District Level Analysis Research Articles

Anemia Among Children Under 5 Years in India: A District-Level Spatial Analysis Using NFHS-5 Data.

The 2015/2016 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) revealed that the prevalence of anemia among children under five years is 58% in India. Lack of nutritional supplementation and lack of health care facilities are found to be important influential factors of anemia among children. We aimed to examine district-level spatial heterogeneity and clustering of associated factors with childhood anemia in India. Geographically weighted regression was applied on the NFHS-5 data for 335 districts. Factors such as prevalence of nutritional supplementation in children and mothers, birth order, antenatal care, diarrhea in children, and stunting were found to be significantly associated. Spatial scan statistics technique identified three significant local spatial clusters of anemia. This study provides findings based on the latest available data which can further assist in the design and execution of tailor-made policies.

Risk assessment of COVID-19 pandemic using deep learning model for J&K in India: a district level analysis.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing pandemic with high morbidity and mortality rates. Current epidemiological studies urge the need of implementing sophisticated methods to appraise the evolution of COVID-19. In this study, we analysed the data for 228 days (1 May to 15 December 2020) of daily incidence of COVID-19 cases for a district level analysis in the region of Jammu and Kashmir in the northern Himalayan belt of India. We used a deep learning-based incremental learning technique to model the current trend of COVID-19 transmission and to predict the future trends with 60-day forecasting. The results not only indicate high rates of morbidity and mortality but also forecast high rise in the incidence of COVID-19 in different districts of the study region. We used geographic information system (GIS) for storing, analysing, and presenting the spread of COVID-19 which provides key insights in understanding, planning, and implementing mitigating measures to tackle the current spread of the pandemic and its possible future scenarios. The existing disparity in health care facilities at district level is shown in relation to the spread of disease. The study results also highlight the need to upgrade health care infrastructure in the study region to control the current and future pandemics. These results could be useful for administration and scientific community to develop efficient short-term and long-term strategies against such diseases.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-021-17046-9.

Livestock Population Dynamics in Central India: A District-level Analysis of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

In this study, we assessed the dynamics of district-level livestock population in two central states of India, viz. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh during the period 2012-19. The analytical tools comprised of simple descriptive statistics and fitting exponential trend equations. We found temporal variations in shares of different species to total district-wise livestock population. While population of cattle declined in Madhya Pradesh, the same registered a minor increase in Chhattisgarh. The reverse situation was observed in case of buffaloes. Dynamics of changes in small ruminant population pointed towards the increasing importance of goats as compared to sheep. Although, cattle is the livestock species on which the rural population mostly depend for their livelihood in both the states, economic dependence on sheep and pig is more in Chhattisgarh than Madhya Pradesh. Some policy suggestions have been given based on the findings of the study on leveraging the opportunities offered by livestock sector.
 HIGHLIGHTS
 
 In the context of increasing population pressure and associated shrinking landholding size, diversification of agricultural activities becomes crucial.
 The role of livestock, on account of more equitable distribution in favour of resource poor farmers, is important for sustainable livelihood security of farmers.
 For formulating appropriate policies for development of livestock sector, it is necessary to carry out disaggregated analyses to assess the district-level trends and dynamics of livestock population.

Discouraged Worker Effect and Labor Market Behavior of Urban Married Women

The study investigates the importance of poor local labor market conditions in explaining the labor market behavior of married women in urban India. Using nationally representative employment data, we empirically test for the existence of a discouraged worker effect arising from either of two mechanisms: (i) unexplained gender wage gap, or (ii) degree of underemployment. A three-stage, district-level analysis of female labor market behavior was undertaken, and selectivity bias was controlled for by using censored probit in the second stage and trivariate probit with Geweke–Hajivassiliou–Keane smooth recursive simulator technique in the third stage of this multilevel framework. We find evidence that the wage gap discourages women from participating in the labor market and the prevalence of underemployment, in terms of overqualification by occupation, discourages them from exploring better job opportunities by making on-job search efforts.

