Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economies Research Articles

Recommendations and guidelines of integrative medicine for COVID-19 care: The APEC project outcome

This article - Recommendations and Guidelines of Integrative Medicine (IM) for COVID-19 Care - was one of the outcomes from an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Project (Integrative Medicine (IM) and COVID -19 Care) during the time between May 2022 and March 2023. With the efforts from care providers, researchers, health policy makers and healthcare administrative leaders among APEC economies, the purpose of this file was to provide comprehensive IM systems for COVID-19 care as recommendations and suggestive guidelines including care methods, tools, procedures, symptom conditions and targets selections, and points need to be considered during care applications. All cited COVID-19 care practices have confirmed their efficacy and usefulness either used alone or combined with conventional medicine. This article provides current useful medical information on IM for COVID-19 care which could benefit APEC economies and world health communities on their healthcare system.

Examining the impact of clean environmental regulations on load capacity factor to achieve sustainability: Evidence from APEC economies

Environmental regulations have emerged as a critical policy tool for promoting environmental sustainability worldwide. However, there is a dearth of literature that investigates the impact of environmental regulations on load capacity factor in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies. This study aims to address this gap by examining the role of renewable energy consumption, human capital, and environmental regulations in improving load capacity factor. In doing so, the paper covers 14 APEC economies; applies second generations panel data models (i.e., CUP-FM (continuously updated fully modified) as the base model and CUP-BC (continuously-updated and bias-corrected) for the robustness); and runs data between 1992 and 2018. The empirical findings present that: i) renewable energy consumption and human capital contribute to improving load capacity factor; ii) environmental regulations are not at a level to increase load capacity factor; iii) economic growth and trade openness significantly reduce load capacity factor. Considering empirical outcomes, this study suggests that APEC should tighten environmental regulations to achieve sustainable environment. In addition, this study offers important sustainable environmental policies for APEC within the framework of empirical findings.

Tourism, Economic Growth, and Environmental Pollution in APEC Economies, 1995–2020: An Econometric Analysis of the Kuznets Hypothesis

Tourism plays an important role in fostering economic growth within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum member countries. Nevertheless, the development of this sector has resulted in significant depletion of natural resources and pollution. This research aims to determine the relationship between tourism, economic growth, and environmental pollution in both developing and developed APEC economies from 1995 to 2020. By adopting the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework, two dynamic panel data models are estimated employing Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), and causal relationships are established using the Dumitrescu–Hurlin test. The results indicate that tourism and economic growth have had a positive influence on the rise of environmental pollution in both groups of economies during the specified period. This research offers new insights by analyzing twelve developing and nine developed APEC economies over a span of 25 years, estimating two DOLS models, conducting Dumitrescu–Hurlin causality tests, and presenting evidence of EKC for both types of economies. Consequently, the implementation of policies that foster the preservation of natural areas, the utilization of renewable energies, and the promotion of sustainable tourism practices is recommended.

Advances in Integrated Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance and Control Strategies in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economies: Assessment of a Multiyear Building Capacity Project.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health concern for both animal and public health, and collaborative strategies are needed to combat the threat. The level of awareness and funding for policies focused on reducing AMR varies between countries. The aim of this study was to compare the integrated surveillance systems for AMR in high and low–middle economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and determine whether there was any improvement from 2015 to 2018. We conducted a survey with a group of 21 countries at different development levels. Associations between the economic development level and the questions of AMR awareness and funding were established using Fisher’s exact test. Improvements were identified where countries established public policies for integrated surveillance of AMR. High economies showed greater advancement in several topics related to AMR than low–middle economies. The survey revealed that there is a better understanding surrounding the implications of the emergence of AMR in human medicine than in veterinary medicine, agriculture, and food production. Our results show that countries enhanced overall AMR surveillance over the 4-year-period; however, more research is needed concerning these advances, especially in low–middle economies and the food production sector.

