Economic Methodology Research Articles

The social value of investing in public health across the life course: a systematic scoping review

BackgroundMaking the case for investing in public health by illustrating the social, economic and environmental value of public health interventions is imperative. Economic methodologies to help capture the social value of public health interventions such as Social Return on Investment (SROI) and Social Cost-Benefit Analysis (SCBA) have been developed over past decades. The life course approach in public health reinforces the importance of investment to ensure a good start in life to safeguarding a safe, healthy and active older age. This novel review maps an overview of the application of SROI and SCBA in the existing literature to identify the social value of public health interventions at individual stages of the life course.MethodsA systematic scoping review was conducted on peer-reviewed and grey literature to identify SROI and SCBA studies of public health interventions published between January 1996 and June 2019. All primary research articles published in the English language from high-income countries that presented SROI and SCBA outputs were included. Studies were mapped into stages of the life course, and data on the characteristics of the studies were extracted to help understand the application of social value methodology to assess the value of public health interventions.ResultsOverall 40 SROI studies were included in the final data extraction, of which 37 were published in the grey literature. No SCBA studies were identified in the search. Evidence was detected at each stage of the life course which included; the birth, neonatal period, postnatal period and infancy (n = 2); childhood and adolescence (n = 17); adulthood (main employment and reproductive years) (n = 8); and older adulthood (n = 6). In addition, 7 studies were identified as cross-cutting across the life course in their aims.ConclusionThis review contributes to the growing evidence base that demonstrates the use of social value methodologies within the field of public health. By mapping evidence across stages of the life course, this study can be used as a starting point by public health professionals and institutions to take forward current thinking about moving away from traditional economic measures, to capturing social value when investing in interventions across the life course.

License Plate Detection using OCR with KNN

This paper presents associate in nursing economical methodology for the detection of vehicle plate by accurately localizing number plates from pictures. A straight forward downscaling of image methodology is projected initial to boost the speed of vehicle plate localization while not reducing the detection performance compared thereupon victimization the first image. Moreover, a completely unique Line Density Filter (LDF) methodology is projected to identify desired regions and eventually reducing the realm to be analysed for vehicle plate detection. Also, a vehicle plate classifier supported SVMs victimization color prominence options employed to spot the vehicle plate from the image. For performance check, a dataset having thirty pictures taken from completely different scenes under different conditions is additionally used. The data set demonstrates that the projected methodology performs well in terms of accuracy and run-time potency.

Globalization as ideology: China’s effects on organizational advocacy and relations among US trade policy stakeholder groups

While literature on US voter trade policy preferences has an established diversity of theories and methods, academic and popular approaches to US organizational trade policy advocacy are underdeveloped. The dominant methodologies in economics conceptualize stakeholder group policy preferences as a continuum from free trade to protectionism. In contrast, this study builds on literature that assumes that organizations have both economic and ideological motivations. I examine China’s effects on US stakeholder group advocacy and intergroup relations (e.g. multinational business associations, domestic manufacturing groups, and labor unions). I use interviews with organizational leaders and content analysis of documents from US stakeholders in manufacturing and services sectors. I argue that US-China issues reshaped organizational advocacy by expanding and evolving ideological interests. As groups increasingly advocate on the basis of their ideological interests, their discrete economic interests are a shrinking share of the content of trade politics, including traditional protectionism. Rather than simply advocating their microeconomic interests, US stakeholder groups organize around their competing ideologies for the future of US-China integration—free trade, strategic trade, and fair trade. China issues led new organizational agreements and disagreements along those ideological lines, which preceded policy outcomes reflective of the convergences and divergences of their goals.

On Coase and COVID-19

From the epidemiological perspective, the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis. From the economic perspective, it is an externality and a social cost. Strikingly, almost all economic policy to address the infection externality has been formulated within a Pigovian analysis of implicit taxes and subsidies directed by a social planner drawing on social cost-benefit analysis. In this paper, we draw on Coase (1960) to examine an alternative economic methodology of the externality, seeking to understand how an exchange-focused analysis might give us a better understanding of how to minimise social cost. Our Coasean framework allows us to then further develop a comparative institutional analysis as well as a public choice theory analysis of the pandemic response.

