Basic Goods Research Articles

THE IMPACT OF THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR ON GEORGIA'S ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

A global threat to food supplies has emerged in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. A number of developing countries are already pointing to shortages of basic consumer goods such as wheat, corn, buckwheat, sunflower. Food supply risks are significantly linked to and exacerbate global inflation, which began in the second half of 2021 amid a pandemic and is already approaching double-digit levels even in developed economies. Annual growth in consumer price indices last month was 8% in the US, the Eurozone, the UK and other developed economies, and as output price indices range in the 10-20% range, inflation is not expected to slow in the near future. This phenomenon is known as supply-side inflation and poses an additional challenge not only to economic policy makers, but also primarily to producers and consumers. The developments due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the sanctioning of Russia have significantly increased the demand for the Georgian corridor, which is both an opportunity and a challenge. Amid rising inflation risks, monetary policy is in a tightened phase as a result of the gradual increase in the monetary policy rate over the past year. The National Bank of Georgia is expected to tighten monetary policy until the risks to rising inflation expectations are sufficiently mitigated. The double-digit economic growth achieved by Georgia recently is significant. In the first quarter of this year, Georgia's economic growth amounted to 14.4%. Our country has dealt with the challenges with dignity, has maintained the stability and development of the economy in the light of current events in the world. It is noteworthy that according to the International Monetary Fund, the Ukrainian economy is expected to shrink by 44% and the Russian economy by 13%. In our neighboring countries, the economic growth rate is a single digit. The data against the background of those hostilities unequivocally confirm, on the one hand, the resilience of the Georgian economy to the increased negative exogenous political and economic factors, on the other hand, the growing diversification of the national economy and the more active involvement of Georgian business in the global economy. Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the start of hostilities in the region have a significant impact on the Georgian economy. Increased inflation and inflationary risks remain a recent global challenge. While 2022 was considered a period of global inflation, Russia's war against Ukraine posed new risks, in particular sanctions against Russia over hostilities and restrictions on supplies, which significantly increased the prices of certain categories of goods on world markets. Consequently, in both developed and emerging economies, inflation has risen significantly. After the battles that have developed in neighboring countries, there is a possibility of attracting 16-20 million tons of cargo, and if Georgia is able to absorb at least 60%, the country will transit 10-12 million tons of cargo. An example of this is Kazakhstan, which has developed alternative routes according to which it is possible to load the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline with maximum capacity. In order to further popularize Georgia's transport corridor, it is necessary to have a more coordinated work of the public as well as the private sector. The situation in the region allows us to predict a significant increase in cargo turnover. Therefore, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development together with the Maritime Transport Agency, the Department of Roads, JSC "Georgian Railway" need to take care of further popularization of the Georgian corridor and development of infrastructure to ensure timely and safe transportation of cargo; Inflation is rising around the world, even before the Russia-Ukraine war. Supply - mismatch of demand, rising prices of goods (fuel and food) stimulate growth in inflation since the beginning of 2021. That is why the Central Bank of Georgia should be more vigilant now, because long-standing high inflation can have quite high costs and therefore the monetary authority may have to react more strongly; It is necessary for the country to accelerate its integration with the European Union and take effective steps to improve the investment environment in response to socio-economic challenges. It is important to establish strict monitoring of the free movement of capital in relation to the aggressor country and appropriate restrictions in response to existing threats. The National Bank of Georgia should continuously monitor the current economic processes and financial markets and use all the tools at its disposal to ensure price stability; Despite the Russia-Ukraine war, Georgia's financial sector must remain resilient and respond adequately to this challenge.

An optimization-based approach for managing downstream logistic operations: A real application in pandemic outbreak conditions

One of the most destructive effects of pandemics and epidemics outbreak is the severe deficiency of basic goods needed by society, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries. Therefore, designing an efficient managerial model for making operative modifications in logistics networks beside the governmental financial support policies is considered as one of the most important managerial challenges in the critical situation of the prevalence of infectious diseases that is not investigated in the literature. In this paper, an optimization-based approach is developed to design the supply, production, and distribution channels of basic goods using the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under direct supervision of the government in order to increase both the agility and resilience of logistics networks. Since the NP-hardess of the discussed problem, an iterative two-step heuristic based on local search (ITbLS) is developed to solve the proposed problem. According to the numerical results, it can be observed that the proposed algorithm has a good performance to obtain near-optimal solutions for the case study. Moreover, the numerical analyses indicate that the percentage of the active capacity of suppliers, transportation fleet, SMEs, and distribution centers, is specifically dependent on the amount of demand and the number of the established SMEs. In general, managerial results of the proposed model make supply chains more efficient by exploiting the capacity of SMEs and improve the government finaical resources allocation to the private sector to supply basic goods in critical situations.