How does biased technological progress affect haze pollution? Evidence from APEC economies

Biased technological progress is the act of energy conservation and emission reduction by changing the marginal rate of substitution. In this study, we introduced renewable energy into a production function, and proposed a method of identifying biased characteristics of technological progress, based on marginal productivity theory. A panel dataset for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies from 2000 to 2017 was analyzed to explore the effect of biased technological progress in reducing particulate matter (PM2.5). We found that input biased technological progress tended to use more non-renewable energy. Input biased technological progress aggravated haze pollution; however, this effect decreased as the PM2.5 concentration increased. Output biased technological progress significantly reduced haze pollution in high-income economies, but increased it in low-income economies. The effect of neutral technological progress on haze pollution was the opposite of the effect from output biased technological progress. We also found that increasing renewable energy consumption and reducing energy intensity were separate effective paths for input and output biased technological progress, respectively, to mitigate haze pollution. For neutral technological progress, improving total factor productivity was an important way to mitigate haze pollution. Finally, several policy recommendations are proposed to mitigate haze pollution in APEC economies.

Reforming fossil fuel subsidies requires a new approach to setting international commitments

Reforming fossil fuel subsidies requires a new approach to setting international commitments

Evaluating the Dynamic Energy Production Efficiency in APEC Economies

This study introduces the translation adjustment model of Seiford and Zhu (2002) into dynamic DEA models to measure and analyze the dynamic energy efficiency of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies from 2010 to 2014. The APEC economies are divided into annual energy and overall energy efficiency ratings, and improvement directions are proposed for the different variables. With the proposal of magnitude, this study discusses the changes in intertemporal conversion variables and proposes suggestions for improvement. Finally, this study analyzes the implications of energy investment and the efficiency policies of APEC economies. The results show that economies with the lowest overall energy efficiency ratings have great potential for improvement. Reducing capital stock, labor, fossil fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions while increasing GDP can increase energy efficiency ratings. However, economies do not want to reduce the state’s capital stock, and labor and population birth adjustments are difficult. Energy efficiency can only start by adjusting the consumption of fossil fuels, CO2 emissions, and GDP. The results indicate that to improve energy efficiency and reduce fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, economies are expected to increase their GDP unless they enact cuts through policy and technical approaches, appropriately adjust their energy policies, and actively develop new energy technologies to effectively reduce CO2 emissions and achieve optimal energy efficiency.

The Implementation of the 2020 Roadmap to Promote Good Registration Management (GRM) in APEC Region.

To promote the efficiency and quality of registration for medical products, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Regulatory Harmonization Steering Committee (RHSC) has implemented a 2020 roadmap to promote the concept of GRM since 2011. Key outcomes of this roadmap are discussed in this article to provide recommendations for improved regulatory practices and accelerated regulatory convergence. Adoption of relevant guidelines and delivery of training programs from the APEC Training Centers of Excellence for Regulatory Science (CoEs) have played a key role to promote capacity building, cooperation and convergence in good review practices (GRevPs) and good submission practices (GSubPs) for medical products among APEC economies. A key performance indicator (KPI) survey among the drug regulatory authorities (RAs) of APEC economies was conducted to understand the progress of this roadmap. The CoE programs have provided a unique opportunity to promote dialogues between regulatory authorities and industry and efficiently disseminated the concept of GRM among APEC economies. The results of the KPI survey indicated significant progress in the status of implementing GRevPs over the last ten years. To accelerate regulatory convergence among APEC economies, it is necessary to promote mutual trust and cooperation in approval of medical products over the time. Continuous training in GRevPs and GSubPs through the CoE platform would set the stage to achieve the goal in the next decade.

The evaluation of the effectiveness of high-dividend strategies in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies

Investment strategies related to the use of high-dividend shares have been known for more than 30 years. Despite this, they remain relevant today. A large number of studies on this topic are devoted to studying the effectiveness of high-dividend strategies within one market, and cross-country studies evaluate a small number of markets. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of high-dividend strategies in the markets of all APEC economies, with the exception of Brunei and Papua New Guinea. The time horizon of the study is from 2002 to the present. We applied well-known modifications of the classic high-dividend strategy and modifications developed by the authors. We test hypotheses regarding the influence of various factors, such as the number of shares in a portfolio, the month of portfolio formation,classifying the economy as developed or developing, and the return on high-dividend portfolios. We also test the hypothesis that the significance of the high-dividend anomaly exists in various markets, but decreases over time. The results show different levels of effectiveness of high-dividend strategies and the different impact of the factors on the markets of developed and developing APEC economies. We found that high-dividend strategies are generally more effective in emerging markets, but in case of market growth, high-dividend strategies increase their abnormal returns only in developed markets. At the same time, the authors conclude that the number of shares in a high-dividend portfolio directly affects the result of its work. The results have theoretical and practical value, and can be applied in compiling a real investment portfolio.

