The main objective of this study is to examine how political institutions affect economic performance in Ethiopia over the 1980–2019 time periods.
Abstract
Purpose
The main objective of this study is to examine how political institutions affect economic performance in Ethiopia over the 1980–2019 time periods.
Design/methodology/approach
Mainly, the impact of political institution indicators including, level of democracy, political violence, democratic accountability and regime durability have been examined using auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound test approach to co-integration and the error correction model.
Findings
This study confirms that level of democracy and democratic accountability has an adverse long effect on the economic performance of Ethiopia. On the other hand, political violence has a negative short-run causal effect on economic performance in Ethiopia. The study concluded that the deterioration of political institutions harmfully affected economic performance in Ethiopia.
Practical implications
Government policymakers should primarily pay attention to promoting and changing those political institutions that harm economic performance. Additionally, better management of political violence has important implications for fostering the economic performance of Ethiopia.
Originality/value
This study provides some valuable evidence on the nexuses between political institutions and economic performance in Ethiopia. Likely, this is the first investigation on the subject under the consideration to use time analysis and will vigorously contribute to the literature as well by employing the ADRL bound test. Previous studies have examined the impact of the institution on economic growth on a cross-country basis. Further analysis is required to understand the effects of institutions such as level of democracy, political violence and democratic accountability on economic development.
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Takumi Kato, Wakako Yoshimura, Yusuke Shinozaki, Katsuya Hayami, Ryosuke Ikeda and Masaki Koizumi
Despite growing knowledge about its benefits, the organic food market’s expansion has been limited. A problem with ethical consumption is the attitude–behavior gap. The simplest…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite growing knowledge about its benefits, the organic food market’s expansion has been limited. A problem with ethical consumption is the attitude–behavior gap. The simplest reason for this gap is that in survey settings, social desirability bias elicits positive attitudes; whereas in real settings, the ambiguity of direct benefits leads to negative behavior. By clinging to the excessive values of a beauty premium, consumers abandon essential health in favor of apparent health, increasing product prices and contributing to environmental degradation. Using organic food, this study aims to eliminate this gap in the consumption of organic foods.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a randomized controlled trial – the gold standard for estimating the causal effects of treatments – with 1,500 individuals aged 20–70 years in Japan. The authors consider appealing aspects other than product characteristics, such as health and environmental considerations, and focus on the negative effects of beauty premiums.
Findings
The above marketing communication significantly increased purchase intention. This effect was more pronounced among younger people, men, those with higher incomes and those who cook less frequently as compared to their counterparts. Health and environmental considerations had no effect on purchase intentions.
Originality/value
This study incorporated consumer values regarding health and environmental benefits in new marketing communications to address the “beauty premium” and resolve the conventional attitude–behavior gap concerning organic foods.
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Santiago Lago-Peñas, Alberto Vaquero García, María Cadaval Sampedro and Patricio Sanchez-Fernandez
This paper aims to examine the impact of capital grants on the fiscal choices of Spanish regional governments from 1984 to 2021.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact of capital grants on the fiscal choices of Spanish regional governments from 1984 to 2021.
Design/methodology/approach
After running a battery of tests to verify the integration order of variables, joint cointegration and causality direction, the authors estimate a series of vector autoregressive models.
Findings
The results show that capital grants were highly effective until 2007, boosting capital expenditure and generating a significant crowding-in effect on capital expenditure in the long run. Then, the authors specifically analyze structural changes due to the deep impact of the Great Recession in Spain since 2008. However, the crowding-in effect still holds. Conditionality and matching rates are relevant elements of a sound definition of grant programs to subcentral governments.
Originality/value
The findings contribute significantly to the existing literature on fiscal federalism and regional economics.
