Economic Productivity Research Articles

Stress timing, trauma exposure, and family resilience differentially affect internalizing and externalizing symptoms at 3, 5, and 7 years of age

Mental health disorders are associated with decreased quality of life, economic productivity loss, and increased mortality. The association between stressful experiences and psychopathology is well documented. However, studies are needed to understand the impact of timing of stressful events, types of traumatic experiences, and of family resilience on internalizing and externalizing symptoms in early childhood. The present study used a longitudinal design towards this end. Parents (N = 456) completed study measures at infancy, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, and 7 years. At 3 years, greater stressful events during the prenatal period, 1-2 years, and 2-3 years (B = 0.833–0.369, p = 0.028–0.046) predicted internalizing symptoms for female participants only. For externalizing symptoms at 3 years, every time point assessed was significantly associated with more symptoms across both sexes (B = 1.071–0.414, p < 0.001). At 5 years, both internalizing and externalizing symptoms were associated with a greater number of stressful events at every time point and across sexes (B = 1.372–0.465, p < 0.001–0.002). There was evidence for timing effects, including cumulative effects, sensitive periods, and recency effects. Exposure to interpersonal trauma associated with greater internalizing symptoms (B = 2.120, p = 0.002), whereas both interpersonal (B = 1.879, p = 0.005) and non-interpersonal (B = 1.223, p = 0.032) traumatic experiences were associated with greater externalizing symptoms. Aspects of family resilience including higher levels of family commitment, ability to face challenges, and sense of control reduced risk for internalizing symptoms (B = –0.496, p = 0.004) while only greater sense of control (B = –0.838, p = 0.040) reduced risk for externalizing symptoms at age 7 years, including in the context of trauma.

Capturing the health and well-being impact of climate change: a health impact assessment in Wales

Abstract Climate change is one of the biggest threats to global health in the 21st century and is likely to impact on health through a range of factors (societal, economic or environmental). The need to take action on climate and nature emergencies in order to protect population health and well-being and prevent negative impacts are becoming more urgent. Public Health Wales carried out a comprehensive mixed-method Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of climate change in Wales. HIA is a systematic process which considers the impact of a policy on the health and well-being of a population. It appraised the potential impacts of climate change on health and inequalities in Wales. This involved participatory workshops, engagement with stakeholders, statistical data, systematic literature reviews and case studies. The HIA findings indicate significant potential impacts across the determinants of health and mental well-being. For example, air quality, flooding, economic productivity, working conditions, access to services and community resilience. Impacts were identified across population groups, settings, and areas including urban and rural contexts, outdoor workers, children and young people, older people, schools, hospitals and workplaces. These findings have been beneficial to inform decision-makers to prepare for climate change plans and policies using a preventative evidence-informed approach. The work has demonstrated the value of HIA for significant, complex policies by mobilising a range of evidence through a transparent process, resulting in government and organizational action and transferrable learning for others. Key messages • HIA is a beneficial tool to identify at a granular level the health impacts of climate change. • The HIA has been used by the government of Wales and organisations to respond to and plan for climate change.

The Black Box of Single-Family Zoning Reform

America faces a staggering housing affordability crisis. The consequences of the crisis include reduced economic productivity, suppressed labor mobility, greater social inequity, and increased homelessness. A scholarly consensus blames excessive land-use regulation for these problems and advocates now call for deregulation. Several jurisdictions have recently elected to allow middle housing—small, multi-family developments—in areas previously zoned for single-family detached housing. The results of these reforms, however, have been disappointing. This Article examines why they have fallen short and how to do better. This Article identifies an analytical disconnect between the deregulatory consensus and actual single-family zoning reforms adopted to date. Given this disconnect and the limited success of single-family zoning reforms thus far, it is unclear why such reforms continue to be adopted. Moreover, these reforms cannot achieve their promised ends. Interviews of middle housing builders in reform jurisdictions reveal legal and structural barriers that prevent market participants from responding to the housing crisis with scale and urgency. This Article proposes several regulatory alternatives that offer a greater probability of success in achieving the consensus’s goals: (1) modestly expanding multi-family zones to allow redevelopment and densification of underutilized non-residential properties; (2) providing affordable-housing density bonuses; (3) streamlining land-use procedures and eliminating administrative delay to reduce uncertainty in permitting processes; and (4) reevaluating financing mechanisms for new housing development. Taken together, these policies are necessary complements to single-family zoning reforms for addressing undersupply of market- and below-market-rate housing.

