Search

The study emphasizes to examine the causal relationship among CO 2 emission, agricultural value added, industrial production, urbanization, nuclear energy consumption, and economic growth across the panel of 59 countries. The data is collected from World Bank database over the period of 1982-2015. For econometric estimations, we have divided the sample into different income groups: low income, lower middle income, upper middle income, and higher income. In case of higher income countries, empirical results have reported the unidirectional causality from agricultural value added to CO 2 emission, whereas, bidirectional causality between nuclear energy consumption and CO 2 emission. Upper-middle-income countries have confirmed the bidirectional causality between CO 2 emissions and agricultural added; however, unidirectional causality runs from nuclear consumption to CO 2 emission. According to Granger causality estimations, agricultural value added and nuclear energy consumption do not cause the CO 2 emission in low income and lower-middle-income countries. Long-run estimations have mentioned that higher agricultural value added leads to increase the CO2 emission, in upper middle income and higher income countries. On contrary, in case of low-income and lower-middle-income countries, agricultural value added has inverse relationship with CO 2 emission. Higher nuclear energy consumption tends to reduce the CO 2 emission, except the upper-middle-income countries.

Although the role that renewable energy consumption plays on economic growth and emissions has been widely studied, there are relatively few papers focusing on the determinants of renewable energy consumption, and only one study focuses on the factors related to the share of renewables in the energy consumption in Africa. This paper contributes to the literature by filling the gap in knowledge by exploring the nexus between the share of renewables in energy consumption and social and economic variables, for a panel consisting of 21 African countries for the period between 1990 and 2013, extending the set of variables and the time span used by a previous study. Estimating a random-effects generalized least squares regression, we find that countries with a higher Human Development Index and a higher gross domestic product per capita have a lower share of renewable energy in the national grid. On the other hand, an increase in foreign direct investment has been found to be related to higher renewable energy integration. The level of democracy, measured by the Freedom House political rights and civil liberties ratings, does not directly affect the integration level of renewable energy sources. The negative relationship between gross domestic product per capita and the share of renewables contradicts previous findings for developed countries. This contradiction and policy implications are discussed in the light of the review of the energy mix of the selected countries.

Emerging economies are experiencing considerable economic changes due to change in energy demand and CO 2 emissions. To explore the link between energy demand and CO 2 emissions, this study disaggregates energy consumption into renewable and nonrenewable, and investigates its impact on carbon (CO 2 ) emissions by incorporating the role of trade openness using the environment Kuznets curve (EKC) framework. Emerging economies from 1990 to 2015 are examined based on Morgan Stanley Capital International's (MSCI's) classification. This empirical study uses cross-sectional dependence (CD) test and second-generation panel unit root test for precise estimation. The Pedroni and Westerlund panel cointegration tests are used to examine the long-run equilibrium. Continuously updated fully modified (CUP-FM) and continuously updated bias-corrected (CUP-BC) approaches are applied to investigate long-run output elasticities while the vector error correction model (VECM) is used to examine the direction of causal relationships among the variables. The results show that renewable energy consumption affects the CO 2 emissions negatively while nonrenewable energy consumption positively impacts the CO 2 emissions. The study also supports the EKC hypothesis. Trade openness adversely affects the CO 2 emissions which are an imperative inclination of these economies towards globalization. Moreover, in the long run, energy consumption from renewable energy and economic growth Granger cause CO 2 emission, nonrenewable energy, and trade openness. In the short run, renewable energy Granger causes economic growth, while economic growth Granger causes nonrenewable energy. The study offers some vital policy suggestions for these emerging economies and some interesting lessons for the developing economies.

The study revisits the position of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in India by incorporating the role of energy consumption and democratic regime in the environmental degradation function for the period 1971-2014. Employing Zivot-Andrews nonstationarity test, Bayer-Hanck cointegration test, autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, and vector autoregressive model (VECM) Granger causality test, the results found the integration order of I(1) and a stable cointegration among the series. The result validates the EKC hypothesis for India and further divulges that while energy consumption increases environmental degradation both in the long run and short run; the effect of democracy in reducing environmental degradation is weak (statistically insignificant) in the long run but strong (statistically significant) in the short run. The finding from the VECM Granger causality test indicates a long-run causality between the fundamental variables and environmental degradation. Furthermore, the results of the short run show a unidirectional Granger causality running from energy consumption to environmental degradation, energy consumption to real income, and energy consumption to square of real income. Therefore, our findings suggest that energy conservation policy should be prioritized towards harnessing energy from clean sources to mitigate environmental degradation and spur economic growth.

The linkage between high concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and climate change is well recognized as there is severe influence of climate change on public health. Carbon dioxide is most prominent GHG which deteriorates the environment and impacts human health. On the parallel, economic growth also affects health conditions sometimes positively or vice versa. The objective of this research work is to examine the dynamic linkages among CO 2 emissions, health expenditures, and economic growth in the presence of gross fixed capital formation and per capita trade by using auto regressive distributive lag (ARDL) model for Pakistan covering annual data from the year 1995-2017. Our empirical results show that there is significant long run as well as short-term causal relationship between health expenditure, CO 2 emissions, and economic growth in Pakistan. Bidirectional relationship of Granger causality is found between health expenditures and CO 2 emissions, and further between health expenditures and economic growth. Short-run unidirectional causality is running from carbon emissions to health-related expenditures. The bidirectional causal relationship is also investigated between carbon emissions and growth as well as gross fixed capital formation and growth. Then, policy recommendations towards controlling pollution, particularly CO 2 emissions and health expenditures without compromising economic growth are suggested. Graphical abstract .

This study attempts to investigate the relationship among electricity consumption, economic growth, and employment in China. Distinct from most of the previous studies, our empirical research identifies a long-run equilibrium cointegration relationship among the three covariates during the period of 1971-2009 with the recently developed autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. The parameters are estimated through a long-run static solution of the estimated ARDL model and short-run dynamic solutions of the error correction model. The estimated models successfully pass diagnostic tests and both the long-run and short-run elasticities are found to be statistically significant. The study also indicates the existence of short-run and long-run causalities from electricity consumption and employment to economic growth. Results of this study show that electricity serves as an important driver of economic growth. Based on these results, several policy prescriptions on energy use and economic development are suggested for China.

