Economic Domains Research Articles

Assessing Individuals’ Perceptions of the Impact of Corruption on the Domains of Sustainable Development: A Cross-sectional Study in Palestine

Abstract The main objective of this study is to assess the impact of corruption on the social, economic, environmental and political domains of sustainable development from individuals’ perspective. The study also attempts to relate individuals’ perceptions to their socioeconomic characteristics. The study uses the convenience sampling approach, where 521 responses are collected through an online-administered questionnaire. Each domain of sustainable development is defined by a set of items measured on a five-point Likert scale. Individuals’ perceptions of the impact of corruption on sustainable development domains are assessed by measuring the mean score value of each item. The association between individuals’ perceptions and their socioeconomic characteristics is evaluated using the independent-samples t-test. The study finds that the impact of corruption on the four domains of sustainable development as perceived by individuals is within the high level. Results also show a statistically significant difference between individuals from different socioeconomic groups in their perceptions of the impact of corruption on sustainable development. Results revealed that a high level of corruption would hinder the progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at all levels. Therefore, improving the quality of governance in public institutions and controlling corruption is crucial to attaining economic and sustainable development.

Systematic Post Crisis Tourism Supply Chain Transformation Towards Resilience in the Context of Tour Operators

The significance of this manuscript lies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, officially declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 30th of March, 2020, and its persistent influence on a global scale even after a span of three years. This unprecedented event has instigated impediments across diverse economic domains, with tourism and its intricate supply chains emerging as the most severely affected. The executed investigation delves into intra-organizational transformations within the framework of tourism supply chain management, particularly through the lens of tour operators, amidst the temporal landscape of both the pandemic era and its aftermath. Notably, numerous extensive service providers in the tourism sector have implemented strategies pertaining to tourism supply chain management transformations. Consequently, this article focuses on the efficacious transformations of tour operators, addressing pivotal constituents. The research findings delineate the repercussions induced by the pandemic on tour operators in Lithuania and consequently propose a resilience framework, contributing to the broader understanding of post-pandemic tourism supply chain transformation towards adaptability and resilience strategies.

A Critical Review of Social Exclusion and Inclusion among Immigrant and Refugee Women

International and global migration has risen over the last 50 years, and this trend is not expected to change. Immigrants and refugees make sociocultural and economic contributions to settlement states; however, this does not always mean that they feel included or welcomed. Social exclusion as a determinant of health reflects the social inequalities of some groups in a population over others. Immigrants and refugees are excluded from participating in social, economic, civic, and political domains within Western settlement countries; women experience greater social exclusion because of intersecting social identities and the interplay between sociostructural systems that create inequalities within host societies. To explore this phenomenon more fully, we conducted a critical review of how social exclusion and inclusion are experienced by women settling in Western contexts and the factors that impact daily life and health. Intersectionality was the lens with which we situated, examined, and analyzed the findings of the critical review to inform the development of a conceptual model. A five-stage process was used to comprehensively review the literature using six databases. Sixty papers were included in the review. The conceptual model highlighted two overarching themes that were further distinguished by micro-, meso-, and macro-level factors of exclusion and inclusion. The first theme considers the causes and outcomes of social exclusion represented as social determinants in the context of settlement and includes social environment, social supports, language ability, discrimination and racism, settlement and identity, income and employment, education and professional credentials, institutions, and government services. The second theme of social inclusionary processes consisted of social capital, social and civic participation, empowerment, and policies and settlement programs. The conceptual model advances knowledge of potential improvements required in formal settlement programs and the importance of informal programs that collectively may enhance inclusion for immigrant/refugee women and their families in Western contexts.

