International tourism and poverty alleviation: cross-country evidence using panel quantile fixed effects approach

This paper evaluates the impact of tourism on poverty alleviation using a new panel quantile fixed effects method that allows regressors to affect the entire conditional distribution of the dependent variable providing substantial information gains. Our results show statistically significant negative marginal effects of tourism on both absolute poverty measures and Gini income inequality across all quantiles, including the poorest 10%. We also find evidence that international tourism can mitigate the slow improvement in domestic income level for poverty reduction. From a policy perspective, our findings can provide insights into developing targeted tourism policies and strategies to achieve better solutions on poverty alleviation. We also call for special attention to policymakers in developing countries to continue working on tourism product differentiation and targeting a smaller but reachable market in the post COVID-19 recovery era, to prevent the adverse effect of the worldwide income growth stagnation on their poverty rates.

Should China Expand Its Medical Education Scale? Evidence From Comparative Research

Purpose This study compares doctor staffing level and the scale of medical education in China with those of other countries and proposes policy recommendations for future adjustments to the scale of China's medical education. Design/Approach/Methods This study employs a literature review and descriptive analysis. Findings China had 1.98 medical doctors per 1,000 people in 2018, ranking 85th out of the 193 member-states of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2017, China had 1.99 practicing doctors per 1,000 people, only ranking above Turkey (1.88) in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. China had only 10.28 medical graduates per 100,000 people—placing in the bottom third of OECD countries. China's provision of 1.4 medical schools per 10 million people was also significantly lower than the global average (3.9). However, the average number of students enrolled in medical schools (509) in China was significantly higher than the global average (160). Originality/Value Although the scale of admission in undergraduate medical education must be expanded in China, this needs to be achieved while controlling the average number of medical students per school and reducing enrollment in low-quality medical schools. Furthermore, it is necessary to establish new medical schools while improving the operating level of existing ones.

Special Issue: Recent learnings and development in healthcare financing: A global perspective. (Special Issue: Recent learnings and development in healthcare financing: A global perspective.)

This special issue contains 11 s that discuss recent learnings and developments in healthcare financing from a global perspective. The s cover a range of topics such as the impact of mental illness on poverty and catastrophic health expenditure in India, financing challenges in the American healthcare industry, comparative analysis of health system financing in India and Saudi Arabia, and the contribution of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme to inequality in healthcare utilisation. Other s explore the influence of socio-economic status on health financing choices in Jambi Province, households' willingness to pay for community-based health insurance in Bangladesh, and changes in household expenditures during the first wave of COVID-19 in India. The issue also includes discussions on managing the provider-purchaser split in India and reconsidering patient value to create better healthcare.

Missing Americans: Early death in the United States-1933-2021.

We assessed how many US deaths would have been averted each year, 1933-2021, if US age-specific mortality rates had equaled the average of 21 other wealthy nations. We refer to these excess US deaths as "missing Americans." The United States had lower mortality rates than peer countries in the 1930s-1950s and similar mortality in the 1960s and 1970s. Beginning in the 1980s, however, the United States began experiencing a steady increase in the number of missing Americans, reaching 622,534 in 2019 alone. Excess US deaths surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 1,009,467 in 2020 and 1,090,103 in 2021. Excess US mortality was particularly pronounced for persons under 65 years. In 2020 and 2021, half of all US deaths under 65 years and 90% of the increase in under-65 mortality from 2019 to 2021 would have been avoided if the United States had the mortality rates of its peers. In 2021, there were 26.4 million years of life lost due to excess US mortality relative to peer nations, and 49% of all missing Americans died before age 65. Black and Native Americans made up a disproportionate share of excess US deaths, although the majority of missing Americans were White.

The trend of COVID-19 pandemic in India: a methodical comparison with Italy, UK, and the US

Introduction: To statistically compare the trends of epidemiological indicators of COVID-19 in India with Italy, the UK, and the US. Methodology: In this descriptive analysis, epidemiological indicators were calculated and their trends were plotted and compared statistically. Regression analysis was done to predict the fatalities. Results: The trends of total and active cases per million populations are rising in India and US, while Italy has achieved the plateau in the total cases per million populations, and active cases have been sharply declining with time. The UK is about to achieve the same. India has remained far behind the other three countries in the number of tests per million populations (p < 0.05). In the initial phase, the test positivity rate of India was quite lower but has overtaken Italy and UK. India has always reported a higher recovery rate than US and lower than Italy. CFRs have achieved a plateau in Italy and UK, in US it is declining, while it remained almost constant in India throughout the pandemic. Testing was a significant covariate in predicting the fatalities. Conclusions: India was able to manage the initial phase of this pandemic due to early and strict government interventions and strong public health responses.