CRITIQUE ON IDENTITY ECONOMICS

Identity economics has acquired its literature in the last twenty years. However, the theoretical and methodological consistency of the concept is still quite weak, or the claims are no longer as sharp as it was at the beginning. Therefore, most of the followers of Akerlof and Kranton (2000) have considered identity as a variable rather than a vital part of the mechanism in explaining the behaviors. Except for John B. Davis, there is no attempt to clarify the arguments in the literature. Davis developed critiques to achieve the theoretical simplicity of identity economics. Although identity is a very complex concept, Davis insists on explaining it in an economic mechanism. Even if experimental research seems to be the applicable methodology for identity economics, in Kranton’s research, the results of experiments present us systematic heterogeneity in social preferences for differentiated social identities which means there is no smooth behavioral path in her research yet to support the same claims in theory. In this article, we propose ethnographic and sociological field researches that can support the methodology that provide the purpose and result consistency. Although modeling identity might be evaluated as full of incoherence due to the problematics of identity economics, it brings us a broader parameter to understand differentiated social characteristics and preferences. This article seeks to simplify the modeling of identity and clarify progressive steps in the literature considering critical recommendations.

Economic Methodology in the Twenty-First Century (So Far): Some Post-Reflection Reflections

This paper provides my personal reflections on the development of economic methodology during the 21st century as well as a discussion of the methodological literature immediately preceding it. It is based on my experience – both as an editor and researcher within the field – and to some extent it reflects my own interests and concerns. It provides an interpretative history of the field and the various forces at work within it – doing so with a fairly broad brush, but at times focusing in and being much more specific.

Situation Analysis of Policies for Electric Mobility Development: Experience from Five European Regions

The decarbonization of the mobility and energy sector is one of the major necessary trends for achieving targets set for the European Union (EU) in the 2020 and 2030 climate and energy frameworks. Two key technologies which offer great potential for climate change mitigation are electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energies (REs). Thus, there is the need for innovative and stable policies in order to favor these technologies. The purpose of the study is to identify and compare features of policies for the integration of EVs, REs, and information and communication technology (ICT). This study uses an integrated Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), and Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal (PESTEL) qualitative methodology in order to show different policies and initiatives, related to e-mobility, RE and ICT, collected from five European regions. This research provides discernments to the EVs and RE challenges, such as the lack of capacity to deal with high energy demands or limited EV-charging infrastructure. On the contrary, a high percentage of REs share, raising climate change awareness, and decreasing EV prices which are great opportunities for the whole EU. Such insights encourage policymakers and other groups of interest to improve their RE and mobility policies, which could lead to effective sustainable mobility systems in urban areas.

Evaluation of the optimal renewable electricity mix for Lampedusa island: The adoption of a technical and economical methodology

Worldwide, the majority of small islands not connected to the main grid is still dependent on fossil fuels. From an economic and environmental point of view, this condition is no more sustainable given the high costs for electricity generation and the high level of pollutant emissions. Furthermore, the dependence on fossil fuel represents a risk for the security of the supply of several small developing Countries since they are obliged to import those resources from foreign Countries. The introduction of renewable energy sources in small islands represents a valid solution to solve these problems. In this context, the paper investigates the case of Lampedusa, a small Italian island whose electrical power system is currently totally supplied by diesel power plants. In the paper, the authors investigate the transition toward an economically and technically feasible generating system based on solar, wind and sea wave plants, to achieve specific targets of decarbonization. Commercial technologies are adopted for the exploitation of solar and wind sources, while sea wave plants are based on an innovative device, currently under development at the University of Palermo. A mathematical model is proposed to find the optimal energy mix that can satisfy a fixed share of annual electricity production from renewables, considering the Levelized Cost of Electricity. Finally, the proposed solution is analyzed in order to check the dynamic stability of the power system. The paper shows that, for replacing the 40% of the current electricity demand of Lampedusa, an optimal energy mix comprising 1509 kW from photovoltaic plants, 2100 kW from wind turbines and 640 kW from wave energy converters is needed. In this way, the actualized cost for the electricity production could be reduced to 0.260 €/kWh from the current value of 0.282 €/kWh.

Economic Researcher & Methodology of Scientific research

The paper contains a theoretical analysis of the interrelation between methodology of economics used by economic researchers and the methodology of scientific research, encouraging readers to think differently about one of the most complicated & controversial subjects.
 The analysis begins with the determination of propositions that were discussed and explained in the course of the argument.
 1- The economic researcher, like a scientific one, goes after the procedures of physical sciences and benefits of the forms of logic.
 2- Economics deals with human behavior while the natural sciences deal with the matter.
 3-This similarity and variance are reflected well in the nature of laws and generalizations.
 