Factors associated with increased financial toxicity after the completion of radiation treatment for gynecologic cancer (512)

<b>Objectives:</b> Financial toxicity (FT) impacts approximately 50% of patients with gynecologic malignancies. Still, little is known about factors that predispose patients receiving radiation therapy to financial distress or what impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on their financial well-being. We evaluated FT in patients with gynecologic cancer treated with radiation before and after the start of the COVID- 19 pandemic. <b>Methods:</b> Patients from an urban, academic gynecologic radiation oncology practice completed a survey one month after completing radiation from August 2019-March 2020 and November 2020-June 2021. The survey included demographic questions, the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) tool, and the EQ-5D to measure the quality of life (QOL). Pandemic-related questions were added during the second survey period (pandemic cohort). As with our prior work, high FT was defined as a COST score of ≤23. We assessed the correlation of COST scores with QOL. We used logbinomial regression to examine associations between FT and costcoping strategies, adjusting for age and insurance. <b>Results:</b> Of 97 respondents (92% response rate), 49% completed the survey before, and 51% completed it after the pandemic started. Among the participants, 76% identified as White, 11% as Black, and 8% as Asian. Most patients had uterine (64%), followed by cervical (24%) and vaginal (6%) cancer. Two-thirds (60%) received external beam radiation with or without brachytherapy; the remaining 40% had brachytherapy alone. The median COST score was 15 (IQR: 7-19) in the high FT group (<i>n</i>=27) and 33 (IQR: 28-36) in the low FT group (<i>n</i>=70). High FT correlated with worse QOL (r=-0.37, p<0.01) and was associated with younger age and type of insurance (both p <0.03). Patients with high FT were more likely to move from full- to parttime employment (22% vs 1%, p<0.01), six (95% CI: 1.0-36) times more likely to delay/avoid medical care, 14 (95% CI: 3-64) times more likely to borrow money, and seven (95% CI: 2-27) times as likely to reduce spending on basic goods. Patients with high FT were more likely to report that decreased ability to work (48% vs 13%), medical bills (41% vs 13%), and transportation or parking (15% vs 3%) mostly contributed to their financial stress (p<0.05 for all). The pandemic cohort had fewer patients with high FT than the pre-pandemic cohort (20% vs 35%, p=0.10) and a higher median COST score (32 [IQR: 25-35] vs 27 [IQR: 19-34], p=0.07). The use of cost-coping strategies did not differ between cohorts. <b>Conclusions:</b> Privately insured, younger patients who received radiation for gynecologic cancer were at risk for FT. High FT correlated with worse QOL and was associated with delays or avoidance of medical care and other cost-coping strategies. The prevalence of high FT was not statistically different before and during the pandemic, though we observed less FT in the pandemic cohort. More work is needed regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial well-being of patients with cancer.

HOUSING CONDITIONS OF HOUSEHOLDS OF FARMERS IN 2005-2020

The aim of the study was to evaluate the housing conditions of farmers’ households against the background of all households in Poland and their changes after Poland’s accession to the European Union. The assessment was based on one-dimensional objective indicators of the standard of housing use, equipment with technical and sanitary facilities and basic consumer goods, as well as a multidimensional synthetic assessment using the TOPSIS method. Individual unidentifiable data from the Household Budget Survey of the Central Statistical Office from 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 served as a data source. It turned out that, at the beginning of the study period, the housing situation of farmer households was favourable only in terms of such indicators of the standard of housing used as housing area per person and burden on household budgets from the cost of housing maintenance and energy sources. On the other hand, the saturation with selected durable goods and the equipment of dwellings with technical and sanitary facilities was relatively low. This contributed to the low synthetic rating of housing conditions in 2005. However, during 2005-2020, a rapid improvement in the scores of these indicators was observed the fastest among all socioeconomic groups. These dynamic changes resulted in a high score for the housing conditions of agricultural households in 2020.

