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This article measures the ten-year development progress of 47 least developed countries (LDCs) based on comparing the development performances of 217 countries and economies. A methodology based on the theory of statistical process control is used to evaluate development performances in three dimensions: per capita income, life expectancy, and education. This methodology uses a pair of average and standard deviation charts to measure each LDC's degree of growth and stability of growth in each dimension of development, and uses the three standard deviation limits in each chart to identify exceptional development performances that are outside the upper or lower limit. This article has three key findings on the exceptional development performances of LDCs in the context of world development over 2010–2019: (1) Seventeen LDCs achieved exceptionally high increases in life expectancy; (2) one LDC achieved exceptionally high growth in per capita income, but two LDCs had exceptionally low performances in the growth of per capita income; and (3) six LDCs experienced exceptionally unstable growth of per capita income. These findings shed some light on the future development priorities for LDCs. The reliability of analysis is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exponentially increasing amounts of copper mined over the last 120 years and Cu's central place in modern society raise concerns about its long-term availability. Estimates of copper production from mines made here based on projected population (R2 = 0.95) are lower than many previous studies. Projected world production of copper from mines in 2100 of 28.2 million tons Cu is approximately 34% more than 2021 production. Rough estimates of recycled Cu added to mine production are less than previous estimates of future consumed Cu. Although annual mined copper will peak in about 2086, production will continue in a gentle decline through 2100. Future availability of consumed copper is dependent on availability of mined copper plus recycled copper. Estimated total copper demand including new technologies is 33 million tons in 2040. Total expected copper from mines estimated here is 24 million tons in 2040, but with a recycling rate of 30%, required demand of 33 million tons would be satisfied. Per capita GDP effects on copper consumption require a logistic growth curve to model. In countries with high per capita GDP, per capita copper consumption is likely to reach saturation and stabilize or perhaps reduce demand for copper. Most countries will achieve high incomes at some point. If earlier studies of high-income copper consumption rates hold in the future, 10 kg per capita of copper for 10 billion people expected before 2100 leads to estimated total annual copper consumption of 100 million tons. This worst-case demand estimate greatly exceeds projected copper from mines and recycling and ignores increased demand due to electrification scenarios and declines in demand due to declining population by 2100 and possible dematerialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding socio-ecological systems over the long term can shed light on past adaptive strategies in environmentally sensitive regions. Central Chile is an emblematic case study for mediterranean ecosystems, where a progressive and sustained population increase began approximately 2000 years ago alongside significant landscape changes. In this work we analyzed regional paleo-demographic trends by compiling a new database of archaeological dates over the last 3000 years, and integrating population dynamics theory with an analysis of the spatio-temporal variation of regional cultural stages. Results show three moments of marked acceleration in population growth: just before agricultural adoption, during the Archaic Period (c. 700-300 BCE); during the second half of the ECP (500–900 CE); and during the Late Intermediate Period (1200–1400 CE). We also identified periods of deceleration in per capita growth rates, although population size continued to increase (300 BCE−500 CE, 900–1200 CE and after 1400 CE). These large shifts in the per capita growth rates coincide with major cultural changes associated with social and economic aspects. The pulses of major occupation show in general terms a more intensive use of the valleys as the population size increased, although the remaining ecosystems never ceased to be occupied with different economic and symbolic emphases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effect of a place-based policy in China, the Northeastern Revitalization Program. In 2003 the State Council of the People's Republic of China initiated the program in northeastern China by removing an agricultural tax, enhancing the urban social security system, facilitating foreign investment, and restructuring state-owned enterprises in the region. Using the synthetic control method, we find that the program had no significant effect on GDP per capita in all three regions. Liaoning had slightly worse GDP per capita post-treatment, as did Heilongjiang (albeit to a lesser extent). While the multiple synthetic control analysis shows that economic outcomes were worse post-treatment, the impact of this program was heterogeneous across the three regions. We argue the lackluster performance likely comes from the continuing dominance of inefficient state-owned enterprises in the provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce an ODE system to model the interaction between natural resources and human exploitation in a rich consumeristic society. In this model, the rate of change in population depends on wealth per capita, and the rate of consumption has a quadratic growth with respect to population and wealth. We distinguish between renewable and non-renewable resources, and we introduce a replenishment term for non-renewable resources. We first obtain some information on the asymptotic behavior of wealth and population, then we compute all system equilibria and study their stability when the resource exploitation parameter is low. Some numerical simulations confirm the theoretical results and suggest directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societies' use of material resources is increasingly recognized as a key factor behind sustainability problems. The mass of materials used per capita and year differs substantially between countries. However, a limited range of variables (mostly per‐capita gross domestic product [GDP]) were analyzed to explain this variation. Spatial patterns of cities influence their resource use, but the role of patterns of settlements and infrastructures as co‐determinants of national‐level material use is unknown, mainly due to lacking data to investigate their effects at that scale. Here we start closing this gap by systematically analyzing a broad set of potential determinants of national per‐capita material demand, including built structures. Material demand is represented by both production‐ and consumption‐based indicators. Among its potential determinants, we analyze eight novel indicators representing extent and spatial patterns of settlements and transport infrastructures in each country, along with GDP and other indicators considered so far. Analyzing 123 countries inhabited by 91% of the world population and accounting for 92% of world GDP, we show that built structures strongly co‐determine resource use. Indicators of extent and spatial patterns of built structures have substantial additional explanatory power beyond GDP and other conventional indicators for both production‐ and consumption‐based material flow indicators. The area of built‐up land per capita emerges as the strongest predictor, but several other indicators representing built structures are also highly relevant. Limiting built‐up land and designing spatial patterns of built structures hence deserve attention in attempts to reduce societies' resource throughput. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes household data from nine programs in the Sahel region using a harmonized approach to compare Proxy-Means Testing (PMT) and Community-Based Targeting (CBT) as conducted in practice, once geographical targeting has been applied. Results show that the targeting performance measured depends critically on the definition of the targeting objectives, share of beneficiaries selected, and indices used to evaluate targeting. While PMT performs better in reaching the poorest households based on per capita consumption, it differs little from CBT, random or universal selection when distribution-sensitive measures are employed, or when food security is used as the welfare metric. Administrative costs associated with targeting represent only a small share of budgets. Results emphasize the importance of studying programs as implemented in practice instead of relying on simulations of targeting performance. They also suggest that PMT and CBT contribute little to poverty or food insecurity reduction efforts in poor and homogeneous settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 recommends non-drinking or no more than 2 drinks for men or 1 drink for women in a day. However, even at lower levels, alcohol use increases the risk for certain cancers. This study estimated mean annual alcohol-attributable cancer deaths and the number of cancer deaths that could potentially be prevented if all U.S. adults who drank in excess of the Dietary Guidelines had instead consumed alcohol to correspond with typical consumption of those who drink within the recommended limits. Among U.S. residents aged ≥20 years, mean annual alcohol-attributable cancer deaths during 2020–2021 that could have been prevented with hypothetical reductions in alcohol use were estimated. Mean daily alcohol consumption prevalence estimates from the 2020–2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, adjusted to per capita alcohol sales to address underreporting of drinking, were applied to relative risks to calculate population-attributable fractions for cancers that can occur from drinking alcohol. Analyses were conducted during February–April 2023. In the U.S., an estimated 20,216 cancer deaths were alcohol-attributable/year during 2020–2021 (men: 14,562 [72.0%]; women: 5,654 [28.0%]). Approximately 16,800 deaths (83% of alcohol-attributable cancer deaths, 2.8% of all cancer deaths) could have been prevented/year if adults who drank alcohol in excess of the Dietary Guidelines had instead reduced their consumption to ≤2 drinks/day for men or ≤1 drink/day for women. Approximately 650 additional deaths could have been prevented annually if men consumed 1 drink/day, instead of 2. Implementing evidence-based alcohol policies (e.g., increasing alcohol taxes, regulating alcohol outlet density) to decrease drinking could reduce alcohol-attributable cancers, complementing clinical interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystems provide a wide range of services crucial for human well-being and decision-making processes at various levels. This study analyzed the major land cover types of north-central Ethiopia and their impact on total and per-capita ecosystem service value (ESV). The ESV was estimated using the benefit-transfer method along the established global and local coefficient values for the periods 1973, 1986, 2001, 2016, and 2024. The findings show that agricultural lands continued to expand at a rate of 563.4 ha year−1, at the expense of forests and grasslands. As a result, the total ESV of the study area declined from $101.4 to $61.03 million and $60.08–$43.69 million, respectively. The ESV per capita was also diminished by $152.4 (37.7%) and $257 (40.6%), respectively. However, land-cover improvement during the period 2001–2016 enhanced the total and per capita ESV in the study area. Therefore, potential future research may be required to develop a valid approach for assessing the robustness and sensitivity of value coefficients for the valuation of the ESV at the landscape level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To analyze the spatial distribution characteristics, efficiency, and influencing factors of pension institutions in Dongguan, so as to provide reference for optimizing the resource allocation of pension institutions in Dongguan. Methods The resource allocation data of pension institutions in Dongguan were obtained by questionnaire survey, and the spatial distribution characteristics and efficiency of pension institutions were analyzed and evaluated based on GIS and three-stage DEA model. Results There was a good spatial coupling between the resources of pension institutions in Dongguan and the elderly population over 60 years old; the lowest occupancy rate was 12.50%, the highest was 100.005%, and the phenomenon of "difficulty in finding a bed" and "half of the beds were vacant" coexisted. In the third stage, the average comprehensive efficiency decreased from 0.679 to 0.635, and environmental factors had a great influence on the efficiency of resource allocation in Dongguan. There were great differences in the efficiency of pension institutions in different areas. The comprehensive efficiency of urban areas was 0.784, which exceeded the average level of the whole city (0.635). The comprehensive efficiency of the eastern industrial park was only 0.439, which did not reach the average level of the whole city. The per capita regional GDP and the level of aging had a negative impact on efficiency. Conclusion It is suggested to rationally allocate the resources of pension institutions, optimize regional development planning, promote the upgrading of institutional pension services, improve the efficiency of resource allocation, and provide improved reference scheme for improving the service level of pension institutions in Dongguan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To compare total and out-of-pocket (OOP) medical expenditures between pre–COVID-19 (March 2019 to February 2020) and COVID-19 (March 2020 to February 2022) periods among Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Data were from 100% Medicare fee-for-service claims. Diabetes was identified using ICD-10 codes. We calculated quarterly total and OOP medical expenditures at the population and per capita level in total and by service type. Per capita expenditures were calculated by dividing the population expenditure by the number of beneficiaries with diabetes in the same quarter. Changes in expenditures were calculated as the differences in the same quarters between the prepandemic and pandemic years. RESULTS: Population total expenditure fell to $33.6 billion in the 1st quarter of the pandemic from $41.7 billion in the same prepandemic quarter; it then bounced back to $36.8 billion by the 4th quarter of the 2nd pandemic year. The per capita total expenditure fell to $5,356 in the 1st quarter of the pandemic from $6,500 in the same prepandemic quarter. It then increased to $6,096 by the 4th quarter of the 2nd pandemic year, surpassing the same quarter in the prepandemic year ($5,982). Both population and per capita OOP expenditures during the pandemic period were lower than the prepandemic period. Changes in per capita expenditure between the pre–COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods by service type varied. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 had a significant impact on both total and per capita medical expenditures among Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes. The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with lower OOP expenditures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border cooperation is a major instrument of European policy to overcome the barriers posed by national borders and correcting regional imbalances. But the question of whether it is leading to the convergence of cross-border regions (CBRs) is still open for debate, given the significant heterogeneity of borders and the localized and spatially bound nature of many border effects. This article analyses the beta and sigma convergences in GDP per capita growth for the NUTS-3 at the Portuguese-Spanish border between 2000 and 2018, also considering their population growth. The main finding is that, even if their population growth is below the national averages, the CBR is converging in economic terms. This convergence is visible in the reduced dispersion of the GDP in the border regions and is also confirmed by spatial models, which showed that being a border region increases the probability of having above-average growth rates and that the NUTS-3 with initially low GDP in the cross-border region were also growing above average. This convergence was found to be robust, considering different model specifications and important factors for convergence, such as population growth and spatial dependence. A negative relationship between population and GDP per capita growth was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magazine Expansión publishes yearly its list of leading 500 top companies in Mexico. Its cumulative probability sales distribution per employee (per capita) exhibits a two-class structure: a quasi-Pareto power-law in the higher part and an exponential in the lower part which is qualitatively similar to income and wealth distributions in many countries of the world. Therefore, we posit that the income in wages and salaries of many Mexican workers is correlated to the sales revenue per employee of their corresponding employer firms. The relatively small number of state-owned enterprises (SOE) in this list is due to the privatization of most of the Mexican SOE during the past decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into the dynamics shaping happiness levels in Indonesia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically emphasizing gender and residence-type disparities. Using data from the 2017 and 2021 Happiness Level Measurement Survey, it offers insights into how different population segments were affected. The analysis employs a multilevel mixed-effects ordered logistic model, considering individuals nested within provinces, and measures pandemic severity using positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. This study evaluates pandemic-related happiness shifts using nationwide cross-sectional survey data from two timeframes. It derives substantial statistical strength from data involving 137,000+ respondents gathered through comprehensive face-to-face interviews. It mitigates recall bias by capturing happiness at two distinct time points, avoiding retrospective measures. The study examines and validates four research questions. First, higher COVID-19 cases in provinces correlate with lower happiness. Second, though women were happier than men, the pandemic reduced this gender-based gap. Third, urban residents were generally happier than rural residents, but the pandemic narrowed this difference. All the estimates exhibit statistical significance at the 1 percent level. Finally, while provincial poverty showed minimal happiness impact, a negative association between unequal per capita expenditure and happiness emerged, providing partial backing for investigating the role of macroeconomic conditions. This study reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic altered happiness dynamics in Indonesia, narrowing gender and residence-based gaps. It also emphasizes the role of socioeconomic factors, particularly unequal per capita expenditure, in influencing individual happiness, highlighting implications for targeted policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the impact of GDP per capita, domestic credit, savings, and population on the environment in Pakistan from 1995 to 2019. The country has consistently been ranked eighth, fifth, and eight as an environmentally vulnerable nation from 1998 to 2017, 1999 to 2018, and 2000 to 2019, respectively. Therefore, the study explores the role of environmental awareness as a potential strategy for making peace with nature. Findings of the ARDL bounds testing approach confirm the long-run cointegration among variables of concern. In further assessment, the study determines that increased per capita income is detrimental to environmental quality in the long run. However, in the short run, it shows a favourable impact. On the other hand, domestic credit worsens the environment in the long and short runs. However, savings are positively insignificant in this regard. Furthermore, the total population significantly harms the environment in the long and short run. Fortunately, environmental awareness has emerged as a key solution to environmental degradation in Pakistan. Findings show that an increase in the dissemination of environmental awareness through the Internet, mobile, and landline phones, as well as by increasing education expenditures, mitigates the populations' detrimental impact on the environment and improves environmental quality in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