Climate change calls for worldwide public concern and effort to cut down carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and globally realize sustainable development. As one of the largest energy consumers, the construction industry plays a crucial role in achieving the national carbon emission reduction goal. This paper, by employing an improved Kaya model, explored the relationships and trends among carbon emission, energy consumption, and GDP growth rate and carbon emission intensity of the Chinese construction industry. Results showed that the carbon emission of the construction industry is mainly affected by GDP growth of construction scale. The energy consumption was the main driver to the increase of carbon emissions. The carbon emissions of unit area and carbon intensity showed a decreased trend with the development of economy and the increase of construction scale. The dependence of construction activities on the fossil fuel remained despite noticeable decrease. Energy intensity helps to reduce construction carbon emissions. Low carbon economy development of construction industry calls for technological innovation, alternative energy and new technical support for further breakthrough. These findings provide scientific evidence of carbon emissions in the Chinese construction industry and useful inputs for industry-specific emission regulations.

The natural catastrophic events largely damage the country's sustainability agenda through massive human fatalities and infrastructure destruction. Although it is partially supported the economic growth through the channel of "Schumpeter creative destruction" hypothesis, however, it may not be sustained in the long-run. This study examined the long-run and causal relationships between natural disasters (i.e., floods, storm, and epidemic) and per capita income by controlling FDI inflows and foreign aid in the context of Malaysia, during the period of 1965-2016. The study employed time series cointegration technique, i.e., autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL)-bounds testing approach for robust inferences. The results show that flood, storm, and epidemic disasters substantially decrease the country's per capita income, while FDI inflows and foreign aid largely supported the country's economic growth in the short-run. These results are disappeared in the long-run, where flood and storm disasters exhibit the positive association with the economic growth to support the Schumpeter creative destruction hypothesis. The foreign aid decreases the per capita income and does not maintain the "aid-effectiveness" hypotheses in a given country. The causality estimates confirmed the disaster-led growth hypothesis, as the causality estimates running from (i) storm to per capita income, (ii) epidemic to per capita income, and (iii) storm to foreign aid. The results emphasized for making disaster action plans to reduce human fatalities and infrastructure for sustainable development.

Many countries face a dilemma of economic growth and carbon emission mitigation, which is highly associated with energy consumption. In order to initiate effective policies for controlling carbon emissions, it is important to identify the key sectors in the value chain, thus proposing corresponding measures. To date, however, energy and carbon emissions have been studied mainly from a production or consumption perspective, with important interactions between sectors being seldom considered. In response, a new CO 2 flow model is presented in which input-output analysis and network theory are combined with multilevel indicators to identify the key sectors affecting carbon emissions in terms of total, immediate, and mediative centrality effects. The model is demonstrated with an analysis of 2007 and 2012 China sectoral data, showing that Production & Supply of Electric Power, Steam and Hot Water (PESH), Nonmetal Mineral Products (NMMP), and Coal Mining & Dressing (CMDG) played key roles in China's carbon transfer network; the roles of Electronic & Telecommunications Equipment (ETET), Instruments & Office Machinery (IOMY), and Electric Equipment & Machinery (EEMY) had the largest immediacy effect; and, acting as key transmission sectors, PESH, Smelting & Pressing of Metals (SPOM), and NMMP controlled a large share of CO 2 transfer. The measures used are closely related to, and provide new insights into, the traditional indicators of sector centrality. At the same time, the proposed multilevel indicators are supplements for techniques that aim to instruct sector-level carbon mitigation policies.

Objectives: The obesity epidemic has prevailed worldwide and is currently recognized as a global pandemic disease. Given the argument that various socio-economic features contribute to substantial differences in obesity rates across countries, economic development can also be considered a crucial factor of such variation. This study examines the relationship between economic development and each of three weight-related health statuses (rates of overweight, obesity, and morbid obesity)., Study Design: This study uses panel data analysis., Methods: Using country-level panel data of 130 countries during the period from 1975 to 2010, we apply dynamic panel data analysis to mitigate possible endogeneity problems., Results: The main results show a clear pattern of the obesity Kuznets curve, i.e. a non-linear relationship between a country's income per capita and its weight-related health status, for both males and females. For low-income countries, as incomes increase, the weight-related health status deteriorates; thus, an increase in incomes raises the health risk. In contrast, for high-income countries, as incomes increase, the weight-related health status improves; thus, an increase in incomes reduces the health risk., Conclusions: The policy implications from our analysis include the argument that a strong initiative for health policy targeting obesity prevention is required for middle-income countries, many of which are currently experiencing high economic growth., (Copyright © 2019 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper examines the relationship between carbon emissions and international tourism growth through the channels of globalization, energy consumption, and real income via testing the environmental Kuznets curve over the periods of 1995 to 2014 for 15 selected tourism destination states that prioritized tourism as a means of maximizing economic growth. Using the panel data analysis, results confirm globalization-tourism-induced EKC hypothesis for tourist destination states. This implies international tourism growth and carbon emissions, through the channels of energy consumption, globalization, and real income, are in a long-term equilibrium relationship. International tourism and squared term of real income have an inverse significant effect on carbon emission level, while energy consumption, globalization, and real income without squared term exert positive and significant effects on carbon emission level in the long-run. Thus, globalization-tourism-induced EKC hypothesis is suggested with credible policy suggestions in the case of tourist destination states.

Few attempts have been made to systematically investigate the impacts of urbanization on PM 2.5 concentrations in countries at different stages of economic development. In this study, a broad concept of urbanization that considers the transformations in the urban economy and the transport sector induced by urbanization is proposed to investigate the influence of urbanization on national PM 2.5 concentrations for underdeveloped, developing and developed countries during 1998-2014. The results indicate that urbanization has a significant relationship with PM 2.5 concentrations, but the magnitude of its influence varies among groups of countries with different development levels. First, the positive response of PM 2.5 concentrations to increased urbanization and transport-related emissions in underdeveloped countries are noticeably stronger than that in developing and developed countries. Second, for developing countries, urbanization, transport-related emissions and industrialization all have a significant positive effect on national PM 2.5 concentrations increase, although their impacts are unexpectedly smaller than those in the other groups of countries. Finally, increasing urbanization and the decrease in CO 2 emissions from manufacturing industry appear to reduce national average PM 2.5 concentrations in developed countries, while the decrease in transport-related CO 2 emission is likely to cause the rise in national average PM 2.5 concentrations., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