Linking regional economic impacts of temperature-related disasters to underlying climatic hazards

Abstract Temperature-induced disasters lead to major human and economic damage, but the relationship between their climatic drivers and impacts is difficult to quantify. In part, this is due to a lack of data with suitable resolution, scale and coverage on impacts and disaster occurrence. Here, we address this gap using new datasets on subnational sector-disaggregated economic productivity and geo-coded disaster locations to quantify the role of climatic hazards on economic impacts of temperature-induced disasters at a subnational scale. Using a regression-based approach, we find that the regional economic impacts of heat-related disasters are most strongly linked to the daily maximum temperature (TXx) index. This effect is largest in the agricultural sector (6.37% regional growth rate reduction per standard deviation increase in TXx anomaly), being almost twice as strong as in the manufacturing sector (3.98%), service sector (3.64%), and whole economy (3.64%). We also highlight the role of compound climatic hazards in worsening impacts, showing that in the agriculture sector, compound hot-and-dry conditions amplify the impacts of heat-related disasters on growth rates by a factor of two. In contrast, in the service and manufacturing sectors, stronger impacts are found to be associated with compound hot and wet conditions. These findings present a first step in understanding the relationship between temperature-related hazards and regional economic impacts using a multi-event database, and highlight the need for further research to better understand the complex mechanisms including compound effects underlying these impacts across sectors.

Impacts of Solar Home Systems in Rural Areas: A Case Study in Bangladesh

Access to electricity is important for development in general, but access at low costs is a vital tool of economic and social development, especially for those locations that lie very far from the grid. The present study investigates the impacts of solar home systems in a rural area of Bangladesh, focusing on the ways in which the adoption of SHS transforms household livelihoods. It has improved the lives of the community members through an affordable and reliable source of electricity that allowed enhanced lighting and security, increased educational opportunities, empowerment of women, reduced reliance on harmful energy sources, increased economic productivity, environmental sustainability, human relationships and well-being. These studies emphatically underscore the fact that the biggest challenge remains affordability: in most instances, SHS is accessed through family savings or loans from NGOs. In spite of these barriers, SHS has conventionally been portrayed as an empowering tool that enhances the quality of life and aids in fulfilling the goals of sustainable development in rural areas. The paper concludes by relating conventional energy sources with a comparison, emphasizing broader benefits and possible long-term potentials for SHS in tackling energy poverty within rural Bangladesh.

Effect of Drip Irrigation Intervals and Fertigation Frequency on Yield and Yield Components of Cucumber under Greenhouse Conditions

The experiment was conducted in a cooled plastic tunnel greenhouse during March-August of 2022 and 2023 to study the effect of drip irrigation intervals and fertigation frequency on yield and yield components of cucumber under greenhouse conditions at Kassala State, Sudan. Seedlings of the most popular cucumber hybrid (Fatin) were planted on 40cm and 50 cm inter and intra-row spacing, respectively. The experiment was composed of two factors; irrigation intervals (every day, every 2 days and every 3 days) and fertigation frequencies applied at (one dose per week, two doses per week and 3 doses per week). The results showed that drip irrigation every day had recorded highest yield and yield components in both seasons. Maximum yields of cucumber were recorded with fertigation at three dose/week compared to fertigation at one dose/week in both seasons. Moreover, the highest values of yield, yield components, water productivity, economic water productivity and partial factor productivity of nitrogen were obtained under drip irrigation every day with fertigation at 3 dose/week on both seasons.

Effects of product and process innovation on growth and unemployment

In economic growth theory, product and process innovations are critical factors contributing to technological progress. This study constructs an economic growth model that considers product and process innovations and theoretically investigates how these two types of innovation affect economic growth and unemployment rates. Using our model, based on Zagler (Int Rev Appl Econ 18:209–224, 2004), we obtain the following three main findings: (1) an increase in the efficiency of product innovation increases both the economic growth and unemployment rates; (2) an increase in the efficiency of process innovation increases the economic growth rate but does not affect the unemployment rate; and (3) a decrease in labor allocation to product innovation and an increase in labor allocation to process innovation in the R & D sector increase the economic growth rate and decrease the unemployment rate depending on the conditions. These findings suggest that to simultaneously raise employment and increase economic growth, we need not only a policy for fostering product innovation but also another policy to improve employment.

