Is There any Threshold in the Relationship Between Mother's Education and Child Health? Evidence from Nigeria

The literature on mother's education and child health casually observes some nonlinearities and also a threshold in the relationship. Even though this nonlinearity or threshold has significant bearing on policy matters such as quality of education, any rigorous attempt to address this issue is missing in the literature. With height for age z‐score as a proxy for long‐run child health capital, regression results reveal that there are significant effects of mother's education on child health if mothers do not continue past primary school. Rather, poor quality of education at the primary level, especially literacy, is argued to have given rise to this threshold. It indicates that greater public investment in improving quality of education at the primary level is essential for maximizing the nonmarket outcomes of girls’ education in developing countries.     

Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes in Africa*

Abstract: This paper provides econometric evidence linking African countries’ per capita total as well as government health expenditures and per capita income to two health outcomes: infant mortality and under‐five mortality. This relationship is examined using data from 47 African countries between 1999 and 2004. Health expenditures have a statistically significant negative effect on infant and under‐five mortality rates. The magnitude of our elasticity estimates are in consonance to those reported in the literature. For African countries, our results imply that total health expenditures (as well as the public component) are certainly important contributors to health outcomes. In addition, we find that both infant and under‐five mortality are positively and significantly associated with sub‐Saharan Africa. The reverse is true for North Africa. While ethnolinguistic fractionalization and HIV prevalence positively and significantly affect the health outcomes, higher numbers of physicians and female literacy significantly reduce these health outcomes. These results have important implications for attaining the targets envisioned by the Millennium Development Goals. The data implications are also discussed.     

Socioeconomic inequalities in death from past to present: An introduction

In the early postwar period, improvements in life expectancy in many Western countries made health authorities, health scientists and politicians believe that social differences in mortality converged. The assumption was that inequality, when measured as death rates, was on steady decline, possibly even on the brink of disappearing. The question is then, how far back in time can social differences in mortality be traced? Can they be traced back to the agricultural society or are they a result of industrialization? Whether or not these differences are the result of the industrial revolution became a lively debated issue at the time and has continued to be discussed to date. While many scholars have taken a Malthusian view, that mortality in the past was largely determined by economic factors, others argue that mortality was determined by non-economic factors, leaving little room for a social gradient in mortality. Due to lack of coherent data covering long time periods, our knowledge has been based on bits and pieces of evidence from various locations and time periods. The evidence used is not only fragmentary but furthermore only partly comparable as different definitions of social class and mortality have been used.Here we present results from seven new studies of locations in Western and Southern Europe, the US and Canada for which individual-level longitudinal data exists during the industrialization period. Most of these studies cover also the first part of the twentieth century, a period for which such microdata hitherto has largely been lacking. Taken together, they have a wide geographic coverage and a very long time horizon. Based on these studies, we argue that social differences appeared both long before and long after the industrial breakthrough, in both cases implying that these differences are not directly related to industrialization. We also argue that the association between income and mortality observed today most likely is a recent phenomenon. Overall, a causal link between income and mortality is put into question.     

Corporate Governance and Shareholder Value Maximization: An African Perspective

Abstract: This study looks at corporate governance and its impact on shareholder value maximization in Africa. Data from South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria covering the period 1997–2001 were used and analysis done within the panel data framework. Results show that, though highly dispersed, both within and between firms, corporate boards in the selected countries are relatively not independent. The regression result shows that large board sizes enhance corporate performance and shareholder value maximization. Our study also shows that both sector and country‐specific effects have an impact on shareholder value maximization. While the mining sector is dominant in maximizing shareholder value, it also suffers from higher taxes and interest payments.     

Taxes,Health Care Provision and Aggregate Hours of Work†

Abstract

A recent literature has studied the role of increases in labor taxes and transfers on the evolution of hours of work across OECD countries. Much of this literature studies this issue in a one sector model. This paper develops a two sector model in order to assess various features of health care financing on aggregate hours of work. A key result is that when health care is publicly financed but rationed, the distortion on aggregate hours of work is large and independent of the tax required to finance the system. Moreover, this effect increases over time as aggregate income increases.     

