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Employing a novel instrumental variable method, we provide three findings with the idea of introducing regime switching into the NKPC for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. First, the response of inflation to the driving force is asymmetric in expansion/contraction, and high/low inflation regimes. The switch between regimes changes the inflation dynamics, thus changing the trade-off between stabilizing inflation and the output gap. Second, price stickiness changes in regimes. The price rigidity explains the inflation-output gap and the inflation-law of one price gap relationship across regimes. Third, inflation dynamics are more forward-looking in the expansionary regime. These results yield the implications of targeting deviations from the law of one price for stabilizing inflation and business cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stroke, a leading cause of death and long-term disability, has a considerable social and economic impact. It is imperative to investigate stroke-related costs. The main goal was to conduct a systematic literature review on the described costs associated with stroke care continuum to better understand the evolution of the economic burden and logistic challenges. This research used a systematic review method. We performed a search in PubMed/MEDLINE, ClinicalTrial.gov, Cochrane Reviews, and Google Scholar confined to publications from January 2012 to December 2021. Prices were adjusted using consumer price indices of the countries in the studies in the years the costs were incurred to 2021 Euros using the World Bank and purchasing power parity exchange rate in 2020 from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development with the XE Currency Data API. The inclusion criteria were all types of publications, including prospective cost studies, retrospective cost studies, database analyses, mathematical models, surveys, and cost-of-illness (COI) studies. Were excluded studies that (a) were not about stroke, (b) were editorials and commentaries, (c) were irrelevant after screening the title and abstract,(d) grey literature and non-academic studies, (e) reported cost indicators outside the scope of the review, (f) economic evaluations (i.e., cost-effectiveness or cost–benefit analyses); and (g) studies not meeting the population inclusion criteria. There may be risk of bias because the effects are dependent on the persons delivering the intervention. The results were synthetized by PRISMA method. A total of 724 potential abstracts were identified of which 25 articles were pulled for further investigation. The articles were classified into the following categories: 1)stroke primary prevention, 2) expenditures related to acute stroke care, 3) expenditures for post-acute strokes, and 4) global average stroke cost. The measured expenditures varied considerably among these studies with a global average cost from €610-€220,822.45. Given the great variability in the costs in different studies, we can conclude that we need to define a common system for assessing the costs of strokes. Possible limitations are related to clinical choices exposed to decision rules that trigger decisions alerts within stroke events in a clinical setting. This flowchart is based on the guidelines for acute ischemic stroke treatment but may not be applicable to all institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We revisit the purchasing power parity (PPP) between China and its five major trading partners, namely European Union, United States, Brazil, Japan, and Korea. Conventional unit root tests with structural breaks have mostly failed to validate the PPP. Apart from using CPI as the price index, the tradable‐goods price index is also used to test the PPP hypothesis (Balassa–Samuelson effect). Using the Fourier quantile unit root test for the potential structural breaks and non‐Gaussian distribution reveals strong evidence that the PPP holds between China and its five major trading partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research has two primary goals: first, to develop a composite index that evaluates the degree to which Asian–Pacific economies are prepared to engage in public–private partnerships (PPPs), and second, to investigate the factors that have been most influential in the formation of PPP arrangements in the nations' infrastructure over the course of the period 1995–2016. Design/methodology/approach: The study constructs sectoral and overall index of possible determinants of PPP. Subsequently, it examines each constructed index's role in PPP investment. The author also conducted a panel data analysis to understand the role of each of the potential determinants on PPP projects and investments. This paper analyzes the author's empirical models using a range of cross-section and panel estimators, including Poisson, zero-inflated Poisson and fixed effect. Findings: The study's results based on cross-section analysis suggest that regulatory and institution quality, institutional arrangement and regulatory frameworks, financial market development and macroeconomic stability positively impact investment in PPP. Moreover, the results depict that financial market development has the most substantial impact on PPP investment, followed by macroeconomic stability and prior experience with PPPs. The panel data analysis shows that per-capita income, financial development, inflation, debt, resource import and fuel export are crucial determinants of PPP in Asian–Pacific economies. Practical implications: Governments of the countries should promptly amend the important policies outlined in this study and adopt a more robust strategy to foster a competitive PPP environment. This will aid in maintaining transparency and gaining the confidence of investors. The study's findings may assist policymakers in focusing on specific areas in need of improvement. Social welfare and industrialization are ultimately enhanced by the formulation of such policies and by attracting additional infrastructure investment. Originality/value: This is the first attempt to rank countries on the basis of PPP enablers. Unlike previous studies, this study examines the role of a large number of indicators in determining PPP investment and projects in cross-section as well as panel data framework. The study also investigates the effects of PPP specific provisions and rules. Furthermore, the focus is specifically on Asian–Pacific countries, which are a mix of third-world, emerging, developing and developed countries. Focusing on Asia–Pacific is also crucial because the region is home to most of the world's population, and the region's infrastructure outcomes significantly impact their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding the impact of national public expenditure and its allocation on child mortality may help governments move towards target 3.2 proposed in the 2030 Agenda. The objective of this study was to estimate the impacts of governmental expenditures, total, on health, and on other sectors, on neonatal mortality and mortality of children aged between 28 days and five years. Methods: This study has an ecological design with a population of 147 countries, with data between 2012 and 2019. Two steps were used: first, the Generalized Propensity Score of public spending was calculated; afterward, the Generalized Propensity Score was used to estimate the expenditures' association with mortality rates. The primary outcomes were neonatal mortality rates (NeoRt) and mortality rates in children between 28 days and 5 years (NeoU5Rt). Results: The 1% variation in Int$ Purchasing Power Parity (Int$ PPP) per capita in total public expenditures, expenditure in health, and in other sectors were associated with a variation of -0.635 (95% CI -1.176, -0.095), -2.17 (95% CI -3.051, -1.289) -0.632 (95% CI -1.169, -0.095) in NeoRt, respectively The same variation in public expenditures in sectors other than health, was associates with a variation of -1.772 (95% CI -6.219, -1.459) on NeoU5Rt. The results regarding the impact of total and health public spending on NeoU5Rt were not consistent. Conclusion: Public investments impact mortality in children under 5 years of age. Likely, the allocation of expenditures between the health sector and the other social sectors will have different impacts on mortality between the NeoRt and the NeoU5Rt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) have significantly reduced disease burden caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae , a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality globally. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the incremental net benefit (INB) of the 13-valent PCV (PCV13) and 10-valent PCV (PCV10) in children. We performed a comprehensive search in several databases published before May 2022. Studies were included if they were cost-effectiveness or cost-utility analyses of PCV13 or PCV10 compared with no vaccination or with each other in children. Various monetary units were converted to purchasing power parity, adjusted to 2021 US dollars. The INBs were calculated and then pooled across studies stratified by country income level, perspective, and consideration of herd effects, using a random-effect model. Seventy studies were included. When herd effects were considered, PCV13 was cost-effective compared with PCV10 from the payer perspective in both high-income countries (HICs) (INB, $103.94; 95% confidence interval, $75.28-$132.60) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (INB, $53.49; 95% confidence interval, $30.42-$76.55) with statistical significance. These findings were robust across a series of sensitivity analyses. PCV13 was cost-effective compared with no vaccination across perspectives and consideration of herd effects in both HICs and LMICs, whereas findings were less consistent for PCV10. PCVs were generally cost-effective compared with no vaccination in HICs and LMICs. Our study found that PCV13 was cost-effective compared with PCV10 when herd effects were considered from the payer perspective in both HICs and LMICs. The results are sensitive to the consideration of herd effects. • Previous systematic reviews of cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) demonstrated that pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) (13-valent PCV [PCV13] and 10-valent PCV [PCV10]) are generally cost-effective compared with no vaccination. • This systematic review is the first to perform a meta-analysis of CEAs by pooling the incremental net benefit of the PCV13 and PCV10 in children. • PCV13 was cost-effective compared with PCV10 when herd effects were considered from the payer perspective in both high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries. Our findings could facilitate decision making in countries where context-specific CEAs are not available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the macroeconomic performances of the Turkic world states and the country group, including Russia, in the period of 2010-2020 with CRITIC and MAIRCA methods. For this purpose, five macroeconomic performance criteria were selected. These criteria are; Inflation, Unemployment rate, Misery index, Purchasing power parity and Government revenues. With the CRTIC method, performance criteria are objectively weighted. Alternatives (countries) are listed with the MAIRCA method. According to the results of the analysis, the country with the best macroeconomic performance was determined as Russia. The country with the second best performance was determined as Azerbaijan. The third best performing country was determined as Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan was found to be the country with the worst macroeconomic performance. It can be said that Turkey is the second country with the worst performance after Uzbekistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic devices consume energy both in the production and the use phase. Furthermore, the "hidden" impacts linked to their use are not frequently assessed and they depend on the behavior of the users, besides the servers and complex web networks. It must be underlined that many websites employ ads and trackers as part of their monetization strategy and, in order for online ads and trackers to work, they add an additional code to be executed on the users' machines, which in turn requires more processing power. Considering that the Internet had an estimated 4.9 billion users in 2021, the global energy and carbon impacts of online ads and trackers might be significant. To investigate this phenomenon, we designed a novel automated framework for bottom‐up estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to software using exclusively free and open source software. Our process involved the building of a random sample of global news websites which we visited with and without an ad‐blocker, each time collecting power usage in identical conditions. The gathered data were put into an ordinary least squares (OLS)‐based linear regression model, which showed that ads and trackers on news websites require on average an additional 6.13 W of power on personal computers. This result was then tuned to global environmental and technological parameters to estimate that in 2019, on the client side, ads and trackers on the news websites consumed 0.61 TWh of electrical energy, emitted 0.29 MtCO2eq of GHG, and cost all Internet users approximately 140 million USD (purchasing power parity) of electrical energy. This article met the requirements for a gold‐gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24 February 2022 is imposing a terrible human cost. In this paper, we use the National Institute Global Econometric Model (NiGEM) to quantify the impact of the war on the global economy. The war represents a massive cost, equivalent to 1% of global GDP in 2022, or about $1.5 trillion valued at purchasing power parity exchange rates (PPP), compared with our GDP forecast made at the beginning of 2022. Europe is the region affected most, given trade links its proximity to Ukraine and Russia and its reliance on energy and food supplies from those countries. GDP in Europe is expected to shrink by more than 1% in 2022 compared with our forecast at the beginning of 2022. In Western Europe, Germany will be worst affected, followed by France and Italy. GDP in 'Developing Europe', where Ukraine is the largest representative, is expected to shrink by 30%. The war will also add about 2% to global inflation in 2022 and 1% in 2023, compared with NIESR's inflation projection at the beginning of 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of a country's currency is often considered as the most important price in the economy. Exchangerate changes can significantly affect the profitability of exporters, the prices paid by consumers, as well as complicating the comparison of the economies of different countries. In this article, we illustrate the workings of the purchasing power parity (PPP) and demonstrate its practical use with