Cross-country Survey Research Articles

Identification and Treatment ofProtein-energy Malnutrition in Renal Disease

A web-based cross-country survey of renal registered dietitians (RRDs) was launched. It was used to assess whether or not their clinical practice in identifying and treating proteinenergy malnutrition (PEM) in adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and dialysis was based on current nutrition practice guidelines (NPGs). The survey included questions on strategies, timelines, and markers used for the identification and treatment of PEM. Fifty-nine RRDs responded (21%). Sixty-seven percent did not base clinical practice on NPGs, while 33% indicated they followed the guidelines. Of those who followed guidelines, 76% use the National Kidney Foundation— Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative nutrition guidelines. Strategies used to identify and treat PEM were not related to duration of RRD experience in nephrology, but were significantly different between guidelines users and non-users. Guideline users commonly used key nutrition treatment strategies that included enteral/parenteral nutrition and medication therapy. The clinical practice of RRD is typically based on expert opinion/consensus, rather than on evidence-based practice guidelines (EBPG). It remains unclear if differences in RRDs’ adoption of clinical guidelines influences patient outcomes, particularly in the treatment of PEM. Up-to-date EBPG need to be developed for the identification and treatment of PEM in patients with ESRD.

Variables Influencing Adoption of Practice-Based Guidelines in Canadian Renal Dietetic Practice

We sought to determine the variables influencing the adoption of practice-based guidelines by Canadian renal registered dietitians (RRDs) for the identification and treatment of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) in adult patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. A web-based, cross-country survey was distributed to 288 RRDs via the Canadian Association of Renal Dietitians. The survey consisted of open-ended and close-ended questions addressing variables (facilitators and barriers) influencing RRDs' adoption of evidenced-based practice guidelines (EBPGs), along with questions related to practitioner practice (focused on organization, practitioners, and patients). Seventy-four (51 full and seven partial) RRDs responded to the survey (for a 25% response rate); 16 responses not meeting the inclusion criteria were excluded from data analysis. Whereas 97% of respondents reported guideline utilization in daily practice, only 24% (n=14) used all of the recommendations within the EBPGs used by RRDs for the identification and treatment of PEM in adults on dialysis. The most commonly cited reasons for using EBPGs were perceived clinical benefits to the patient, and the applicability of guideline recommendations to daily practice. The most common barriers to the adoption of EBPGs were organizational (lack of time or staff and healthcare team support) and practitioner-based (practitioner-perceived conflicts regarding the evidence). The variables influencing RRDs' adoption of EBPGs were multifactorial (organizationally focused, practitioner-focused, and patient-focused). The development of up-to-date EBPGs for the identification and treatment of PEM in adult patients is urgently needed. The examination of these variables is important to ensure that EBPGs are feasible, applicable, and evidence-based.

FIRM‐LEVEL DETERMINANTS OF POLITICAL INFLUENCE

This paper uses a large cross‐country survey of business firms to assess their influence on government policies. When controlling for endogeneity, we find that such an influence is associated with larger firms and to a lesser extent with government ownership, but not with the degree of competition. We also find that firms' perception of being politically influential is enhanced with the country's level of institutional quality.

Boundaries and information: Sidestepping restrictions through Internet conversations

Central Asian chat sites can transcend geographic boundaries and repression of information to provide access to information from around the globe. Chat and forums users gain information that is domestically censored or restricted in traditional media and share it with offline domestic communities. Because youth is the dominant demographic participating in chat and forum sites, these online exchanges and communities are likely to have important longer-term implications for information seeking and expectations of new and traditional media. We use cross-country survey data, interview data, and participant observation of online chat and forum sites to explore the exchange of information, emergence of opinions, global connections, and offline implications for communities within the region. This study examines how information and communication technologies take root in a technology-emergent society like Central Asia and has important implications for understanding attitudes toward and practices of adopting technology in other developing regions around the world.

Expected Consumption Growth from Cross-Country Surveys: Implications for Assessing International Capital Markets

Survey data show that the expected growth rates of consumption across countries vary widely and are not highly correlated. This data contradict the simplest of open-economy models in which there is a freely traded non-state-contingent bond and purchasing power parity holds. This paper explores two alternative explanations for the finding: that households in each country in effect face different ex ante real interest rates or that there are significant credit constraints, so that expected consumption growth rates are driven largely by expected income growth. The empirical evidence strongly supports the latter hypothesis. These findings challenge the modeling of consumption that is at the heart of many, if not most, macroeconomic models.