Perception of cryptocurrencies by young financial market participants on the example of Poland and Germany

The phenomenon of cryptocurrencies still requires systematic and in-depth scientific research, because the literature lacks a concentrate and systematic analysis on issue of private, decentralized digital money (cryptocurrencies) in relation to the future of traditional money, as well as the stability of the financial system. Moreover, the is lack of research based on the opinions of participants of the financial system, which includes users – current and potential – as subjects relevant to the future of the financial system, based on the historically well-known principle of universal acceptance and trust in traditional monetary system. In particular, comparative and international research has received limited attention. In response to the identified research gap, this article refers to the results of research on the perception of cryptocurrencies by young financial market participants. We try to answer to the following research questions: 1) are there international differences in perceptions and attitudes toward the traditional monetary system and cryptocurrencies? 2) are cryptocurrencies constructed on the basis of blockchain a valid alternative to current fiat money? 3) do cryptocurrencies have characteristics that make them successors to fiat money? Our work is based on the research material collected during surveys conducted before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic – in December 2019 and January 2020 – in Germany and Poland. The survey was conducted among 281 respondents – 143 from Germany and 128 from Poland. They were students of economics and finance majors of studies. The survey was conducted in the form of an auditorium questionnaire. The paper questionnaire used in the survey consisted of 26 questions related to virtual money and 5 questions of socio-demographic characteristics. In addition, the article used statistical methods – correlation and variance analysis – to characterize the distributions of responses and the relationships between questions. Our findings lead to the conclusion that there are significant differences in perception, the traditional monetary system, and cryptocurrencies due to a variety of factors, which include the level of development of the economy, the innovation of financial markets, historical warranty and being their derivative the so-called collective consciousness (mentality). The obtained research results can be a starting point for further in-depth analysis of the studied phenomenon at the international level, not only in the sphere of economics and finance, but also behavioral finance, sociology and psychology. © 2022 Narodowy Bank Polski. All rights reserved.

Multiple hazards and risk perceptions over time: the availability heuristic in Italy and Sweden under COVID-19

The severe impact of global crises, such as COVID-19 and climate change, is plausibly reshaping the way in which people perceive risks. In this paper, we examine and compare how global crises and local disasters influence public perceptions of multiple hazards in Italy and Sweden. To this end, we integrate information about the occurrence of hazardous events with the results of two nationwide surveys. These included more than 4000 participants and were conducted in two different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic corresponding to low (August 2020) and high (November 2020) levels of infection rates. We found that, in both countries, people are more worried about risks related to experienced events. This is in line with the cognitive process known as the availability heuristic: individuals assess the risk associated with a given hazard based on how easily it comes to their mind. Epidemics, for example, are perceived as less likely and more impactful in Italy compared to Sweden. This outcome can be explained by cross-country differences in the impact of, as well as governmental responses to, COVID-19. Notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic, people in both Italy and Sweden are highly concerned about climate change, and they rank it as the most likely threat.

New wine tourism strategies during the Covid19 crisis - a comparison in five different countries

To compensate for loss of business during the COVID-19 crisis, wineries in the tourism industry had to apply new strategies. In order to collect and compare these newly developed sustainable strategies, a cross-cultural study has been conducted in 2021. This study is based on a qualitative survey with key decision-makers of 70 wineries from the U.S., Australia, Germany, Hungary and Romania. The aim was to identify new and sustainable initiatives and resilience strategies implemented to deal with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, noting cultural differences in each country's response, and to analyse the perspectives of wine tourism in the future. The findings highlight the wineries' focus on creativity and flexibility while also bringing attention to cultural differences. We can conclude that the most important initiatives were in the areas of CRM database management, promoting direct-to-consumer sales and digitalisation, holding virtual events and tastings, and offering new product delivery methods, albeit to a very different degree. The findings provide initial suggestions for best practice strategies that wine tourism companies can incorporate into their future business planning.