According to economists from the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, the introduction of performance pay for primary and secondary school teachers would lead to an increase in Dutch GDP of one-and-a-half percent in 2070. A new epistemic practice of microeconomic forecasting undergirded this attempt to make the distant future part of the political present. Taking the construction of the economic growth potential of performance pay as a starting point, this article analyzes how microeconomic forecasting emerged in one of the world's oldest forecasting bureaus - and to what consequences. First, it highlights the institutional preconditions for this 'turn to micro' in an institution that had pioneered in the field of macroeconomic forecasting. Second, the article analyzes microeconomic forecasting as a distinct epistemic practice that brings different forms of economic expertise together to make the future of educational reforms commensurable. Finally, it analyzes the political consequences of this new epistemic practice in the sense that it not only enables but simultaneously limits the provision of policy-relevant evidence. Beyond the specificities of the case, the article contributes to the sociological study of economic policy devices against the background of a predominant market bias in the STS research on economics.

Green technology innovation is an important means to break out of the constraints of resources and the environment, enhance the competitiveness of enterprises, and achieve the upgrading of industrial structures, and promote high-quality economic growth. In order to realize the overall improvement of the green technology innovation capability of Chinese enterprises, it is necessary to measure the efficiency of industrial enterprises' green technology innovation and explore their regional differences. In this paper, from the perspective of a two-stage innovation value chain, by introducing the industrial carbon emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the "three wastes" pollutants into the research framework of green technology innovation efficiency, we established a novel green innovation efficiency evaluation indicator system for industrial enterprises. Furthermore, we used a two-stage network DEA with shared input to measure the efficiency of regional enterprises' green technology innovation and explored the regional differences in industrial enterprises' green technology R&D and the efficiency of green technology achievement transformation. Finally, we provide some suggestions for improving China's industrial enterprises' green innovation efficiency, so that they can ameliorate the significant regional imbalances and differences and realize high-quality economic growth.

The impact of economic growth on health outcomes has generated various conflicting results in recent years, particularly with the emergence of cardiovascular disease as one of the most salient global health issues. This paper looks at the relationship between economic development and health outcomes. We first estimate an empirical model using data on annual cardiovascular disease mortality in a panel of 27 European countries, over the period 2003 to 2014, together with per capita GDP levels in each country. We also include a number of additional determinants of health outcomes as prescribed by the literature, including various socio-economic, lifestyle and contextual variables. The results show that there is a statistically-significant inverted U-shaped relationship, whereby as income increases mortality rates first rise, before declining at subsequent levels of development. This trajectory persists even after the inclusion of the other determinants of health, as well as other robustness checks. We then seek to explain the persistence of the inverted U-shaped income-mortality relationship using a microeconomic model of consumer choice, with our findings suggesting that this relationship is consistent with a scenario of increasing returns to scale from healthcare investment. The results emphasise the importance of investment in the latest healthcare technologies and continued improvements to public healthcare systems, particularly within developing countries, in conjunction with efforts to boost economic growth., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Although the links between asthma in children and physical environmental factors have been well established, the role of community-level socioeconomic status remains inconclusive. Consequently, little attention has been paid to the dynamic changes in the associations between socioeconomic status and asthma outcomes due to structural changes in the community, such as an influx of financial resources. This study examined the relationship between community-level socioeconomic status indicators and asthma-related emergency department utilization for school-aged children in 2011 and 2015, assessing the early impact of a large-scale regional economic development project in western New York, United States. Our analyses controlled for other community-level health risk factors, such as environmental exposure, and spatial correlation of the emergency department usage data. Results indicated that both median household income and health insurance coverage were key socioeconomic predictors of the children's asthma-related emergency department utilization over the study period. We also found that the risk of emergency department utilization for asthma decreased significantly in the area in which regional economic development projects were completed during the initial stage of the project. Through a comparison study we demonstrated that the spatial correlation present in asthma-related ED utilization improved model fit and corrected biases in the estimates. Although our findings suggest that improving the socioeconomic status of communities contributes to a reduction in emergency department utilization for pediatric asthma, more empirical studies are warranted for evaluating the comprehensive effects of regional economic development on public health., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The epidemiological characteristics of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the autonomous region of Xinjiang Uygur have been largely unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence and demographic risk factors of SCD in Xinjiang, China., Methods: This retrospective study reviewed medical records from 11 regions in Xinjiang with different geography (north and south of the Tian Shan mountain range), gross domestic product, and ethnicity (Han, Uyghur, Kazakh, and Hui). SCD was defined as unexpected death due to cardiac reasons within 1 hour after the onset of acute symptoms, including sudden death, unexpected death, and nonviolent death. Monitoring was conducted throughout 2015. Demographic and mortality data were recorded and age-adjusted standardized risk ratio (SRR) was analyzed., Results: Among 3,224,103 residents, there were 13,308 all-cause deaths and 1244 events of SCD (784 men and 460 women; overall incidence 38.6 per 100,000 residents). SCD was associated with age (χ2 = 2105.3), but not geography. Men had an increased risk of SCD compared with women (SRR: 1.75, 95% CI: 1.10-2.79). The risk of SCD was highest in residents of the Uyghur (SRR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.05-2.42) and Kazakh (SRR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.29-2.87) compared with those of the Han. Poor economic development was associated with elevated risk of SCD (SRR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.02-2.38)., Conclusion: SCD is an important public health issue in China. Our understanding of the demographic differences on SCD in Xinjiang, China may improve the risk stratification and management to reduce the incidence and lethality of SCD.

The prevalence of low vision has increased in China especially among youth population, which is an important public health issue. The trend on the prevalence of subnormal visual acuity and updated information is essential to quantify health effects and to prompt decision makers to prioritize action and assess the effectiveness of measures. Therefore, the study aimed to analyze the prevalence and geographical distribution of visual acuity level among young men in China based on 3 national cross-sectional surveys from 1974 to 2012.The data on visual acuity of young men were collected from 3 national surveys among military recruit youth conducted in 1974, 2001, and 2012 by using a stratified cluster sampling method in China. The prevalence of visual acuity among military recruit youth during this period was analyzed by region, year, age, and economic level.A total of 139,929, 72,894, and 58,106 young men were included, covering all 31 provinces of mainland of China, from the 3 national surveys respectively. The prevalence of subnormal visual acuity had geographic diversity and increased significantly from 1974 to 2012 (P < .05). The visual acuity level was negatively correlated with the age (17-23 years) in 2012 (P < .05). Furthermore, the prevalence of subnormal visual acuity was positively correlated with the gross domestic product in 31 provinces of China (P ≤ .001).The prevalence of subnormal visual acuity increased with economic development among young men from 1974 to 2012, with distinct variation among geographic areas in China. Furthermore, subnormal visual acuity was increasingly prevalent with age and warrant public health attention.