Demography Vs. Context: A Cross-Country Survey of the Willingness to Rely on Trust in Business Partnerships

We explore the determinants of the willingness to rely on trust in a business partnership where both partners are at risk. By focusing on the willingness to rely on trust (WTRT) we reduce the methodological challenge of perception-based approaches where trust is measured as an expectation on the partner's behavior. Executives in several countries were presented with a proposal for a business partnership and were asked about the level of safeguards they would require in the agreement, their main concerns as to future conditions, and to what extent their views would be affected by several behaviors and/or events. Twelve hypotheses are tested using path analysis and multiple/hierarchical regressions. Whereas our findings confirm prior results on differences in the propensity to trust between nationalities, they suggest that several organizational, functional and contextual variables mediate their impact in determining WTRT in inter-organizational ventures. Among these are the partners' cultural proximity, their concerns about business risk, and two organizational demographics regarding the size of the organization. In addition, we found that sensitivity to external information on partner's benevolence and the respondent's education and industry affected WTRT significantly.

An appraisal of fertilizer subsidy in developing countries.

Most developing countries’ fertilizer subsidy scheme is largely bureaucratically administered. Leakages occur causing unintended beneficiaries to benefit from the scheme while the intended beneficiaries are excluded. A cross-country survey of literature was carried out on fertilizer subsidy management in some selected developing countries. The survey largely revealed that fertilizer supply (availability) and demand improved in some developing countries that have made serious efforts at reforming their fertilizer supply and demand sectors; although some few observers hold dissenting views especially about the outcomes in the supply sector. Also, fertilizer supply and demand did not improve in the developing countries that did not make serious efforts at reforming these sectors. This suggests that the reform objectives of removing transaction costs and making fertilizers readily available to farmers at reduced prices seem to have been achieved in the reforming countries. The study therefore recommends that in order for the non-reforming countries’ farmers to be more accessible to fertilizers in sufficient quantities and at reduced prices, more serious efforts must be made at reforming these countries’ fertilizer supply and demand sectors. However, these reform efforts should be complemented with an institution of a workable output price support policy. Keywords : fertilizer subsidy, leakages, fertilizer supply, fertilizer demand, shifting the fertilizer supply curve to the right (SSCR).

Cost of Capital for Utilities: A Cross Country Survey and Synthesis

While reforms in utility industries have encouraged competition, the continued existence of monopoly power in parts of those industries has left a residual need for some form of prices regulation. Infrastructure industries such as telecommunications and electricity are examples where there can be such a residual need for regulation. With regulation now very much focused on pricing of key bottleneck facilities, the success of prices regulation will be an important determinant of investment in infrastructure sectors, with implications for economic growth more generally. The determination of cost of capital for utilities for the purpose of price regulation has always been a contentious issue. In this paper we survey the issues in the determination of capital for utilities, especially when the economy is dominated by public sector undertakings that are unlisted. We also present a survey of practices around the world.

The insecticide resistance status of malaria vectors in the Mekong region

BackgroundKnowledge on insecticide resistance in target species is a basic requirement to guide insecticide use in malaria control programmes. Malaria transmission in the Mekong region is mainly concentrated in forested areas along the country borders, so that decisions on insecticide use should ideally be made at regional level. Consequently, cross-country monitoring of insecticide resistance is indispensable to acquire comparable baseline data on insecticide resistance.MethodsA network for the monitoring of insecticide resistance, MALVECASIA, was set up in the Mekong region in order to assess the insecticide resistance status of the major malaria vectors in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. From 2003 till 2005, bioassays were performed on adult mosquitoes using the standard WHO susceptibility test with diagnostic concentrations of permethrin 0.75% and DDT 4%. Additional tests were done with pyrethroid insecticides applied by the different national malaria control programmes.ResultsAnopheles dirus s.s., the main vector in forested malaria foci, was susceptible to permethrin. However, in central Vietnam, it showed possible resistance to type II pyrethroids. In the Mekong delta, Anopheles epiroticus was highly resistant to all pyrethroid insecticides tested. It was susceptible to DDT, except near Ho Chi Minh City where it showed possible DDT resistance. In Vietnam, pyrethroid susceptible and tolerant Anopheles minimus s.l. populations were found, whereas An. minimus s.l. from Cambodia, Laos and Thailand were susceptible. Only two An. minimus s.l. populations showed DDT tolerance. Anopheles vagus was found resistant to DDT and to several pyrethroids in Vietnam and Cambodia.ConclusionThis is the first large scale, cross-country survey of insecticide resistance in Anopheles species in the Mekong Region. A unique baseline data on insecticide resistance for the Mekong region is now available, which enables the follow-up of trends in susceptibility status in the region and which will serve as the basis for further resistance management. Large differences in insecticide resistance status were observed among species and countries. In Vietnam, insecticide resistance was mainly observed in low or transmission-free areas, hence an immediate change of malaria vector control strategy is not required. Though, resistance management is important because the risk of migration of mosquitoes carrying resistance genes from non-endemic to endemic areas. Moreover, trends in resistance status should be carefully monitored and the impact of existing vector control tools on resistant populations should be assessed.

