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The costs due to climate change have been increasing day by day. In addition to the risk of losing our planet's natural assets due to the increasing destructiveness of climate-related natural disasters and extreme climate events, we are also faced with grave economic risks. For this reason, researchers have recently focused on environmental issues. Nevertheless, they generally have investigated developed countries and ignored developing and least developed countries such as African countries. The United Nations (2015) report highlights that African countries should be specially investigated. Hence, the paper analyzes whether the ecological footprint in the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) converges for the period from 1961 to 2017. We employ Bahmani-Oskooee et al.'s (2014) panel unit root test with sharp and smooth breaks. The empirical findings demonstrate that the ecological footprint is stationary in ECCAS and ECOWAS. Stated in other words, the ecological footprint in these countries converges. Therefore, policymakers could implement similar policies to reduce the ecological footprint in these countries. This policy framework paves the way for an effective sustainable development., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The aim of this paper is to investigate the nexus between natural resources, gross capital formation, globalization, and economic growth in the developing countries from European, Asian, African, and American continents. It adopted the panel vector autoregression (PVAR) approach to test this relationship for the period from 1980 to 2018. Results suggest that natural resources and globalization have a positive impact on economic growth in European, Asian, and American countries, while capital formation negatively affects growth. In African countries, the effect of globalization and gross capital formation is positive, but natural resources have a negative impact on GDP. Evidence from all continents illustrate that there is bidirectional causality between globalization and economic growth. Also, there is bidirectional causality detected between capital formation and growth in Europe and Asia and between natural resources and growth in Asia and America, while there is unidirectional causality from GDP to natural resources in Europe, from capital formation to GDP in Africa and America, from GDP to natural resources in Europe, and from natural resources to GDP in America. Based on these results, it can be said that new growth models can no longer be independent of natural resource rents and globalization., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.)

Despite the importance of remittance inflows as potential source of incomes for recipient households and one of main contributors to the development process in various developing countries, their environmental effects have been largely neglected in empirical literature. To fill this gap, the current study proposes an extension of the conventional environmental Kuznets curve by performing a modified version based on remittance inflows in both low- and middle-income countries from 1980 to 2014. Using the novel method of moments quantile regression with fixed effect, the outcomes provide evidence of an inverted N-shaped Kuznets curve for remittances at higher carbon dioxide emitters in lower middle-income countries, proving that remittances allow recipient households to shift toward clean energy pattern (production/consumption). We find U-shaped curve for remittances from the 40th to 80th quantiles in upper middle-income countries along with monotonic negative effect on carbon dioxide emissions at highest quantiles (90th and 95th). No significant effect on environment has been outlined at lower carbon dioxide emitters for all panels. Regarding economic growth, an inverted N-shaped curve has been observed across all quantiles in upper middle-income countries and from lower to middle quantiles in low-income countries. Finally, financial development, as control variable, exerts significant mixed effect on carbon dioxide emissions, swung between positive at all quantiles in low- and upper middle-income countries and negative at lower quantiles in low-income countries. Some recommendations were further built in the present study., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This document is an editorial for a special issue of the journal "Innovation & Development" focused on the financing of innovation for development in the Global South. The editorial highlights the need to address the relationship between finance and innovation, particularly in underdeveloped countries. It discusses the role of public financial institutions, such as national development banks, and explores novel forms of financing for innovation, such as micro-finance and venture capital. The editorial also introduces six research papers included in the special issue that touch on various aspects of finance and innovation in the Global South. Overall, the editorial aims to inspire new research questions and studies in this field. [Extracted from the article]