Sustainable Agriculture’s Contribution to Quality of Life

The multidimensional character of sustainable agriculture mandates a systematic examination of this concept, necessitating methodological rigor for comprehensive analysis. In line with this imperative, the formulation of the composite index for sustainable agriculture was achieved through a compound, multi–stage procedural framework. This process involved the systematic grouping of 44 indicators into a specialized set, thereby delineating distinct facets within the dimensions of environmental (comprising 20 indicators), economic (comprising 16 indicators), and social (comprising 8 indicators) domains. This study aims to establish the correlation between the advancement of sustainable agriculture and quality of life, which encapsulates the circumstances of an individual’s existence. The significance of probing this correlation lies in the fact that sustainable agriculture, rooted in the efficient utilization of natural, social, and economic resources, inherently influences the quality of life—a paramount objective in the realm of social development. The quality of life in this study is represented by the Quality–of–Life Index (QoL) computed by CEO World. To achieve the aforementioned objective, a combination of complex methodologies was employed, encompassing quantitative analyses (statistical, bibliometric) and qualitative analyses (analysis and synthesis). The outcomes reveal that a systemic approach is most suitable for researching sustainable agriculture. The assessment of sustainable agriculture through the composite index underscores the relevance of all three dimensions in its formulation. Results from the correlation analysis suggest a robust connection between sustainable agriculture and quality of life. Simultaneously, a prominent level of interdependence between GDPs per capita and sustainable agriculture is observed.

Estimating heterogeneous effects of China’s low-carbon pilot city policy on urban employment

This paper explores the heterogeneous treatment effects of China’s low-carbon pilot (LCP) city policy on urban employment. We apply time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) method justifying the mechanisms. The research demonstrates that the strategy has a significant positive impact on employment in the pilot cities and improves employment by raising the level of output and creativity. Additionally, the employment levels in the three industries increase as a result of the LCP. Our findings enrich existing research at the economic and environmental domains, particularly the influence on employment. The authorities in China and other nations could summarize and promote the experience of LCP and improve the assessment mechanism.

Trust-based health decision-making recruits the neural interoceptive saliency network which relates to temporal trajectories of Hemoglobin A1C in Diabetes Type 1.

Experimental approaches in neuroeconomics generally involve monetary utility. Utility inthe health domain is relevant in diabetes because constant daily life decisions are critical for self-consequential long-term outcomes. We used fMRI to investigate self-consequent decision-making in the health and economic domains in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and controls (N = 50). We focused on two critical phases of decision-making: Investment and Feedback (Positive or Negative). Patients showed larger BOLD activation of limbic, and reward/dopaminergic regions in particular in the health trust game. Importantly, the worse the trajectory of metabolic control (increasing HbA1C), the higher the BOLD activity in regions of the interoceptive saliency network. This was manifested by positive correlations between brain activity during investment in anterior cingulate cortex and insula and HbA1c blood level progression. We conclude that the neural correlates of health-consequent decision-making domain involve limbic and reward related dopaminergic regions in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus. Furthermore, the temporal trajectory of HbA1C blood levels is correlated with neural risk processing in the saliency network. Evidence for differential risk processing in the health versus the neuroeconomic context, and the discovery of a role for the saliency interoceptive network in metabolic control trajectories suggests a new perspective on the development of personalized interventions.

Learning skillful medium-range global weather forecasting.

Global medium-range weather forecasting is critical to decision-making across many social and economic domains. Traditional numerical weather prediction uses increased compute resources to improve forecast accuracy but does not directly use historical weather data to improve the underlying model. Here, we introduce GraphCast, a machine learning-based method trained directly from reanalysis data. It predicts hundreds of weather variables for the next 10 days at 0.25° resolution globally in under 1 minute. GraphCast significantly outperforms the most accurate operational deterministic systems on 90% of 1380 verification targets, and its forecasts support better severe event prediction, including tropical cyclone tracking, atmospheric rivers, and extreme temperatures. GraphCast is a key advance in accurate and efficient weather forecasting and helps realize the promise of machine learning for modeling complex dynamical systems.