Net national metabolism as a fine-scale metric of energetic biophysical size in an industrialised country

The biophysical magnitude of global human economic activity is arguably the defining feature and challenge of the Anthropocene, leading to multiple environmental consequences. Quantifying this magnitude at sufficient resolution remains a challenge. We define and present the first detailed district-level analysis of Net National Metabolism (NNM) – a social metabolism energy metric – for an industrialised country (the United Kingdom), using data on household energy alongside household expenditure survey data and energy intensity figures for product categories. The total UK NNM is estimated as 7.56 EJ year−1(3650 W per capita), 44% of which stems from energy embodied in products and services consumed by households. This is comparable with the metabolism of the UK biosphere (approximately 6.95 EJ year−1). Of the final energy embodied in consumption of goods and services, 46% is dependent on domestic policy decisions and 54% is dependent on policy decisions with/in key trading partners. We demonstrate the applicability of this metric by exploring the relationship between NNM and social deprivation in the UK.

Use of TOPSIS method based on Entropy weights for determining the disparities in the developmental pat-tern: A study of North Bengal region, West Bengal.

The concept of development is very dynamic, it varies over space and time. The reasons behind this variation or inequality in the development of any region may be natural or anthropogenic or combination of both. It is not reasonable to determine the level of development of any region with only one parameter because it depends on multiple criterion. Thus, making it a necessary consideration to understand the developmental pattern of any region. This paper aims to study the pattern of regional disparities in the districts of North Bengal (West Bengal) in terms of its development. A district level analysis is considered to achieve the aim using 27 selected parameters under three distinct categories namely economic, infrastructural and socio-demographic indicators. Entropy Method is applied to weigh the parameters and finally the districts are ranked according to the performance score obtained by applying the TOPSIS model. A significant inequalities are observed in terms of development between the districts. On the basis of selected parameters Jalpaiguri (CI score 0.703) and Darjeeling district (CI score 0.560) stands at the highest level of development among the six districts of North Bengal and the remaining four falls under the low level of development (below average CI score 0.385).

Labour-use Efficiency of Assam Gramin Vikash Bank: Branch- and District-level Analysis

The present study estimated labour-use efficiency of 48 branches of Assam Gramin Vikash Bank at its branch level, covering three districts of Barak Valley, which falls under Silchar region of the bank for the time period from 2010–2011 to 2017–2018. The study applied data envelopment analysis for estimating labour-use efficiency. In the second stage, the study applied censored Tobit regression for determining the impact of several contextual variables on efficiency. The study reveals that the mean labour-use efficiency score of the selected branches is 76% when averaged for the in-sample branches over the observation period. Results of the Tobit regression identified cluster 2 and total business of the branches as the significant factors for determining efficiency and the number of employees as a significant variable influencing inefficiency. JEL Classifications: G2, G20, G21, J3

Determinants of COVID-19 pandemic in India: an exploratory study of Indian states and districts.

The countries across the globe are facing one of the worst infectious diseases in modern times in the form of COVID-19 pandemic. Different measures have been taken to control and manage the outbreak of COVID-19 in these countries. There are two propositions in context of effective control and management of a pandemic like COVID-19. First, a strong and effective public health care system is essential for managing the public health crisis and the uneven responses to COVID-19 are mainly because of inadequate health infrastructure. Second, the spread of COVID-19 depends on the interplay of other social determinants at local level, and therefore, addressing the gaps in social determinants of COVID-19 at local level is critical to control and manage this pandemic. The present paper attempts to examine these two propositions in Indian context at states and districts level, respectively. Using the cross-sectional data and constructing composite indices of COVID-19 intensity and level of health infrastructure at state level, the results show that there is no robust relationship between level of health infrastructure and management of COVID-19 at state level as the states with better health infrastructure are also struggling to combat against COVID-19. The district-level analysis indicates a significant relationship between concentration of COVID-19 and social determinants as majority of the districts with higher concentration of COVID-19 are those which have social determinants below national average.