This study predicted that the relationship between income and life satisfaction would be stronger for individuals with lower eudaimonic (psychosocial) well-being and weaker for individuals with higher eudaimonic well-being. A sample of 151,874 individuals from 141 countries was used to test this hypothesis. The results of Bayesian multilevel modeling showed that, as expected, per capita household income and subjective satisfaction with income were more strongly associated with life satisfaction among individuals with lower (versus higher) eudaimonic well-being. Individuals with high levels of eudaimonic well-being tend to attach less importance to materialistic and extrinsic values and have more psychological resources (e.g., meaning in life and social support) to cope with difficulties in life and are therefore likely to be less dependent on money when evaluating their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of urbanization on the environmental quality of ecologically fragile areas has long been ambiguous. With a focus on the human–environment interaction in 95 counties of Hengduan Mountain, an ecologically fragile region in southwestern China, in this study, we clarify the impact and mechanism of urbanization on environmental quality through the environmental regulation effect, using econometric models and county-level panel data from 2010 to 2019. The results of this study show that: (1) urbanization and environmental regulation have increased over this 10-year period within the study area and regional differences in environmental quality have decreased; (2) urbanization significantly contributes to environmental quality, with heterogenous effects on different environmental elements—increasing the proportion of wetlands and green areas per capita but suppressing vegetation coverage and production efficiency; and (3) environmental regulation is an important mechanism for urbanization to improve environmental quality; however, there are negative externalities on neighboring areas. The results of this study show that urbanization and environmental quality are not always mutually exclusive, thus providing a reference for the development of pro-environmental urbanization to improve sustainable development in ecologically fragile areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document provides a detailed explanation of the methodology used to calculate the Rural Access Index (RAI), which is an indicator of rural accessibility. The RAI takes into account factors such as climate, terrain, road maintenance, and GDP per capita. The process involves filtering out urban areas, converting road data into raster format, and performing mathematical operations on the data. The document acknowledges limitations, such as the exclusion of small countries and the focus solely on roads. However, it concludes that the methodology is sustainable and can be used as a global indicator of rural accessibility. [Extracted from the article]

This research investigates the effects of tourism, GDP per capita, renewable energy, energy intensity, urbanization, and population on the environment in 40 Asian countries. Data from 1995 to 2019 are used in this analysis. Slope heterogeneity (SH), cross-sectional dependency (CSD), and the combination of level and first differenced stationary are all addressed using a new cross-sectionally autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model in this work. Using Westerlund's cointegration method, these variables can be connected throughout time. To validate the findings, both augmented mean groups (AMG) and Common correlated effect mean groups (CCEMG) were utilized. The study results indicate that tourism helps slow the degradation of the natural environment. CO2 emissions increase as a result of variables such as population growth, energy use, and economic development. Only tourism and renewable energy can help cut CO2 emissions. As a consequence, CS-ARDL results are supported by results from AMG and CCEMG tests. Policymakers may be encouraged countries to adopt renewable energy and foster the expansion of the sustainable tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving zero hunger is intricately linked to sustainable agricultural production and the workings of a farming system. With land being the most important resource in smallholder agriculture in developing countries; including Nigeria; the effect of legal land ownership is a sine qua non for the process of achieving zero hunger in Nigeria. This study examined Nigeria's attempt at making agricultural land both accessible and utilizable for smallholders in Nigeria through the Presidential Technical Steering Committee on Land Reforms in 2009. The aim was to explore the extent to which land ownership had become legalized; so that it had positive investment incentives for smallholder farmers to improve their investment portfolio on their holdings. A secondary dataset of 4,032 respondents obtained from the Living Standard Survey Integrated Survey on Agriculture (LSMS/ISA) of the 2018/2019 season, was used for the study. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and a 2-stage least square model. The apriori being that legal land ownership provided a perception of security that would enhance farm-level investment; which would therefore increase production output and hence food security. The findings revealed that although land titling was low (~12%) within the agricultural system; its return on production output was highly significant (5.3; p < 0.05). The possession of land title would also increase per capita food consumption expenditure (0.35; p < 0.05) among the farming households. On average, households with access to land titles had a significantly higher (at p < 0.01) food expenditure (N9, 868.00) than those without land titles (N6171.72). Other farm-level investment variables such as credit use, and mechanization through tractor use were significant in improving food security amidst the security presented by possession of land title. Thus, expediting the implementation and coverage of formal land registration and titling may be a first step to contributing meaningfully to the food security drive of the SDGs in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fisheries sector is a sector which supports Indonesia’s development, because the waters in Indonesia are wider than the land. Central Java is a region that has a long coastline stretching along the north coast and the south coast of Java. This supports the development of fisheries potential in Indonesia. Research on the blue economy theme for the fisheries sector is being promoted. The method used is an analysis of economic aspects in Central Java, especially people engaged in fisheries (GRDP and income per capita), potential fisheries resources, human resource potential (number of fish fishermen and cultivators), fisheries households, as well as aspects of production and value fisheries production. The results of this research can provide an overview of the potential of fisheries in Central Java to facilitate their management. The research results show that GRDP in the fields of fisheries, forestry, and agriculture during the 2018-2022 period was 3.23%-7.33%; the highest per capita expenditure in the food sector is used to purchase food, and non-food cost is for housing and household facilities. The highest fish resource potential is a small pelagic fish. The most increased fisheries production in 2022 in the Central Java region will be in Rembang and Pati Regencies which have coastlines and are coastal areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Çankırı Karatekin University Journal of the Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences is the property of Cankiri Karatekin University, Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences 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.)