澄清对中国对外援助的几种误解

进入新世纪特别是2004年以来,中国对外援助迅速兴起,援助范围与规模不断扩大,引起国际社会的广泛关注。中国是最近才开始对外援助的吗?中国的对外援助是要搞新殖民主义吗?中国的对外援助妨碍了受援国的发展了吗?中国的对外援助是为了驱逐西方国家吗?这些问题近年来备受西方媒体关注,甚至产生误解,文章对此一一进行了辨析。     

转型国家外国直接投资的宏观经济效应──关于俄罗斯、中东欧八国和中国的比较

本文通过对俄罗斯、中东欧八国以及中国的比较,对转型国家FDI宏观经济效应的制度因素加以分析。在此基础上,进一步建立转型国家有FDI流入的IS/LM/BP模型,运用一般均衡分析的方法对转型国家FDI的宏观经济效应进行研究。论文指出,无论是在固定汇率下还是在浮动汇率下,FDI流入促进转型国家收入的增长都是确定的。作为转型国家的一个特例,中国兼具转型经济国家、新兴市场经济国家和发展中国家三种特征,其FDI宏观经济效应的传导机制具有一定的特殊性。中国在现行汇率体制下FDI流入的国民收入效应仍然是确定的。但是,与俄罗斯、中东欧八国等转型国家相比,FDI促进中国国民收入的提高相对较少。     

Diverse family forms and quality-of-life in sub-Saharan African countries

ABSTRACT

Family is the foundation on which other institutions are built. Its quality has resultant effects on the quality of the society in its entirety. It is, therefore, expedient to examine the relationship between diverse family forms and quality-of-life in sub-Saharan African countries. Demographic and Health Surveys for four countries were used for the study. The study reveals a significant relationship between cohabitation, marriage and wealth status in all the four countries, while marriage remains significantly related with education in all the countries except Kenya. Poisson regression revealed a higher effect of education on diverse family forms except single parents in Mozambique and Nigeria, while with the adjusted data divorce/separated women in Kenya have a significantly higher coefficient (β?=??1.03, p-value = 0.000) compared with other countries in the study area The study concludes that family formation cannot be overlooked, as it relates to the wellbeing of women in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Assessing the Effect of Trade Openness on Health in the MENA Region: a Panel Data Analysis

This study examines the effect of trade openness on the health outcomes of 12 countries in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, and the UAE. By using a panel data investigation over 1970–2015, we check whether the trade of these countries with developed economies (using the proxy of G7 countries) and the rest of the world affects life expectancy and the infant mortality rate. We also assess the moderating effect of governmental corruption. Our findings show two interesting results. First, trade openness has a positive effect on health in the MENA region as it reduces the infant mortality rate and boosts life expectancy for both men and women. Second, better control over corruption and more focus on trade with developed countries would lead to more technology and information spillovers, which positively affect the health sector.     

Towards a Healthy Indonesia?

Abstract

During his first presidential term, Joko Widodo increased expenditure on, and the coverage of, several social protection policies, including the conditional cash transfer program. These policies began in the aftermath of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis and have proliferated in recent years. This Survey will examine these policies, paying particular attention to implementation problems, including effective targeting through the construction of a unified database. It will also examine both food policy and broader health policy issues. It is widely agreed that health problems, such as those relating to early childhood development, must be addressed in Indonesia in a wider context, including through the provision of clean water and sanitation facilities, food security, and social assistance. The Survey will also examine recent discussions of trends in inequality and poverty, several of which claim that inequality has been increasing. Using recent figures published by Statistics Indonesia, it is argued that expenditure inequality has in fact been trending downward in recent years.     

Risk‐Coping Measures against Health Shocks during the Process of Penetration of Health Insurance in Vietnam

Does the recent introduction of public health insurance influence households' risk‐coping measures in developing countries? This study investigates risk‐coping measures for health shocks using a Living Standard Measurement Survey in Vietnam where universal health coverage is aimed to be achieved. The estimated results suggest that precautionary savings are the main form of assets in poor households. Health insurance seems to be used by people in poor health, which indicates that the problem of adverse selection exits. Importantly, get well gifts in the form of money play a significant role in helping households cope with health shocks. A traditional informal insurance system still exists in close Vietnamese communities.     

Parental income and child health in Japan

Previous studies have consistently found evidence of an income gradient in health among children in various countries, and studies in Anglo-Saxon countries have found that this gradient increases with child age. Using nationally representative individual-level data, I examine the association between child health and parental income in Japan. Japan has a child poverty rate that is similar to the rate of many countries that have been studied previously, but Japan outperforms those countries on most health indicators. I find that an income gradient exists in child health in Japan, but that it is limited to specific health measures and symptoms, and that it is weaker overall in that respect than the gradient found in other countries or among Japanese adults. Moreover, I find no evidence that the gradient increases with child age. The fact that children in low-income families have relatively modest and non-accumulating health disadvantages may contribute to the overall health of the Japanese population. Nevertheless, there is a statistically significant negative association between parental income and the incidences of asthma, hearing problems, and dental symptoms in children, implying that future efforts to improve the health of underprivileged children should focus on the prevention and control of these diseases.     