 

A comprehensive economic optimization methodology of divided wall columns for biopolyol separation.

Global energetic and environmental crises have attracted worldwide attention in recent years. Biomass is an important direction of development for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and replacing fossil fuel. As downstream products of biomass, some industrially valuable polyols are costly to separate via conventional distillation due to their near volatility. The use of fully heat-integrated divided wall columns (DWCs), which carry energy and equipment investment savings, is a promising technique for purifying biopolyol products. However, the design of DWCs is complex because of the greater freedom of units, so the optimization of all variables is essential to minimize the cost of separation. A response surface methodology (RSM)-based Box–Behnken design (BBD) was proposed and applied to study the interactions between groups of factors and the effects of variables on total annual cost (TAC) savings. The optimization of global variables with RSM was confirmed to be a powerful and reliable method, and the TAC savings reached 41.09% compared to conventional distillation. In short, efficient design, lower costs and energy savings for polyol separation will promote the wide application of environmentally friendly biopolyol.

Innovative Potential in European Countries: Analytical and Legal Aspects

Purpose: This paper aims to assess the innovation potential of Eastern European economies based on country's ability to export high-tech goods and services, which means innovating beyond the country's needs. Design/Methodology/Approach: We use analytical economic methodology to explore innovative potential of EE (Eastern Europe) countries as correlation-regression analysis. Findings: The study found that the innovative potential of the economy of EE (Eastern Europe) countries depends on the state’s expenditures on innovative research and development, the number of scientists and the level of financing for technical cooperation. Practical Implications: The negative factors that influence the formation of innovative potential are identified. The use of intellectual property rights by EE countries is inefficient and does not ensure the development of innovative potential. Patents for research and development of residents as well as non-residents do not ensure the progress and effectiveness of the innovative potential of the economy. The export of ICT services negatively affects innovative potential, however it is not a significant factor influencing innovative activity. Originality/Value: With this article we show that financing technical cooperation in EE countries does not lead to the development of innovative potential, that is, it is inefficient.

The EU Regulatory Competition in Asylum Law

Abstract This paper deals with the principle of subsidiarity in asylum law. It exposes some of the most important ‘push’ factors that have been considered by the European Union (EU) as arguments for the centralisation of asylum law. Through the application of an economic approach, this text examines the need for harmonization of asylum standards to reach the goal established in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. An economic methodology is used to investigate the application of the subsidiarity principle by considering some of the most important economic criteria for both centralisation and decentralisation, and by applying the findings to the asylum law. Specifically, this paper considers the Tiebout model, the problem of the ‘race to the bottom’, the reduction of transaction costs, and the importance of the protection of refugee human rights. These theories are commonly used in the cases of a specific issue with a transboundary nature, which produces [negative] international externalities. In addition, they reflect the significance of equal conditions within the EU Member States as well as the role of the EU as a sui generis organisation protecting human rights. It should be noted that this paper does not deal with the basic normative question of whether or not refugees deserve protection, but it aims to expose the advantages and disadvantages of an EU asylum policy. In its conclusion, the paper discusses the advantages of a centralised EU policy that also allows, within certain conditions, some type of competition between the Member States.

The Apparent Failure of “Situational Analysis” to Take Hold and an Attempt at Revitalizing It

“Situational Analysis” (SA) constitutes Popper’s methodological proposal for the social sciences. We argue that notwithstanding Popper’s claim that SA is an attempt to extend the methodology of neoclassical economics to the rest of the social sciences, the former is better interpreted as an extension of his view of the “method” of history to the “theoretical” social sciences. The reason is that, unlike neoclassical economics, Popper’s formulation of SA presupposes that social scientists exhibit a “more complete” view of the “logic of the situation” than individual actors do, on average, which implies that the latter’s knowledge is “partially wrong” or “incomplete.”

Pulse-Field capillary electrophoresis of repeat-primed PCR amplicons for analysis of large repeats in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 10.