Neighborhood Health and Outcomes in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Rationale: Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood has been associated with worse survival in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), however, prior studies have only examined the impact of neighborhood health on outcomes in IPF as a composite measure. Objectives: To investigate the association between neighborhood health and disease severity, measured by pulmonary function at presentation, and death in follow-up, with an additional focus on the contributions of the neighborhood's underlying physical and social factors to these outcomes. Methods: In a retrospective study of participants from the University of California, San Francisco, IPF Cohort (2001-2020), geocoded home addresses were matched to the California Healthy Places Index (HPI), a census-tract measure of neighborhood health. The HPI comprises 25 indicators of neighborhood health that are organized into eight physical and social domains, each of which is weighted and summed to provide a composite HPI score. Regression models were used to examine associations between the HPI as a continuous variable, in quartiles, and across each physical and social domain of the HPI (higher values indicate greater advantage) and forced vital capacity (FVC) percent predicted (% predicted), diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DlCO) % predicted, and death, adjusting for demographic and clinical covariates. We also studied the interaction between disease severity at presentation and neighborhood health in our time-to-event models. Results: In 783 participants with IPF, each 10% increase in HPI was associated with a 1% increase in FVC % predicted and DlCO % predicted (95% confidence intervals [CIs] = 0.55, 1.72; and 0.49, 1.49, respectively). This association appeared primarily driven by the economic, education, access, and social HPI domains. We also observed differences in the associations of HPI with mortality depending on disease severity at presentation. In participants with normal to mildly impaired FVC % predicted (⩾70%) and DlCO % predicted (⩾60%), decreased HPI was associated with higher mortality (hazard ratio = 2.91 Quartile 1 vs. Quartile 4; 95% CI = 1.20, 7.05). No association was observed between the HPI and death for participants with moderate to severely impaired FVC % predicted and DlCO % predicted. Conclusions: Living in disadvantaged neighborhoods was associated with worse pulmonary function in participants with IPF and was independently associated with increased mortality in participants with normal to mild physiological impairment at presentation.

The Impact of Interest Rate Marketization on Chinas Life Insurance Products

The interest rate is a crucial macroeconomic variable, and the marketization of interest rates is one of the fundamental reforms in the economic and financial domains. China continues to promote market-oriented interest rate reform in accordance with the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council's strategic deployment, which not only conforms to China's national conditions but also essentially fulfills international norms. While deregulating interest rates in an orderly manner, it places a premium on building and enhancing a market-based interest rate system in which rates are determined by market supply and demand. The People's Bank of China employs monetary policy instruments to influence market interest rates and maximizes the regulatory function of interest rates for macroeconomic activities. This article seeks to assess the issues China's life insurance industry faces from three perspectives: power, product structure, and depth and density. The study then analyzes the impact of marketization of interest rates on China's life insurance business and suggests countermeasures for China's life insurance companies.

Efficacy-effectiveness gaps in oncology: Looking beyond survival.

The efficacy-effectiveness (EE) gap describes the differences in survival seen in clinical trials and routine clinical practice, where patients in real-world practice often have inferior outcomes compared to trial populations. However, EE gaps may exist beyond survival outcomes, including gaps in quality of life, toxicity, cost-effectiveness, and patient time, and these EE gaps should also influence patient and clinician treatment decisions. Failure to clearly acknowledge these EE gaps may cause patients, clinicians, and health care systems to have unrealistic expectations of the benefits of therapy across a range of important clinical and economic domains. In this commentary, the authors review the evidence supporting the existence of EE gaps in quality of life, time toxicity, cost and toxicities, and urge for further research into this important topic.

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From 2019 to 2023, the global population experienced a period characterized by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which was attributed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Cognitive impairment, particularly memory loss, is frequently reported by individuals who have recovered from Covid-19, alongside other neurological symptoms. This phenomenon not only carries implications for individual health, but also extends to social and economic domains. This phenomenon garners the interest of scholars. Numerous empirical investigations have established a correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health disorders. The infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been associated with the manifestation of psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, individuals with pre-existing mental illness are more susceptible to experiencing more severe outcomes of COVID-19, increased mortality rates, and enduring residual symptoms over an extended period of time. Dementia itself encompasses a multitude of risk factors, including but not limited to advanced age, vascular and metabolic disorders, obesity, hypodynamic lifestyle, various infections, depression, smoking and social isolation. These factors should be considered collectively when evaluating cognitive impairment following COVID-19 infection. Nevertheless, it is obvious that COVID-19 survivors frequently experience health concerns related to memory, attention, perception, and other cognitive domains, necessitating thorough assessment and, in certain cases, intervention. Given the frequency of “memory decline” in the post-Covid period, especially in young and middle age, it is evident that cognitive dysfunction caused by COVID-19 impairment can have detrimental effects on both quality of life and the ability to perform daily tasks efficiently. In summary, the existing literature review indicates a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the impact of COVID-19 on cognitive impairment. Consequently, there is a pressing need for further research endeavors that are more focused and specific in nature.