cross-country data covering the 50 years since the collapse of the Bretton Woods monetary system. We find that despite the prolonged gyrations of currency values and the multitude of trade barriers, the forces of arbitrage and resource re-allocation are sufficient to overcomemany of these distortions in the longer term. We also provide a broad survey of other prominent themes, both extant and emerging, in international economics that highlight the importance of the relationship between exchange rates and prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hungarian government has been widely associated with populist rhetoric in the literature. Its length and uninterrupted government since 2010 create a unique opportunity to study in detail the effects of this kind of rhetoric on its macroeconomic performance. How does Hungary perform under a government characterised by populist rhetoric? The study reveals that populism carries a significant economic cost, as GDP at equal purchasing power parity in 2020 is 10.04% lower than a plausible alternative scenario where the current government was not elected, after a period of 10 years. Lack of addressing some persisting problems of the country, such as lack of competitiveness and institutional decay, might be the underlying dynamic in creating lasting damage to the economy. In this paper, we explore this topic using three different, but complementary techniques used to assess causality: Difference-in-Differences, Synthetic Difference-in-Differences, and the Synthetic Control Method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the excessive changes in the exchange rate in Iran during 2018 due to extreme speculation in the monetary and currency markets caused by numerous economic and political factors such as accumulated excessive liquidity, severe sanctions and foreign pressures. Based on purchasing power parity (PPP) theory, the foreign exchange rate has to be adjusted with the inflation rate. However, this study showed that in the critical situations the PPP theory, which adopts a long‐term and backward‐looking approach, no longer works, and instead the market tends to adopt a short‐term and prospective approach to exchange rates. In this study, the economic data of Iran and the United States were gathered from late 1978 to 21 September 2018, and by adding three other economic factors, including the difference of average annual growth rate of GDP per capita of 2% between the two countries, indicator of risk in low volatility period (1.16%) and high volatility one (1.49%), a new and risk‐based approach is presented based on the low and high volatility of the exchange rates to address the excessive changes not explained by conventional theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neglected tropical diseases are a global public health problem. Although Brazil is largely responsible for their occurrence in Latin America, research funding on the subject does not meet the population's health needs. The present study analyzed the evolution of research funding for neglected tropical diseases by the Ministry of Health and its partners in Brazil, from 2004 to 2020. This is a retrospective study of data from investigations registered on Health Research (Pesquisa Saúde in Portuguese), a public repository for research funded by the Ministry of Health's Department of Science and Technology. The temporal trend of funding and the influence of federal government changes on funding were analyzed using Prais-Winster generalized linear regression. From 2004 to 2020, 1,158 studies were financed (purchasing power parity (PPP$) 230.9 million), with most funding aimed at biomedical research (81.6%) and topics involving dengue, leishmaniasis and tuberculosis (60.2%). Funding was stationary (annual percent change of -5.7%; 95%CI -54.0 to 45.0) and influenced by changes to the federal government. Research funding was lacking for chikungunya, Chagas disease, schistosomiasis, malaria and taeniasis/cysticercosis, diseases with a high prevalence, burden or mortality rates in Brazil. Although the Ministry of Health had several budgetary partners, it was the main funder, with 69.8% of investments. The study revealed that research funding for neglected tropical diseases has stagnated over the years and that diseases with a high prevalence, burden and mortality rate receive little funding. These findings demonstrate the need to strengthen the health research system by providing sustainable funding for research on neglected tropical diseases that is consistent with the population's health needs. Author summary: Neglected tropical diseases that mainly affect low-income populations living in developing tropical regions. Examples include dengue fever, malaria and Chagas disease. Brazil is currently one of the countries most affected by these diseases. Research efforts seek solutions to control these diseases around the world, but resources used for this purpose are scarce. In addition, it is still necessary to further investigate the behavior of these diseases in the population, as well as develop new treatments and forms of diagnosis. The present study investigated research funding for neglected tropical diseases by the Ministry of Health between 2004 and 2020, demonstrating its evolution during this period, the diseases most studied and the relationship between the disease, its health situation and research funding in Brazil. This information is essential to diagnose the status of research funding for neglected tropical diseases in Brazil, indicating the need to increase or not the financial resources and which diseases require further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Improvements in socioeconomic and hygienic conditions during the past decades led to declining hepatitis A (HA) seroprevalence in many countries. Aiming at informing HA vaccination policy, we assessed current epidemiological trends in Serbia by analyzing surveillance data for 2002–2021. Methods: Data on cases and outbreaks were obtained from the Serbian national surveillance database and descriptively analyzed. HA incidence was calculated in relation to time, patients' residence, and demographics. Results: Overall, 13,679 HA cases and 419 outbreaks were recorded with the highest incidence in the southeast. Downward HA trends were observed, while infant mortality was halved, and gross domestic product based on purchasing power parity (GDP PP) per capita, tripled. The average incidence dropped from 14.8 (95% CI 14.4–15.2)/100,000) in 2002–2006 to 1 (95% CI 0.9–1.1)/100,000)/100,000 in 2017–2021, while the number of outbreaks decreased (from 174 to 14). Sporadic cases and family clusters living in poor sanitary conditions occurred in recent years. The contact route of transmission was dominant (410/419, 97.9%). The highest average age-specific HA incidence shifted from 5–9 years in 2002–2006 to 10–19 years in 2017–2021.Serbia is transitioning towards very low HA endemicity. Enhanced surveillance and vaccination of high-risk groups are recommended as future public health priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigate the validity of the purchasing power parity (PPP) proposition for 34 European and selected global countries. For this purpose, we propose a new unit root test for cross-sectionally dependent heterogeneous panels that allows for gradual structural breaks and symmetric nonlinear adjustment toward the equilibrium level. The alternative hypothesis stationary is obtained by symmetric adjustment due to exponential smooth transition autoregression (ESTAR) around a nonlinear trend. Moreover, we provide small sample properties extensively for the newly proposed test. Hence, this alternative hypothesis has been proven to characterize real exchange rate data (REER) correctly. Thus, the newly proposed tests provide an essential basis for modeling the REER series correctly. Finally, we also derive the approximate asymptotic distribution of the proposed tests using new techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Approximately 30% of epilepsy patients develop a drug‐refractory epilepsy, that is, seizures cannot be controlled with antiepileptic drugs. Surgery has been evaluated as an effective but costly form of treatment. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize the available evidence on the cost‐effectiveness of surgical treatment compared to medical treatment for these patients. Method: A systematic literature search was performed in MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library and the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database until September 2022. Title, abstract and full‐text screening were conducted by two researchers. Original studies published in English or German analyzing the cost‐effectiveness of surgical compared to medical treatment were included. Study characteristics, effectiveness measures, costs and incremental cost‐effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were extracted. The quality of studies was assessed using the Drummond checklist. Results: Fourteen studies were included. Most studies evaluated surgery as cost‐effective. The ICER per patient seizure free ranged from dominant to purchasing power parity US dollars (PPP‐USD) 479,275. The ICER per 1% seizure reduction ranged from PPP‐USD 227 to PPP‐USD 342. The ICER per year without seizures was PPP‐USD 4202 and the ICER per quality‐adjusted life‐year ranged from dominant to PPP‐USD 90,874. The studies varied greatly in their methodology and time horizon. Conclusion: Surgical treatment is cost‐effective compared to medical treatment, especially when a lifetime horizon is adopted. It is concluded that all disease‐specific costs should be considered over a long period when assessing the cost‐effectiveness of epilepsy treatment. From an economic perspective, efforts should be made to improve access to surgical treatment for patients with drug‐refractory epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large literature has developed around alternatives to gross domestic product (GDP) per capita for cross‐country comparisons of well‐being. Many of these studies point to non‐economic factors that affect well‐being but are not captured in the traditional GDP measure. With a comprehensive coverage of economies available through the World Bank's International Comparison Programme (ICP) databases at six‐yearly intervals, this paper utilises the ICP 2011 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)‐based expenditures and builds upon it through an analysis of residuals from cross‐country Engel curve regressions. The methodology draws on the idea that patterns in Engel curve residuals can reveal inter alia previously unmeasured aspects of human well‐being such as optimism or pessimism. The paper demonstrates how a residual‐based model of Revealed Optimism/Pessimism can be neatly integrated with PPP‐based GDP to provide an extended measure of national well‐being, referred to here as 'Effective GDP'. As a result, a wider disparity in well‐being across economies is revealed than could be discerned simply from the ICP data. The results suggest that, in 2011, Effective GDP extends traditional PPP‐based GDP estimates by around two per cent in the positive direction for apparently optimistic economies and as much as five per cent downwards for pessimistic ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panhandling income has not been well reviewed, though doing so would be beneficial for several reasons. Understanding beggar income may aid in addressing misconceptions about the activity, clarify the financial motivation for organized or forced begging, and allow for clearer comparisons to other kinds of shadow work like prostitution, binning, or selling drugs. This study presents a systematic review of panhandling income by using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis and PROSPERO guidelines to aid in identifying, screening, assessing, and including research that provides quantitative income information about panhandling. Income is adjusted for inflation, and international studies are converted to USD via standard exchange rate and via purchasing power parity values. Ultimately, 38 studies are included for final analysis. The 38 studies are divided into United States specific (n = 15) and all other countries (n = 23). In adjusted 2020 USD, the economic yield from panhandling is most often $2–$16 per hour, $20–$60 per day, and $200–$500 per month, substantial variation exists. Economic comparisons to other forms of shadow work and future research directions are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the empirical validity of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) hypothesis for Syria in the context of unit root tests based on linear and non-linear models. For this purpose, the author uses both the official as well as the parallel real exchange rates of the Syrian Pound against the US dollar from 2011:04 to 2020:08. In addition to conventional unit root tests without and with structural breaks, the nonlinear unit root tests of Kapetanios et al, Kruse, Kılıç and Sollis are applied to test the stationarity of real exchange rates, and hence the validity of PPP. The empirical results reveal that, in contrast to conventional unit root tests, the nonlinear unit root tests provide highly strong evidence in favor of PPP for both real exchange rate series under consideration. These findings signify the importance of accounting for non-linearity to analyze the behavior of real exchange rates in Syria.

This study investigated the factors causing differences in the prices of MNC operating in different countries that affect the pricing in different regions and deviating from the law of one price and influencing factors by comparing prices of both India and Pakistan being developing countries. The study focused on some specific variables such as GDP, exchange rate, purchasing power parity, and price in the dollar that have been analyzed from January 2016 to January 2021 based on biannual data. The quantitative approach has been applied and the study is based on secondary data, Statistics are taken from the “Big Mac Index” which is used as a benchmark for the comparison of the prices to have a deep insight about prices. The product taken for comparison between 2 countries is “The Big Mac” which is a product of McDonald’s (A multinational corporation) that operates more than 36,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries around the world. The tool used for the analysis of the collected data is Microfit software. Results show currency value, Dollar exchange, and Dollar GDP is statistically not significant, in the case of India analysis shows that dollar exchange, dollar GDP, and dollar PPP having values 0.047, 0.004, and 0.011 respectively are significant and currency value 0.458 & dollar price 0.11 are not significant.