Geoinformational Analysis of Transport Accessibility Conditions of Rural Territories of Volgograd Region

The article deals with the assessment of transport accessibility of rural settlements. The main research methods are the geoinformation and cartographic methods. A transport accessibility factor implies the time spent on moving between villages and the center. The methodology proposed is based on two spatial levels: the district level, where the territory of mapping is the municipal districts of Volgograd region, and the object is rural settlements; the regional level covering the entire territory of the region. At the district level, the calculation and geoinformation analysis of the transport accessibility of villages in relation to district centers are made. As a result, it is identified that the territories are in different conditions of transport accessibility. 20.9% of the region’s villages are located in favorable conditions (transport accessibility less than 30 minutes); 25.2% of villages are in less favorable conditions (transport accessibility 30–45 minutes); 53.9% of villages are in unfavorable conditions (more than 45 minutes). At the regional level in relation to Volgograd, there are three zones with a different degree of favorable transport conditions: a zone of time accessibility up to 2 hours with favorable conditions for economic development; a restrictedly favorable zone with time accessibility of 2–4 hours; and a zone of unfavorable economic influence with the time transport accessibility exceeding 4 hours. It is noted that 15 out of 33 districts of Volgograd region are in unfavorable conditions of transport accessibility in relation to the regional center. This is primarily determined by the size of the region’s territory, the geographical location of Volgograd, the state of the road network, namely the presence of asphalt roads.The conclusion is drawn about the heterogeneity of the conditions for the provision of residents with services concentrated in the centers based on the uneven distribution of the conditions of transport accessibility. The authors give recommendations for the development of regional sub-centers of public service.

Spatial Analysis of Yield Trends and Impact of Temperature for Wheat Crop Across Indian Districts

Wheat is an important agricultural crop globally. India ranks second in the world, accounting for ~ 14% of global wheat production. Wheat provides food and livelihood to a large Indian population. India would require improving its wheat yield significantly to feed the growing population. Ascertaining the wheat yield trends and their sensitivity to rising temperatures is crucial to enable sustainable wheat production, ensuring a continuous food supply. India is a diverse and vast country. One size fit to all approach seems not to offer practical and workable solutions. Therefore, it is essential to perform finer resolution analysis to identify the smallest possible administrative units (districts) to implement adaptation strategies. This study presents the spatial distribution of wheat yield trends and the impact of temperature on wheat yield across Indian districts. The key differentiating aspect of the present work is the district-level analysis compared to state-of-the-art state-level analysis in the earlier literature. We developed detailed wheat yield and temperature statistics of 50 years (1966–2015) by employing various statistical models. The present study’s critical findings over the state-of-the-art research work are: (1) Wheat yield is not improving in 69 out of 175 districts across eight major wheat-producing Indian states. 175 districts included in the analysis constitute ~ 94% of the total wheat harvested area in India, and the 69 identified districts constitute ~ 48.3% of the total wheat harvested area. The stagnation in wheat yield is prominent in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Punjab. (2) Mean temperature rise has negatively impacted wheat yield in 145 districts (~ 76.5% of the total wheat harvested area), causing ~ 251 kg/ha (~ 16%) yield loss in statistically significant districts. The rigorous and robust methodology in this paper ensures the validity of findings and provides higher confidence in utilizing the findings in policymaking. The method and approach used in the study pave the way for similar investigations in the other parts of the world, where wheat is an important crop.