Objectives: This paper examines rural-urban inequities in mortality and cancer mortality amid rapid economic growth and environmental degradation in China., Methods: SPSS and Joinpoint Regression were used to analyze the 2002-2015 datasets from all death registries in China and associated economic and environmental data., Results: Death and cancer mortality rates among rural residents were higher and increased faster than urban residents. In particular, rural men 30-34 years old were 44% more likely to die from cancer and over 67% more likely to die from all causes, compared to their urban counterparts. Among rural women 15-19 years old, the death rate was 47% higher and the cancer mortality rate was 44% higher than among urban women. Death and cancer mortality rates tended to be positively associated with economic growth and air pollution variables., Conclusions: Rural-urban health inequities have widened in China, with rural youth at the greatest disadvantage. The anticipated health benefits from income growth may have been offset by the impact of air pollution, which calls for further investigation into the causes of rural-urban health inequities.

The relationship between renewable energy consumption (REC), foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, economic growth, and their resulting impact on CO2 emissions is widely discussed area in energy and environmental literature; however, there is an unseen literature on moderation and mediation effect of per capita income and FDI inflows with the renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions in developing countries like Pakistan, which is being evaluated in this study by using a consistent time series data for a period of 1975-2016. The results show that economic growth and FDI inflows both increase CO2 emissions, while REC substantially decreases CO2 emissions during the study time period. The results do not support the inverted U-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for per capita income (and FDI inflows) and per capita CO2 emissions in a country. The results supported 'pollution haven hypothesis' where FDI inflows damage the natural flora of the country. By inclusion of moderation and mediation effect of per capita income and FDI inflows with the REC on CO2 emissions averted the positive impact of REC, and converted into negative externality, where environmental sustainability agenda is compromised by lower environmental regulations and unsustainable production techniques that increase country's economic growth. The study concludes that by adding REC in existing energy portfolio may help to reduce CO2 emissions while strict environmental compliance may disregard the negative externality of unsustainable production and it will support to achieve green development programmes in a country.

In 2013, China launched the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative in an effort to promote trade and economic collaboration. This study examined the change in life expectancy (LE) among countries along B&R and studied the impact of economic development on LE. Data from 65 B&R countries from 2000 to 2014 were compiled and analyzed. Trend of LE was examined by sex and country. Linear quantile mixed model was used to study the associations between LE and economic factors. In 2014, the average LE in all B&R countries was 69.7 years for men and 73.7 years for women. Across countries in 2014, LE for men ranged from 58.6 years in Afghanistan to 80.2 years in Israel. LE for women ranged from 61.3 years in Afghanistan to 85.9 in Singapore. GDP per capita was positively associated with longevity across B&R countries. The unemployment rate was positively associated with LE only for countries in the top LE quantiles. GDP growth rate and Inflation were negatively associated with LE for the countries in the bottom LE quantiles for men, not for women. LE increased substantially among B&R countries during 2000⁻2014. The influence of macroeconomic factors on LE was related to the distribution of LE.

The present study empirically investigates the impact of hydropower energy consumption on economic growth and CO 2 emissions in China, spanning the period 1965-2016. Using the ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration, this study confirms the existence of a long-run relationship among the variables. Moreover, hydropower energy consumption has a positive impact on economic growth, while CO 2 emissions have a long-run negative impact on economic growth. However, economic growth and CO 2 emissions have a positive impact on hydropower energy consumption. Further, the study failed to provide a support of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for China. The Granger causality test reveals that there is a unidirectional causality running from hydropower energy consumption to economic growth. Furthermore, there is a bidirectional causality among the hydropower energy consumption, economic growth, and CO 2 emissions in the long run. Given these findings, we argue that hydropower energy consumption is considered as the driving force to enhance the economic growth in China.

Introduction: Both the preventive and curative healthcare provisions accumulate agents' health stock and stimulate economies' productivities. However, with limited medical resources, increases in preventive health expenditure crowd out curative expenditure, and vice versa, which in turn impairs the population's health and deters economic growth. This research aims to provide a empirically rigorous test on the hypothesis that optimally allocating health expenditure between prevention and cures stimulates economic growth within different countries, especially developed countries, and investigates whether health services are luxury goods on the path of economic development., Methods: Based on OECD country experiences, this present study uses the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation method to examine the roles of preventive and curative healthcare services over the path of economic development and proves that preventive and curative health spending have non-linear effects on economic performance., Results: For growth maximization, the optimal share of preventive health expenditure to GDP is 0.44% with per capita GDP at US$40,465; the real share is 0.25% with per capita GDP at US$35,230. The optimal share of curative health expenditure to GDP is 10.96% with per capita GDP at US$41,816; the real share is 8.26% with per capita GDP at US$35,230. Accordingly, the estimated optimal provision of health services are currently underprovided. This research further estimates the effects of income on demand for care and shows that the income elasticities of preventive and curative health care are greater than unity. Health services are luxury goods., Conclusions: Economies with higher incomes demand such services more than those with lower incomes. The large positive effects of income on preventive care use exist., Competing Interests: The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

Healthy people are vital to a community's ability to be economically competitive. Sustainable rural economic growth requires a healthy workforce supported by accessible and affordable local health systems. The issues facing rural health access are complex but there are tangible steps that can be taken to address them., (©2018 by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and The Duke Endowment. All rights reserved.)