Fertility in Sub‐Saharan African Countries with Consideration to Health and Poverty*

Abstract: Fertility has begun to fall in sub‐Saharan Africa but it remains high on average and particularly for a few countries. This paper examines African fertility using a panel data set of 47 sub‐Saharan countries between 1962 and 2003. Fixed and random country effect estimates are made in models where the explanatory variables are suggested by the theory of the demographic transition as modified by Caldwell (1982) . Special attention is paid to the economic status of women, urbanization, the poverty level, and the health of the population including total health expenditures and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. The results support Caldwell's hypothesis and are generally supportive of hypothesis that a fertility transition is occurring. HIV/AIDS is found to have a negative impact on fertility.     

How Effective Is Foreign Aid at Improving Health Outcomes in Recipient Countries?

Since the United Nations’ establishment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000 the world has observed an increasing trend in foreign aid provided by more affluent countries to developing nations. This paper examined whether foreign aid (total foreign aid and health sector aid) has been effective in improving the health of citizens in recipient nations since establishment of the MDGs. Five facets of population health were examined: infant mortality, life expectancy, the annual death rate, and immunizations against measles and diphtheria. Using a panel data set covering 90 developing countries, observed annually over 2001–2015, fixed-effects multivariate regressions with alternative specifications were estimated for each of these measures. The findings reveal that foreign aid has had little to no effect on population health since 2000. We found some evidence that foreign aid has improved life expectancy in developing countries, however, the effect is very small. In light of these findings, continued monitoring of the relationship between foreign aid and health outcomes would be both valuable and prudent.

     

Mortality in South Africa: Socio-economic profile and association with self-reported health

This paper exploits the first two waves of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) to describe the socio-economic profile of mortality and to assess whether self-rated health status is predictive of mortality between waves. Mortality rates in NIDS are in line with estimates from official death notification data and display the expected hump of excess mortality in early and middle adulthood due to AIDS, with the excess peaking earlier for women than for men. We find evidence of a socio-economic gradient in mortality, with higher rates of mortality for individuals from asset-poor households and with lower levels of education. Consistent with evidence from many industrialised countries and a few developing countries, we find self-rated health to be a significant predictor of two-year mortality, an association that remains after controlling for socio-economic status and several other subjective and objective measures of health.     

Do the Chinese “Keep up with the Jones”?: Implications of peer effects,growing economic disparities and relative deprivation on health outcomes among older adults in China

What are the health effects of unequal economic growth? What are the health consequences of ‘keeping up with the Jones’? Many developed countries (e.g., US and Japan) have experienced significant income growth between 1950s and 2000s but population survey shows that on average the population is not growing more satisfied with life. Theories that attempt to respond to these findings hypothesize that as income grows, people may spend more on conspicuous consumption because they compare themselves with others in their peer groups and care about their position in socio-economic distributions relative to others. Indeed, public health studies have found a relationship between income inequality and adult health outcomes in developed countries. Specifically, there seems to be a correlation between social hierarchy and mortality, as well as a correlation between social hierarchy and morbidity.China is a prime study site due to its growing spatial inequalities in the past decade. Though China has been committed to economic reform, different regions and cities have encountered very disparate rates of development and growth. In this paper, we utilize a set of panel data collected in China (China Health and Nutrition Survey 1989–2004) to examine the effects of peer groups, relative deprivation, and income disparities on individual health outcomes such as the probability of high waist circumference, body mass index categories, probability of hypertension, nutritional intake as well as health behavior such as smoking. We use a combination of multi-level mixed effects modeling as well as factor analysis to examine these effects and find significant and differential effects of income quartiles, peer groups, relative deprivation, and Gini coefficient on health.     