The Analysis of Factors that Influence Stunting

Stunting in children is a national problem caused by many factors that harm human resources in the future, including an impact on decreasing intelligence, vulnerability to disease, hampering economic growth, work productivity, exacerbating inequality, and height growth is shorter than age in general. Stunting in children under five is a consequence of several factors that are often associated with poverty, including nutrition, health, sanitation, and the environment There are five main factors that cause stunting, namely poverty, social and cultural, increased exposure to infectious diseases, food insecurity and community access to health service. The purpose of this literature review was to analyze the factors that influence stunting. The article was obtained from a SINTA accredited journal published in the 2013-2023 period with the same title, as well as the same research design. The selected articles were then tested for plagiarism, and nine articles with the smallest plagiarism level were selected. Analysis PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) is carried out on each article, followed by making conclusions. The results of the analysis determined that factors that influence stunting include social and cultural, increased exposure to infectious diseases, food insecurity and community access to health services alone or together. The author hopes that this research will further greatly help how to do health promotion, case finding and prevention, and, many sectors must be involved and work together for the problem of stunting.

Development of a water resources utilization model and optimization of the patterns of rice genotypes with system dynamics approach

The system dynamics approach was conducted to optimize genotype patterns in various climatic and water availability scenarios, to address the water productivity improvement of the Sefidrood irrigation network. The studied cropping pattern scenarios were SD1 (the continuation of current trends), SD2 (the reduction in the cultivated area), SD3 (replacing modified crops on an annual basis), and SD4 (increasing the annual cultivated area of Hashemi type rice). Moreover, the impacts of irrigation efficiency improvements and water resources management strategies on the physical and economic water productivity indices were studied. The results indicated that the SD3 scenario has the most positive impact on water productivity with 0.45 kg/m3 increases. However, a questionnaire survey revealed that this scenario that belongs to the increase in the modified genotype area cannot be recommended due to cooking quality and low prices. The Hashemi genotype was the favorite rice among farmers and experts. Also, analyzing the irrigation efficiency improvement scenario showed that this strategy has a limited impact on the physical and economic water productivity. Increasing the capacity of local rainwater storage pools, Ab-bandans, and increasing the drainage water reuse had the highest water productivity in the condition of river water reduction and uncertain water availability.

Improving sustainability of rice-canola rotation through water and nitrogen management in a humid region

Intensive cropping systems face significant environmental and economic challenges due to current water and nutrient management practices. This study addresses the limited research on optimizing these practices in rice-canola rotations, focusing on enhancing sustainability through improved water and nitrogen (N) management. Utilizing the DSSAT crop growth model, we evaluated three irrigation scenarios for rice- I1 (100 % irrigation requirement: IR), I2 (80 % IR), and I3 (60 % IR)-alongside three N application levels: N1 (30 % below RAN: regional average N), N2 (RAN), and N3 (30 % above RAN). Key sustainability indicators, including water productivity (WP), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and economic productivity, were analyzed. The DSSAT model demonstrated strong predictive accuracy, with yield differences of only 236 kg ha⁻¹ for rice and 121 kg ha⁻¹ for canola between observed and simulated values. A 40 % reduction in water use increased rice yield to a maximum of 5654 kg ha⁻¹ under I3N2 conditions. Additionally, this reduction in water consumption resulted in a 27 % decrease in production costs, significantly enhancing WP, net benefits, and gross benefits of rice by 46.7 %, 43.1 %, and 47.9 %, respectively. Conversely, a 30 % increase in N application for canola correlated with a 9 % yield increase, underscoring the importance of tailored N strategies. Furthermore, N3 raised WP, NUE, net benefits, and gross benefits of canola by 6.7 %, 1.4 %, 9.1 %, and 9.2 %, respectively, compared with current N application level. Overall, this study illustrates the potential for substantial water savings in rice cultivation while recommending stable or reduced N application levels. These management strategies enhance farm performance, lower production costs, and contribute to the sustainability of rice-canola cropping systems, promoting both agricultural productivity and environmental stewardship.