The main objective of this study is to examine the linkage between CO 2 emissions, total factor productivity as a measure of income, information and communication technology (ICT), trade, financial development, and energy consumption in Tunisia from 1975 to 2014. To achieve this goal, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) with the break point method is performed. The results demonstrate the rejection of the Kuznets environmental curve (EKC) hypothesis by obtaining a higher value of the long-term total factor productivity parameter compared to the short-term one. Moreover, our result shows an insignificant impact of ICT on CO 2 emissions as a measure of pollution. In addition, trade, financial development, and energy consumption affect negatively the environmental quality. As a result, Tunisian policymakers should enhance the total factor productivity, expand the information and communication technology, further develop the financial sector, enhance the share of renewable energy consumption, and reduce the energy consumption resulting in import and export goods. These goals will be achieved by improving Tunisia's technological and innovation capacity, enhancing the use of ICT in transport, building, and industry sectors considered as the most pollutant ones, and creating renewable energy projects.

Objectives We examined associations between labor market and health (LM-H) trajectories in the United States between 1988 and 2011 and whether associations differed across macroeconomic expansion/recession periods. Methods Working-age cohorts, derived from the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics, were followed over time to characterize LM-H trajectories. Poisson regression provided relative risks (RR) with robust 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between trajectories, adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic variables. Results LM trajectories ending in unemployment (RR 1.7‒2.5 across periods) or inactivity (RR 2.3-3.2) had a greater risk of worsening health trajectories, compared to stable employment. In contrast, RR for individuals returning to work following an intermediary period of unemployment/inactivity were attenuated across most periods. Stable-employed individuals had the highest probability of remaining in good health, whereas trajectories ending in unemployment or inactivity had the lowest probability. These overall relationships were consistent across macroeconomic periods. Conclusions We found strong and consistent relationships between LM-H trajectories across macroeconomic periods. The attenuated (but not eliminated) risk among individuals returning to work following a period of unemployment/inactivity suggests that health outcomes are not only dependent on the LM end-state, but also on the distinct pattern over time.

The paper aims at evaluating the nonlinear and complex relations between CO 2 emissions, economic development, and petrol prices to obtain new insights regarding the shape of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in the USA and in the UK in addition to introducing a newly proposed nonlinear approach. Within this respect, the paper has three purposes: the first one is to combine the multilayer perceptron neural networks (MLP) with Markov-switching vector autoregressive (MS-VAR) type nonlinear models to obtain the MS-VAR-MLP model. The second is to utilize one of the largest datasets in the literature covering the 1871-2016 period, a long span of data starting from the late eighteenth century. Since the emission, economic development, and petrol price relation is subject to nonlinearity and trajectory changes due to many historical events, the development of the MS-VAR-MLP model is a necessity to contribute to the ongoing debate regarding the shape of the EKC curve and the stability of the relation. The third purpose is to develop the MS-VAR-MLP-based regime-dependent sensitivity analysis, which eases the visual interpretation of the nonlinear causal relationships, which are allowed to have asymmetric interactions in different phases of the expansionary and recessionary periods of the business cycles. Our results provide clear deviations from the findings in the literature: (i) the shape of the EKC curve cannot be assumed to be stable and is subject to regime dependency, nonlinearity, and magnitude dependency; (ii) the forecast results suggest that incorporation of regime switching and neural networks provide significant improvement over the MS-VAR counterpart; and (iii) for both USA and UK and for the 1871-2016 period, the positive impacts of economic growth on emissions cannot be rejected for the majority of the phases of the business cycles; however, the magnitude of this effect is at various degrees. In addition, the incorporation of petrol price provides significant findings considering its effects on emission and economic growth rates. The analysis suggest clear deviations from the expected shape of the EKC curve and puts forth the necessity to utilize more complex empirical methodologies to evaluate the EKC since the emissions-economic development relation is more complex than it was assumed. Following these findings, several policy recommendations are provided. Lastly, the proposed MS-VAR-MLP methodology is compared with the MS-VAR model and various advantages and disadvantages are enumerated.

There is considerable speculation that female political empowerment could improve population health. Yet, evidence to date is limited, and explanations for why political empowerment would matter and the conditions under which this might be enhanced or muted are not well understood. In this article, we draw on theoretical work on the politics of representation to frame an investigation of whether increases in the percentage of females in a country's parliament influence mortality rates. We further examine whether the relationship is conditioned by extent of democracy and economic and social development. Through multivariate longitudinal regression, we analyze four indicators of mortality in 155 countries spanning 1990 to 2014 with controls for initial country conditions, time-stable structural predispositions to higher mortality, and a number of time-varying potential confounders. Results indicate that a high level of female representation-30 % or greater in our models-has large negative associations with mortality, that these are particularly strong in lesser developed and weak democratic contexts, that high female political representation effectively offsets liabilities associated with low development, and that the relationships are robust to various operationalizations of social development. In the end, our research provides a particularly thorough accounting of the relationship between female political representation and population health, particularly by specifying the conditions under which female representation is most salient. In doing so, the research suggests important links between issues of female empowerment, political context, and developmental trajectories of countries more generally.

This research utilizes the environmental Kuznets curve to demonstrate the interrelationship between economic growth, industrial structure, and water quality of the Xiangjiang river basin in China by employing spatial panel data models. First, it obtains two variables (namely, COD Mn , which represents the chemical oxygen demand of using KMnO₄ as chemical oxidant, and NH₃-N, which represents the ammonia nitrogen content index of wastewater) by pretreating the data of 42 environmental monitoring stations in the Xiangjiang river basin from 2005 to 2015. Afterward, Moran's I index is adopted to analyze the spatial autocorrelation of COD Mn and NH₃-N concentration. Then, a comparative analysis of the nonspatial panel model and spatial panel model is conducted. Finally, this research estimates the intermediate effect of the industrial structure of the Xiangjiang river basin in China. The results show that spatial autocorrelation exists in pollutant concentration and the relationship between economic growth and pollutant concentration shapes as an inverted-N trajectory. Moreover, the turn points of the environmental Kuznets curve for COD Mn are RMB 83,001 and RMB 108,583 per capita GDP. In contrast, the turn points for NH₃-N are RMB 50,980 and RMB 188,931 per capita GDP. Additionally, the environmental Kuznets curve for COD Mn can be explained by industrial structure adjustment, while that for NH₃-N cannot. As a consequence, the research suggests that the effect of various pollutants should be taken into account while making industrial policies.