Comorbidities with the high risk of death among COVID-19 patients: learning for Indonesia

Background: In general, the entire population is vulnerable to COVID-19, but epidemiological research shows that the elderly and people with comorbid are more susceptible to COVID-19 and has a high risk of experiencing poor outcomes and death if infected with COVID-19. Purpose: This study aims to identify comorbidities with a high risk of death common among COVID-19 patients in China and the United States to provide learning for Indonesia in COVID-19 management.

Democracy and COVID-19 mortality in Europe

Background: In Europe there is a great variability in mortality by Covid-19 among different countries. While some countries, such as Greece, Belarus or Ukraine, have a mortality rate of less than 5 cases/100,000 inhabitants, other countries such as Belgium, Spain or the United Kingdom have a mortality rate of well over 50 cases/100,000 inhabitants. It is generally considered that the reason for this variability is multifactorial (including political reasons), but there are few studies that associate factors related to this variability. The objective of this work was to analyse political risk factors/markers that could explain the variability in mortality due to Covid-19 among different European countries.

Quantitative comparison of food waste in Slovakia and neighbouring countries

Food waste becomes emergent issue also in the EU countries. Importance of food waste reduction has increased after threat of food system by Covid-19 pandemic. The assurance of sufficient food quantities is feasible to achieve through increase of agricultural production and food manufacturing and simultaneously by food waste reduction within whole food chain. The article analysed quantity of animal and vegetal origin of waste that generates in particular sectors of food chain in the Slovak Republic and geographically adjacent countries that are EU members. The intention was to detect a sector of food chain which generates biggest food waste quantities.

Measuring health consumers' engagement at the governance level: development and validation of the Middlemore Consumer Engagement Questionnaire

AIM: To develop and validate a questionnaire to measure health CE at governance level. METHOD: This study used qualitative and quantitative methods (including focus groups, cognitive interviews and an international survey), and consisted of two phases. In Phase 1, an initial list of items was generated and refined with feedback from health consumer representatives. In Phase 2, a draft survey was distributed to n=227 consumers from New Zealand, Australia and Canada. The benefit and relevance of using the questionnaire was explored through faceto-face interviews with five CE leaders from New Zealand healthcare organisations. RESULTS: The proposed questionnaire comprises 25 statements relating to CE. Respondents indicate their level of agreement with the statements on a five-point Likert-type scale. Focus group and cognitive interview participants found the questionnaire relevant and easy to understand. The questionnaire scores correlated with the PPEET, another instrument measuring consumer engagement, and showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.97), unidimensionality and test-retest reliability (r=0.84). CONCLUSION: The proposed questionnaire measures CE at governance level and can be used for international comparisons and benchmarking. It showed sound psychometric properties and its value and relevance was recognised by health consumer representatives and leaders with CE roles in New Zealand healthcare organisations.

A pragmatic method to compare international critical care beds: Implications to pandemic preparedness and non-pandemic planning.

BACKGROUND: The current method for assessing critical care (CCU) bed numbers between countries is unreliable. METHODS: A pragmatic method is presented using a logarithmic relationship between CCU beds per 1000 deaths and deaths per 1000 population, both of which are readily available. The method relies on the importance of the nearness to death effect, and on the effect of population size. RESULTS: The method was tested using CCU bed numbers from 65 countries. A series of logarithmic relationships can be seen. High versus low countries can be distinguished by adjusting all countries to a common crude mortality rate. Hence at 9.5 deaths per 1000 population 'high' CCU bed countries average of around 30 CCU beds per 1000 deaths, while 'very low' countries only average 3 CCU beds per 1000 deaths. The United Kingdom falls among countries with low critical care provision with an average of 8 CCU beds per 1000 deaths, and during the COVID-19 epidemic UK industry intervened to rapidly manufacture various types of ventilators to avoid a catastrophe. CCU bed numbers in India are around 8.1 per 1000 deaths, which places it in the low category. However, such beds are inequitably distributed with the poorest states all in the 'very low' category. In India only around 50% of CCU beds have a ventilator. CONCLUSION: A feasible region is defined for the optimum number of CCU beds.

