Best-performing Countries Research Articles

Comparison of the Bulut Index-Beta method and Global Health Security Index: results from the world's countries.

The Global Health Security Index (GHSI), which is used to assess the global health security preparedness levels of countries, and the Bulut Index-Beta (BI-β) method, developed as a multicriteria decision-making method, were compared in terms of global health security in the context of the world's countries. It was aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of the BI-β method by testing it on GHSI datasets and contribute to the methodological development of the GHSI. The datasets used in this study were the publicly available GHSI datasets, which allow for comparative evaluations of countries. The BI-β method and GHSI were used to compare countries in terms of global health security. In 2021, the top three best-performing countries in terms of global health security were the United States (BI-β = 85.46), Australia (BI-β = 82.53), and the United Kingdom (BI-β = 82.29). For 2019, the United States (BI-β = 85.44) and Australia (BI-β = 81.69) had the same ranks as in 2021, but the United Kingdom (BI-β = 76.63) dropped to 9th place. There was a statistically significant positive weak monotonic relationship between BI-β and GHSI rankings. Since the GHSI scoring system is not consistent or questionable, the weighting process needs to be objectively reconsidered and the reasons for the weighting process need to be explained. The GHSI was conceptualized based on a narrow and technical framework. Therefore, it is recommended that the social and political determinants of public health be taken into account in the GHSI. On the other hand, the BI-β method can be easily used in solving other multicriteria decision-making problems, especially in public health areas such as global health security.

Assessing and Clustering Countries Based on COVID-19 and Related Indicators: Clustering and MULTIMOORA Approaches

The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of humanity's most difficult times. The pandemic spread and impact were not at the same level for all countries. Investigation of the variation of the countries is crucial for policymakers. Therefore, the study proposed to cluster countries according to the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths, vaccinations and related socioeconomic, disease, and health risk factors and rank them by using MULTIMOORA (MOORA plus the full multiplicative form) in an integrated way. The data set consists of 148 countries and 13 indicators. K-Means algorithm was used to cluster countries. Optimal cluster was found as six according to Silhouette Index. The cluster consisted of mostly developed countries ranked as best perform cluster. It had the highest number of COVID-19 vaccinations, GDP per capita, share health expenditure in GDP, life expectancy, elderly population portion, and environmental performance index values, and the least mortality of chronic diseases. Moreover, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark were the best-performing countries in this cluster. In addition to this, Turkey was located in the second-ranked cluster. It was also determined that COVID-19 indicators (cases, deaths, and vaccinations) were related to GDP per capita, environmental index, and life expectancy. As a result, policymakers can develop pandemic policies for country groups separately, and assistance can be provided in this regard according to the priority order of the countries.

Assessing Countries’ Deceased Organ Donation and Transplantation Performance

Introduction: Donors per million population and transplantations per million population are standardized, widely used indicators to assess and compare countries’ performance in organ donation and transplantation. This study aims to investigate these two particular metrics of organ donation and transplantation performance, and to introduce a new index, namely, ‘transplantations per patients on the waiting list’. Methods: Secondary analyses of data on 23 countries in 2016 were used to construct the transplantations per patients on the waiting list indicator for kidney, liver, pancreas, heart, and lung transplantation, as well as for the transplantation of any of the five aforementioned organs. Results: According to the transplantations per patients on the waiting list, the best-performing countries in terms of organ donation and transplantation are Belarus for kidney transplantation, Finland for liver and pancreas transplantation, Australia for heart transplantation, and France for lung transplantation. Considering all five organs together, Sweden, Australia, Finland, Austria, and Poland were the top five best-performing countries, followed by Spain in the sixth position. Conclusion: The deceased transplantations per patients on the waiting list can be an alternative indicator to assess performance, along with the widely-used donors and transplantations per million population, but still has its limitations in certain scenarios.