Refugee Food Security Perceptions on Food Rationing Practices in Refugees Camp in Western Tanzania

This paper is based on the study on perception of refugees on food availability, accessibility, and utilization, forms of food rations. It assesses coping strategies&#x0D; on reduced food rationing and food security for refugee in Nyarugusu Refugee&#x0D; Camp in Kasulu district, Kigoma region in Western Tanzania. Data collection involved a total of 395 refugee households in the study area who were interviewed using structured questionnaires. The collected data were processed and analysed using SPSS software in which descriptive statistics, mainly frequencies were produced and the results presented in bar charts. The study revealed that, the common form of food rationing in practice was in-kind food ration, the most preferred form was a combination of both In-kind food ration and Cash. It was also revealed that the existing food aid ration was not satisfactory for family use. The food prices in the camp market were not affordable for the family food consumption especially for the majority with low incomes compounded with large families. As a result, upon receiving rationed food they partly sold it in order to get cash which they used to buy other basic goods in the market; or simply exchanged goods in- kind in order to meet human wants.

Risiko Ekonomi pada Praktek Risywah dan Ihtikâr

Ihtikâr in terminology is holding (hoarding) basic human goods to be able to gain profits by increasing the price and waiting for prices to soar in the market. According to the principles of Islamic law, whatever goods are permitted by Allah SWT to have them, then it is also lawful to be used as objects trading. Likewise, all forms that are forbidden to possess it are also forbidden to trade them. According to Yusuf al-Qardhawi, risywah is "money given to the ruler or employee, so that the ruler or employee imposes a punishment that benefits him. The type of research I use is a qualitative research type. Ihtikâr and Its Impact on the World Economy. There are several economic activities that benefit only one party but are prohibited by religion, such as gambling, usury, fraud (al-ghabn), tadlîs in buying and selling and hoarding (ihtikâr). For this reason, every economic activity must be based on a sense of transcendence. In general, risywah crimes have an impact on 3 important sectors in daily life, namely the individual, the community and the government.

Rural Non-Farm Enterprises Needs towards Positive Rural Livelihood Outcomes in Kiambu County, Kenya

Rural non-farm activities contribute to the agricultural value chain. These activities include agro-processing, breeding, transport, distribution, marketing and retail. The need to recognise the factors that influence people to engage in diversified rural non-farm activities in the agricultural sector has been noted to be crucial, as it can act as a guide to strategising and promoting the agricultural sector. Therefore, this study sought to assess the support that RNFEs need to ensure positive rural livelihood outcomes. The study adopted an epistemology philosophy. The target population was all non-farm small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Kiambu County who have prevailed by supporting agrarian related exercises. This population of RNFEs came from every one of the 12 sub-areas: Gatundu North, Gatundu South, Thika, Juja, Githunguri, Ruiru, Kiambu, Kiambaa, Kabete, Kikuyu, Lari and Limuru. The study investigated five rural non-farm undertakings occupied with the accompanying regions: agribusiness activities, rural industrialisation ventures, transport services, the travel industry activities and development ventures. The study used questionnaires and interview guides for primary data collection. The inferential model indicated that there was a strong relationship between government and farmers. Many enterprises were not able to obtain finances for start-up businesses and/or expansion of their businesses. The main contributory factors to rural livelihood outcomes were (a) to have access to income and (b) to be able to gain employment. RNFEs is a way of improving rural infrastructure development, which allows production and growth of basic goods and services. Forms of government support that have been experienced include legislation, financing, empowerment of the marginalised and improvement of infrastructure, with the most important support coming from improvement of infrastructure. The major support that RNFEs are able to access are improvement of infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and learning institutions, which enable quick development and growth. The study further recommends on the need for a support mechanism procedure for RNFEs. The study recommended on availability of cheap loans with low interest rates for farmers. The lending interest rates were unaffordable for RNFEs, thus making it challenging for the growth of rural livelihood outcome from an entrepreneurship perspective.

The Shariah Principles of Online Advertising During the Pandemic of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic had a direct impact on all communities around the world. From an economic standpoint, this phenomenon can be profitable, particularly for those involved in business activities and the marketing of basic goods. However, because the country is at war with a dangerous disease, several domestic issues impede the government's efforts to protect the welfare of the people as consumers. Apart from the problem of fraudulent information on goods, numerous advertising issues occur during this pandemic due to freedom of technology usage, and trends of online advertising have caused consumers to become victims and further worsen the economic landscape in Malaysia. The evolution of technology offers powerful communications tools for society, yet restrictions on digital freedom, have raised serious concerns about the impacts on human rights and consumer protection when it comes to digital marketing. A qualitative approach is applied by emphasizing Shariah principles from the Quran alongside examples published in the mainstream press. Therefore, this article explores four cases for the study of online advertising comprised of message and information, voice and language, images and visuals, responsibility in the ads which should be based on shariah principles of truthfulness (al-Sidq), unbiased comparison (al-Adl), moderation (al-Wasatiyyah) and accountable (al-Mas’uliyyah). It is hoped that this writing will serve as a guide for all e-marketers to conduct sales activities following Shariah principles, as well as to raise consumer awareness of their rights in all situations.