Large expansions of microsatellite DNA cause several neurological diseases. In Spinocerebellar ataxia type 10 (SCA10), the repeat interruptions change disease phenotype; an (ATTCC)n or a (ATCCT)n/(ATCCC)n interruption within the (ATTCT)n repeat is associated with the robust phenotype of ataxia and epilepsy while mostly pure (ATTCT)n may have reduced penetrance. Large repeat expansions of SCA10, and many other microsatellite expansions, can exceed 10,000 base pairs (bp) in size. Conventional next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are ineffective in determining internal sequence contents or size of these expanded repeats. Using repeat primed PCR (RP-PCR) in conjunction with a high-sensitivity pulsed-field capillary electrophoresis fragment analyzer (FEMTO-Pulse, Agilent, Santa Clara, CA) (RP-FEMTO hereafter), we successfully determined sequence content of large expansion repeats in genomic DNA of SCA10 patients and transformed yeast artificial chromosomes containing SCA10 repeats. This RP-FEMTO is a simple and economical methodology which could complement emerging NGS for very long sequence reads such as Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) and nanopore sequencing technologies.

Laboratory-Scale Preparation and Characterization of Dried Extract of Muirapuama (Ptychopetalumolacoides Benth) by Green Analytical Techniques.

This work reports on the preparation of a drying process from the ethanolic extract of Muirapuama and its characterization through green analytical techniques. The spray-drying processes were performed by using ethanolic extract in a ratio of 1:1 extract/excipient and 32 factorial design. The properties of dried powder were investigated in terms of total flavonoid content, moisture content, powder yield, and particle size distribution. An analytical eco-scale was applied to assess the greenness of the developed protocol. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)with reduced solvent consumption in the analysis was compared to the conventional HPLC method. A Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopic method was applied based on the principal component scores for the prediction of extract/excipient mixtures and partial least squares regression model for quantitative analysis. NIR spectroscopy is an economic, powerful, and fast methodology for the detection of excipient in muirapuama dried extracts, generating no residue in the analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed samples with a higher concentration of excipient, presenting better morphological characteristics and a lower moisture absorption rate. An eco-scale score value of 85 was achieved for UHPLC and 100 was achieved for NIR (excellent green analysis). Above all, these methods are rapid and green for the routine analysis of herbal medicines based on dried extracts.

Dynamic and Economic Investigation of a Solar Thermal-Driven Two-Bed Adsorption Chiller under Perth Climatic Conditions

Performance assessment of a two-bed silica gel-water adsorption refrigeration system driven by solar thermal energy is carried out under a climatic condition typical of Perth, Australia. A Fourier series is used to simulate solar radiation based on the actual data obtained from Meteonorm software, version 7.0 for Perth, Australia. Two economic methodologies, Payback Period and Life-Cycle Saving are used to evaluate the system economics and optimize the need for solar collector areas. The analysis showed that the order of Fourier series did not have a significant impact on the simulation radiation data and a three-order Fourier series was good enough to approximate the actual solar radiation. For a typical summer day, the average cooling capacity of the chiller at peak hour (13:00) is around 11 kW while the cyclic chiller system coefficient of performance (COP) and solar system COP are around 0.5 and 0.3, respectively. The economic analysis showed that the payback period for the solar adsorption system studied was about 11 years and the optimal solar collector area was around 38 m2 if a compound parabolic collector (CPC) panel was used. The study indicated that the utilization of the solar-driven adsorption cooling is economically and technically viable for weather conditions like those in Perth, Australia.

Adoption of renewable energy technologies (RETs) using a mixed-method approach

Purpose This paper aims to propose that the socio-technical perspective is under-represented when appraising the adoption potential of renewable energy technologies (RETs) in late-industrialising countries and that this results in under-adoption. It also aims to identify a methodological approach that allows the socio-technical perspective to be integrated into management decision-making, alongside the more typical economic appraisal methodology. Design/methodology/approach A case study and novel mixed-methodology approach is used, which applies the diffusion of innovations framework, innovation system (IS) framework and system dynamics modelling (SDM) alongside traditional economic modelling and appraisal techniques. This approach is used to assess the adoption potential of solar photovoltaic (PV) and diesel water pumping systems in the wildlife conservation sector and surrounding rural communities in Kenya. The case study approach tests the merits of the mixed-methodology approach. Findings The life-cycle costs of solar PV water pumping systems are lower in nearly all financing and utilisation scenarios; offer additional social, technical and environmental benefits; and the conditions exist for greater adoption. The use of an integrated diffusion of innovations and IS framework generates significant qualitative data that can support management decision-making. The use of SDM techniques aid conceptualisation of the community economic, water and institutional systems into which water pumps may be diffused and provide a starting point for formal SDM simulation. The results suggest that these techniques capture the socio-technical perspective well and, when used alongside traditional project appraisal approaches, produce more complete information with which to support management decision-making. Originality/value This mixed-methodology approach could be used by practitioners to increase the diffusion and adoption of RETs in more complex contexts in late-industrialising countries. The emergent theory built through the case-study approach should be tested further to assess the merits of applying these techniques to support RET management decision-making in other contexts and more broadly.