Systematic Literature Review of Publications on Digital Twin Topics in Certain Research Areas

One of the key strategies adopted by companies that wish to compete in a sustainable fashion is the idea of the digital twin, which combines the physical product with virtual technology. The development of production models, cost reduction, and keeping up with shifting client wants and needs all depend on the digital twin. In this way, organizations can exhibit a development trend by utilizing the advancements in information and communication technologies, by utilizing techniques like the internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence, and the digital twin, coupled with other technologies. The systematic organization of prior studies on this topic is considered beneficial in terms of both illuminating the present trend and directing future study because the digital twin has grown in importance as a result of the development and dissemination of technology in every field. In this paper, a thorough literature assessment of digital twin research is intended. Vosviwer analysis was used to examine 60 studies from the Web of Science database that were published for this reason. Data on author partnerships, keyword density, support status, institution, country, language, citation, year, publication type, and field of study were investigated using Vosviwer analysis using the Web of Science database. The concept of the digital twin gained popularity as of 2019 when the years in which the studies in the Web of Science database were published were looked at. It was known that the majority of the associated studies were published in the USA, as articles, and in English. The analysis revealed that the most often used keywords in the 60 studies on digital twin were data, digital twin, and industry. According to the survey, research is primarily conducted in fields like smart production, supply chains, and business economy. The systematic literature review has led to an understanding that, in contrast to the domains of smart production, supply chain, and business economics, other topics are less investigated in transportation, public administration, economics, and social sciences. Publishing in less researched regions will close the gap in the literature in this direction.

부양기대와 정책신뢰가 중고령자의 노후불안에 미치는 영향

This study was conducted to identify the effects of Support Expectation and Policy Trust on Anxiety about aging in middle-aged adults and to verify the mediating effect of Preparation for old age. In the process, the importance of the economic domain was emphasized as one aspect of Anxiety about aging, and the measurement tool was modified and supplemented to include questions about it. For this study, an online survey was conducted targeting the middle-aged between the ages of 45 and 64 all over the country, and the data of 558 people who completed the survey were analyzed. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that Support Expectation had a positive effect on Anxiety about aging, and Policy Trust had a negative effect on it. Preparation for old age has a negative effect on Anxiety about aging, and Support Expectation and Policy Trust both have an indirect effect on Anxiety about aging through Preparation for old age. In order to reduce anxiety about aging, it is necessary to establish a policy that can secure reliability and effectiveness by collecting diverse opinions from policy targets and fully understanding practical needs. In addition, various programs and services should be prepared to provide knowledge and information that will help the middle-aged prepare for old age.

The landslide's conceptualizing economic decline and its framing effect: Mandarin evidence.

Conceptual metaphors are essential for explaining and understanding social concerns. Natural disaster metaphors are commonly employed to access the abstract and negative impacts of social issues. Five of the top 10 most prevalent natural disaster frames in the Center for Chinese Linguistics (CCL)-earthquake, flood, fire hazard, drought, typhoon, landslide, volcano, sandstorm, tsunami, and debris flow-share a common economic target domain and show economic recession. Additionally, corpus-based research has revealed that the landslide frame is the most salient in figuratively representing economic declines. An experimental study derived from the corpus analysis has found that the landslide-framed economic crises posed more severity to participants and exerted a notable influence on their opinions and judgments. Therefore, when effective communication of economic hazards is to be realized, metaphorical representation of economic crises demands great consideration.