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Satomi Fujimori, Suchinda Jarupat Maruo, Toshiaki Watanabe, Naoya Taki, Fumihito Sasamori, Kazuki Kobayashi, Hisaki Akasaki, Masao Okuhara, Ryoji Uchiyama, Kazuki Ashida, Hisaaki Tabuchi and Koji Terasawa
This study aims to establish a Japanese-style healthcare program customized for Japan and Asia under ISO 9001: 2008 (ISO: International Organization for Standardization) to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to establish a Japanese-style healthcare program customized for Japan and Asia under ISO 9001: 2008 (ISO: International Organization for Standardization) to improve problem areas and to inspect the effectiveness of the program. Furthermore, the authors wanted to create this health program using the ISO widely available in Asian countries and make an international contribution.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors implemented a 6- to 10-month health program in Minowa Town, Matsumoto City and Nagano City in Japan. This study assessed findings from pedometric, anthropometric and blood pressure measurements and physical fitness, blood chemistry and brain function tests.
Findings
The comparisons were made by examining the interaction effects between groups of participants. Groups from three regions in Japan showed significant differences on the physical fitness tests; regarding the 10-meter obstacle walk, the results of the Minowa participants showed the greatest improvement and the Matsumoto participants showed the second greatest improvement. In the six-min walk, the time of the Minowa participants significantly improved.
Research limitations/implications
This health education program, which has been conducted by the Japanese authors since 1998, measures anthropometry, brain function and physical fitness and performs blood tests before and after the program and it measures energy consumption with a pedometer during the program. With the aim of improving exercise via encouragement from friends and a sense of community with fellow participants, participants learn together with hands-on training in tai chi and aerobics about the importance of ongoing exercise and proper nutrition. This health education met the Health Education ISO in 2014.
Practical implications
Since 2010, Nagano Prefecture, including Minowa Town, Matsumoto City and Nagano City, where our study was carried out, has been the area with the highest life expectancy rates in Japan.
Social implications
The authors want to make this health promotion through ISO widely available in Asian countries and an international contribution.
Originality/value
This study aimed to appropriately establish a Japanese-style healthcare program under the ISO 9001:2008 to improve problem areas and inspect its effectiveness.
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Keisuke Kaneko, Fumihito Sasamori, Masao Okuhara, Suchinda Jarupat Maruo, Kazuki Ashida, Hisaaki Tabuchi, Hisaki Akasaki, Kazuki Kobayashi, Yuya Aoyagi, Noriaki Watanabe, Tomoyuki Nishino and Koji Terasawa
This study aims to evaluate a human rights-informed dementia prevention program promoting better health and social care among older adults. In this study, the authors examined…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate a human rights-informed dementia prevention program promoting better health and social care among older adults. In this study, the authors examined whether a dual-task training would improve cognition in healthy older adults.
Design/methodology/approach
Individuals attending the systematic health education program for older adults based in Japan were recruited for study inclusion, and divided into a dual-task training group (TG) and a control group (CG). The TG underwent 90 min of a weekly dual-task training for 12 weeks. Severity of dementia was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test. Brain function was assessed using a go/no-go task paradigm, during which cerebral blood flow was additionally measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to quantify oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb).
Findings
MMSE total score, number of errors in the go/no-go tasks and oxy-Hb values showed significant improvements in the TG.
Research limitations/implications
Owing to the small number of participants allocated to the CG, the results must be interpreted with caution. Replication and further validation based on large-scale, randomized-controlled trials is warranted.
Practical implications
This study highlights potential benefits of incorporating an early prevention training for dementia into a human rights-friendly health education program.
Social implications
This study suggests a potential means to reduce costs of social security and health care by introducing a human rights-informed dementia prevention program.
Originality/value
The results suggest that dual-task training may improve cognitive function in healthy older adults, thereby contributing to better health and improvement of social health care, based on a human rights-informed health education program for the prevention of dementia.
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Yuanchen Yang, Silvia Granados Ibarra, Manuk Ghazanchyan and Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza
Despite its negative effects, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The rapid increase in connectivity and digital services…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite its negative effects, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The rapid increase in connectivity and digital services helped mitigate the pandemic's negative impact on the labor markets, especially for those with enough flexibility to continue working from home. The shock affected women due to their household responsibilities and labor market characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines how digital development may have affected gender gaps in employment and job loss in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Using a sample of countries from Latin America and the Caribbean and various econometric techniques, we explore the digitalization gender gaps and job market outcomes during the pandemic.