The APEC Digital Hub-WONCA Collaborative Framework on Integration of Mental Health into Primary Care in the Asia Pacific.

Mental ill health affects individual well-being and national economic prosperity and makes up a substantial portion of the burden of disease globally, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Integrating mental health into primary care is widely considered a key strategy to improve access to mental health care. Integration, however, is a complex process that needs to be addressed at multiple levels. A collaboration between the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Digital Hub for Mental Health and the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) is described in this paper, which outlines a framework and next steps to improve the mental health of communities in APEC economies. This paper notes gaps related to the integration of mental health into primary care across the region and identifies enablers and current best practices from several APEC economies. The potential of digital technology to benefit primary mental health care for populations in the APEC region, including delivery of training programs for healthcare staff and access to resources for patients, is described. Finally, key next steps are proposed to promote enhanced integration into primary care and improve mental health care throughout the APEC region.

Tourism under the Early Phase of COVID-19 in Four APEC Economies: An Estimation with Special Focus on SARS Experiences.

This study examines how experience of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) influences the impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on international tourism demand for four Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and New Zealand, over the 1 January–30 April 2020 period. To proceed, panel regression models are first applied with a time-lag effect to estimate the general effects of COVID-19 on daily tourist arrivals. In turn, the data set is decomposed into two nation groups and fixed effects models are employed for addressing the comparison of the pandemic-tourism relationship between economies with and without experiences of the SARS epidemic. Specifically, Taiwan and Hong Kong are grouped as economies with SARS experiences, while Thailand and New Zealand are grouped as countries without experiences of SARS. The estimation result indicates that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has a significant negative impact on tourism demand, in which a 1% COVID-19 case increase causes a 0.075% decline in tourist arrivals, which is a decline of approximately 110 arrivals for every additional person infected by the coronavirus. The negative impact of COVID-19 on tourist arrivals for Thailand and New Zealand is found much stronger than for Taiwan and Hong Kong. In particular, the number of tourist arrivals to Taiwan and Hong Kong decreased by 0.034% in response to a 1% increase in COVID-19 confirmed cases, while in Thailand and New Zealand, a 1% national confirmed cases increase caused a 0.103% reduction in tourism demand. Moreover, the effect of the number of domestic cases on international tourism is found lower than the effect caused by global COVID-19 mortality for the economies with SARS experiences. In contrast, tourist arrivals are majorly affected by the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Thailand and New Zealand. Finally, travel restriction in all cases is found to be the most influencing factor for the number of tourist arrivals. Besides contributing to the existing literature focusing on the knowledge regarding the nexus between tourism and COVID-19, the paper’s findings also highlight the importance of risk perception and the need of transmission prevention and control of the epidemic for the tourism sector.

Fintech as a Strategy of Financial Inclusion in the Age of Digitalization

Inclusive growth is at the top of international organizations’ agenda in recent years and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is no exception. Since the 2008 global financial crisis revealed the intrinsic limitations of market-driven economic system despite its own merits incomparable to other alternatives, civil society and policymakers altogether have called for more shrewd policy actions that can achieve two critical public policy goals at once: promoting financial empowerment of the less privileged and enhancing competition in the financial market. While the emergence of fintech in financial markets in the past few years cannot be attributed to the competence of financial regulators and policymakers as to this call, what fintech has already achieved in terms of financial inclusion and competence of financial markets through disruption of traditional financial market structure demonstrate the importance of fintech as a strategy and policy tool of achieving the goal of inclusive growth. This strategy of achieving financial inclusion and financial market competition via fintech is more relevant to the APEC member countries because the region includes fast-growing fintech markets such as China, India, and Russia. Moreover, the growing significance of fintech services for SMEs (Business-to-Business, B2B) implies that fintech services have more relevance to the APEC economies as SMEs account over 97% of enterprises and employ over half of the workforce in the region.