Lessons from COVID-19 for future disasters: an opinion paper.

A “Pandemic/Disaster Law” is needed to condense and organize the current dispersed and multiple legislation. The State must exercise a single power and command appropriate to each situation, with national validity. The production of plans for the use of land and real estate as potential centers for health care, shelter or refuge is recommended. There should be specific disaster plans at least for Primary Health Care, Hospitals and Socio-sanitary Centers. The guarantee of the maintenance of communication and supply routes is essential, as well as the guarantee of the autochthonous production of basic goods. The pandemic has highlighted the need to redefine the training plans for physicians who, in their different specialties, have to undertake reforms that allow a more versatile and transversal training. National research must have plans to be able to respond quickly to questions posed by the various crises, using all the nation’s resources and in particular, all the data and capabilities of the health sector. Contingency plans must consider ethical aspects, and meet the needs of patients and families with a humanized approach. In circumstances of catastrophe, conflicts increase and require a bioethical response that allows the best decisions to be made, with the utmost respect for people’s values. Rapid, efficient and truthful communication systems must be contained in a special project for this sector in critic circumstances. Finally, we believe that the creation of National Coordination Centers for major disasters and Public Health can contribute to better face the crises of the future.

When clients vote for brokers: How elections improve public goods provision in urban slums

Does electoral democracy improve public goods provision for the poor? This paper considers whether and how the introduction of elections to choose slum-level representatives affects the provision of basic public goods and services in these communities. To address this question I take advantage of an unexpected interruption in the judicial process that introduced elections in urban slums in Argentina. Drawing on an original household survey, an expert survey, and insights from in-depth interviews, I show that the introduction of elections enhanced public goods and services provision only in slums with high organizational density. In such a context, existing organizational structures and citizens’ organizational experience facilitated individuals’ endeavors to demand and monitor the provision of public goods and the emergence of new leaders other than partisan brokers that skewed political competition towards the provision of public goods. These findings contribute to our understanding of the relationship between elections, organizational activity and public goods provision in urban informal settlements and have implications for development practitioners: Under the right conditions, the democratic selection of slum intermediaries vis-à-vis the state can substantially improve the livelihood of these communities.

A Study on Receivable Management of The Salem Co-operative Sugar Mills Limited

Accounts receivable represent sales that are made on credit - the payments for goods are made sometime after delivery or change in legal possession. The level of accounts receivable is a function of the level of sales, the credit terms, the riskiness of the individual customers given credit, and any seasonal influences. Although the total figure of accounts receivable may be constant over time, its individual component items are continually changing and these, therefore, need careful recording and monitoring. Apart from certain retailers such as supermarkets or small shops, most companies offer credit to their customers, and by doing the business providing a financial service as well as the basic goods or other services. Such credit terms are desired by customers as they may be short of ready cash at that moment in time, or they can earn a return on the cash held during the period of credit. By making the credit terms more attractive, management can increase sales turnover; granting credit also involves costs of the finance, increased administration expenses and the probabilities of bad debts occurring. The management of accounts receivable is concerned with trade-off between the profits from increased sales generated by credit policies. Key words: trade-off, profits, retailers, high street

The Effect of COVID-19 on Hemoglobinopathy Patients’ Daily Lives While Quarantined: Four Greek Hospitals’ Experiences

During a pandemic, people are fearful of becoming infected with the virus, which causes anxiety, loss of purpose, and depression. This study aimed to evaluate the social and psychological impact, as well as the impact on homecare, of patients with hemoglobinopathies during the pandemic. Material and Methods: In total, 130 patients from four Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease Units of the National Health System of Greece Hospitals were examined via an anonymous questionnaire developed and distributed through stratified sampling. Results: Transfusion-dependent thalassemia, transfused sickle cell disease, and other hemoglobinopathies were represented by 130 patients. During the pandemic, the main concern of patients was the affordability of blood for transfusion. During the lockdown, patients’ moods varied, and their daily lives were disrupted by a lack of access to basic goods and communication with friends and family. Their eating habits, access to exercise, and, to a lesser extent, their financial situation have all been affected in their daily lives. It is crucial to highlight that while access to health services did not suffer in terms of medication and regular visits for their actual disease, it did suffer in terms of the systematic monitoring of complications.