Measurement and determinants of total factor productivity: evidence from Indian banking industry

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to measure the level of total factor productivity of the Indian banking sector and to identify both the bank-specific and macroeconomic determinants of the total factor productivity after the global subprime mortgage crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe research sample consists of 61 commercial banks including 21 public sector banks, 18 private sector banks and 22 foreign banks. The annual data is collected from the website of Reserve Bank of India from 2008 to 2019. The authors employed the non-parametric DEA approach to estimate Malmquist total factor productivity index for each bank as well as across different ownership groups. The panel data estimation technique was used to identify the determinants of total factor productivity.FindingsThe results suggested that an increase in the technological shift raised the bank's productivity above the optimal frontier. Among the bank-specific determinants, the bank size and bank diversifications are significantly declining productivity, whereas credit-deposit ratio and return on asset significantly increasing productivity. Among the macro-specific determinants, inflation, growth rate and fiscal deficit ratio negatively affect productivity, whereas capital formation to the GVA ratio boosts the level of productivity.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors have used intermediate method to select the inputs and outputs as per the suitability to the context. However, the disaggregate level such as state and district level analysis can be done using production and value-added approaches to explore the regional variations of the banking performance. Furthermore, the parametric methods such as stochastic frontier analysis can be used to examine banking performance, which the authors left for the future research.Practical implicationsThis study suggested that banks should increase the economies of scale of their total assets and focus on the interest-earning activity. The banks need to proactively operate the business policy by following the changing path of inflation. The banks need to reduce their rate of fiscal-deficit to the GVA with the purpose to boost their level of productivity.Originality/valueThe study provides an important implication for bankers and policymakers in terms of heightening the banking performance during the period of dynamic economic events.

Modeling Past, Present, and Future Urban Growth Impacts on Primary Agricultural Land in Greater Irbid Municipality, Jordan Using SLEUTH (1972–2050)

Urban expansion and loss of primarily agricultural land are two of the challenges facing Jordan. Located in the most productive agricultural area of Jordan, Greater Irbid Municipality (GIM) uncontrolled urban growth has posed a grand challenge in both sustaining its prime croplands and developing comprehensive planning strategies. This study investigated the loss of agricultural land for urban growth in GIM from 1972–2050 and denoted the negative consequences of the amalgamation process of 2001 on farmland loss. The aim is to unfold and track historical land use/cover changes and forecast these changes to the future using a modified SLEUTH-3r urban growth model. The accuracy of prediction results was assessed in three different sites between 2015 and 2020. In 43 years the built-up area increased from 29.2 km2 in 1972 to 71 km2 in 2015. By 2050, the built-up urban area would increase to 107 km2. The overall rate of increase, however, showed a decline across the study period, with the periods of 1990–2000 and 2000–2015 having the highest rate of built-up areas expansion at 68.6 and 41.4%, respectively. While the agricultural area increased from 178 km2 in 1972 to 207 km2 in 2000, it decreased to 195 km2 in 2015 and would continue to decrease to 188 km2 by 2050. The district-level analysis shows that from 2000–2015, the majority of districts exhibited an urban increase at twice the rate of 1990–2000. The results of the net change analysis of agriculture show that between 1990 and 2000, 9 districts exhibited a positive gain in agricultural land while the rest of the districts showed a negative loss of agricultural land. From 2000 to 2015, the four districts of Naser, Nozha, Rawdah, and Hashmyah completely lost their agricultural areas for urbanization. By 2050, Idoon and Boshra districts will likely lose more than half of their high-quality agricultural land. This study seeks to utilize a spatially explicit urban growth model to support sustainable planning policies for urban land use through forecasting. The implications from this study confirm the worldwide urbanization impacts on losing the most productive agricultural land in the outskirts and consequences on food production and food security. The study calls for urgent actions to adopt a compact growth policy with no new land added for development as what is available now exceeds what is needed by 2050 to accommodate urban growth in GIM.

Influence of educational and cultural facilities on apartment prices by size in Seoul: do residents’ preferred facilities influence the housing market?