Telepresence-teleguidance to facilitate training and quality assurance in ERCP: a health economic modeling approach.

Background and study aims The aims of this study was to document the clinical and training relevance of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP) teleguidance (as a clinical model for applied telemedicine) with health economic modeling methodologies. Methods Probabilities and consequences of complications after ERCP performed by either a novice-trainee or supported through teleguidance (TM) by an expert formed the basis of the health economic model. Results The main clinical and economic outcomes originated from the base case scenario representing a low-volume center. In the cohort the patient age was 62 years, 58 % were females, the expert was doing ≥ 250 ERCPs per year and 50 for the novice-trainee. The expert knowledge transferred was set to 50 % and the average complexity grade to 1.98. Given a willingness to pay threshold of 56,180 USD/ quality-adjusted life years (QALY), the probability of cost-effectiveness of TM assistance was 98.9 %. The probability of a QALY gain for patients having an ERCP, to which was added TM, was 91.6 %. Adding TM saved on an average 111.2 USD (95 % CI 959 to 1021 SEK) per patient, and remained cost-effective basically insensitive to the level of willingness to pay. Conclusion Teleguidance during an ERCP procedure has the potential to be the prefered option in many low- to medium-volume hospitals. The main mechanisms behind these effects are positive impact on several adverse patient outcomes, QALY increase, and decreased costs. TM should be considered for integration into future teaching curriculums in advanced upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

Methodology of Islamic Economics: Problems and Solutions

Methodology of Islamic Economics: Problems and Solutions

On the Pedigree of Hurwicz’s Economic Thought and Its Methodology

The mechanism design theory founded by Hurwicz is the inheritance and development of neoclassical economics. Hurwicz’s research did not deviate from Eggertsson’s statement of the hard core of neoclassical economics, but there were new developments in the theoretical framework and research methods by Hurwicz. On the one hand, he broke the old thinking framework that regarded system and mechanism as exogenous and nonadjustable variables. He introduced mechanism design into economic analysis, which deepened the understanding of the essence, change and choice of institution. On the other hand, he introduced game theory, a tool of mathematical analysis, into the study of market economy theory, especially the process of economic exchange and the theory of economic resource allocation. Although the core of game theory is still the utility maximization of rational economic man based on individual standard advocated by neoclassical economics, it also reveals the potential damage to the overall utility caused by the promotion of individual rationality lacking the spirit of cooperation. The economic theory innovation of Hurwicz is of great practical significance to the innovation and development of economics in China and the deepening of the market-oriented reform and opening-up in the new era.This paper provides the following conclusions through a literature survey of Hurwicz’s writings. Firstly, the mechanism design theory originated from the controversy over plan and market in the 1920s and 1930s and gradually extended to the core proposition of the relationship between government and market. Hurwicz established a pedigree of economic thought with inherent logic incorporating economic freedom, decentralized decision-making, information efficiency and incentive compatibility. Secondly, Hurwicz’s economic methodology focuses on the axiomatic logical analysis method of deductive reasoning. That is to say, it intends to interpret the economic world through functional relationship between digitized economic variables, mathematical logical deduction of axiomatic propositions and the equilibrium state in mechanical sense, emphasizes logical deduction over historical induction in research, reveals the logical mechanism from both holistic and individual points of view, and thus demonstrates the mechanism optimization of the real world.To sum it up, this paper extends the existing researches from three aspects. Firstly, it investigates Hurwicz’s economic thought in the context of the overall development of modern economics in the middle and late 20th century, and deconstructs the core propositions and basic elements in the pedigree of his thought. Secondly, it captures the logical substance and main characteristics of Hurwicz’s economic research methodology through a review of his academic track and achievements. Thirdly, based on the analysis of Hurwicz’s economic thought pedigree and its methodology, this paper sums up the implications for China’s further promotion of economic theory innovation and market-oriented reform deepening.