This article has examined the role of environmental conditions and purchasing power parity in deciding the quality of life among big Asian cities. The study has constructed an index for quality of life with the help of housing, crime rates, death rate, average life expectancy, environmental degradation, and level of education. Quality of life has been selected as the dependent variable and the level of pollution, availability of health care facilities, local purchasing power, availability of groceries, level of democracy, cost of living, restaurants, level of traffic, and level of rents are selected explanatory variables. For empirical analysis, this study uses data for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The estimated results show that pollution has a negative and significant impact on the quality of life in the case of Asian cities. Local purchasing power has a positive and significant relationship with the quality of life in the cities of Asia. Groceries and democracy are very important parts of the daily life of human beings but they have insignificant impacts on the quality of life in Asian cities. Restaurants have a positive and significant impact on quality of life. This study finds that level of traffic and the level of rent have a negative and significant impact on the quality of life in the case of Asian cities. The overall results conclude that selected indicators play a significant role in determining the quality of life in Asian cities.

This study analysed how local governments react to intergovernmental competition for private capital in the public goods market. Using microlevel data for public-private partnership (PPP) projects in China from 2012 to 2018, we found that the more private capital rival cities have attracted, the more likely local governments start to introduce PPP projects, especially those whose future returns are paid by governments. The results are robust to an instrumental variable estimation using the financing demand of rival cities. The effect of rival projects was found to be related to information disclosure, financing facilitation, and governors' responsibility. The results suggest that local governments tend to promise future obligations for payment to decrease advanced capital expenditures. This study also provides implications for political and economic research by shedding light on local competition in the progress of marketization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the years 2001 to 2017, per capita nominal and real (adjusted to inflation) GDP at purchasing power parity (PCGDP-PPP) distributions for cities and regions are fitted to various functions. For most years and regions, real PCGDP-PPP data are very well adjusted to the one-parameter Boltzmann–Gibbs distribution (BGD), in accordance with the exponential behavior predicted by the simple econophysics analogy between conserved money in economic trade and energy in elastic collisions in gases. Overall, fittings are better for large regions in recent years, which may reflect an increasing economic globalization in time. Cities, small regions and large regions values are well fitted by stretched exponential distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Depletion of B cells is shown to be clinically effective for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment. Although B-cell depletion therapy with rituximab is indicated for RA patients who have failed to other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), primary cost-effectiveness evidence is inconsistent. We aimed to provide synthesised cost-effectiveness evidence of rituximab in the treatment of RA compared to other DMARDs, since the published cost-effectiveness evidence is mixed. Methods: We identified economic evaluation studies reporting cost-utility of rituximab compared to other DMARDs by searching PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Tufts Cost-Effective Analysis registry. Using random-effects meta-analysis, we pooled incremental net benefit (INB) in (purchasing power parity) adjusted US$ with 95% confidence intervals. We used the modified economic evaluations bias checklist and Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) instrument for quality appraisal. The study protocol was pre-registered with PROSPERO, CRD 42021222541. Results: Of the selected 18 studies, the majority were from high-income countries (n = 14) followed by upper middle-income countries (n = 3) and lower middle-income countries (n = 1), with minimal risk of bias. Rituximab is significantly cost effective with a pooled INB (95% CI) of $8767 (720 to 16,814). On subgroup analysis, rituximab is significantly cost effective from a health system perspective [$12,832 (3392 to 22,272)], for studies using 3.5% discount rate [$15,468 (5973 to 24,963)] and a for a time horizon of less than 5 years [$8496 (1547 to 15,445)]. In a separate analysis, rituximab as third-line therapy (for conventional synthetic DMARDs followed by any other biologic DMARD failed patients) was not cost effective compared to DMARDs [$5314 (−2278 to 12,905)]. Further, the GRADE assessment indicated very-low confidence in the pooled results. Conclusion: Rituximab is cost effective compared to other DMARDs but not if used as third-line therapy after failure of biologics. There is a need to generate context-specific evidence for the lower income settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are food prices more or less equalised across countries? In view of various barriers to trade (both naturally occurring and of a man-made nature) and currency gyrations, the answer would seem to be an unambiguous "No", but we show this question is worthy of further investigation. In order for the law of one price (LOP) to hold, domestic prices must respond one-for-one to changes in world prices and exchange rates, but this is usually prevented by variations in mark-ups and/or trade barriers. We use data on producer prices from the Food and Agriculture Organization to test for the LOP. The results give surprising support to the LOP: Market wedges appear to be insufficiently important to prevent food prices equalising over the longer term. The law of one food price seems to hold, at least as a first approximation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a prevalent public health problem worldwide, and the economic burden of the disease poses one of the main challenges for health systems in low‐ and middle‐income countries. This study aimed to estimate the economic burden of T2DM in Iran, in 2018. Methods: This was a cost‐of‐illness study. Three hundred and seventy‐five patients with T2DM who were referred to Imam Reza and Sina's educational and therapeutic centers and Asad Abadi clinic in Tabriz, Iran, in 2018 were included. A researcher‐constructed checklist was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using EXCEL and SPSS software version 22. Results: Total economic burden of diabetes was estimated at 152,443,862,480.3 (purchasing power parity [PPP], Current International $) (approximately 7.69% of GDP, PPP, Current International $). The mean total direct and indirect costs were 11,278.68 (PPP) (62.35% of mean total cost) and 6808.88 (PPP, Current International $) (37.64% of the total cost), respectively. The mean total direct medical cost and the direct nonmedical cost were 10,819.43 (PPP, Current International $) (59.81% of mean total cost) and 459.24 (PPP, Current International $) (2.53% of mean total cost) per patient, respectively. Besides, the mean direct medical cost was 6.18 times the total per capita expenditure on health, and the total direct medical cost was 8.9% times the total expenditure on health. Conclusion: Diabetes imposes a substantial economic burden on patients, health systems, and the whole economy. Besides, since the cost of the disease in patients treated with insulin and those with diabetes complications is significantly higher, the reinforcement of self‐care measures and focusing on modifying lifestyle (dietary modification and physical activity) in patients with T2DM can significantly reduce the costs of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To estimate the burden of permanent productivity losses caused by acute respiratory infections in South American countries in 2019. Methods. Mortality data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 were analyzed to estimate the burden of disease attributable to acute respiratory infections. An approach based on the human capital method was used to estimate the cost of permanent productivity losses associated with respiratory diseases. To calculate this cost, the sum of the years of productive life lost for each death was multiplied by the proportion in the workforce and the employment rate, and then by the annual minimum wage or purchasing power parity in United States dollars (US$) for each country in the economically active age groups. Separate calculations were done for men and women. Results. The total number of deaths from acute respiratory infections in 2019 was 30 684 and the years of productive life lost were 465 211 years. The total cost of permanent productivity loss was about US$ 835 million based on annual minimum wage and US$ 2 billion in purchasing power parity, representing 0.024% of the region's gross domestic product. The cost per death was US$ 33 226. The cost of productivity losses differed substantially between countries and by sex. Conclusion. Acute respiratory infections impose a significant economic burden on South America in terms of health and productivity. Characterization of the economic costs of these infections can support governments in the allocation of resources to develop policies and interventions to reduce the burden of acute respiratory infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economy of the Philippines ranks 36th in the world in terms of GDP according to 2019 estimates by International Monetary Fund statistics, thirteenth in Asia, and the third largest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations after Indonesia and Thailand. The Philippines is an emerging market and the sixth richest country in Southeast Asia in terms of GDP per capita, after the regional countries of Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. The Philippines is primarily a newly industrialized nation, with an economy in transition from one based on agriculture to one based on services and manufacturing. According to 2017 figures, the gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity was estimated at 874$ billion. The research aims to analyze the nature of economic growth in the Philippines, and evaluate the sources of its growth, focusing on the time period (2022-1990) to ensure that it is sustainable and comprehensive, and meets the aspects of economic, social and environmental sustainability in order to establish more sustainable economic growth. The problem of the study was that the Philippines sought to reduce the gaps between it and other more advanced countries, or to preserve the welfare of its people, or to consolidate its leadership compared to the rest of the world. However, there are still major problems faced by the Philippines, especially with regard to alleviating the large disparity in income and growth between the different regions and social and economic classes in the country. The study relied on the description and presentation of the data on the descriptive method: minimum value, maximum value, average and annual growth rate, while the quantitative method is represented in simple, multiple, logarithmic regression and simple correlation coefficients matrix. The research also relied on secondary data from the International Information website. By estimating the factors affecting the gross domestic product (GDP) in the Philippines, estimating the function in the logarithmic form of the gross national product to the existence of a direct relationship between each of Q 2(growth in the average per capita share) Q 3(foreign direct investment in million dollars) and to know the effect of the explanatory (independent) variables under study on the average Per capita, the significance of the regression coefficients indicates the importance and impact of Q 2(growth in the average per capita share), Q 3of foreign direct investment in increasing the gross national product, as the statistical significance was proven at the level of significance of 0.01, and the adjusted coefficient of determination (t2), which amounted to 0.39, indicates that the variables The metaphor under study explains %39 of the change in the gross national product, and the remaining %61is due to the influence of other unstudied factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pew Research Center survey reports an increasing unfavorable view of China worldwide. In the Soft Power 30 index, China fares at a rank of 27th, far behind its aim of global leadership. The world's leading economic power (in terms of purchasing power parity), a military power second only to the United States, a nation with a formidable global presence, a robust civilization and culture, however, still struggles to generate international affinity and credibility one might expect of the great middle kingdom. Acknowledging the benefits of soft power, China has continuously been engaged in the competitive politics of attraction, legitimacy, and credibility; however, Beijing's charm offensive still has limited appeal in the outside world. The popular assessments point toward China's authoritarian political model or poor state of civil liberties for the limited effectiveness of its soft power push. However, in this article we argue that besides the political and ideological factors limiting its soft power, China's absolute or relative soft power gains are majorly undercut because of its coercive diplomacy exercised with the unbridled pursuit of its core national interests and hyper-nationalism. The article provides an interpretive illustration of how China's disposition to rely on hard power instruments of carrot (inducement) and stick (threat, coercion, or intimidation) to get desired outcomes undermines the quest and effect of its soft power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines whether the long-run validity of PPP holds in some major advanced and developing economies. The study employed the smooth time-varying cointegration (TVC) and time-varying detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) methodology, and we are not aware of any study that has applied TVC and DFA to investigate the long-run validity and determinants of the PPP. Using both the US and Japan as base countries, the empirical results from the univariate unit root tests show that PPP does not hold and thus invalidates PPP. The study finds strong evidence for both the VAR model and the TVC. Our results show that PPP can be used for determining equilibrium exchange rates for these 15 countries, under both methods. The results of DFA and the Hurst exponents for real exchange rates (RERs) in absolute values showed that the Hurst exponent is greater than 0.5 in any country, thus persistent and not mean-reverting but in a rolling window form RERs provide mixed results about the validity