This study uses spatial regression to assess the value of educational and cultural facilities as reflected in apartment prices in Seoul, at district and subdistrict levels. In the district-level analysis, regardless of the spatial unit and apartment size, private academies, museums, or art museums positively influence price, while historical sites and park areas negatively influence it. At the subdistrict level, effects differ by apartment size. The study finds that merely providing housing is insufficient for the success of housing policies. Instead, fulfilling residents’ needs and preferences regarding public facilities, especially according to their life stage and thereby contributing to housing policies, will help develop desirable living environments for all.

Constraints to the Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan: A District-Level Survey Analysis

Constraints to the Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan: A District-Level Survey Analysis

Trade-Offs between Agricultural Production, GHG Emissions and Income in a Changing Climate, Technology, and Food Demand Scenario

Climate-smart agriculture targets integrated adaptation and mitigation strategies for delivering food security and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. This study outlines a methodology to identify the trade-offs between food production, emissions, and income under technology and food demand-shift scenario and climate change. The methodology uses Climate Smart Agricultural Prioritization (CSAP) toolkit a multi-objective land-use allocation model, and detailed databases, characterizing the agricultural production processes at the land-unit scale. A case study has also been demonstrated for Bihar, a state in India. The quantification of trade-offs demonstrates that under different technology growth pathways alone the food self-sufficiency for Bihar cannot be achieved whilst the reduction in emission intensity targets are achievable up to 2040. However, both food self-sufficiency and reduction in emission intensity can be achieved if we relax constraints on dietary demand and focus on kilo-calories maximization targets. The district-level analysis shows that food self-sufficiency and reduction in emission intensity targets can be achieved at a local scale through efficient crop-technology portfolios.

Subnational Investment Promotion Agencies and Foreign Direct Investment in South Korea: A District-Level Analysis

A growing number of governments around the world at both national and subnational levels have shored up their efforts at attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) by setting up an investment promotion agency (IPA). A newly emerging literature has sought to ascertain if and how such agencies have fulfilled their missions. In this article, we seek to move it forward by making two contributions. First, taking advantage of the Foreign-Business Friendliness Index (FBFI) data that cover all district-level local governments in South Korea, we are able to conduct a comprehensive study of local IPAs within a single country. Second, the detailed information in the data also enables us to examine precisely which organizational structures and activities of the IPAs are most responsible for the enhanced FDI performance. Key findings suggest that the way IPA s internal organizational structure is set up matters. Specifically, we show that IPAs that have an IP committee in conjunction with a designated IP department significantly outperform those that do not have both at the same time.

Impact of drought on economy: a district level analysis of Madhya Pradesh, India

This study examines the consequences of droughts on the aggregate economic growth and the growth of agriculture, industry and service sectors respectively. The benefits of financial relief post-drought and the efficacy of irrigation infrastructure is also statistically tested considering a sample of 45 districts in one of the largest states in India, Madhya Pradesh. A two-step GMM procedure is applied to balanced panel data for the period 2005 to 2012. Districts in the state face recurrent droughts, limited irrigation, and rainfall variability increases vulnerability to drought risks. Results show that drought adversely impacts on the growth rate of the agricultural sector and the aggregate economy. Post-drought financial relief has a positive and significant impact on the growth rate of the industrial sector and economic growth at the district level. The study contributes to the growing literature on disaster impact on growth by focusing on district-level assessment.

The Association Between Ambient PM2.5 Exposure and Anemia Outcomes Among Children Under Five Years of Age in India.