Inequality in mortality between Black and White Americans by age, place, and cause, and in comparison to Europe, 1990-2018

Although there is a large gap between Black and White American life expectancies, the gap fell 48.9% between 1990-2018, mainly due to mortality declines among Black Americans. We examine age-specific mortality trends and racial gaps in life expectancy in rich and poor U.S. areas and with reference to six European countries. Inequalities in life expectancy are starker in the U.S. than in Europe. In 1990 White Americans and Europeans in rich areas had similar overall life expectancy, while life expectancy for White Americans in poor areas was lower. But since then even rich White Americans have lost ground relative to Europeans. Meanwhile, the gap in life expectancy between Black Americans and Europeans decreased by 8.3%. Black life expectancy increased more than White life expectancy in all U.S. areas, but improvements in poorer areas had the greatest impact on the racial life expectancy gap. The causes that contributed the most to Black mortality reductions included: Cancer, homicide, HIV, and causes originating in the fetal or infant period. Life expectancy for both Black and White Americans plateaued or slightly declined after 2012, but this stalling was most evident among Black Americans even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. If improvements had continued at the 1990-2012 rate, the racial gap in life expectancy would have closed by 2036. European life expectancy also stalled after 2014. Still, the comparison with Europe suggests that mortality rates of both Black and White Americans could fall much further across all ages and in both rich and poor areas.

Indo-Pak comparison and forecasting of COVID-19 epidemic: a secondary data analysis

Background: The world has historically faced and recovered from many pandemics. The most recent global pandemic that the whole world is facing is Novel Coronavirus - Covid-19. The objective of current study is to compare and forecast COVID-19 trends for Pakistan and India.

Policy response to the tourism crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic: a meta policy analysis of select countries. (Special Issue: The impact of COVID-19 on global tourism.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has cracked the fragile mold of what was decided as the norm and has pushed countries to resort to various ways for survival. Tourism, a mechanism proven to bridge gaps between cultures, was worst affected on a global level, and the only flotation device utilized was policies. Yet, for states with different political ideologies, how have they responded in reality? Which ideology has become a tool to design the policy to address the tourism crisis caused by the pandemic? This has remained an unexplored field of research. Therefore, to address these questions, there is a need to look at the policies initiated by selected countries representing varied political spectrums to analyse the pragmatically working ideology during/after the pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to observe the complexities of crisis management and the shift of ideology between the usual state of government to the adoption of a foreign, even opposing ideology to rebuild after an unprecedented catastrophe. Hence, to enunciate its shift, the methodology divided its countries into ideologies based on liberal, socialist, and conservative categories and selects two countries, each of which is contributing a major portion of GDP share to the tourism industry. The study has adopted the ideological approach to examine the select policies formulated by the respective countries to revive their tourism industry, such as what are the bail-out programs, financial aids, etc. The present study relied on a meta-analysis approach to identify, summarize, and analyze how the selected countries adopted different models to identify and define policy problems. Based on the findings of the meta-analysis, the study established that countries adopted ideologies that pragmatically worked and rejected ideologies that are inherently adopted as the state's governing principle.

Excess mortality in the United States in the 21st century.

We use three indexes to identify how age-specific mortality rates in the United States compare to those in a composite of five large European countries since 2000. First, we examine the ratio of age-specific death rates in the United States to those in Europe. These show a sharp deterioration in the US position since 2000. Applying European age-specific death rates in 2017 to the US population, we then show that adverse mortality conditions in the United States resulted in 400,700 excess deaths that year. Finally, we show that these excess deaths entailed a loss of 13.0 My of life. In 2017, excess deaths and years of life lost in the United States represent a larger annual loss of life than that associated with the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.

Immunization governance: Mandatory immunization in 28 Global NITAG Network countries.

International trends currently favour greater use of mandatory immunization. There has been little academic consideration or comparison of the existence and scope of mandatory immunization internationally. In this paper, we examine mandatory immunization in 28 Global NITAG (National Immunization Technical Advisory Group) Network (GNN) countries, including countries from every WHO region and World Bank income level classification. We found that although mandatory immunization programs, or mandatory elements within broader immunization programs, are relatively common, jurisdictions vary significantly with respect to the immunizations required, population groups affected, grounds for exemptions, and penalties for non-compliance. We also observed some loose associations with geography and income level. Based on these data, we categorized policies into a spectrum ranging from Narrow to Broad scope.