Does Religion Distract the Poor?

This article asks whether religion undermines the negative relationship between income and left voting that is assumed in standard political economy models of democracy. Analysis of cross-country survey data reveals that this correlation disappears among religious individuals in countries that use proportional representation. This is the case in large part because there is a moral values dimension that has a correlation with income that is equal in magnitude but has the opposite sign as the economic dimension, and the votes of the religious are better explained by their positions on moral than economic issues, especially in countries with multiparty systems. The authors conclude by discussing implications for theories of redistribution.

Expected Consumption Growth from Cross-Country Surveys: Implications for Assessing International Capital Markets

Survey data show that the expected growth rates of consumption across countries vary widely and are not highly correlated. This data contradicts the simplest of open-economy models in which there is a freely traded non- state-contingent bond and purchasing power parity holds. We explore two alternative explanations for the finding: that households in each country in effect face different ex ante real interest rates or that there are significant credit constraints, so that expected consumption growth rates are driven largely by expected income growth. The empirical evidence strongly supports the latter hypothesis. These findings challenge the modeling of consumption that is at the heart of many, if not most, macroeconomic models.

Expected Consumption Growth from Cross-Country Surveys: Implications for Assessing International Capital Markets

Survey data show that the expected growth rates of consumption across countries vary widely and are not highly correlated. This data contradicts the simplest of open-economy models in which there is a freely traded non- state-contingent bond and purchasing power parity holds. We explore two alternative explanations for the finding: that households in each country in effect face different ex ante real interest rates or that there are significant credit constraints, so that expected consumption growth rates are driven largely by expected income growth. The empirical evidence strongly supports the latter hypothesis. These findings challenge the modeling of consumption that is at the heart of many, if not most, macroeconomic models.

Subnational Insolvency: Cross-Country Experiences and Lessons

Subnational insolvency is a reoccurring event in development, as demonstrated by historical and modern episodes of subnational defaults in both developed and developing countries. Insolvency procedures become more important as countries decentralize expenditure, taxation, and borrowing, and broaden subnational credit markets. As the first cross-country survey of procedures to resolve subnational financial distress, this paper has particular relevance for decentralizing countries. The authors explain central features and variations of subnational insolvency mechanisms across countries. They identify judicial, administrative, and hybrid procedures, and show how entry point and political factors drive their design. Like private insolvency law, subnational insolvency procedures predictably allocate default risk, while providing breathing space for orderly debt restructuring and fiscal adjustment. Policymakers'desire to mitigate the tension between creditor rights and the need to maintain essential public services, to strengthen ex ante fiscal rules, and to harden subnational budget constraints are motivations specific to the public sector.

The choice of insurance in the labor market

Employment protection and unemployment benefits are considered the most prominent insurance devices for workers to protect themselves against the risk of unemployment. It occurs that societies either choose a high level of employment protection relative to unemployment benefits or vice versa. This paper explains where countries locate on this trade-off. It is argued that higher coverage of voters out-of-the labor force with intra household transfers yields a politico-economic equilibrium with relatively high employment protection and relatively low unemployment benefits. Cross country data and survey data on voters’ preferences are presented that corroborate the outcomes of the model.

How far ahead can we forecast? Evidence from cross-country surveys

Using monthly GDP forecasts from Consensus Economics, Inc. for 18 developed countries, reported over 24 different forecast horizons during the period 1989–2004, we find that the survey forecasts do not have much value when the horizon goes beyond 18 months. Using two alternative approaches to measure the flow of new information in fixed-target survey forecasts, we find that the biggest improvement in forecasting performance comes when the forecast horizon is around 14 months. The dynamics of information accumulation over forecast horizons can provide both the forecasters and their clients with an important clue in their selection of the timing and frequency in the use of forecasting services. The limits to forecasting that these private market forecasters exhibit are indicative of the current state of macroeconomic foresight.