What key contextual factors contribute to students’ reading literacy among top-performing countries and economies? Statistical and machine learning analyses

Based on self-regulated learning theory, this study explored the key student-level factors that influence students’ reading literacy among high-performing countries and economies in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018. Data from the top three best-performing countries and economies in PISA 2018 (i.e., three Asian countries and economies: B-S-J-Z, Singapore, and Macau) was analyzed using a combination of statistical and machine learning methods. First, the Sharpley decomposition method, which can decompose the contribution value of each factor to reading literacy, was used to investigate the impacts of different factors on students’ reading literacy and identify the key factors that were the most influential. Thereafter, the relationships between the identified key factors and reading literacy were further examined using the gradient boosting decision tree method with high generalization ability. Results show that metacognitive strategies (especially assessing credibility) are critical in shaping students’ reading literacy in top-performing countries and economies. The findings also highlight the importance of reading interest in student reading literacy development. Exploring the key factors affecting high-performing students’ reading literacy at the student level may offer valuable insights for informing tailored educational policies and pedagogical practices to improve student reading literacy development.

A Cross-Country European Efficiency Measurement of Maritime Transport: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

Maritime transport, which includes shipping and port operations, is the fundamental basis of international trade and globalization. In transportation management, efficiency is critical for verifying performance and proposing the best countermeasure to meet predetermined goals. Various efforts in this field have been made to solve this problem satisfactorily. However, the significant proportion of conventional approaches are based on long-term observations and professional expertise, with only a few exceptions based on practice-based historical data. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a non-parametric technique for analyzing various output and input variables parallelly. The efficiency of maritime transport in European countries is explored using a two-stage DEA approach based on Malmquist and Epsilon-Based Measure (EBM). First, the Malmquist model analyses countries’ total productivity growth rates and their breakdown into technical efficiency (catch-up) and technology change (frontier-shift). Second, the EBM model is used to determine the efficiency and inefficiency of the maritime transportation systems in each European country. Apart from identifying the best-performing countries in specific areas over the study period (2016–2019), the results highlight that the gap in applying the EBM method to maritime transport has been successfully closed and that the emerging paradigm, when combined with the Malmquist model, can be a sustainable and appropriate evaluation model for other research areas.

Achievements of the European Union member states toward the development of sustainable agriculture: A contribution to the structural efficiency approach

The ranking of decision-making units can be performed by measuring their efficiency. However, the discriminatory power of efficiency measures is sometimes compromised, and complete rankings are not attained. Additionally, environmental performance must be considered when assessing the sustainability of operations. This paper applies the “average contribution to structural efficiency” index to measure the environmental performance of the European Union Member States’ agricultural sectors. The contribution index considers all of the possible combinations of observations when assessing states’ environmental performance. This process allows for a complete ranking of the countries under consideration. The agricultural performance of Bulgaria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as measured by the conventional data envelopment analysis, approached the production frontier. Therefore, these countries could not be ranked based on the conventional data envelopment analysis model. The application of the contribution index showed that Romania, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Slovenia were ranked as the best-performing countries. In addition, France and Belgium showed positive contributions to structural efficiency, although they were not classified as efficient countries. Therefore, cooperation with these countries would allow other countries to exploit their agricultural resources in a more productive and sustainable manner.

Does spending on social-welfare policies reduce poverty? An assessment of the European Union countries using impulse-response and efficiency methods

Purpose – An attempt to answer two questions: (i) does spending on social-welfare policies constitute a statistically-significant impulse for reducing poverty among various risk groups in the EU countries? And (ii) what is the level of efficiency of social spending when it comes to reducing various problems associated with poverty in the EU member states? Research method – Two research methods: Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and extended Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) are used. Results – It is established that social-welfare policies in most of the EU countries create a sufficient impulse to reduce poverty among elderly people and survivors, families with children and the unemployed. However, the impulse is often not sufficient in the case of people with problems in meeting housing needs, as well as the sick or disabled. What is more, the relative efficiency of social-welfare spending in some of the EU countries is low, which suggest that better outcomes may be achieved not only by increasing the spending, but also by improving the policies among current amount of funds. Surprisingly, the best-performing countries in reducing the poverty by social-welfare policies include, next to Denmark and Finland, also some Central and Eastern European countries: the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Originality/value/implications/recommendations – The research extends the knowledge on the efficiency and effectiveness of government activities for the purpose of limiting poverty.