China's economic development has resulted in significant resource consumption and environmental damage. However, technological progress is important for achieving coordinated economic development and environmental protection. Appropriate environmental regulation policies are also important. Although green total factor productivity, environmental regulations, and technological progress vary by location, few studies have been conducted from a spatial perspective. However, spatial spillover effects should be taken into consideration. This study used energy consumption, the sum of physical capital stock and ecological service value as total capital stock, the number of employed people as inputs, sulfur dioxide emissions as undesired outputs, and green GDP as total output to obtain green TFP through a slacks-based measure (SBM) global Malmquist-Luenberger Index. This study also estimated China's biased technological progress under environmental constraints from 2004 to 2015 based on relevant data (e.g., green GDP, total capital stock, and employment figures). The relationship between green total factor productivity (GTFP), technological progress, and environmental regulation was then examined using a spatial Durbin model. Results were as follows: (1) Based on the complementary elements, although the labor costs gradually increase, the rapid accumulation of capital leads to technological progress that is biased toward capital. However, technological progress in the labor bias can significantly increase GTFP. (2) There is a u-shaped relationship between existing environmental regulations and GTFP. Technological progress can significantly promote GTFP in the surrounding areas through existing environmental regulations. (3) Under spatial weight, the secondary industry coefficient was negative while human capital stock and FDID had positive effects on GTFP. Technological progress is the source of economic growth. It is therefore necessary to promote biased technological development and improve labor-force skills while implementing effective environmental regulation policies.

The relationship between agricultural carbon emissions and agricultural economic growth has attracted a significant research attention. A key issue to address in the development of agriculture is the reduction of agricultural carbon emissions while maintaining agricultural economic growth. This study investigated the interactions between agricultural carbon emissions and agricultural economic growth from multiple perspectives based on agricultural carbon emission data from 30 provinces in China measured from 1997 to 2015. Using this dataset, the coupling and decoupling effects of agricultural carbon emissions and the underlying driving factors were explored using a coupling development degree model, the Tapio decoupling assessment model, and a logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) decomposition model. The results were as follows: (1) at the regional scale, the degree of coupling development between agricultural carbon emissions and agricultural economic growth is high in the central region of China and low in the western region. At the provincial scale, the coupling effects of agricultural carbon emissions exhibited four levels: minimal, low, moderate, and high coupling. (2) With the exceptions of Beijing, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, and Shanghai, the relationships between agricultural carbon emissions and agricultural economic growth in the other 24 provinces were in a weak decoupling state. (3) The effects of agricultural development scale and agricultural technical progress were the major driving factors associated with increases and decreases in agricultural carbon emissions, respectively.

The decoupling effect between economic growth and energy structure was quantitatively analyzed from 1999 to 2014 across China. The results showed it existed weak decoupling effects in most regions. Based on the analysis of the influence of energy structure on carbon intensity, using scenario simulation methods and Markov chain modeling, the carbon intensity was predicted for China in 2020. The impact of energy structure adjustment on the carbon intensity to meet China's carbon target by 18 possible scenarios are calculated. Furthermore, the peak value of carbon emissions was also calculated in 2030. The results showed that the carbon intensity predicted for China in 2020 can be achieved regardless of whether the energy structure was adjusted or not when energy saving and carbon reduction policies maintained with economic growth at 6-7%. Moreover, given fixed energy structure growth, for each 1% of economic growth, the carbon intensity will decrease by about 3.5%. Given fixed economic growth, the decrease of energy intensity will be greater if the control of energy consumption is stronger. The effect of energy structure adjustment on the decreasing of carbon intensity will be 4% higher under constraints than without constraints. On average, the contribution of energy structure adjustment to achieving the carbon intensity target was calculated as 4% higher than that with constraints. In addition, given relatively fixed economic growth at 6-7%, the peak value of carbon emission in 2030 was calculated as 13.209 billion tons with constraints and 14.38 billion tons without constraints.

Economic complexity reflects the amount of knowledge that is embedded in the productive structure of an economy. It resides on the premise of hidden capabilities-fundamental endowments underlying the productive structure. In general, measuring the capabilities behind economic complexity directly is difficult, and indirect measures have been suggested which exploit the fact that the presence of the capabilities is expressed in a country's mix of products. We complement these studies by introducing a probabilistic framework which leverages Bayesian non-parametric techniques to extract the dominant features behind the comparative advantage in exported products. Based on economic evidence and trade data, we place a restricted Indian Buffet Process on the distribution of countries' capability endowment, appealing to a culinary metaphor to model the process of capability acquisition. The approach comes with a unique level of interpretability, as it produces a concise and economically plausible description of the instantiated capabilities., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

This study explored the long-run association among greenhouse gases (GHGs), financial development, forest area, improved sanitation, renewable energy, urbanization, and trade in 24 lower middle-income countries from Asia, Europe, Africa, and America (South and North) by using panel data from 1990 to 2015. Granger causality was tested by Toda and Yamamoto approach. The bi-directional causality was established among urbanization and GHGs (Asia), financial development and forest (Asia), energy use and renewable energy (Asia), renewable energy and forest (Asia), improved sanitation and forest (Asia, Africa, America), urbanization and forest (Asia), and improved sanitation and financial development (Europe). The GHG emission also shows one-way causality is running from financial development to GHG (America), energy to GHG (Asia), renewable energy to GHG (America), forest area to GHG (America), trade openness to GHG (Africa), urbanization to GHG (Europe), GHG to financial development (Europe), GHG to energy use (Europe, Africa, and America), and GHG to trade openness (Asia). On the basis of fully modified ordinary least square and generalized method of moment, the reciprocal relationship of GHGs was observed due to financial development in Asia and Africa; renewable energy in all panels; forest area in Asia, Europe, and America; improved sanitation in Asia, Africa, and America; trade openness in Africa; and urbanization in Europe and America. Policymakers should concentrate on these variables for the reduction in GHGs. The annual convergence towards long-run equilibrium was 50.5, 31.9, and 20.9% for America, Asia, and Africa, respectively.

This study examined the drivers of environmental degradation and pollution in 17 countries in Africa from 1971 to 2013. The empirical study was analyzed with Westerlund error-correction model and panel cointegration tests with 1000 bootstrapping samples, U-shape test, fixed and random effect estimators, and panel causality test. The investigation of the nexus between environmental pollution economic growth in Africa confirms the validity of the EKC hypothesis in Africa at a turning point of US$ 5702 GDP per capita. However, the nexus between environmental degradation and economic growth reveals a U shape at a lower bound GDP of US$ 101/capita and upper bound GDP of US$ 8050/capita, at a turning point of US$ 7958 GDP per capita, confirming the scale effect hypothesis. The empirical findings revealed that energy consumption, food production, economic growth, permanent crop, agricultural land, birth rate, and fertility rate play a major role in environmental degradation and pollution in Africa, thus supporting the global indicators for achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030.