PROBLEMS IN EXPANDING JAPAN'S IMPORTS OF MANUFACTURES FROM DEVELOPING ECONOMIES: A SURVEY*

The Japanese economy is now the second largest market economy, with a large trade surplus. And yet, Japan's imports of manufactures have long been very low relative to its GNP, when compared with other industrial countries; its ratio of manufactured imports to GNP was in the range of 2.1–2.7% in the 1980-87 period, as compared with 8.5–10.3% for the industrial countries as a whole or 4.7-7.2% for the United States. The share of developing economies in total imports of manufactures in Japan is about the same as, if not higher than, those for most other industrial countries. If Japan's ratio of manufactured imports to GNP were to rise in the future to approach closer to those of other industrial countries, Japan's imports of manufactures from developing economies could be two to three times what they are today, even if Japan's GNP does not increase at all and the share of developing economies in Japan's manufactured imports does not increase. This paper is an attempt to probe the potential of the Japanese market for imports of manufactures from developing economies in terms of rising ratio of such imports to GNP. The paper explores the reasons why Japan's ratio is exceptionally low, on the basis of existing literature. (a) Japan's ratio of manufactured imports to GNP has remained exceptionally low compared with those for other industrial countries. (b) Japan's ratio of manufactured imports from developing economies to GNP has remained distinctly low despite the recent surge in such imports. (c) If a part of the reason for the low ratio for Japan was a market access problem as often alleged, the problem is not with formal import barriers such as tariffs and formal non-tariff barriers because these barriers in Japan are no higher than in other industrial countries. As for informal import barriers, evidence found indicates that: (i) Administrative guidance and flexibly managed competition policy, which in the past had considerable effects of limiting imports, appear to have declined-in importance, but they still have import-limiting effects in certain areas. (ii) Market access difficulties involving import procedures, product standards, testing and certification requirements, which were enormous in the past, may have also decreased in severity over the last decade, but problems in these areas persist. (iii) There are aspects of the Japanese distribution system and practice that seem to make foreign access to the Japanese market significantly more difficult than the access by Japanese exporters to the markets in other industrial countries. Distribution in Japan suffers from overregulation. (iv) Users of manufactured products in Japan are sensitive to quality, perhaps more so, on the average, than in other industrial countries. Does the recent upsurge in Japan's imports of manufactures suggest that the traditional import behavior of Japan is changing? Japan's manufactured imports measured in yen increased by 18 and 27 percent in 1987 and 1988, respectively, and those coming from developing economies increased even more rapidly. There is also some evidence that price and income elasticities of demand for manufactured imports may have increased recently. These are encouraging, but it remains to be seen whether the trends will continue far enough into the future to bring Japan's import behavior more into line with those of other industrial countries. If they do, implications for the market prospects of manufactured exports from developing economies could be far-reaching. Outstanding questions are: (i) How much of the recent increase in manufactured imports is attributable to the appreciation of the yen (price effect)? How much is attributable to the increase in income or industrial output (income effect)? How much is attributable to removal of formal and informal import barriers effected so far (structural change)? Has consumer taste changed? (ii) Why have Latin American countries not been successful in promoting their exports of manufactures to Japan, when Asian exporters have been so successful? (iii) Up until now, the share of developing economies in Japan's manufactured imports has not been particularly low compared with those for other industrial countries, but is this share likely to fall or rise in the future? (iv) What is the likely impact of recently increased direct investment (DFI) by Japanese manufacturers in developing economies on the imports of their products into Japan?     

Health,Education and Emergence from the Development Trap

Abstract: This paper studies the emergence of developing countries from a development trap. It shows that countries whose dynamics exhibits several growth peaks can be considered as cases of equilibrium jump. Applying this criterion to a sample of 65 countries that were initially very poor in 1950, it identifies 13 such countries, called ‘emerging economies’. Comparing emerging and non‐emerging economies in the 1950s and early 1960s, it shows that economic take‐offs starting in the 1960s can be related to health and education in the early 1950s, while other possible factors, such as savings, openness and democracy are not significant.     

Impact of Malaria Control on Late and Early Infant Mortality in Senegal

One of the greatest achievements of the twenty‐first century has been the dramatic decline in malaria prevalence notably in endemic developing countries. In this study, we estimate the impact of recent scale up in malaria control in Senegal on neonatal, postnatal and infant mortality. We exploit natural preintervention variation in malaria prevalence to estimate the impact of recent malaria control policy in Senegal. In a difference in differences design, we find a negative and significant effect on neonatal and infant mortality in malaria endemic regions while the impact on postnatal mortality is inconclusive. We rule out competing explanations such as contemporaneous health campaigns, general improvement in health care delivery and pre‐existing regional time trends. We identify a 26.9% and 16.3% reduction in neonatal and infant mortality, respectively, in malaria endemic regions during 2005–2014. We argue that increase in donor funding for malaria control as well as greater involvement of local communities and civil society organization has proven to be effective. However, the impact of malaria control on mortality may vary substantially depending on early or late infant mortality.     

Patterns of concentration in the newspaper industry

Abstract

This short paper, presented in 1967 as a thesis, is a resume of seven rather more specialised articles by the same author, together with some conclusions drawn from them. The original articles, running to 253 pages, described the concentration which has taken place in the structure of the Swedish press since 1945, resulting in a reduction of at least one-third in the number of daily newspapers and in the replacement, to a large extent, of fierce competition by local quasi-monopolies. The purely factual events were already known in some detail, in particular from the report of the Investigation into the Press (SOU 1965: 22) for which the author's own efforts were largely responsible. He is also responsible for the view, which rounds off his analysis of the structural development of the Swedish press, that growth and decline in newspapers are the result of a self-generated process of increasing strength within given marketing areas (e.g. local districts), the interaction of circulation, advertising and revenue automatically ensuring a continual increase in the lead of the largest paper until it finally eliminates its weaker competitors. This process is called by the author ‘the circulation spiral’ (upplagespiralen). The principle can be recognised in various forms in recent developments in the press of many western countries. Attention has been drawn to it by the present reviewer in connection with the even higher mortality rate in the Danish press, and it would appear to be relevant to the study of other branches of the economy.