Gendered patterns of industrialization in MENA

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes different trajectories followed by Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries with regard to feminization of the labor force. It uses accounting decomposition analysis for the manufacturing sector employment in eight MENA countries from 1983 to 2013. Overall feminization has been weak in the region, even for the best-performing countries. The trends in feminization are driven by labor-intensive industries, particularly textile and clothing, with Jordan being an exception with feminization in capital-intensive industries. As traditionally ‘female’ jobs lose their significance with structural transformation and capital deepening, manufacturing employment opportunities for women disappear, confirming the defeminization literature.

The dynamic role of energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability in the dilemma of emission reduction and economic growth

This study examines the relationship between energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability from the perspective of economic growth and CO2 emissions. For this purpose, this study utilizes the energy trilemma index (ETI) 2018 of the World Energy Council (WEC) to measure, evaluate and assess the energy efficiency of the top ten best-performing countries around the world. This study formulates an interval decision matrix to apply Principal Components Analysis (PCA) by reducing a large set into a small set of underlying variables with comprehensive information. Finally, this study uses the Fuzzy-TOPSIS method to determine the comprehensive ranks of all countries. This study shows that Denmark holds overall first rank in energy efficiency with a score of one in energy security, eleven in energy equity, and seventeen in environmental sustainability. In contrast, Germany has dominated all top ten performers by energy and environmental progress, which cannot be shirker within the UK's social progress concept. Thus, with ceteris paribus, a higher energy price will indicate a higher degree of scarcity of energy sources, encouraging working for cheaper and renewable alternatives and ultimately influencing the energy supply side. Carbon valuation can reduce greenhouse emissions by paying the extra dollar to the enterprise for less emission. It will lead to changing energy consumption structures and make it a cleaner choice for profit maximization.

Stillbirth in Australia 1: The road to now: Two decades of stillbirth research and advocacy in Australia

Stillbirth is a major public health problem with an enormous mortality burden and psychosocial impact on parents, families and the wider community both globally and in Australia. In 2015, Australia’s late gestation stillbirth rate was over 30% higher than that of the best-performing countries globally, highlighting the urgent need for action. We present an overview of the foundations which led to the establishment of Australia’s NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth (Stillbirth CRE) in 2017 and highlight key activities in the following areas: Opportunities to expand and improve collaborations between research teams; Supporting the conduct and development of innovative, high quality, collaborative research that incorporates a strong parent voice; Promoting effective translation of research into health policy and/or practice; and the Regional and global work of the Stillbirth CRE. We highlight the first-ever Senate Inquiry into Stillbirth in Australia in 2018. These events ultimately led to the development of a National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan for Australia with the aims of reducing stillbirth rates by 20% over the next five years, reducing the disparity in stillbirth rates between advantaged and disadvantaged communities, and improving care for all families who experience this loss.

Understanding the Community Risk Perceptions of the COVID-19 Outbreak in South Korea: Infodemiology Study.