This study explores the impact of fossil fuels consumption, solid fuels consumption for cooking purposes, economic growth, and carbon emissions on human health, with a key emphasis on the occurrence of tuberculosis and the high mortality rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. For its practical insights, the study develops a system Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) for a panel of 34 middle- and lower-middle-income countries from 1995 to 2015. The study adopts a flexible methodology to tackle endogeneity in the variables. The robust results report that the use of solid fuels (charcoal, peat, wood, wood pellets, crop residues) for cooking purposes and the consumption of fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas) are significantly increasing the occurrence of tuberculosis. In addition, the results highlight that the consumption of both solid fuels and fossil fuels has adverse affects on life expectancy by increasing the mortality rate in Sub-Saharan African countries. Results report that renewable energy sources like sun, wind, and water (all with potential to prevent households from direct exposure to particulate matters and harmful gases) as well as a rise in economic growth serve as helping factors to control the occurrence of tuberculosis and to decrease the mortality rate. Moreover, the use of renewable energy sources is serving to lessen emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxides, and particulate matters, which can ultimately decrease the mortality rate and extend the life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The decline in the everyday importance of religion with economic development is a well-known correlation, but which phenomenon comes first? Using unsupervised factor analysis and a birth cohort approach to create a retrospective time series, we present 100-year time series of secularization in different nations, derived from recent global values surveys, which we compare by decade to historical gross domestic product figures in those nations. We find evidence that a rise in secularization generally has preceded economic growth over the past century. Our multilevel, time-lagged regressions also indicate that tolerance for individual rights predicted 20th century economic growth even better than secularization. These findings hold when we control for education and shared cultural heritage.

The adoption and ratification of relevant policies, particularly the household enrolment system metamorphosis in China, led to rising urbanization growth. As the leading developing economy, China has experienced a drastic and rapid increase in the rate of urbanization, energy use, economic growth and greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution for the past 30 years. The knowledge of the dynamic interrelationships among these trends has a plethora of implications ranging from demographic, energy, and environmental and sustainable development policies. This study analyzes the role of urbanization in decoupling GHG emissions, energy, and income in China while considering the critical contribution of energy use. As a contribution to the extant body of literature, the present research introduces a new phenomenon called "the environmental urbanization Kuznets curve" (EUKC), which shows that at the early stage of urbanization, the environment degrades however, after a threshold point the technique effects surface and environmental degradation reduces with rise in urbanization. Applying the autoregressive distributed lag model and the vector error correction model, the paper finds the presence of inverted U-shaped curve between urbanization and GHG emission of CO 2 , while the same hypothesis cannot be found between income and GHG emission of CO 2 . Energy use in all the models contributes to GHG emission of CO 2 . In decoupling greenhouse gas emissions, urbanization, energy, and income, articulated and well-implemented energy and urbanization policies should be considered.

The main objective of this study was to analyze the impact of energy consumption (divided into renewable and non-renewable sources) and income on CO 2 emissions within the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) model for the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). To do so, the annual panel data collected during the 1990-2014 periods was used. The CO 2 variable, representing carbon dioxide emissions in metric tons per capita, was used as a proxy for the emission of pollutants. The annual data were obtained from the World Bank (World Development Indicators). The sample consisted of the five MERCOSUR member countries: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela, comprising a period of 25 consecutive years. The results showed that energy consumption from renewable sources had a negative impact on CO 2 emissions, while the energy consumption from non-renewable sources had a positive impact. The positive impact of economic development on CO 2 emissions was also seen. In addition, this study supports the validity of the EKC hypothesis for the MERCOSUR because GDP (real output) leads to environmental degradation while GDP 2 reduces the level of gas emissions.

In the 1990s, the development of microelectronics and communication technologies spawned the information technology paradigm, characterized by an intensity of information which, transformed into knowledge and innovation, plays a crucial role for development. In order for this to occur, countries need to build appropriate institutional arrangements. This led to the Triple Helix model for systems innovation, which views innovation and technical progress in a Knowledge Economy as the result of a complex set of relations between universities, companies, and government. In this context, the current study aims to identify the impact of knowledge production and public policies for the production of patent applications by life sciences and health sciences researchers affiliated with federal universities in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The analysis covered the years 1995 to 2016 and used econometric techniques in panel data. According to the findings, educational factors (thesis supervision), economic factors (technological products and the provision of technological services), and political factors (legal framework, financial resources, and incentive policies) impact the production of patent applications by the selected researchers. The results reveal efforts by government, although incipient, in the attempt to promote a technological leap.

Objectives: This study examined the effect of mode of migration-primary immigration (direct migration from origin country) and secondary immigration (migration from a country of residence other than the origin country)-by level of economic development of country of origin on psychological distress of immigrants to Canada. The study focused on the explanatory role of mastery in the relationship between mode of migration/level of economic development of origin country and distress. Mastery is the belief that one can and does master, control, and shape one's own life., Methods: Data from the Neighbourhood Effects on Health and Well-being study, which contains important measures such as the mode of migration, was used to assess the study objectives. The analytic sample included 1496 Canadian-born and 387 foreign-born (non-refugee) participants. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to address the study objectives., Results: Results point to a "healthy immigrant effect"-lower distress among the foreign-born than the native-born-but only among primary immigrants from less-developed countries. Secondary immigrants from less-developed countries report higher distress than the native-born and their primary-immigrant counterparts. The higher distress among secondary immigrants was due in part to lower mastery among this group. Immigrants from developed origin countries did not report different levels of distress than the native-born, irrespective of mode of migration., Conclusion: This study fills an important gap in the literature on immigration and mental health and reveals that the healthy immigrant effect is not generalizable to all immigrants; it is contingent on the mode of migration/level of economic development of the country of origin.