Svoboda, pravo in temeljne vrednote

How to ensure a free functioning of individuals, while at the same time enabling a just society, is an important societal question. The legislator or policy maker needs to decide, how and in what way to intervene in societal relationships, either coercively or by employing softer means. In this paper, a decision-making model of legislating and policymaking is proposed on a qualitative level, which aims at ensuring the Berlinian ideal of negative liberty, while at the same time considering the occasional need to encourage good options. To understand what good options are, an orientation towards preservation or promotion of basic goods is proposed. These are, according to Finnis, life, knowledge, friendship, religion, play, aesthetic experience, and practical reasonableness. They are weighed according to the regulative ideal of justice. When possible, the policy maker should avoid using legislation, which is the ultimate means of regulation of societal relationships. Soft paternalist policies should be given priority instead.

The Church's Promotion of Public Health in the Southern Part of the Nineteenth-Century Austro-Hungarian Empire

Then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the kingdom of Slavonia was characterized in the nineteenth century by constant political and administrative changes. After its liberation from Ottoman conquests, the rural area of the kingdom, already underpopulated, was left with damaged and poor infrastructure. In such circumstances, and as the most educated figures within their communities, Catholic bishops from the diocese of Đakovo and Srijem oversaw the reorganization and reform of local society, providing the foundations for further social development. They renewed and modernized local infrastructure and the production of basic goods, while also providing access to clean water and introducing hygiene measures in cemeteries to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. In addition, they played a crucial role in the opening of hospitals and schools in the region. In such work, one can detect elements of the approach later known as public health.

Moral Panics, Viral Subjects: Black Women's Bodies on the Line during Cuba's 2020 Pandemic Lockdowns.

While Cuba was in a COVID‐19‐induced lockdown, coleras, women who wait in hours‐long colas (lines) to purchase scarce goods to resell, emerged in online state media as “folk devils” responsible for the acute shortages of basic goods. Using an intersection lens, we combine fieldwork in lines and content analysis of online media to examine the creation and policing of the colera threat during the summer of 2020. Coleras were framed as immoral subjects, gendered and racialized, and often depicted as a virus that threatened the nation's health. The colera moral panic attempted to obscure class, race, and gender inequalities and structures that have made certain citizens vulnerable in the aftermath of successive waves of Cuban economic reforms. Understanding this moral panic allows us to appreciate the material scarcities and indignities to which poor Black women have been subjected, and widespread concerns about the state's failure to protect society's most vulnerable.

Misappropriated Development: Exploring Accountability as the Rate-determining Step to the Realisation of the Right to Development in Select African Countries

The right to development seeks to provide the enabling environment for the participation, contribution and well-being of persons in their freedom to enjoy their socio-economic development. The realisation of the right to development, therefore, imposes a duty on the state to ensure that the basic needs of the people are met without any impairment. The challenge in promoting the quality of life of the people as envisaged in the right to development often falls on a strong public service where accountability is a core component. Misappropriation of allocated funds, especially in the public sector, results in misgovernance of the institutions of state. Africa also struggles with the misappropriation of public funds, which hinders the provision of basic goods and quality services for the well-being of the population. Accountability, therefore, is the rate-determining step to the social, economic, political and cultural development of the people. In this article, the concept of the rate-determining step seeks to eliminate the challenges to the process of development to engender social transformation, with specific reference to Nigeria and South Africa. Rampant corruption and misgovernance in many provinces, especially the Free State, undermine South Africa’s strength in fulfilling its development plans. Nigeria is an oil-rich country, yet the region where the oil is produced remains impoverished. This article focuses on accountability as the essential element in curbing misgovernance and misappropriation and examines the development agenda of these regions and the rate-determining step to the realisation of these development objectives, with a view to advancing a development model that puts the individual at the core of its development programmes and processes.