The RAD-AID Conference on International Radiology for Developing Countries is a yearly forum addressing global shortages of radiology that contribute to health care disparity. In this paper, the authors present key issues and consensus positions related to the planning, analyzing, implementing, and monitoring of radiology in limited-resource areas on the basis of presentations at the 2012 RAD-AID conference, to advocate for (1) economic development to build health care capacity, (2) multidisciplinary educational strategies, (3) innovative epidemiologic and infrastructural solutions tailored to community needs, (4) advanced technical solutions leveraging the widespread use of wireless telecommunications and phone-based portable devices, and (5) improved dialog across radiology and public health institutions for coordinating global health strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The 2011 RAD-AID Conference on International Radiology for Developing Countries discussed data, experiences, and models pertaining to radiology in the developing world, where widespread shortages of imaging services significantly reduce health care quality and increase health care disparities. This white paper from the 2011 RAD-AID conference represents consensus advocacy of multidisciplinary strategies to improve the planning, accessibility, and quality of imaging services in the developing world. Conference presenters and participants discussed numerous solutions to imaging and health care disparities, including (1) economic development for radiologic service planning, (2) public health mechanisms to address disease and prevention at the population and community levels, (3) comparative clinical models to implement various clinical and workflow strategies adapted to unique developing world community contexts, (4) education to improve training and optimize service quality, and (5) technology innovation to bring new technical capabilities to limited-resource regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The RAD-AID Conference on International Radiology for Developing Countries was an assembly of individuals and organizations interested in improving access to medical imaging services in developing countries where the availability of radiology has been inadequate for both patient care and public health programs. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss data, experiences, and models pertaining to radiology in the developing world and to evaluate potential opportunities for future collaboration. Conference participants included radiologists, technologists, faculty members of academic medical institutions, and leadership of nongovernmental organizations involved in international health care and social entrepreneurship. Four main themes from the conference are presented in this white paper as important factors for the implementation and optimization of radiology in the developing world: (1) ensuring the economic sustainability of radiologic services through financial and administrative training support of health care personnel; (2) designing, testing, and deploying clinical strategies adapted for regions with limited resources; (3) structuring and improving the role of American radiology residents interested in global health service projects; and (4) implementing information technology models to support digital imaging in the developing world. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The 2010 RAD-AID Conference on International Radiology for Developing Countries was a multidisciplinary meeting to discuss data, experiences, and models pertaining to radiology in the developing world, where widespread shortages of imaging services reduce health care quality. The theme of this year''s conference was sustainability, with a focus on establishing and maintaining imaging services in resource-limited regions. Conference presenters and participants identified 4 important components of sustainability: (1) sustainable financing models for radiology development, (2) integration of radiology and public health, (3) sustainable clinical models and technology solutions for resource-limited regions, and (4) education and training of both developing and developed world health care personnel. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Increasing economic integration and global synchronization can be key for countries aiming to catch up in GDP per capita terms. Little attention has hitherto been placed in synchronization as determinant of convergence. In this paper we estimate the effect of economic globalization and synchronization on income convergence for a sample of 89 developed and developing countries in the period 1970-2015. We use a dynamic factor model and panel data techniques to undertake the objectives of the paper. We show that synchronized countries (those correlated with the factor) exhibit a higher response on GDP per capita growth with variations on the global business cycle. This implies that synchronization improves growth for that group in global expansionary phases, but also implies risks during global recessions. On the contrary, the effect on growth of an economic globalization index is less relevant for synchronized countries than for asynchronized countries. The latter result implies that asynchronized countries can benefit more increasing their levels of economic globalization., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The humans of modern society are enjoying the luxuries and comforts today but future generations will be facing a more polluted environment and scarcity of natural resources. So the effects of global warming and climatic changes are a major policy concern nowadays around the world. The majority of the literature treats the Carbon Dioxide emissions as an indicator of environmental deterioration but this paper considers the environmental performance index as an indicator of environment. This paper addresses the role of institutional reforms for environmental performance that is hardly discussed in the earlier literature. It is argued that a novel approach of institutional reforms can provide some useful insights for environmental performance in developing countries. There is wide agreement that institutional quality is crucial for economic sustainability but rarely focused to explore the impacts of institutional reforms on environmental performance. The institutional reforms are generally divided into two categories; economic and political reforms. This paper investigated the impact of each category of institutional reforms for environmental performance by using panel data of 122 developing economies for a period of 1996-2020. Difference in differences technique is applied to determine the impact of each category of reforms on the environment. It is found that economic and political reforms significantly contribute to protecting the environment in developing countries, and it will be a good policy option to reform the economic and political institutions to preserve the environment in these countries along with sustainable development., Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interests