of PPP in these countries. These results might be different from earlier works due to different techniques applied and also the long period of data used in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our experiments evaluate the role of information presentation in reducing violations of the Law of One Price in individual investor selection of index mutual funds. The results indicate that most individuals fail to minimize fees. However, individuals allocate nearly 27% (43%) more of their investment dollars to the lowest fee index mutual fund when receiving fee information in the form of a table compared to a graph presentation (in ten-year rather than one-year form). Overall, a simple change from table to graph fee presentation results in a statistically and economically significant reduction in the fees paid by investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between per capita municipal water use (PCMWU) and per capita gross domestic product (PCGDP) (purchasing power parity, constant 2011 US$) is statistically analysed for each country in the world. The results indicate that PCMWU will increase with the rising PCGDP at the beginning, which will then decrease when PCGDP reaches a certain level. This trend follows the rules of the Water Use Kuznets Curve, an inverted U-shape curve that describes the relationship between water use and gross domestic product (GDP). The unbalanced panel data analysis of world 183 countries and 22 developed countries revealed that the PCGDP at the peak point of the Municipal Water Use Kuznets Curve (MWUKC) is approximately US$33,000. The specific reason for the MWUKC is the saturation of municipal water demand. At the same time, the driving forces include technological advancements, growth in water prices, effective environmental regulations and policies, and water-saving consciousness. Most of these mechanisms benefit from economic development. The experiences of developed countries provide guidance and positive indicators for developing countries or countries with increasing PCMWU. Due to the accelerated economic growth in developing countries, these countries could reach a turning point more rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the cointegration relationship of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) with developed Asian markets (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore). The main objective of the study is to identify potential diversification benefits that exist in Sri Lankan stock market. The stock market indices are Hang Seng Index (HSI), Nikkei 225(N225), Straits Times Index (STI) and All Share Price Index (ASPI). Daily closing prices of stock market indices were selected for the period of 2013- 2019. The main theoretical base for the stock market integration was the Law of One Price. The Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound test used to analyze data, revealed an insignificant cointegration relationship between CSE and developed stock markets. The ASPI has statistically significant short-run relationships with the STI. HSI and N225 did not provide any evidence of a long-run relationship with the ASPI. A negative insignificant correlation between ASPI and HSI indicates a good combination to have a well-balanced portfolio gain both long and short-run diversification benefits. In conclusion, the non-existence of cointegration among the above stock markets provides opportunities for international diversification of portfolios and possibilities for risk hedging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Management Issues / Problemy Zarządzania is the property of Problemy Zarzadzania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Hawaiʻi's native forest avifauna is experiencing drastic declines due to climate change-induced increases in temperature encroaching on their upper-elevation montane rainforest refugia. Higher temperatures support greater avian malaria infection rates due to greater densities of its primary vector, the southern house mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus, and enhance development of the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum. Here we propose the use of the incompatible insect technique (IIT) or the combined IIT/sterile insect technique (SIT) for the landscape-scale (i.e., area-wide) control of Cx. quinquefasciatus, and have developed a calculator to estimate the costs of IIT and IIT/SIT applications at various sites in Hawaiʻi. Methods: The overall cost of the infrastructure, personnel, and space necessary to produce incompatible adult males for release is calculated in a unit of ~ 1 million culicid larvae/week. We assessed the rearing costs and need for effective control at various elevations in Hawaiʻi using a 10:1 overflooding ratio at each elevation. The calculator uses a rate describing the number of culicids needed to control wild-type mosquitoes at each site/elevation, in relation to the number of larval rearing units. This rate is a constant from which other costs are quantified. With minor modifications, the calculator described here can be applied to other areas, mosquito species, and similar techniques. To test the robustness of our calculator, the Kauaʻi-specific culicid IIT/SIT infrastructure costs were also compared to costs from Singapore, Mexico, and China using the yearly cost of control per hectare, and purchasing power parity between sites for the cost of 1000 IIT/SIT males. Results: As a proof of concept, we have used the calculator to estimate rearing infrastructure costs for an application of IIT in the Alakaʻi Wilderness Reserve on the island of Kauaʻi. Our analysis estimated an initial investment of at least ~ $1.16M with subsequent yearly costs of approximately $376K. Projections of rearing costs for control at lower elevations are ~ 100 times greater than in upper elevation forest bird refugia. These results are relatively comparable to those real-world cost estimates developed for IIT/SIT culicid male production in other countries when inflation and purchasing power parity are considered. We also present supplemental examples of infrastructure costs needed to control Cx. quinquefasciatus in the home range of ʻiʻiwi Drepanis coccinea, and the yellow fever vector Aedes aegypti. Conclusions: Our cost calculator can be used to effectively estimate the mass rearing cost of an IIT/SIT program. Therefore, the linear relationship of rearing infrastructure to costs used in this calculator is useful for developing a conservative cost estimate for IIT/SIT culicid mass rearing infrastructure. These mass rearing cost estimates vary based on the density of the targeted organism at the application site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies a Markov switching error correction model to describe the single most important real exchange rate (Deutsche mark versus US dollar) over the flexible exchange rates period from 1973 to 2004. We show an alternative way of modelling non-linear adjustment to the purchasing power parity (PPP) besides standard threshold models. The model merges the two possible sources of non-linearity by additionally allowing the probability of a mean-reverting regime to increase with the distance from PPP. The interest rate differential as an additional determinant of real exchange rate behaviour in a Markov switching framework is introduced in the model. The study finds that the real dollar exchange rate during the post-Bretton Woods era is well described by a Markov switching error correction model with (PPP) as