Intergenerational Mobility and Schooling Decisions in Germany and Italy: The Impact of Secondary School Tracks

Intergenerational mobility in income and education is affected by the influence of parents on children's school choices. Our focus is on the role played by different school systems in reducing or magnifying the impact of parents on children's school choices and therefore on intergenerational mobility in general. We compare two apparently similar educational systems, Italy and Germany, to see how the common feature of separate tracks at Secondary School level may produce different impacts on children choices. Using data from a cross-country survey (PISA 2003), we study the impact of parental education on track choice, showing that the greater flexibility of the Italian system (where parents are free to choose the type of track) translates into greater dependence from parental background. These effects are reinforced when moving to post-secondary education, where the aspiration to go to college is affected not only by the school type but also (in the case of Italy only) by parental education. We then move to country-specific data sets (ISTAT 2001 for Italy and GSOEP 2001 and 2002 for Germany) to study the impact of family background on post-secondary school choices: we find this impact is greatly reduced when we control for secondary school tracks. Overall, we estimate large asymmetries by gender, with women's behavior more independent from family backgrounds than men's behavior.

Causes of Efficiency Change in Transition: Theory and Cross-Country Survey Evidence from Agriculture

This paper analyses the efficiency effects of the farm restructuring process in Central and Eastern Europe. We develop a theoretical model on how reforms, which are typically implemented in the process of the transition of a communist system to a market economy, would affect production efficiency in agriculture and we use a unique set of representative farm survey data to assess efficiency changes during transition. The theoretical model is used to simulate how the distribution of farm efficiencies would change during transition and efficiency changes are correlated with reforms in the countries.

Internet and information technology use by dental students in Chile

As part of a larger cross-country survey of dental students, students from the School of Dentistry, The University of Valparaiso, were invited to participate in a study to describe their use of information and communication technology (ICT). Information was derived from a 124-item questionnaire which included 14 socio-demographic items and 29 items asking about ICT use. ICT items were derived from a University of Birmingham, UK, battery. Data was collected in July and August 2004. A total of 162 of the 249 dental students participated in the study. The average age of students was 21.0 years (SD 2.4 years). The majority of participants (62.1%) were female. All participants had access to a computer, and 96.4% used the Internet. Most students had home Internet connections (73.4%). The most commonly used Internet sites on at least a weekly basis were: email (92.2%); and search engines (88.3%). However, a very few (21.1%) used the Internet to search for dental information for their studies on at least a weekly basis. Furthermore, although the majority (70.4%) found Internet use easy/very easy, 56.2% indicated that any search for information was easy/very easy. The majority (72.2%) indicated that the use of virtual education would not affect their class attendance. The final multivariate model explained 26% of the variance in ICT use, significant predictors for ICT use were gender, year of study, level of difficulty in using Internet, and place of Internet use. However, Internet use was mostly for non-dental purposes.

Impacts of Globalization on E-Commerce Use and Firm Performance: A Cross-Country Investigation

This article develops and tests a model examining the relationship between firm globalization, scope of e-commerce use, and firm performance, using data from a large-scale cross-country survey of firms from three industries. We find that globalization leads to both greater scope of e-commerce use and improved performance, measured as efficiency, coordination, and market impacts. Scope of e-commerce use also leads to greater firm performance of all three types. Globalization has differential effects on B2B and B2C e-commerce, however, such that highly global firms are more likely to do B2B but less likely to do B2C. Our findings provide support for Porter's (1986) thesis that upstream business activities (namely, B2B) are more global while downstream business activities (B2C) are more local or multidomestic.

The Power of Networks: Integration and Financial Cooperative Performance

Abstract**: The purpose of this paper is to perform a cross‐country survey of the level of integration of systems of financial cooperatives (FC) and its effect on measures of performance. We develop a classification scheme based on a theoretical framework that builds on published work using transaction cost economics (TCE) to explain integration of large numbers of financial cooperatives into networks. We identify three critical levels of increasing integration we call respectively atomized systems, consensual networks and strategic networks. Further, we test some of the propositions that result from the theoretical framework on an international sample of financial cooperative systems. Based on this analysis we can conclude that: (i) Integration is less (more) important in developing (more developed) countries and for very small (large) financial cooperatives as a determinant of efficiency. However, integration tends to reduce volatility of efficiency and performance regardless of development. (ii) Integration appears to help control measure of managers’ expense preferences that tend to affect performance of FC. (iii) Despite high costs of running hub‐like organizations in highly integrated system, these systems economize in bounded rationality and operate at lower costs than less integrated systems.