The ecological analysis assessed average hemoglobin levels and anemia prevalence (hemoglobin < 11 g/dL considered anemic) by district using multiple linear regression models. The individual-level analysis assessed average individual hemoglobin level and anemia status (yes/no) using generalized linear mixed models to account for clustering by district. Ambient PM2.5 exposure data were derived from the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) level 2 aerosol optical depth (AOD) data and averaged from birth date to date of interview. The district-level ecological analysis found that, for every 10 μg m-3 increase in ambient PM2.5 exposure, average anemia prevalence increased by 1.90% (95% CI = 1.43, 2.36) and average hemoglobin decreased by 0.07 g/dL (95% CI = 0.09, 0.05). At the individual level, for every 10 μg m-3 increase in ambient PM2.5 exposure, average hemoglobin decreased by 0.14 g/dL (95% CI = 0.12, 0.16). The odds ratio associated with a 10-μg m-3 increase in ambient PM2.5 exposure was 1.09 (95% CI = 1.06, 1.11). There was evidence of effect modification by wealth index, maternal anemia status, and child BMI. Our results suggest that ambient PM2.5 exposure could be linked to anemia in Indian children, although additional research on the underlying biologic mechanisms is needed. Future studies on this association should specifically consider interactions with dietary iron deficiency, maternal anemia status, and child BMI.Keywords: Anemia; Children; Ambient PM2.5 exposure; India; Association.

Measuring disaggregate level food insecurity via multivariate small area modelling: evidence from rural districts of Uttar Pradesh, India

In recent times, India has achieved significant advancement on several health indicators while the state of food security in the country still needs sustained efforts to accelerate attainment. Existing data based on socio-economic surveys conducted by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) produce precise measures of food security status at state and national level. However, these NSSO surveys cannot be used directly to produce reliable district or further smaller domain level estimates because of small sample sizes which lead to high level of sampling variability. As food security is often unevenly distributed among the subsets of relatively small areas, the availability of disaggregate (e.g. district) level statistics for target oriented effective policy planning and monitoring is the need of the hour for decentralized administrative planning system in India. But, due to lack of district level estimates, the mapping and analysis related to food and nutrition security measures are restricted to state and national level. As a result, disaggregate level dissimilarity and variability existing in food and nutrition security are often masked. This article delineates multivariate small area estimation (SAE) technique to obtain reliable and representative model-based estimates of food insecurity indicators at district level for the rural areas of state of Uttar Pradesh in India by combining latest round of available Household Consumer Expenditure Survey 2011–12 data of NSSO and the Indian Population Census 2011. The empirical evidence indicate that the estimates generated by SAE approach are reliable and representative. Spatial maps showing district level inequality in distribution of food insecurity in Uttar Pradesh is also produced. The disaggregate level estimates and spatial maps of food insecurity are directly relevant to sustainable development goal indicator 2.1.2 - severity of food insecurity. The estimates and maps of food insecurity indictors are anticipated to offer irreplaceable information to administrative decision-makers and policy experts for identifying the regions requiring more attention. Government of India has recently launched number of schemes for the benefit of rural population in the country and these estimates will be useful for fund allocation as well as in the monitoring of these schemes.

Geographical Constituents of Human Well-being in Papua New Guinea: A District-level Analysis

We derive two measures of human well-being from the 2000 national census and seek to establish the relative strength of their association with 12 geographical variables in a comparative study of the 85 partially rural districts of Papua New Guinea. We find that the accessibility of health and education services for rural villagers, along with the proximity of the rural village population to a coastline, are the two geographical variables that have the strongest association with lower child mortality rates and higher school attendance rates. These findings are placed within the context of a broader discussion of ways to improve the measurement of such relationships at a district level in light of the acknowledged failure of the 2011 national census and the possible failure of the national census due to be conducted in 2021. Our findings are also located within the context of a longstanding international debate about the geographical constituents or determinants of human development at a national scale. The distinctive quality of our own contribution to this debate resides in our focus on the measurement of variation between districts within a single country. This is the first discussion paper in a two paper series involving district-level analysis of human well-being in Papua New Guinea. See also: Filer, C, Fraenkel, J & Wood, T (2021), Institutional Constituents of Human Well-being in Papua New Guinea: A Second District-level Analysis. Development Policy Centre Discussion Paper No. 95, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, Canberra, available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3851755. A codebook and spreadsheet containing measures for all the variables assessed in both discussion papers is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14456229.