Green Energy and Land Resources: COP27 Perspective of BRICS Economic Growth and Land Production

ABSTRACTIn contemporary times, managing land resources and green energy from the COP27 perspective is a burning issue, attracting the attention of policymakers and scholars to attaining sustainable economic growth. In emerging economies, the adoption of both green energy and land resources is rapidly increasing to encourage economic productivity. In this regard, the current research explores the impact of oil resource fluctuations on the economic growth of the BRICS economies. In addition, this research contemplates the role of technological innovation, energy efficiency, and gross capital formation during 1990–2021. Using several econometric approaches, the results indicate the variables' stationarity and the cointegration between variables. Since most of the study variables follow a nonnormal distribution, this work employs a novel moments quantile regression. The estimation outcomes revealed that oil resource fluctuations, energy efficiency, technological innovation, and gross capital formation are substantial economic performance and growth drivers. The robustness of the empirical model is also tested via parametric (robust least squares) and nonparametric (quantile regression) approaches. Bidirectional causality estimates are reported between these variables except for the oil resource fluctuations that unidirectionally cause economic performance. Based on these estimates, this research recommends the sustainable management of oil resources and further investment in energy efficiency and technological innovation to attain sustainable economic performance.

Unraveling the global economic and mortality effects of rising urban heat island intensity

The increasing severity of urban heat island (UHI) effects poses a significant concern in cities, where to over half of the world's population lives. We examine the pattern of surface UHI intensity (SUHII) and its effect on urban economic productivity and mortality across 171 countries from 2003 to 2018. Countries with heavy industrial/manufacturing bases and higher income levels face more significant economic repercussions from SUHII. Males experience higher mortality rates under comparable SUHII conditions. A unit increase in GNI correlates to a 23.2 % rise in SUHII's effect on GDP and a 5.5 % increase in its effect on mortality rate. A higher Socio-Demographic Index mitigates SUHII's impact on urban GDP. Moreover, the Gini index directly impacts SUHII more than it affects SUHII-related mortality through inequality. Reducing income inequality by one unit will increase the enhancing effect of SUHII on the mortality rate by 11.8 %. Our findings reveal a significant link between wealth disparity and amplified health risks associated with SUHII, potentially leading to new forms of urban inequality. The study highlights the importance of development status and economic composition in facing UHI-related challenges and recommends equitable strategies for policymakers and urban planners to mitigate UHI effects in diverse developmental contexts.

Exploring the nexus between exports’ economic complexity and institutional quality: insights from Italian provinces

ABSTRACT The present research aims to investigate the determinants of economic development and productivity by proposing an empirical analysis of the economic effects of institutional quality on the economic complexity of export at the intra-national level, focusing on 103 Italian provinces from 2004 to 2016. Using the System Generalised Method of Moments (System-GMM) estimator, the study assesses the influence of various institutional dimensions on provincial economic complexity, as measured by the Economic Complexity Index (ECI). The findings indicate that institutional quality, particularly rule of law, regulatory quality, and voice and accountability, significantly enhances economic complexity. Better formal and informal institutions such as completeness of contracts, social cohesion, contract enforcement, by reducing transaction costs and uncertainty, and by favouring knowledge dissemination and security of investments, are source of comparative advantage in complex industries that lead to diversified and sophisticated production, fostering economic growth and innovation. Moreover, the study emphasises the importance of related activities, which interact with institutions to support complex and innovative export-related activities through knowledge spillovers and related diversification. The analysis also highlights the pivotal role of human capital, social capital, and innovation, which should remain focal points for policymakers.

Productivity costs of the green energy transition in Africa

AbstractTransitioning to renewable energy generates tangible benefits in terms of the environment and emissions of greenhouse gases. However, the economic productivity costs of switching to clean energy cannot be overlooked, in addition to the large resource requirements, potential disruption in energy systems, risks of job losses, and emergence of new inequalities. Therefore, it is crucial to identify and quantify synergies and trade‐offs. This paper investigates the productivity cost of abandoning the use of fossil fuels in African countries, using econometric techniques applied to panel data, including the fully modified ordinary least square. The paper finds that, while renewable energy supply is beneficial to increase total factor productivity, in general, a shift toward a higher share of renewables in the power mix is not without productivity cost on the economy. The analysis accounts for other sources of productivity, such as human capital and the diffusion of embodied technology imported from abroad into local markets. The data also reveal that the energy transition could have heterogeneous effects depending on the regions' and countries' characteristics and stages of transition.