MEMAHAMI PERILAKU KONSUMEN MUSLIM SEBELUM DAN SELAMA MASA PANDEMI COVID-19

Based on a preliminary study that the author conducted through direct interviews with people who act as financial regulators in a family regarding changes in purchasing during the covid-19 pandemic, it shows that perceptions and buying behavior vary. Further research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in consumer buying behavior towards attitude taking in deciding to buy an item or service. This needs to be done because Indonesia is a country that does not enforce a lockdown so that this condition will lead to different behavior from conditions that occur abroad. The purpose of this study is to analyze changes in consumer buying behavior in Indonesia towards the basic needs of goods and services during the covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia and the factors that play a role in determining consumer purchasing decisions in Indonesia for basic goods and services before and during the covid-19 pandemic. Samples were taken using purposive sampling technique with a total of 30 consumers. Data analysis using structural equation modeling. Based on the results of the study, changes in consumer buying behavior in Indonesia towards the basic needs of goods and services during the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia were in the shift from offline buying patterns to online, as well as a shift from purchasing products purchased during the Covid-19 pandemic which switched from Posts for traveling activities, shopping for clothing needs and tertiary needs switch to health products such as hand sanitizers, vitamins and masks, as well as data quotas that support work from home activities and learning activities for those who already have school-age children. Factors that play a role in determining the purchase decision are the convenience, competitive prices and quality of health products.&#x0D; &#x0D; Keywords: consumer behavior, pandemic, Covid-19., Muslim

“Provide our basic needs or we go out”: the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, inequality, and social policy in Ghana

Abstract The effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic cuts across every facet of a nation’s life. The near collapse of economies with the attendant job losses has brought forth the need for effective social policies, particularly in developing countries, that can serve citizens in dire need. Consequently, many of these countries have had to craft emergency social policies to help their citizens. Ghana is no exception. While measures to control the spread of the pandemic, such as lockdowns and restrictions on movement and gathering, were timely, they negatively impacted the poor, most of whom work in the informal sector and depend on daily survival activities such as buying and selling basic goods. As a result, some of the measures were ignored as people feared they would die from hunger rather than from the pandemic. Thus, governmental response to the pandemic was highlighted by policy layering and exposed the fragile social support systems in existence. The challenges of responding adequately to the pandemic underscore the importance of a transformative social welfare regime in ensuring the protection of citizens. This paper, based on desk research, explores the limitations of the existing social policy framework, which became manifest during the implementation of Ghana’s pandemic policies. Policy layering by government continues to weaken Ghana’s social welfare system, and this affected the official response with respect to the social issues that have emerged due to the pandemic.

Foundational Economy and Healthcare Services: What the Covid-19 Emergency Tells Us

This paper introduces the FSE special session ‘Healthcare, Covid-19 and the Foundational Economy’, which uses the Foundational Economy (FE) approach to analyze the public health crisis determined by Covid-19. First, the paper briefly presents the FE approach, which consists of two macro-areas. The former, identified as a 'material' foundational economy, comprises the supply of basic goods and services (i.e. water, electricity, gas, food or banking). The latter, defined as a 'providential' foundational economy, comprises services traditionally covered by welfare policies and indispensable to our lives, including healthcare. Subsequently, the introduction illustrates the contributions of the special session, which includes articles on France, Italy, Spain, the US as well as a comparative analysis of the Covid-19 impact in Europe. In presenting these papers, the introduction shows how the FE concepts and methodological tools are relevant and extremely useful to analyze the public health pandemic crisis and its causes.

Democracy and public goods revisited: Local institutions, development, and access to water

Democracies are commonly thought to provide greater levels of public goods than autocracies. Given that many public goods are provided locally, higher levels of local democracy are further thought to result in better rates of provision in both autocratic and democratic systems. However, several studies have cast doubt on democratic superiority in public goods provision both nationally and locally. We re-examine these contested relationships, investigating a locally provisioned public good: access to basic water. To determine what, if any, effects democracy has on public goods provision, we analyse the effects of both national and local democratic institutions, in conjunction with economic development. In cross-national regression analyses, we examine a global sample of 140 states from 2000 to 2015, arriving at three findings. First, access to basic water varies little by national regime type once accounting for development. Second, the existence of local elections and the degree to which they are free and competitive are positively correlated with basic water access rates in poor states. Finally, the positive effects of local democracy on water access in poor states increase with democratic institutional longevity. The findings of this study suggest two necessary additions to future research. First, more nuance is needed in the study of public goods provision beyond resources or a theoretical rationale for increased provision related to national regime characteristics. Second, considering the conditional influences of local institutional characteristics, development metrics could help illustrate the complicated circumstances determining access to basic public goods.