long-run equilibrium. There is one mean reversion regime where PPP and the interest parity condition are valid. Contrary, the second regime is characterised by persistent mean aversion, where a regime switch does not become more likely with increasing distance from PPP. The unconditional half-life of shocks is about 1.5 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze a new price mechanism to deviate from the Law of One Price. If stores differ in the varieties offered in a given product category, prices diverge more often regardless of distance. A simple extension to Hotelling (1929) explains this result. We test our prediction using a unique country-level detailed price database. To have one difference in variety in a product category between two stores increases the price difference by 0.6–0.8%. The store characteristics explain nearly half of the effect, which partially account for the selection of varieties. This result is robust to several controls and alternative specifications and increases as the distance between stores decreases. We offer causal evidence of the varieties-to-prices channel by exploiting an exogenous shock to store demand that changes the relative number of varieties. The results of the causal effect are in line with the baseline estimations. Our results show that store decisions on variety selection could have a significant aggregate impact on price volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arbitrage and liquidity are interrelated. Liquidity facilitates arbitrageurs' trading on deviations from the law of one price. However, whether arbitrage opportunity leads to an increase or decrease in liquidity depends on the cause of the deviation. A demand shock leads to greater liquidity, while asymmetric information is toxic to liquidity. We examine how arbitrage and liquidity influence each other in the world's largest platinum futures markets on exchanges in New York and Tokyo. The markets provide an interesting institutional setting because the futures are based on an identical underlying commodity but exhibit different liquidity characteristics both intraday and over their lifespans. Using intraday data, we find that deviation in currency-adjusted futures prices leads, on average, to an immediate increase in liquidity, suggesting that demand shocks are the dominant driver of arbitrage opportunities. Less actively traded futures experience a greater liquidity effect. Arbitrageurs improve liquidity in both New York and Tokyo by acting as discretionary liquidity traders and cross-sectional market-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green infrastructures deliver countless functions for counteracting climate change, air pollution, floods, and heat islands, contributing at the same time to water and carbon recycling as well as to renewable energies and feedstock provisioning. Properly addressing such environmental problems would require huge investments that could be decreased thanks to the further implementation of urban forests. Local administrations are designing participative projects to improve territories and their living conditions. The i-Tree Canopy modelling tool and the life cycle assessment method are jointly applied to evaluate the potential benefits of increasing tree coverage within the boundaries of the Metropolitan City of Naples, Southern Italy. Results highlighted that tree coverage could increase by about 2.4 million trees, thus generating 51% more benefits in pollutants removal, carbon sequestration and stormwater management. The benefits are also explored and confirmed by means of the life cycle assessment method. The potential tree cover is expected to provide a total annual economic benefit of USD 55 million, purchasing power parity value adjusted, representing USD 18 per citizen and USD 99,117 per square kilometre of implemented urban forest. These results can support a potential replication elsewhere and provide a reference for the sustainable improvement of cities by expanding urban green areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explain the high persistence in U.S. price differentials found in Cecchetti, S. G., N. C. Mark, and R. J. Sonora. 2002. "Price Index Convergence Among United States Cities." International Economic Review 43: 1081–99, by means of the concept of change in persistence. To that end, have computed recently developed tests by Kejriwal, M., P. Perron, and J. Zhou. 2013. "Wald Tests for Detecting Multiple Structural Changes in Persistence." Econometric Theory 29: 289–323, allowing for multiple changes in persistence under the alternative hypothesis. We conclude that change in persistence cannot be ruled out for some city price differentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes enhanced studies on a model consisting of a finite mixture framework of generalized linear models (GLMs) with gamma-distributed responses estimated using the Bayesian approach coupled with the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. The log-link function, which relates the mean and linear predictors of the model, is implemented to ensure non-negative values of the predicted gamma-distributed responses. The simulation-based inferential processes related to the Bayesian-MCMC method is carried out using the Gibbs sampler algorithm. The performance of proposed model is conducted through two real data applications on the gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity and the annual household income per capita. Graphical posterior predictive checks are carried out to verify the adequacy of the fitted model for the observed data. The predictive accuracy of this model is compared with other Bayesian models using the widely applicable information criterion (WAIC). We find that the Bayesian mixture of GLMs with gamma-distributed responses performs properly when the appropriate prior distributions are applied and has better predictive accuracy than the Bayesian mixture of linear regression model and the Bayesian gamma regression model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study aims to investigate the impact of foreign trade on economic growth and welfare of a country, using foreign trade volume and its coverage (i.e. export versus import) ratio representing foreign trade while gross domestic product per capita and purchasing power parity represent economic growth and welfare. Knowing that foreign trade boosts the whole economy, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is a good indicator of an economic output but does not reflect the differences in the cost of living of countries. The challenge in this study is to develop more complementary indicators that can help bridge the gap between GDP per capita and economic well-being. Purchasing power parity (PPP) compares different countries' economic output using a standardized metric based on a common basket of goods and services. Using PPP exchange rates in addition to a country's gross domestic product (GDP) may help to provide a more detailed picture of a country's economic health. Multiple regression analysis was utilised to test the hypotheses of this study. Secondary data was used in this study. The analyses were performed with SPSS. As a result of the data analyses and tests of hypotheses conducted in this study, it has been empirically proven that foreign trade volume and export/import coverage ratio have positive impact on gross domestic product per capita which has a significant impact on purchasing power parity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]