Social security systems were successively established in most developing countries in the 1980s and 1990s. To ensure the long-term sustainability of these newly established systems it is essential to carefully monitor the economic impact. Based on the panel data of 21 developing countries from 2000 to 2016, this paper is the first to apply the panel threshold model to empirically analyze the relationship between national health expenditures and economic growth under different levels of human capital. The results show that health expenditure and economic growth have significant interval effects because of the different levels of human capital. Specifically, when human capital levels are low, health expenditure is significantly negatively correlated with economic growth. When human capital is at a medium level, health expenditure has a positive but not significant impact on economic growth. When the level of human capital is high, the positive economic impact of the health expenditure is significantly enhanced. In addition, subgroup analyses indicate that population aging and low fertility aggravate the negative impact of health expenditures on economic growth. This study provides reliable analysis and can be used by developing countries to maintain a long-term sustainable social security system.

Global climate change due to increasing CO2 emissions threatens the development and survival of many countries, especially those on the coast. Intentional government spending by sectors can lower CO2 emissions to help these countries in sustainable development. Meanwhile, governance has some importance in enabling governments to achieve their economic development goals. Does governance affect the public spending - CO2 emissions nexus in developing economies? The paper seeks answers by employing the system GMM Arellano-Bond estimators to assess the impact of public spending, governance/institutional quality, and their interaction on CO2 emissions for a sample of 109 developing economies between 2002 and 2021. The results seem counter-intuitive that public spending reduces and governance increases CO2 emissions, while their interaction lowers them. Furthermore, private investment and economic growth promote CO2 emissions, while trade openness decreases them. The findings in this paper provide some policy lessons for governments of developing economies to protect environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A slew of participatory and community-demand-driven approaches have emerged in order to address the multi-dimensional nature of poverty in developing nations. The present study identifies critical factors responsible for poverty alleviation in India with the aid of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) deployed for showcasing causal reasoning. It is through FCM-based simulations that the study evaluates the efficacy of existing poverty alleviation approaches, including community organisation based micro-financing, capability and social security, market-based and good governance. Our findings confirm, to some degree, the complementarity of various approaches to poverty alleviation that need to be implemented simultaneously for a comprehensive poverty alleviation drive. FCM-based simulations underscore the need for applying an integrated and multi-dimensional approach incorporating elements of various approaches for eradicating poverty, which happens to be a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Besides, the study offers policy implications for the design, management, and implementation of poverty eradication programmes. On the methodological front, the study enriches FCM literature in the areas of knowledge capture, sample adequacy, and robustness of the dynamic system model., Competing Interests: We hereby declare that none of the authors have any conflict of interest on this paper.

This article presents a discussion of E. M. Bernstein's paper about the financial problems of economic development. Bernstein discusses five facets of this problem: to decrease the size of the development program, to energize the inflow of foreign capital, to encourage domestic savings, to gather together the available resources, and to allocate the resources available to the private sector in a way that will stimulate the greatest increase in production. The author believes that this analysis leaves no room for argument.

This article discusses the importance and the implications of Australia's defense policy as described in its 2009 defense white paper, the first statement of its defense policy in nine years. The policy is important because of Australia's strategic prominence in an area that is developing rapidly and has increasing interstate conflict. The article notes that Australia and other nations in the Asia-Pacific area rely heavily on unimpeded maritime activity for their success and development. The article discusses the white paper in detail and presents information about its implications.