Copyright of Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter 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.)

This article aims to discuss left behind places in Brazil in the early 21st century. We conceptually debate the left behind places' approach in dialogue with other contemporary theoretical perspectives. To evaluate regional inequalities in Brazil, we used the coefficient of variation, calculated at two different scales from 2002 to 2019 for GDP per capita, also considering social indicators. The results indicated a slow decline in regional inequalities. We debate the role of recently implemented public policies in this process, as well as the potentiality of these policies to identify left behind places and deal with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural settlement consolidation (RSC) is an important tool for improving rural habitat environments, and the potential evaluation of RSC is the premise for rural settlement planning. This paper identified the potential sources of RSC in different reconstruction modes and built an influencing factor system for RSC. We analyzed the spatial differentiation patterns of the theoretical potential and the realistic potential, and we identified the factors influencing the potential realization based on an empirical investigation in China. Influenced by multiple constraints, the potential transition from theoretical to realistic was spatially differentiated and showed a spatial agglomeration at the village level. Rural depopulation had a direct impact on the theoretical potential of RSC, while the distance to the downtown, rural population, per capita GDP, and production and living conditions played an important role in the realistic potential. Particularly, rural settlement basic conditions, rural population, and arable land resources profoundly affected farmer exit willingness and the potential transition from theoretical to realistic. Four optimization paths for rural settlement reconstruction linking to land use policies were proposed, which could provide valuable information for rural settlement planning in socioeconomic transformation regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and its consequences pose significant economic and social challenges around the world. Droughts have frequently afflicted South Africa, with the most recent severe drought occurring in 2015/2016. However, there has been little empirical research estimating the impact of climate‐related shocks on individual well‐being in South Africa. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the 2015/2016 drought on individual welfare. We also examine whether access to assets helps to mitigate the negative effects of climate change‐related shocks on individual welfare. For estimating the impact of droughts on individual welfare outcomes, weather data are combined with individual panel data from the National Income Dynamics Study dataset. We use weather data from meteorological satellites to measure the extent of droughts across the country, and we measure individual welfare using real per capita consumption expenditure. Our estimation results show that the 2015/2016 drought had no significant effect on real per capita consumption expenditure in South Africa. We hypothesise that this is due in part to the structure of the labour market, with few people relying on subsistence farming, combined with social grants and remittances being the primary source of income for people at the bottom of the consumption distribution. Using anthropometric measurements as an alternative welfare indicator, we find that children living in drought‐affected areas had lower weight‐for‐height measurements than those living in areas not affected by the drought. The findings imply that when food prices increased as a result of the drought, households may have chosen welfare‐costly coping techniques such as reducing the quantity and quality of food consumed while keeping overall expenditure the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits Acemoglu‐Johnson the predicted mortality instrument. Drawing on a unique historical data set of disease‐specific mortality rates, we reconstruct several versions of the instrument that differ in terms of data usage and instrument relevance. Our findings confirm its predictive power on life expectancy. The replication analysis reveals a significant positive second‐stage effect of life expectancy on population and total birth rates and a negative effect on GDP per capita for a subset of the revised instruments. Overall, data coverage and empirical tests suggest the superiority of our country‐level instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several literature review studies have been conducted on cost-effectiveness threshold values. However, only a few are systematic literature reviews, and most did not investigate the different methods, especially in-depth reviews of directly eliciting WTP per QALY. Our study aimed to 1) describe the different direct approach methods to elicit WTP/QALY; 2) investigate factors that contribute the most to the level of WTP/QALY value; and 3) investigate the relation between the value of WTP/QALY and GDP per capita and give some recommendations on feasible methods for eliciting WTP/QALY in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A systematic review concerning select studies estimating WTP/QALY from a direct approach was carried out in seven databases, with a cut off date of 03/2022. The conversion of monetary values into 2021 international dollars (i$) was performed via CPI and PPP indexes. The influential factors were evaluated with Bayesian model averaging. Criteria for recommendation for feasible methods in LMICs are made based on empirical evidence from the systematic review and given the resource limitation in LMICs. A total of 12,196 records were identified; 64 articles were included for full-text review. The WTP/QALY method and values varied widely across countries with a median WTP/QALY value of i$16,647.6 and WTP/QALY per GDP per capita of 0.53. A total of 11 factors were most influential, in which the discrete-choice experiment method had a posterior probability of 100%. Methods for deriving WTP/QALY vary largely across studies. Eleven influential factors contribute most to the level of values of WTP/QALY, in which the discrete-choice experiment method was the greatest affected. We also found that in most countries, values for WTP/QALY were below 1 x GDP per capita. Some important principles are addressed related to what LMICs may be concerned with when conducting studies to estimate WTP/QALY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Vehicle Electronic Stability Control may not be as effective as currently believed, due to possible over-estimation of effects in crash sample studies. • Fatal crashes data from the US was used to test whether the increase in Electronic Stability Control in the vehicle population was associated with a decline in crashes. • The results indicate that the effect in US data might possibly be two thirds the size of previous estimates, possibly much less. Problem: Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is believed to be among the most efficient