Characteristic analysis and forecast of electricity supply and demand in APEC

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) comprises of the world’s largest producers and consumers of energy, accounting for 60.3% of primary energy supply, 50.0% of final energy consumption, and 63.0% of electricity generation worldwide in 2016. This study discusses the primary energy supply and final energy consumption situation of the APEC and analyzes the characteristics of electricity in terms of its generation structure based on fuel, consumption by the end-use sector, access to electricity, and so on. The renewable energy and electricity generation projections up to 2030 based on trends in the APEC are also assessed. It is seen that electricity in final energy consumption has been on an upward trend, with an average annual growth rate of about 4.8% during 2006-2016; in 2016, its share reached 24.3%. The industry sector consumes the largest share of electricity, accounting for about 45.5% in 2016. Coal supply and consumption peaked in 2011 and then began to decline, while renewable energy has been on an upward trend, with its primary energy supply share increasing from 4.80% in 2010 to 6.29% in 2016. Solar photovoltaic and onshore wind power are on the verge of costing less than the operating cost of existing coal-fired plants in 2018. In the APEC’s target scenario in which renewable energy is doubled, the predicted net growth from 2017 to 2030 of solar, wind, and hydro power is about 963, 497, and 157 GW, respectively, and to reach this target, the APEC economies need to accelerate renewable energy development.

Mental health indicators in APEC.

The World Economic Forum (2011) concluded that the economic impact of mental illness is the single most important contributor among all non-communicable diseases to loss of productivity. The 21 economies represented by Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) responded to that information with efforts to address mental health as an integral component of economic development. In order to help assess the progress of APEC region compared to other regions of the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) granted us access to a subset of the 2014 Mental Health Atlas database containing health indicators from all 21 APEC economies. APEC-specific data were extracted using the same format used by WHO in its Mental Health Atlas to compare/contrast data in APEC versus the six WHO regions of the world. It was observed that mental health workforces in APEC include a higher number of psychiatrist providers compared with WHO regions. Suicide rates reported in three APEC economies are among the highest in the world. All APEC economies continue their individual and coordinated efforts to support their ' APEC Roadmap to Promote Mental Wellness in a Healthy Asia Pacific (2014-2020)'. Significant challenges for APEC members exist to coordinate regional efforts to improve mental health due to highly variable income levels, existing health infrastructures and social preferences. The findings in this report may serve as a helpful baseline for measuring success within the APEC region by 2020, the year in which progress in support of economic development will be reassessed.

The impact of foreign direct investment on income inequality: a panel Autogressive Distributed Lag approach for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation developing economies

In the present paper, the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on income inequality in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies is investigated by using annual data for the period 1990–2015. The variables used are the Gini coefficient, FDI inflows, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, trade openness and human capital. Also, panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and panel heterogeneous non-causality tests are used in this study. The panel ARDL results suggest that, in the long run, FDI inflows decrease income inequality. This supports the argument that encouraging FDI inflows does not harm the distribution of income in APEC economies. The results also confirm that GDP per capita and trade openness help reduce income inequality while human capital widens income inequality. The results from this study suggest that APEC authorities could implement sound policies to attract more FDI, as evidence indicates that those inflows would narrow income inequality in APEC economies.

Developing key performance indicators to measure the progress of regional regulatory convergence and cooperation in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Regulatory convergence and cooperation among the authorities in the field of medical products (medicines and medical devices) are essential to deliver safe and efficacious products quickly to patients. APEC established the Regulatory Harmonization Steering Committee (RHSC) to advance this cause among member economies. This paper identifies four areas of appropriate regulatory practice in which APEC economies could converge, and explores the feasible processes of how APEC economies could cooperate in order to bring about realization of a maximum level of regulatory convergence by 2020.

Sustainable Tourism in APEC: A Region with UNWTO Members and Non-members

Tourism has become a source of income, employment and economic growth for the country members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). This paper analyses tourism as a regional economic activity that interacts with the environment, with positive effects such as improving economic competitiveness; and negative effects such as overcrowding and poor management that can destroy the touristic asset on which the activity depends. These issues put the membership of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) of some APEC economies at stake, as well as the future of their local, regional and global economic and tourism competitiveness.