Sustainable Farmer Development for Agri-Food Supply Chains in Developing Countries

Improving the supplier’s capabilities and relationships with the buyer to improve triple-bottom-line outcomes for multiple actors in the supply chain (including the suppliers and buyers) is the very purpose of sustainable supplier development. We apply the concept of sustainable supplier development in an agri-food context in a developing economy. The study aims to create a theoretical framework that explains how initiatives by buyers (often processors in the agri-food industry) to develop farmers can result in sustainable farmer performance. Collectively, the propositions derived by us via a literature synthesis propose that farmer development leads to farmer capability development and improved relationships (with the buyer), enabling the farmer to achieve sustainable performance (i.e., performance in economic, social, and environmental domains). The importance of the study from a theory building perspective is that the study attempts to reconcile the supply chain management literature on supplier development in tangible goods manufacturing with the agribusiness literature in developing economies whether or not the farmer occupies the bottom of the income pyramid. The study is also important to academia and policymakers because it acts as a forerunner for the further development of the theoretical model and its testing with a large sample of data to interpret what the results imply from practical and theoretical standpoints.

“The people here knew how I used to live, but now I have to start again:” Lived experiences and expectations of the displaced and non-displaced women affected by the Thwake Multipurpose Dam construction in Makueni County, Kenya

BackgroundDam construction and associated disruptive activities such as population displacement can have significant societal consequences, especially for those socially and economically disadvantaged. Though community-level health and social consequences of displacements have been documented, there is little understanding of the individual-level consequences and intra-household gendered dynamics. Objective/methodsWe sought to explore the experiences and expectations of displaced (n = 30) and non-displaced (n = 20) women in Makueni County, Kenya, where Kenya's second largest dam, Thwake Multipurpose Dam, is being constructed. We used qualitative techniques, including photo-elicitation interviews, go-along interviews, key informant interviews, and participant observation, to understand the lived experiences of women affected by the dam construction processes and their associated disruptions. ResultsWe found that both displaced and non-displaced women experienced the impacts of dam construction in four areas, i.e., economic (income loss), health (hearing damage), social (disrupted social networks), and environmental (flooding) domains. Though both groups described adverse effects, the displaced women perceived worse economic and social outcomes than non-displaced ones. Further, older and married women in both groups had the worst lived experiences and negative perceptions about the consequences for social well-being, e.g., loss of cultural identity, land ownership, and access to important religious sites. Changes in livelihood also transformed gender roles as women assumed economic responsibilities to cushion their families from hunger. ConclusionDevelopment projects such as dams negatively impact the host community—displaced and the non-displaced experience adverse health, social, and environmental effects. However, poor women who are smallholder farmers bear the greatest burden. Assessment of individual-level experiences and intrahousehold dynamics might enhance our understanding of the biosocial outcomes of these consequences. Therefore, integrative biosocial approaches should be considered when examining the impacts of dam construction.

Health and Well-Being in Higher Education: Student Perception of an Australian University

The health and well-being of university students is a priority agenda, given the need to advance health in the university system and the United Nations Sustainability Development Goal regarding quality and inclusive education. However, current literature lacks adequate insights regarding health and well-being considerations. This study investigated students’ perceptions concerning how university students experience health and well-being. The study is underpinned using the biopsychosocial model of health and was conducted via a cross-sectional student survey with quantitative and open-ended questions at an Australian university in 2021. A hierarchical regression model with 625 respondents indicated health and well-being are significantly influenced by mental (t-value = 15.7, p < 0.001), physical (t-value = 9.48, p < 0.001), university learning (t-value = 5.16, p < 0.001), and economic (t-value = 4.78, p < 0.001) domains regardless of the demographic and study characteristics of students. Students’ perception of their health and well-being varied according to student age, the college of study, and whether they were an international student. Both the quantitative and qualitative findings supported that the mental, physical, university learning, and economic domains of students’ health and well-being are interdependent. There is a case for a proactive, continuous, inclusive, and holistic health and well-being approach to support student success in higher education.