Design and implementation of AEM10941 based solar energy system harvester for domestic lighting as a sustainable lighting solution for rural areas

Lack of access to reliable and affordable electricity in Mbo’o community and the reliance on kerosene lamps for lighting has impacted various aspects of daily life in the area such as education, health, safety and economic productivity. Yields rural exodus and poverty. The aim of this research is to address the challenge of inadequate lighting in the Mbo’o community by developing a sustainable and affordable solution using the AEM10941 solar lamp and thus improving the quality of life for community members and reducing environmental impacts. The methodology involved utilizing the AEM10941 and connecting it with an ATMEGA328pu, switch and LED to construct the lamp. This included configuring the AEM10941, designing the printed circuit board for the lighting and control circuits, and then crafting the lamp casing. The lamp was designed to operate in two modes including indoor and outdoor/security modes. Performance evaluation tests revealed that the AEM10941 effectively charges the battery to full capacity within three hours. Additionally, in indoor mode, a single charge can sustain up to 10 h of lighting, demonstrating the lamp’s efficiency and reliability in providing prolonged illumination. At full brightness, the lamp produced an illuminance of 1436 lx. the AEM10941 based solar lamps performance characteristics including illumination intensity, runtime and charging time are in accordance with the standards values and even above. This sustainable way of lighting is the convenient solution to improve the general living standard of the Mbo’o community. The key contribution of this work is the development of a sustainable, affordable and versatile solar lamp tailored to the specific needs of the Mbo’o community. This work provides an innovative solution to address the community’s reliance on kerosene lamps, thereby potentially reducing emissions while improving safety and quality of life.

Effects of Corruption and Informality on Economic Growth through Productivity

Corruption and informality are issues which have attracted a great amount of empirical research, since they are variables that can affect economic development in various and complex ways, with direct and indirect effects on economic growth. In this context, the objective of this investigation is to assess the impacts of corruption and informality on economic growth and productivity in countries from Latin America and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). To achieve this, a 3SLS-GMM estimation is proposed to manage the endogeneity of the variables in the system of equations. Subsequently, a simulation analysis is conducted to quantify the impacts of increases in corruption and informality on growth and productivity, as well as the influence of human capital in counteracting these impacts. The main findings of the research are as follows: (i) corruption decreases economic growth and productivity in both groups of countries; (ii) informality negatively affects economic growth and productivity; (iii) increases in corruption and informality reduce economic growth and productivity; and (iv) human capital has a positive impact on economic growth and reduces the negative impacts of corruption and informality.

An assessment of economic loss associated with cataract vision impairment for sustainable development in Borno state, Nigeria

The number of affected people with preventable vision impairment in Borno state is increasing at an alarming rate. Statistics have shown that more than 55 % causes of preventable blindness in the state is cataracts [10]. Nevertheless, ensuring inclusive eye health care is important to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thus, this study examines the direct and indirect societal impacts of the economic loss associated with cataract vision impairment in Borno state. Descriptive statistical method was used to analyze 239 surveyed respondents. The results revealed that about 62.1 % of surveyed participants were with cataract vision impairment and 55.4 % of the respondents were male. The study recommends that policymakers implement targeted intervention strategies to mitigate economic vulnerabilities and productivity loss connected to cataract vision impairment so as to accelerate the achievement of sustainable development in the state.

Decomposition and decoupling: A case study of Colombia's energy consumption and economic growth

Nowadays, nobody can deny the relationship between economic growth and sustainability; however, the tendency to un-match a linear relationship between those two has acquired the name of “decoupling” economy, which means that the consumption of energy not necessarily has to rise at the same rate of gross domestic product, in order to reduce carbon emissions in a country or certain area. Then this document aims to study the Colombian decoupling, analyzing the economic structure and energy consumption between 1975 and 2021, applying the TAPIO model and the logarithmic mean Divisa index (LMDI) using the KAYA identity as a conversion factor (TAPIO + KAYA + LMDI) to analyze the trends per economical sector. Finding that, the Colombian economy has a predominant status of weak decoupling with randomly switches to strong decoupling, positioning it as a sustainable economy; although this condition is environmentally favorable, under a comprehensive public policy, energy consumption by economic sector can be increased to improve economic productivity and achieve better production levels on the sectors of agriculture, mines, and commerce whose energy consumption according to the data is substantially low.