BackgroundSouth Korea is among the best-performing countries in tackling the coronavirus pandemic by using mass drive-through testing, face mask use, and extensive social distancing. However, understanding the patterns of risk perception could also facilitate effective risk communication to minimize the impacts of disease spread during this crisis.ObjectiveWe attempt to explore patterns of community health risk perceptions of COVID-19 in South Korea using internet search data.MethodsGoogle Trends (GT) and NAVER relative search volumes (RSVs) data were collected using COVID-19–related terms in the Korean language and were retrieved according to time, gender, age groups, types of device, and location. Online queries were compared to the number of daily new COVID-19 cases and tests reported in the Kaggle open-access data set for the time period of December 5, 2019, to May 31, 2020. Time-lag correlations calculated by Spearman rank correlation coefficients were employed to assess whether correlations between new COVID-19 cases and internet searches were affected by time. We also constructed a prediction model of new COVID-19 cases using the number of COVID-19 cases, tests, and GT and NAVER RSVs in lag periods (of 1-3 days). Single and multiple regressions were employed using backward elimination and a variance inflation factor of <5.ResultsThe numbers of COVID-19–related queries in South Korea increased during local events including local transmission, approval of coronavirus test kits, implementation of coronavirus drive-through tests, a face mask shortage, and a widespread campaign for social distancing as well as during international events such as the announcement of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization. Online queries were also stronger in women (r=0.763-0.823; P<.001) and age groups ≤29 years (r=0.726-0.821; P<.001), 30-44 years (r=0.701-0.826; P<.001), and ≥50 years (r=0.706-0.725; P<.001). In terms of spatial distribution, internet search data were higher in affected areas. Moreover, greater correlations were found in mobile searches (r=0.704-0.804; P<.001) compared to those of desktop searches (r=0.705-0.717; P<.001), indicating changing behaviors in searching for online health information during the outbreak. These varied internet searches related to COVID-19 represented community health risk perceptions. In addition, as a country with a high number of coronavirus tests, results showed that adults perceived coronavirus test–related information as being more important than disease-related knowledge. Meanwhile, younger, and older age groups had different perceptions. Moreover, NAVER RSVs can potentially be used for health risk perception assessments and disease predictions. Adding COVID-19–related searches provided by NAVER could increase the performance of the model compared to that of the COVID-19 case–based model and potentially be used to predict epidemic curves.ConclusionsThe use of both GT and NAVER RSVs to explore patterns of community health risk perceptions could be beneficial for targeting risk communication from several perspectives, including time, population characteristics, and location.

Prostate Cancer Research, 2000-16, its Citation Impact and its Influence on Clinical Practice Guidelines

We evaluated prostate cancer research outputs from leading countries to see if they reflected the countries’ research expenditure and disease burden and determined their impact. Were the countries making the largest contribution to the evidence base of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for prostate cancer also those whose papers received the most citations on papers? We selected papers in the Web of Science (WoS) from 2000-16 with a complex search filter and analysed their characteristics and citations. We compared countries’ outputs with their overall research expenditure and their burden of disease from prostate cancer. We collected 71 clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) from 28 countries and downloaded their references. Although world output increased from 1696 to 4329 papers over the study period, prostate cancer research represented only 3.6% of all cancer research in 2016. Europe’s relative output was less than half its relative cancer burden and that of Africa only one sixth, but Asia, whose men are less likely to suffer from the disease, published a proportionate amount. The USA still has the largest output (31% of the total, down from 53% in 2000) but China’s output has risen very rapidly and is now second. The US and Netherlands papers were the most cited in the WoS and those from Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden were the most cited on the CPGs. These CPG references involved research on the main treatments but relatively few on genetics. Some countries’ CPG references were rather old. Prostate cancer research is relatively neglected in Europe and particularly in Africa, but receives more attention in North America, the only continent where its disease burden relative to all cancer has actually declined. The best-performing countries in terms of their influence on CPGs differed from those with the best citation records on the WoS.

Maternal Sleep Practices and Stillbirth: Findings From an International Case-controlled Study

(Birth. 2019;46:344–354) Late stillbirth, defined as stillbirth at 28 weeks’ gestation or later, is between 1.3 and 8.8 per 1000 and has been decreasing at an annual rate of ∼2.3% in high-income countries. There is room for improvement, as nearly 20,000 stillbirths could have been avoided in 2015 had all high-income countries achieved the rates of the 6 best-performing countries. While many risk factors for late stillbirth are not modifiable during pregnancy, maternal sleep position has been found to significantly impact the risk of stillbirth, as well as sleep duration and number of awakenings. Using a large, international study cohort, this study aimed to investigate potentially modifiable maternal risk factors, including sleep practices, with the hypothesis that supine sleeping position and long sleep duration would increase the risk of late stillbirth.