Findings
Our findings suggest that the expansion on digital technologies are associated with increased female employment and reduced job losses for both men and women. These findings hold even after controlling for child care, household chores and the COVID-19 shock. Our results are also robust to various econometric techniques.
Originality/value
The paper leverages on unique dataset that was collected during the pandemic and the results are contrasted with existing macro data with robust results.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide an outline of the major contributions in the literature on the determination of the least distance in data envelopment analysis (DEA). The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an outline of the major contributions in the literature on the determination of the least distance in data envelopment analysis (DEA). The focus herein is primarily on methodological developments. Specifically, attention is mainly paid to modeling aspects, computational features, the satisfaction of properties and duality. Finally, some promising avenues of future research on this topic are stated.
Design/methodology/approach
DEA is a methodology based on mathematical programming for the assessment of relative efficiency of a set of decision-making units (DMUs) that use several inputs to produce several outputs. DEA is classified in the literature as a non-parametric method because it does not assume a particular functional form for the underlying production function and presents, in this sense, some outstanding properties: the efficiency of firms may be evaluated independently on the market prices of the inputs used and outputs produced; it may be easily used with multiple inputs and outputs; a single score of efficiency for each assessed organization is obtained; this technique ranks organizations based on relative efficiency; and finally, it yields benchmarking information. DEA models provide both benchmarking information and efficiency scores for each of the evaluated units when it is applied to a dataset of observations and variables (inputs and outputs). Without a doubt, this benchmarking information gives DEA a distinct advantage over other efficiency methodologies, such as stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Technical inefficiency is typically measured in DEA as the distance between the observed unit and a “benchmarking” target on the estimated piece-wise linear efficient frontier. The choice of this target is critical for assessing the potential performance of each DMU in the sample, as well as for providing information on how to increase its performance. However, traditional DEA models yield targets that are determined by the “furthest” efficient projection to the evaluated DMU. The projected point on the efficient frontier obtained as such may not be a representative projection for the judged unit, and consequently, some authors in the literature have suggested determining closest targets instead. The general argument behind this idea is that closer targets suggest directions of enhancement for the inputs and outputs of the inefficient units that may lead them to the efficiency with less effort. Indeed, authors like Aparicio et al. (2007) have shown, in an application on airlines, that it is possible to find substantial differences between the targets provided by applying the criterion used by the traditional DEA models, and those obtained when the criterion of closeness is utilized for determining projection points on the efficient frontier. The determination of closest targets is connected to the calculation of the least distance from the evaluated unit to the efficient frontier of the reference technology. In fact, the former is usually computed through solving mathematical programming models associated with minimizing some type of distance (e.g. Euclidean). In this particular respect, the main contribution in the literature is the paper by Briec (1998) on Hölder distance functions, where formally technical inefficiency to the “weakly” efficient frontier is defined through mathematical distances.
Findings
All the interesting features of the determination of closest targets from a benchmarking point of view have generated, in recent times, the increasing interest of researchers in the calculation of the least distance to evaluate technical inefficiency (Aparicio et al., 2014a). So, in this paper, we present a general classification of published contributions, mainly from a methodological perspective, and additionally, we indicate avenues for further research on this topic. The approaches that we cite in this paper differ in the way that the idea of similarity is made operative. Similarity is, in this sense, implemented as the closeness between the values of the inputs and/or outputs of the assessed units and those of the obtained projections on the frontier of the reference production possibility set. Similarity may be measured through multiple distances and efficiency measures. In turn, the aim is to globally minimize DEA model slacks to determine the closest efficient targets. However, as we will show later in the text, minimizing a mathematical distance in DEA is not an easy task, as it is equivalent to minimizing the distance to the complement of a polyhedral set, which is not a convex set. This complexity will justify the existence of different alternatives for solving these types of models.
Originality/value
As we are aware, this is the first survey in this topic.