Performance of Kinnow (&lt;i&gt;Citrus reticulata&lt;/i&gt; Blanco) based Agri-horticultural Systems during Intermediate Stage of Fruiting in Light Textured Soil of Arid Rajasthan

Kinnow (Citrus reticulata Blanco) cultivation is increasing in IGNP area due to its profitability and good market value. It is cultivated as sole crop and the interspaces are left unutilized. Growing suitable intercrops in the left over spaces of kinnow may generate extra income to the farmers. Hence, an experiment was conducted to study the productivity and profitability of kinnow based intercropping systems in hyper arid partially irrigated zone of western Rajasthan.The study was conducted during rabi and kharif seasons of 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively in seven years old plantations of kinnow with five treatments viz (i) kinnow + wheat - groundnut, (ii) kinnow + fenugreek - cluster bean, (iii) sole wheat -groundnut, (iv) sole fenugreek - cluster bean and (v) sole kinnow. Intercropping showed positive effect on growth and yield of kinnow with highest yield in kinnow + wheat -groundnut followed by kinnow + fenugreek - cluster bean. However, the yield of intercrops decreased by 37-42 % when grown in association with kinnow as compared to their sole cropping. The annual system productivity in terms of cluster bean equivalent yield (CEY) was minimum in sole kinnow (1.15 t ha-1) and increased when kinnow was intercropped with fenugreek-cluster bean (2.95 t ha-1) and wheat-groundnut (4.97 t ha-1). There were 2.56 and 4.33 times higher annual system productivity of kinnow + fenugreek-cluster bean and kinnow + wheat - groundnut intercropping system as compared to sole kinnow. The share of kinnow in system productivity was 42.0 and 24.4% and in net return was 43.5 and 18.0% in kinnow + fenugreek-cluster bean and kinnow + wheat - groundnut intercropping system, respectively. Intercropping systems of kinnow + fenugreek - cluster bean and kinnow + wheat - groundnut showed higher physical as well as economic water productivity as compared to sole kinnow. The water productivity in terms of gross return (WPGR) increased from Rs. 4.99 m-3 in sole kinnow to Rs.7.94 and 9.89 m-3 in kinnow + fenugreek - cluster bean and kinnow + wheat -groundnut intercropping systems, respectively. Net return and BCR of intercropping systems were more as compared to sole kinnow which indicated that the intercropping systems of kinnow provides higher economic benefits through additional return from crop produce

Utilization Of Digital Platforms In Realizing SDG 8.3 Entrepreneurship In Msmes With The 9F Model Approach: A Study On The Hijab Fashion Business In Sidoarjo District, East Java.

The utilization of digital platforms has become a key strategy to increase the competitiveness of MSMEs in Indonesia, particularly in the hijab fashion sector. This study aims to analyze the impact of digital platforms and the implementation of the 9F Entrepreneurship Model on MSMEs in Sidoarjo District, as well as its contribution to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8.3, which focuses on promoting economic productivity and entrepreneurship. This qualitative research employs a case study method involving five MSMEs in the hijab fashion industry, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and direct observations of business owners. The findings indicate that integrating digital platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Shopee, and TikTok with the 9F model significantly enhances innovation, visibility, and flexibility in MSMEs’ responses to market changes. Among the 169 MSMEs in the fashion sector in Sidoarjo, 26 focus on hijab fashion, with five MSMEs participating in this research. These MSMEs reported improvements in market reach and operational efficiency through digital platforms. Additionally, the integration of digital strategies supports economic growth aligned with SDG 8.3. This approach shows that the combination of digital platforms and the 9F Entrepreneurship Model can be an essential strategy for developing MSMEs in the hijab fashion sector, contributing to local economic growth and government efforts to achieve SDG 8.3.