Measuring energy use and CO2 emission performances for APEC economies

Abstract This study proposes environmental DEA-based models to measure energy use efficiency, CO2 emissions efficiency, and an environmental-economic efficiency (EEE) for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies for the period of 2006–2010. In our models, population and total primary energy consumption are the two inputs, while GDP and CO2 emissions represent the desirable and undesirable outputs, respectively. Empirical results from 20 APEC economies showed that Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, and Singapore were identified as efficient countries for five consecutive years from 2006 to 2010 in terms of energy use efficiency; as for CO2 emission efficiency, Brunei, Hong Kong, and Singapore were identified as efficient countries for the five consecutive years from 2006 to 2010. As far as EEE is concerned, most countries in APEC exhibited higher economic efficiency than environmental efficiency. Moreover, both energy use efficiency and CO2 emission efficiency were found to be significantly related to the EEE value (p

Proposal of an indicator-based sustainability assessment framework for the mining sector of APEC economies

The mining sector faces some of the most difficult sustainability challenges of any industrial sector. The mining sector is remarkably significant to the development of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region, because the majority of global trade and investment in this region depends on this sector. Therefore, the assessment of mining sector sustainability at national and global scales in APEC economies is an important task. So far, however, mining sector sustainability assessment frameworks have only been developed at small scales, such as companies and cities. In this study, therefore, it is proposed an indicator-based sustainability assessment framework (iSAF) to assess mining sector sustainability at national and global scales. In this framework, fuzzy logic was utilized to adequately deal with the uncertainty and vagueness of human expressions. The conventional fuzzy scales were suitably modified in the proposed framework to facilitate confident decision-making by the relevant stakeholders. In order to avoid repeatedly conducting the judgment until the acceptable consistency was obtained, iSAF implemented an innovative theory to deal with unacceptable consistencies in judgment. The proposed iSAF was applied to the mining sector of APEC economies using data from the APEC 2010 Project. As for the results, three important criteria including economic, environmental, and social criteria and twenty significant indicators were appropriately selected to cover the actual situation in the sector. The results showed that iSAF was a suitable framework for preventing uncertainty and vagueness in decision-making. iSAF was found to provide crucial support to decision-makers, not only in identifying and structuring the main components contributing to sustainability, but also in pointing out the factors in which significant investment should be made to effectively improve sustainability.

Multihazard Simulation and Cyberinfrastructure

The integration of multihazard simulations and remotely sensed observations is providing enormous benefits to earthquake and tsunami research. Integrating data and models through cyberinfrastructure is enabling understanding of earthquake and tsunami generation mechanisms in the Asia Pacific region and improving assessment strategies for mitigating risk. Earthquake rupture processes occur on all scales from microns to global and from sub-seconds to millions of years. Earthquakes cause damage, but also generate tsunamis, which create additional damage. Remotely sensed observations coupled with geologic field measurements and simulations contribute to our understanding of earthquake processes, which is necessary for mitigating loss of life and property from these damaging events. Remotely sensed observations play a unique role in the mitigation of natural hazards. Measurements of surface motions can be used to infer strain accumulation and transfer within interacting fault systems, as well as the mechanisms of earthquakes, which is an important input to tsunami generation models and disaster response. Remotely sensed geodetic imaging data include interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), the Global Positioning System (GPS), and other techniques such as lidar or optical imaging. Geodetic imaging can be used to understand aspects of earthquakes including the tectonic plate motions that drive earthquakes (GPS), regional and local crustal deformation associated with faults or other sources (GPS, InSAR lidar, optical), and detailed motions associated with earthquakes at a resolution of 1 Hz (GPS). The United States hosted the 8th International Symposium of the APEC Cooperation of Earthquake Simulation (ACES) October 22‐26, 2012 in Maui, Hawaii. The workshop focused on assimilation of remotely sensed observations to advance multihazards simulation. The APEC Cooperation for Earthquake Simulation (ACES) is a multilateral grand challenge science research cooperation of APEC (the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation). ACES aims to develop realistic simulation models for the complete earthquake generation process and to assimilate observations into such models. This capability provides a powerful virtual laboratory to probe earthquake behavior and the earthquake cycle. Hence, it offers a new opportunity to gain understanding of the earthquake nucleation process, precursory phenomena, and space‐time seismicity patterns needed for breakthrough advances in earthquake forecasting and hazard quantification. The project represents a grand scientific challenge because of the complexity of phenomena and range of scales from microscopic to global involved in the earthquake generation process. ACES symposia provide unique opportunities for the APEC economies to work together on the topics important for the hazard mitigation of natural disasters. This volume follows earlier PAGEOPH topical volumes based on ACES Symposia (see references below). This topical volume reflects the 4-day workshop, which consisted of plenary talks, technical sessions, working sessions, and poster sessions. It brought together an interdisciplinary set of researchers. It brings together remote sensing experts, modelers, and computer scientists. The symposium and this