vehicle safety interventions with reported effects around 50% for fatal single and rollover crashes. However, such estimates have used sample data, which have not controlled for the possibilities of self-selection, behavioral adaptation, increased access to the technology by less safe drivers, and the calculation of effects on very specific categories of crashes. Effects of ESC in the population can therefore be expected to be smaller than is currently believed. Method: National U.S. data for fatal crashes, driving exposure and other control factors, and market penetration of ESC over 1991–2021 were used to calculate whether the trends in fatalities over time in crash rates for singles, rollovers, and fatal crashes in general matched projections from estimates of effectiveness. Results: It was found that downward trends in the relevant crash types were generally present before ESC was introduced, and that the trends thereafter were weaker. Although some trends were consistent with effects of ESC, they were markedly smaller than the projected ones, and could be explained by other factors such as the number of vehicles per capita. At best, the effect for rollovers could be up to two-thirds of previous estimates, no effect was detected for singles, while for all fatal crashes results depended upon the type of analysis performed. These results conflict with conclusions in all published ESC crash sample studies, which have compared vehicles with and without ESC. This discrepancy can be explained by methodological errors in the previous studies using induced exposure methods and self-selected samples. Practical applications: Traffic safety may not be as much improved by technological interventions as believed. Alternative approaches to traffic safety are needed, which do not rely on technology that interferes with driver behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note assesses participatory health governance practices for HIV and AIDS in Brazil. By extension, we also evaluate municipal democratic governance to public health outcomes. We draw from a unique dataset on municipal HIV/AIDS prevalence and participatory health governance from 2006–17 for all 5,570 Brazilian municipalities. We use negative binomial regression and coarsened exact matching with treatment effects to estimate the influence of community health governance institutions on HIV/AIDS prevalence. Municipalities with participatory health councils experience 14% lower HIV/AIDS prevalence than other municipalities, all else equal. Family Health Program coverage, municipal state capacity, and municipal per capita health spending are also associated with systematically lower HIV/AIDS prevalence. We conclude that participatory health governance may combat HIV and AIDS through municipal spending, education, and community mobilization. Municipal health councils can facilitate these strategies and offer opportunities for improving well-being around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evidence that GDP and gender equality are predictors of gender gap in the acceptance of AVs. • Gender gap in the acceptance of AVs was larger in countries with higher GDP. • Gender gap in the acceptance of AVs was larger in countries with higher gender equality. • There is no common trend that could be generalised on gender gap in the acceptance of AVs. Previous research suggests that there might be a gender gap in the acceptance of automated vehicles (AVs): males are typically found to have a higher intention to use AVs than females, although opposite results have been reported in different countries. The conflicting results have yet to be addressed, and only a few studies have attempted to explain the country-level differences based on quantifiable socio-economic indicators. We investigated the gender gap in the acceptance of AVs (SAE Level 3) using a questionnaire study among 8412 car-drivers in eight European countries as part of the European L3Pilot project. For this study, the gender gap in the acceptance of AVs is defined as the difference in the willingness to use, buy and activate the automated driving function in AVs between men and women. Results showed two distinct realities for Europe: in one group of countries, females were less willing to use AVs than males, while in another group, both males and females had similar acceptance towards AVs with higher ratings overall. These country groups were different in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and the Gender Equality Index (GEI). The gender gap in the acceptance of AVs was larger in countries with a higher GDP and GEI. The study findings suggest that the gender gap in the acceptance of AVs is not universal, and the countries' progress in economics and gender equality are related to people's attitudes toward AVs. This finding enhances policy development and planning future transport solutions to ensure that all potential users can benefit from AVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To study and analyze the impact of socio‐economic factors on secular changes in height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) among Moscow's youth over the time interval from the late 19th–early 20th century to the present. Methods: Anthropometric data, including height, weight, and BMI, were collected through surveys conducted on youths aged 17–20 years in Moscow from the 1880s for males and from the 1920s for females to the present. The dataset includes information on 6434 individuals surveyed from 2000 to 2019, as well as previously published mean values. Economic development indicators, such as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, monthly average income per capita, and the Gini coefficient, were examined to analyze the association between secular trends in body size and socio‐economic conditions. Results: A positive secular trend in height and weight has been observed among Moscow's youth from the early 20th century to the present. Substantial increases in height occurred during the second half of the previous century, stabilizing in the 2000s. Over the analyzed period, both average body weight and BMI values showed a consistent rise. The pattern for BMI exhibited a U‐shaped trend, with a decline from the 1970s to the mid‐1990s, followed by a subsequent increase. Strong correlations were found between the secular changes in body size among Moscow's youth and temporal fluctuations in key socio‐economic indicators, including GDP per capita, monthly average income per capita, and the Gini coefficient. Conclusion: The study demonstrates the significant influence of socio‐economic conditions on intergenerational changes in body size, as evidenced by the positive secular trend in physique indicators (height, weight, and BMI) among Moscow's youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the grey prediction, the GM(1, 1) model is an important type, but it sometimes shows big prediction errors. To improve the prediction precision of GM(1, 1) model, the paper makes improvements from the following three aspects: (1) to improve the data's adaptability to the model, the paper transforms the accumulated generating sequence of original time sequence; (2) to make the