Exploring environmental efficiency of the European agricultural sector in the use of mineral fertilizers

This study analyzes the environmental efficiency of the agricultural sector regarding the use of mineral fertilizers in the period 2001–2012 for a group of European countries. Specifically, efficiency is assessed through a dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis methodology. This method aims to analyze temporal efficiency changes through the estimation of Malmquist indexes with increasing and decreasing temporal windows. Findings show that most countries register efficiency advances in the periods 2002–2003 and 2007–2008. Specific countries, such as Belgium-Luxembourg, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom, register persistently higher values of the estimated Malmquist indexes. This study contributes to the existing literature by assessing country-specific efficiency paths, as well as by identifying best-performing countries from which lessons can be learnt. A brief review of main measures taken by a selected group of benchmark countries is offered.

Analysis of Global Pediatric Cancer Research and Publications.

This study sought to investigate the amount of global research activity and investment in pediatric cancer research, using publications as a proxy measure, and to understand geographical differences in research activity. To do this, we used a quantitative method—bibliometrics—to analyze Web of Science publications in the 10 years from 2007 to 2016. We found that global pediatric cancer research outputs have increased from 2,937 in 2007 to 4,513 in 2016, at an annual growth rate of 4.3%. This rate is slower than for both cancer research as a whole and general pediatric research. The increase in output was due almost entirely to China. International collaboration was similar to that in cancer research overall, with the highest levels among countries in close geographical proximity. Hematological and CNS childhood cancers are the main areas for research. Genetics and prognosis were the main research domains, and there was little work on radiotherapy or palliative care. In terms of citations, the best-performing countries were the Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom. On the basis of estimates of the cost of research papers in different countries, the total world pediatric cancer research expenditure is estimated to have been 1.54 billion US dollars (USD) in 2013, and 1.79 billion USD in 2016. Our data suggest that current global policy toward pediatric cancer needs significant review and change to increase investments, balance research portfolios, and improve research that is relevant to low- and middle-income countries.

Potential gains in health expectancy by improving lifestyle: an application for European regions

BackgroundPrevention aiming at smoking, alcohol consumption, and BMI could potentially bring large gains in life expectancy (LE) and health expectancy measures such as Healthy Life Years (HLY) and Life Expectancy in Good Perceived Health (LEGPH) in the European Union. However, the potential gains might differ by region.MethodsA Sullivan life table model was applied for 27 European countries to calculate the impact of alternative scenarios of lifestyle behavior on life and health expectancy. Results were then pooled over countries to present the potential gains in HLY and LEGPH for four European regions.ResultsSimulations show that up to 4 years of extra health expectancy can be gained by getting all countries to the healthiest levels of lifestyle observed in EU countries. This is more than the 2 years to be gained in life expectancy. Generally, Eastern Europe has the lowest LE, HLY, and LEGPH. Even though the largest gains in LEPGH and HLY can also be made in Eastern Europe, the gap in LE, HLY, and LEGPH can only in a small part be closed by changing smoking, alcohol consumption, and BMI.ConclusionBased on the current data, up to 4 years of good health could be gained by adopting lifestyle as seen in the best-performing countries. Only a part of the lagging health expectancy of Eastern Europe can potentially be solved by improvements in lifestyle involving smoking and BMI. Before it is definitely concluded that lifestyle policy for alcohol use is of relatively little importance compared to smoking or BMI, as our findings suggest, better data should be gathered in all European countries concerning alcohol use and the odds ratios of overconsumption of alcohol.

