áreas. Las medidas tomadas para garantizar sostenibilidad eran contrarias al objetivo de acceso para grupos de bajos ingresos. En casi dos terceras partes de las franquicias, las pacientes tuvieron que pagar el costo total de todos los servicios, inasequible para mujeres de bajos ingresos. Aunque todas las franquicias habían establecido normas y protocolos para garantizar la calidad, había limitada evidencia de su cumplimiento. Las entrevistas informales con pacientes indicaron satisfacción con los servicios. No obstante, preocupan factores como las dificultades en reclutar franquiciados y una considerable amortización de puestos de trabajo, la imposibilidad de los franquiciados de asistir a programas de capacitación, el uso de trabajadores de la salud laicos para proporcionar servicios sin apoyo o supervisión, y los problemas logísticos aplicando las herramientas de garantía de la calidad. La contribución de franquicias sociales al acceso universal a los servicios de salud reproductiva parece ser incierta. A menos que surja más evidencia de su valor, no se justifica continuar invirtiendo en ellas para la prestación de servicios de salud reproductiva. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents Latin American and Asian perspectives on the biofuels emerging industry. The Brazilian's possibilities of participation on this industry evolution and the involvement on the world trade for ethanol and biodiesel are discussed. Also, an investigation about who will be the main "strategic" partners of Brazil in this sector is made: the huge consumer markets of developed countries or the emerging and also hungry consumers of energy Asian economies? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]