This paper assesses the role shipping and logistics foreign direct investment (FDI) plays in developing country export performance, exemplified by the case of the large multinational corporation (MNC) Maersk's investments in Vietnam. The paper aims to generate a deeper understanding of how the introduction of advanced shipping and logistics services by a foreign investor contributed to export growth. The paper is based on a longitudinal case study of Maersk in Vietnam employing more than 100 interviews from Maersk, Maersk's clients, subcontractors, and industry experts conducted between 2003 and 2016, complemented and validated by primary commercial data from Maersk, and secondary industry- and market data. The paper finds that during that period, Maersk impacted Vietnam's export performance through five mechanisms: 1. Building infrastructure; 2. Creating connectivity and market access; 3. Reducing transaction and logistics costs; 4. Bringing buyers and sellers together; and 5. Upgrading export capabilities. While transport and logistics MNCs' role in building infrastructure and reducing trade costs is described in the literature, the paper provides novel insights into their role as intermediaries in trade that provide value chain access and transparency, reduce transaction costs for buyers and producers, and upgrade export capabilities. The paper suggests that Maersk's contributions to Vietnam's export growth from 2003 to 2016 in part can be attributed to its unique competitive advantages originating from its superior organization, technology, and capital intensity. The paper contributes to the literature by deepening it's understanding of the mechanisms through which large shipping and logistics MNCs influence developing countries' export-led industrialization; by proving novel insights into the role of Maersk in Vietnam's development path; and by providing and validating an analytical framework for analyzing shipping and logistics MNCs' role in export led development that may inspire future research, [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is an attempt at applying Samir Amin's lens in the analysis of socio-economic development in Africa. Social and economic development in Africa has been substandard, largely because of the economic system followed and because effective structural transformation has not taken place – Samir Amin's works explained what needed to be done to transform Africa (and the broader global south). It is in this context that the paper posits that post-colonial Africa has had to contend with disruptive socio-economic and political realities instituted by European colonialism, slave trade and inappropriate integration of Africa to the so-called global economy. The fundamental explanation for the poor socio-economic development in Africa is global capitalism, and one of the possible solutions is in Samir Amin's delinking proposal as well as the restructuring of the African economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a neo-classical aggregate production and Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) modeling framework, the paper attempts to explore the relationship between disaggregated energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emissions in case of five emerging market economies-Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa (BRICS) over the period 1992 to 2016. The study applied the robust unit root, cointegration, and long-run elasticity estimation methods like Pooled Mean Group and differenced panel generalized method of moments for empirical exercise. Having detected the panel heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence, the cointegration tests documented the evidence of a long-run association among the variables. In the long-run, capital, labor, and non-renewable energy consumption are found to affect the economic growth positively. On the contrary, the impact of renewable energy consumption on the economic growth is found be positive but statistically insignificant. Moreover, population, per-capita income, and non-renewable energy consumption are found to increase the emissions whereas renewable energy consumption decreases them. Therefore, along with a proper emissions controls, BRICS countries should design and implement effective support policies so as to ensure the economic growth along with environmental sustainability.

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are a central instrument in international development cooperation and of key importance in guiding donors' policies towards southern recipients. However, many aspects of the PRSP have been criticised by a variety of development stakeholders. A checklist of 85 questions has been developed to analyse the inclusion of aspects of sustainable development in PRSPs and to point to sustainability challenges and opportunities. It thus facilitates targeted advice and quality improvements. The checklist was applied to a selection of 12 PRSPs of developing countries. The results reveal an insufficient integration of the ecosystem services concept, of biodiversity and of climate issues. Property rights, gender issues, water and energy are as a rule well elaborated. PRSPs show significant variation in the integration of environmental sustainability issues. Sustainability assessments can contribute to significant improvements between first and second generation PRSPs provided the assessments are supported by a strong institutional framework and a dedicated political commitment towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental degradation is at an alarming level in developing economies. The present paper examines the direct and indirect impacts of corruption on environmental deterioration using the panel data of 64 developing countries. Adopting the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique, the paper finds evidence that corruption exhibits a positive impact on pollution. Subsequently, there is also evidence indicating that the level of pollution tends to be higher in countries with a higher level of corruption, eliminating the effectiveness of income effect on environmental preservation. These results also suggest that environmental degradation is monotonically increasing with higher corruption and invalidate the presence of the EKC. Hence, a policy focuses that an anti-corruption particularly in the environmental and natural resources sector needs to be emphasized and enforced in order to reduce or possibly to totally eliminate the rent for corruption.