This study examines the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis (EKC), considering the primary energy consumption among other country-specific variables, for a panel of the EU-28 countries during the period 1990-2014. By estimating pooled OLS regressions with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors in order to account for cross-sectional dependence, the results confirm the EKC hypothesis in the case of emissions of sulfur oxides and emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds. In addition to pooled estimations, the output of fixed-effects regressions with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors support the EKC hypothesis for greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas emissions intensity of energy consumption, emissions of nitrogen oxides, emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds and emissions of ammonia. Additionally, the empirical findings from panel vector error correction model reveal a short-run unidirectional causality from GDP per capita growth to greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a bidirectional causal link between primary energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, since there occurred no causal link between economic growth and primary energy consumption, the neo-classical view was confirmed, namely the neutrality hypothesis.

We use system-generalized method-of-moments to estimate the effect of gender-specific human capital on economic growth in a cross-country panel of 127 countries between 1975 and 2010. There are several benefits of using this methodology. First, a dynamic lagged dependent econometric model is suitable to address persistence in per capita output. Second, the generalized method-of-moments estimator uses dynamic properties of the data to generate appropriate instrumental variables to address joint endogeneity of the explanatory variables. Third, we allow the measurement error to include unobserved country-specific effect and random noise. We include two gender-disaggregated measures of human capital-education and health. We find that gender gap in health plays a critical role in explaining economic growth in developing countries. Our results provide aggregate evidence that returns to investments in health systematically differ across gender and between low-income and high-income countries., (Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

This paper provides the evidence on the short- and the long-run effects of the export product concentration on the level of CO 2 emissions in 19 developed (high-income) economies, spanning the period 1962-2010. To this end, the paper makes use of the nonlinear panel unit root and cointegration tests with multiple endogenous structural breaks. It also considers the mean group estimations, the autoregressive distributed lag model, and the panel quantile regression estimations. The findings illustrate that the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is valid in the panel dataset of 19 developed economies. In addition, it documents that a higher level of the product concentration of exports leads to lower CO 2 emissions. The results from the panel quantile regressions also indicate that the effect of the export product concentration upon the per capita CO 2 emissions is relatively high at the higher quantiles.

Aim: In developed countries, the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and Type 2 diabetes was positive several decades ago but is now negative. However, in developing societies such as China the relationship remains positive. It is likely that at some stage of economic development the SES-Type 2 diabetes association will become negative in developing communities. This study aimed to examine whether this inflexion is approaching in China., Methods: Two cross-sectional surveys were undertaken in Nanjing, China, in 2000 and 2011. The same sampling approach was used to randomly select participants. Diagnosed Type 2 diabetes was the outcome variable. SES was measured using monthly family average income and divided into thirds. Mixed-effects models were used to calculate the association between SES and Type 2 diabetes., Results: There were 19 861 (response rate, 90.1%) and 7824 (response rate, 82.8%) participants in 2000 and 2011, respectively. A 2.6-fold increase in Type 2 diabetes prevalence was observed from 3.0% (95% confidence interval 2.8%, 3.3%) in 2000 to 8.2% (7.7%, 8.8%) in 2011 (P < 0.01). After controlling for potential confounders, the odds ratios of having Type 2 diabetes decreased from 2.06 (95% CI 1.55, 2.73) and 1.83 (1.40, 2.37) in 2000 to 1.58 (1.23, 2.02) and 1.35 (1.06, 1.74) in 2011 for the higher and middle SES groups respectively, compared with those in the lower SES category., Conclusions: The SES-Type 2 diabetes association remained positive in Nanjing, China, in 2011 but the disparity diminished significantly compared with 2000. These results can inform the delivery of appropriate interventions to people at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes., (© 2018 Diabetes UK.)

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.

This study examined the patterns of social-network types and their relative survival benefits among Chinese older adults. We examined how macro-level social factors such as cultural norms and unbalanced regional economic development shaped older people's network behaviors, and whether these factors could moderate the association between network types and mortality. Using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (2008-2014), we identified four network types-diverse, friend-focused, family-focused, and restricted-based on individuals' social network measures. Multinomial logistic analyses revealed that older people situated in an area with a deeply rooted family culture or a more advanced economy tend to be less likely to enroll in a diverse network than a family-focused one. This prevents them from achieving the best adaptive survival, as Cox regression analyses showed that the family-focused network type was less beneficial than the diverse one for the survival of older adults. Furthermore, while the survival advantage of the diverse-network type over the family-focused type did not change with cultural contexts, economic development attenuated the deleterious effects of the friend-focused network type., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The objective of this research is to examine the relationship between transport energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emission (CO 2 ) from transport sector incorporating foreign direct investment and urbanization. This study is carried out in Pakistan by applying autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) and vector error correction model (VECM) over 1990-2015. The empirical results indicate a strong significant impact of transport energy consumption on CO 2 emissions from the transportation sector. Furthermore, foreign direct investment also contributes to CO 2 emission. Interestingly, the impact of economic growth and urbanization on transport CO 2 emission is statistically insignificant. Overall, transport energy consumption and foreign direct investment are not environmentally friendly. The new empirical evidence from this study provides a complete picture of the determinants of emissions from the transport sector and these novel findings not only help to advance the existing literature but also can be of special interest to the country's policymakers. So, we urge that government needs to focus on promoting the energy efficient means of transportation to improve environmental quality with less adverse influence on economic growth.

This study investigates the relationship between Internet usage, financial development, economic growth, capital and electricity consumption using quarterly data from 1993Q1 to 2014Q4. The integration order of the series is analysed using the structural break unit root test. The ARDL bounds test for cointegration in addition to the Bayer-Hanck (2013) combined cointegration test is applied to analyse the existence of cointegration among the variables. The study found strong evidence of a long-run relationship between the variables. The long-run results under the ARDL framework confirm the existence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between financial development and electricity consumption, not only in the long-run, but also in the short-run. The study also confirms the existence of a U-shaped relationship between Internet usage and electricity consumption; however, the effect is insignificant. Additionally, the influence of trade, capital and economic growth is examined in both the long run and short run (ARDL-ECM). Finally, the results of asymmetric causality suggest a positive shock in electricity consumption that has a positive causal impact on Internet usage. The authors recommend that the Turkish Government should direct financial institutions to moderate the investment in the ICT sector by advancing credits at lower cost for purchasing energy-efficient technologies. In doing so, the Turkish Government can increase productivity in order to achieve sustainable growth, while simultaneously reducing emissions to improve environmental quality.