Formação de professores de Química no Brasil e no mundo

RESUMO O texto apresenta um panorama do ensino de Química em vários países, e particularmente foca na formação de professores de Química nesses distintos contextos. Nesse sentido, é apresentada a estrutura básica do sistema educacional dos diferentes países, particularidades da escola como horários de funcionamento e número de alunos por classe etc. Em relação à formação de professores de Química descreve-se em linhas gerais como é feita em cada país em termos de currículo além de aspectos práticos da profissão como valorização social e em que tipo de instituição é feita a formação. Foram tratados os seguintes países: Alemanha, Austrália, Brasil, Canadá, Estados Unidos, Finlândia e Índia. Há muitas diferenças, mas uma coisa comum entre os países com melhores resultados nas avaliações internacionais recai na atenção e acompanhamento próximo em relação à qualidade da formação de professores, a valorização social e as condições de trabalho nas escolas.

Implementation of EU energy policy priorities in the Baltic Sea Region countries: Sustainability assessment based on neutrosophic MULTIMOORA method

The European Union (EU) has set ambitious goals for climate change and energy in its pursued policies (20% of renewable energy until 2020, 27% until 2030, and the aim to become the global leader in energy produced by renewable energy sources). Even more ambitious goals are established in the strategy of Energy 2050. Today European energy policy is oriented towards energy security, expansion of energy markets, energy efficiency, decarbonisation, and scientific research and innovations. The broader aim of this policy is a radical shift away from the current energy system to introduce a new system which would ensure environmental consistency, affordability of consumer prices, and security of supply. The paper analyses the trends of energy development across the eight Baltic Sea Region (BSR) countries. The analysis covers the period of 2008–2015. The main aim of the paper is to compare BSR countries achievements in sustainable energy development. The aggregate measures of energy sustainability are devised utilising multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) MULTIMOORA (Multi-Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis) technique. The paper presents an original framework for sustainable energy development indicators. The EU energy policy priorities govern the choice of indicators of energy sustainability. The comparative assessment of BSR countries, based on neutrosophic MULTIMOORA technique, by applying indicators from the framework, indicated that the best-performing countries regarding the achievement of EU sustainable energy development goals during the research period were Denmark and Latvia. The findings of this research can give useful information to energy policy decision makers.

Global tuberculosis targets and milestones set for 2016-2035: definition and rationale.

>BACKGROUND:Global tuberculosis (TB) targets were set as part of the World Health Organization's End TB Strategy (2016–2035) and the Sustainable Development Goals (2016–2030).>OBJECTIVE:To define and explain the rationale for these targets.>DESIGN:Scenarios for plausible reductions in TB deaths and cases were developed using empirical evidence from best-performing countries and modelling of the scale-up of under-used interventions and hypothetical TB vaccines. Results were discussed at consultations in 2012 and 2013. A final proposal was presented to the World Health Assembly in 2014 and unanimously endorsed by all Member States.>RESULTS:The 2030 targets are a 90% reduction in TB deaths and 80% reduction in TB incidence compared with 2015 levels. The 2035 targets are for reductions of 95% and 90%, respectively. A third target—that no TB-affected households experience catastrophic costs due to the disease by 2020—was also agreed.>CONCLUSION:The global TB targets and milestones set for the period 2016–2035 are ambitious. Achieving them requires concerted action on several fronts, but two things are fundamental: 1) progress towards universal health coverage to ensure that everyone with TB can access high-quality treatment; and 2) substantial investment in research and development for new tools to prevent TB disease among the approximately 1.7 billion people infected.

Data envelopment analysis for investigating optimal road safety policies utilising global epidemiological, risk exposure and socio-economic statistics

The raising number of motorisation and the associated number of road traffic fatalities is reasonably considered as an epidemic phenomenon and one of the most important issues in public policy. In order to understand the phenomenon of road traffic fatalities and to propose road safety measures and policies, it could be helpful the investigation of the phenomenon on a global scale. The current paper focuses on the analysis of the road traffic fatalities, taking into consideration global epidemiological data for a benchmark dataset of the year 2010. The objective is to evaluate-benchmark the countries on their road safety performance, utilising their socio-economic and demographic context. Finally, road safety measures and strategies of the best-performing countries are suggested to the under-performing countries in favour of their road safety enhancement. The analytical framework here is based on data envelopment analysis (DEA), which is considered a straightforward benchmarking technique.