model meet the variation characteristics of data, the paper extends the grey action of traditional GM(1, 1) model; (3) to avoid big average simulation or prediction relative error of model, the paper considers the minimum of the maximum of the two errors as the optimization objective function. The new extended grey model is called the GM(1, 1, exp × sin, exp × cos) model. The paper uses an improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for the parameter optimization of GM(1, 1, exp × sin, exp × cos) model and thus improves the model's convergence rate and precision. According to the model and method proposed, the paper builds a GM(1, 1, exp × sin, exp × cos) model for China's GDP per capita. Results show that the model has high precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The moderating role of per capita income pertaining to poverty and energy consumption is a missing link in the literature. To this end, this study aims to explore the energy-poverty nexus in Pakistan, incorporating per capita income as a moderator. Based on the time series nature of the data, we utilize the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique for the period 1984–2018. We design two separate models, that is, poverty model-A (the primary effect model) and poverty model-B (the interaction effect model). Our findings validate the significant prevalence of the influence of per capita income, as a moderator, on the relationship between energy consumption and poverty in Pakistan. Interestingly, the nature of moderation was observed to be enhancing both in the short and in the long-run. This study provides important policy implications for mitigating poverty in Pakistan. Our empirical findings educate policy makers and academicians to consider moderating behavior of per capita income for robust energy-poverty policy making in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of the main criterion employed by the European Commission for the allocation of the largest portion of Structural Funds, based on the threshold of the 75% of European Union (EU) average gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. We focus on the 2014–2020 programming period and on EU‐15 regions to analyze if this criterion has penalized some of them, as a consequence of the 2004 EU enlargement, which has represented an exogenous shock in the allocation process, due to the economic backwardness of new member states. Through the application of Synthetic Control Methods and Difference‐in‐Differences estimators at different geographical scales, we show that regions that did not obtain the less developed status in both the programming period 2007–2013 and 2014–2020, but that would have obtained it in the period 2014–2020 without the 2004 EU enlargement, experienced a significantly lower GDP per capita growth between −10.5% and −5.7%. Conversely, territories that in the period 2014–2020 lost the less developed status, previously obtained in the time frame 2007–2013, were not characterized by a significantly lower economic growth, providing some evidence of the effectiveness of the safety net. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the growing popularity of the small area estimation method, the need to utilize good auxiliary variables also increases. Remote sensing data, such as night light imagery, offers advantages such as time-cost efficiency and global coverage but is easily accessible. This research aims to implement night light intensity as an auxiliary variable for the EBLUP model to estimate per capita consumption expenditure at West Java in 2018. This research employs three scenarios of auxiliary variables usage in EBLUP model construction: official data, night light intensity, and the combination between both data. The results show that night light intensity is an efficient auxiliary variable for estimating per capita consumption expenditure. Furthermore, the EBLUP model with a combination of official data and night light as auxiliary variables gives the best accuracy with coefficient of variation (CV) as evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The One Belt One Road Initiative (BRI) has been the subject of multitudinous studies from various angles. Most previous studies have focused on BRI's economic, geopolitical, or commercial implications for China. However, the few studies that focused on BRI's influence on the exportations or importations of Chinese products via the Chinese Cross-border Electronic Commerce Market (CCBECM) have been carried out based only on authors' opinions rather than on empirical evidence. Therefore, the actual effect of BRI on the exportations of Chinese product brands via CCBECM in BRI countries still needs to be discovered. Utilizing B2C exportation data of Chinese smartphones and a Difference-in Difference Model (DIDM), we have first examined the actual and direct impact of BRI policy on Chinese smartphone brands exportations via the Chinese Cross-border Electronic Commerce Market (CCBECM) from 2012 to 2019 in BRI countries. Secondly, we assessed the moderating role of GDP per capita (GDP) and Internet Access Rate (IAR) between BRI policy and exportations of Chinese smartphone brands. The results showed that the impact of BRI remains insignificant on the exportations of Chinese smartphones via CCBECM in BRI countries. However, it could be significant if BRI includes more developed and economically strong countries. The study also highlighted a negative moderating role of GDP per capita between BRI policy and exportations, showing that the higher the BRI effect is, the less GDP per capita will influence Chinese smartphone exportations in BRI countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has claimed over six million lives and infected more than 650 million people globally. Public health agencies have deployed several strategies, including rolling out vaccination campaigns to curb the pandemic, yet a significant proportion of the global population has not received the COVID-19 vaccine. We assessed differences in COVID-19 vaccination coverage by Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of WHO members (i.e., countries, areas, and territories, n = 192) and by WHO member regions (n = 6). Methods: Using an ecological study design, we analyzed publicly available data from the WHO website merged with the World Bank's GNI per capita data. We included a total of 192 WHO members and six WHO regions in the analysis. We utilized negative binomial regression to assess the associations between the GNI per capita and COVID-19 vaccination coverage (cumulative number of persons fully vaccinated and/or received at least one dose of the vaccine per 100 population), and ANOVA test to assess the differences in vaccination coverage per WHO regions. Results: Low GNI per capita WHO members had significantly lower full vaccination coverage (aRR 0.30, 95% CI 0.22—0.40) compared to high GNI per capita WHO members. These members were also 66% less likely to receive at least one dose of the vaccine (aRR 0.34, 0.26—0.44) relative to high GNI per capita WHO members. Africa region had a significantly lower fully vaccination coverage (aRR 0.71, 95% CI 0.36—0.54) and