A Model Proposal for Measuring Performance in Occupational Health and Safety in Forest Fires

This study endeavors to prioritize occupational health and safety (OHS) accomplishments across ten forest management directorates in a specified province of Turkey, utilizing multi-criteria decision-making techniques (MCDMT). In a rigorous evaluation across four applied methodologies, the alternative P5 (amount of risk before measures) consistently exhibited superior performance. A notable emphasis of this research lies in the employment of a sophisticated OHS performance model, developed herein, to critically assess the OHS performance within these forest management directorates. In our evaluations, static variables such as land use and land cover, slope, vegetation type, soil characteristics, and distance from highways and human settlements were considered. Similarly, dynamic variables including temperature, wind speed and direction, and humidity were also factored in. Our findings corroborate the substantial ramifications, both tangible and intangible, of workplace accidents, hence underscoring the imperativeness of extensive, inter-industrial research initiatives geared towards effective accident prevention. This research is particularly focused on fortifying accident prevention measures in the arena of occupational health and safety during forest fires—an area with substantial economic and social implications, and of escalating importance in light of the expanding prominence of clean energy sources. Specifics pertaining to the forest fire rate within the studied directorates, as well as the criteria bearing the most and least impact as determined by this study, will be explicated in the full text, accompanied by their corresponding percentage values. Through the employment of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (F-AHP), and the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) method, this study demonstrates the efficacy of MCDMTs in assessing and categorizing OHS performance, hence contributing valuable insights to managers, OHS experts, and future research undertakings. In conclusion, this research concentrates on the formulation of employee-centric occupational health and safety systems, with a specific emphasis on forest fires. The proposed OHS performance index model represents a tool of exceptional potential in the evaluation of performance measurement, while addressing uncertainties across diverse sectors. This underscores the urgency of addressing health and sustainability issues within economic, social, and ecological domains through the rigorous examination and implementation of effective OHS practices.

Strategies to promote sustainable community tourism development in Casas Viejas Commune, Manabí, Ecuador

This study investigates strategies to promote sustainable development of community-based tourism in Comuna Casas Viejas. Community-based tourism aims to enhance local quality of life through participation and equitable income distribution. However, the community has faced economic challenges due to deteriorating tourism infrastructure. This article proposes strategies to address these issues. The influence of key stakeholders such as local institutions, governments, and organizations was analyzed. Additionally, benefits in economic, environmental, and socio-cultural domains were examined. Citizen participation was deemed essential for decision-making and community integration. To revitalize tourism, infrastructure restoration and sustainable waste management and conservation practices are suggested. Collaboration with governmental and non-governmental organizations is paramount to ensure long-term success. It is concluded that the effective implementation of these strategies can contribute to economic recovery, environmental conservation, and the strengthening of local cultural identity. Collaboration among the community, institutions, and external actors is crucial to achieving sustainable community-based tourism in Comuna Casas Viejas. This study offers a holistic approach to addressing community-based tourism challenges and can serve as a guide for other communities interested in developing sustainable and beneficial tourism practices for all stakeholders involved.

Data integration dashboard for assessing and planning sustainable intensification agricultural interventions: a case study in Senegal

IntroductionThe lack of a holistic view of agriculture’s social and economic aspects emerges as a limiting factor in policy implementations of sustainable intensification. The aim of this study was to (i) synthesize data from the five domains of sustainable agriculture intensification framework focusing on Senegal as a case study, (ii) harmonize and scale data used to minimize spatial–temporal differences, and (iii) build a digital tool aiming researchers and policymakers to facilitate the data visualization and connection.MethodsWe propose and prototype an interactive digital decision-support tool as a potential solution to integrate environmental, social, economic, human and production domains in agriculture projects. To demonstrate the use of the tool, a case study using data from Senegal was developed to show the benefits of open science and connectivity among domains.Results and discussionThe digital tool presented here allows users to explore an open repository from Senegal serving as a foundational approach to integrate diverse agricultural domains when developing sustainable intensification projects.