received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (aRR 0.78, 95% CI 0.62—0.99) than Europe region. Conversely, the Western Pacific region had significantly higher fully vaccination coverage (aRR 1.40 95% CI 1.12—1.74) and received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines (aRR 1.40 95% CI 1.14—1.73) relative to European region. Conclusion: WHO members with low GNI per capita and the African region reported significantly lower COVID-19 vaccination coverage than those with high GNI per capita or other regions. Efforts to strengthen and promote COVID-19 vaccination in low-income WHO countries and African region should be scaled up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic growth is essential for nations endowed with natural resources as it reflects how well those resources are utilized in an efficient and sustainable way. For instance, OPEC member nations, which hold a large proportion of the world's oil and gas reserves, may require a frequent evaluation of economic growth patterns to ensure that the natural resources are best used. For this purpose, this study proposes an inverse data envelopment analysis model for assessing the optimal increase in input resources required for economic growth among OPEC member nations. In this context, economic growth is reflected in the GDP per capita, taking into account possible environmental degradation. Such a model is applied to the selected OPEC member nations, which suggests that in terms of increasing the GDP per capita, only one member was able to achieve the best efficiency (i.e., reaching the efficiency frontier), resulting in a hierarchy or dominance within the sample countries. The analysis results further identify the economic growth potential for each member country. For the case of Indonesia, the analysis suggests that further economic growth may be achieved for Indonesia without additional input resources. This calls for diversification of the nation's economy or investment in other input resources. In addition, the overall results indicated that each member nation could increase its GDP per capita while experiencing minimal environmental degradation. Our analysis not only benchmarks the growth efficiency of countries, but also identifies opportunities for more efficient and sustainable growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation has become a prevalent feature of the twenty-first century, extending from business to all aspects of social life. Public administration has also been affected by this trend. However, no country undergoing a transition economy has been capable of matching the level of digitalization reached by developed nations. The study aims to evaluate the digital transformations of public administration in transition economies and assess their impact on indicators of population well-being, standard of living, and governance efficacy. The research methodology utilizes various methods, including comparison, grouping, correlation, regression, and cluster analysis, to evaluate the efficacy of digital transformations in public administration within transitioning economies. This article evaluates the extent of digital transformations in public administration and uncovers their favourable progress in countries with transitional economies from 2010 to 2020. An insignificant direct relationship (determination coefficient R 2 ≍ 0.15) has been demonstrated between E-Government Development and Index GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita. However, a positive, strong connection between E-Government Development and the Government Effectiveness Index has been found. Countries with transitional economies were categorized into four clusters based on the degree of digitalization in their public administration. Results showed that there were no noteworthy gaps between the clusters, as most of the examined countries had comparable levels of development, experience and abilities in the digitalization of public administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the literature evaluating various police practices and reforms continues to broaden, little research has examined police funding in Canada. To describe the current landscape of Canada's police funding, we collect and publish data on municipal police service expenditures from 2010 to 2021 in 20 of the most populous urban municipalities in Canada. Our analysis describes how police funding changes over time and varies between regions, and it examines its correlation with crime rates. Spending on police services is extracted from municipal budgets, and population and crime severity index data are collected from Statistics Canada databases. In 2019, police services were the top operating expenditure in a majority of the municipalities. Real per capita spending on police services increased in 16 of 20 municipalities from 2010 to 2020. Marked differences are seen in spending between municipalities: in 2019, in 2020 dollars, Vancouver spent $495.84 per capita, whereas Quebec City spent $217.05 per capita. No consistent associations were found between police funding and crime rates across municipalities, and overall, net increases in spending per capita are not associated with greater net decreases in crime rates. These findings describe the wide local variation in police funding trends and point to the complexity of interactions between crime rates and police funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• China's export spells defined at the 6-digit HS level are dynamic and short-lived. • Product sophistication is a crucial determinant in stabilizing export relationships. • Comparative advantage strengthens the effect of sophistication on export survival. • Income affects the link between sophistication and export in a reverse U-shaped way. • The findings shed light on the rapid expansion of China's export trade. This study investigates the survival of China's bilateral export flows at the six-digit HS level over the period 2002–2020. The results reveal that export relationships defined as product-destination pairs are highly dynamic and short-lived. Most export spells last no longer than five years, with a median duration of only two years. Product sophistication is a crucial determinant in establishing and stabilizing export relationships. This conclusion remains robust even after accounting for various measures for product sophistication, alternative definitions of export spells, and potential biases arising from simultaneity, sample selection, and data aggregation. Further analyses demonstrate that comparative advantage plays a positive role in moderating the nexus between product sophistication and export survival. In contrast, destination income poses a reverse U-shaped moderating effect on the relationship. The per capita income corresponding to the maximum moderating effect is US$ 6996.94, or the 56th percentile of the variable. Income distance accounts for the nonlinear effect of per capita destination income on export survival. These findings provide insights into China's rapid export growth and have significant implications for policymakers in China and other emerging economies striving for global trade success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]