Group Of High-income Countries Research Articles

Patients with Celiac Disease Have High Prevalence of Fatty Liver and Metabolic Syndrome.

In recent years, patients with celiac disease (CeD) have been reported to have a high prevalence of fatty liver and metabolic syndrome. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the prevalence of fatty liver and metabolic syndrome in patients with CeD and effect of gluten-free diet in them. The PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library databases were searched for original studies upto November 18, 2022. We included full-text articles published in the English language after 1990 that used well-defined criteria for CeD, fatty liver and metabolic syndrome. A random effects model was used to calculate pooled prevalence. Of 350 studies identified, 11 studies (n = 2578) were included in the analysis. On analysis of both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, pooled prevalence of fatty liver and metabolic syndrome in treatment-naïve patients with CeD were 18.2% (95% CI 8.3-30.8%, n = 1237) and 4.3% (95% CI 2.4-6.7, n = 1239) and in those on GFD of varying duration was 28.2% (95% CI 20.7-36.4%, n = 1368) and 21.3% (95% CI 11.7-32.9%, n = 2193), respectively. There was no difference in the prevalence of fatty liver and metabolic syndrome between low- or high-income group countries. Patients with CeD have a high prevalence of fatty liver and metabolic syndrome which increases further with the initiation of GFD. Patients with CeD should thus be screened and monitored for development of fatty liver and metabolic syndrome. They should be counselled appropriately regarding their diet and inclusion of physical activity in their lifestyle.

Unraveling the links between development, growth, and tourism specialization. A country-panel analysis using self-organizing maps

This research explores the relationship between development, economic growth and tourism specialisation in 123 countries between 1995 and 2019. Based on the hypothesis that a single model is inadequate to capture the complex dynamics between these variables, we classify countries before studying the link within each category. The empirical strategy is based on the application of an objective country classification procedure, known as Kohonen’s self-organising maps. This methodology, novel for this field of study, allows countries to be grouped based on the dynamics of several variables. Three distinct groups emerge from this process. We find that causality from tourism specialization to GDP growth and from tourism to human development are observed in low-income countries. While no reverse causality between HDI and tourism is observed in any of the specifications, causality from GDP growth to tourism is verified in the group of high-income countries with heightened tourism specialisation and development.

Examination of the Relationship Between Macroeconomic Indicators and Suicide Rate of High-Income Group Countries

The research is conducted to examine the relationship between suicide rate and the macroeconomic indicators of high-income countries according to the World Bank income classification. In the research, the independent variables comprise of the economic variables, and the dependent variable is the suicide rate seen in a country. An econometric model with a random effects approach is developed for the effect of the specified independent variables on suicide rate in the population. As a result of the analysis, a 1%increase in the Gini index value may cause an increase of 0.26% in the suicide rate; income distribution disorders directly affect the suicide rate and increase suicide; and a 1% increase in the unemployment level causes 0.02% increase in the suicide rate. In addition, it is stated that there is a negative correlation between income per capita and suicide rate, and a 1% increase in income per capita may cause a 0.10% decrease in the suicide rate. Within the scope of the research, suicide rate, which is an important indicator of society, can be examined in different income groups or in similar income groups within the scope of different variables.

Indonesia's options in becoming a high-income country: Accelerating the turning point in deforestation?

The Indonesian Government has set a target for the country's involvement in the group of high-income countries by 2045 while committing to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, including reducing forest loss. To achieve both targets, the Government plans land-use development with low, inclusive, integrated, and informed emissions, contributing to maintaining economic growth. However, expanding farmland, plantations, and infrastructure projects require converting forest areas to support economic development. A lower profit and the inefficient operation of the current forestry business also motivate a more extensive conversion of forests to other land uses. Improved governance strategies and plans are required to address the complex problems of the local politics, forest management unit, spatial plan, revegetation of ex-mining areas, fire management, watershed management, forestland productivity, social involvement, land- reform, and legal aspects. Improving these governance aspects is crucial to accelerating economic growth and ensuring minimum forest loss. This paper discusses the possibility of achieving a government target to end deforestation and place Indonesia among high-income countries by 2045. This paper indicates that without any improvement in forest management and governance, the Government's target to secure Indonesia as a high-income country by 2045 will be delayed by about ten years, with more significant forest loss. This paper also proposes several enabling strategies to create a minimum forest loss and continuously gain higher per capita income in the forthcoming years.

Does Environmental Quality Drive Health Spending? A Cross-Country Analysis

The paper aims at empirically investigating the long-run explanatory power of environmental quality and energy intensity towards aggregate health spending volumes for a set of 108 countries. The significance of CO2-related pollution and energy intensity levels as long-run determinants of health spending is well-evident, as proven from modern pooled data econometric procedures applied. Keeping in view the previous research on the subject, the sample set of countries is disaggregated into four distinct groups by following the World Bank’s country classification scheme i.e. low-income, lower-middle income, upper- middle income, and high-income countries. The hypothesized relationship between health spending, environmental pollution and energy intensity is empirically verified by employing the residual based (Pedroni cointegration test) and maximum likelihood based (Fisher- Johansen panel cointegration) test of co-integration. The obtained result reveal that plausible inter-relationship between carbon-related emissions and the consequent rise in health spending is found to be existing more prominently for upper-middle and high-income countries, relative to low- and lower-middle income countries, where the proposed relationships are found to be existing at less substantial levels. For the former set of countries, the series bears a positive and statistically significant coefficient value of 1.14 and 0.05, respectively. Energy intensity on the other hand turns out to be even more important long-run determinant of health expenditure. For upper-middle- and high-income country groups, the series bears a negative coefficient value of 0.20 and 0.22, respectively, with high degree of statistical significance. The negative coefficient value of energy intensity series implies that managing the levels of energy intensity up to optimal levels may contribute positively to reducing the growing volumes of public and private health spending.

Impact of natural resource rents and economic growth on environmental degradation in the context of COP-26: Evidence from low-income, middle-income, and high-income Asian countries

This study investigates the influence of natural resource rents and economic growth on environmental degradation by using the three classifications of the Asian countries based on per capita income. A panel data from 1990 to 2018 is analyzed to determine the cointegration relationship through Mean Group (MG) regression. The calculations indicate that there is a strong positive correlation between natural resource rents and carbon emissions, particularly in the group of low-income countries. The results indicate a positive correlation between economic growth and carbon emissions for the middle and low-income groups while there is a negative relationship found in the group of high-income countries. The study suggests that to achieve the targets of COP-26, joint efforts of high, middle, and low-income countries are required on urgent basis to reduce carbon emissions. The group of high-income countries is required to improve the resource rents policies such as the search for alternative renewable sources, plantation of trees on a large scale, judicious way of energy preservation, and use of biofuels at the household level. The group of middle and low-income countries needs to adopt environment-friendly economic growth along with the aforementioned policies to preserve natural resources.

The impact of financial crises on the relationship between imports, exports, and consumption-based CO2 emissions: Do country income levels matter?

Unlike most extant research that uses production-based CO2 emissions to examine the links between exports/imports and CO2 emissions, in this paper we use consumption-based CO2 emissions to examine the impact of the 2008 global financial crises on the stated relationship for a select sample of countries arranged by income levels. Using the common correlated effects estimator methodology and annual data over the 1990–2019 period, we examine the impact of the 2008 crisis on the stated relationship for a group of high-income, upper middle-income, and lower middle-income countries. Our results suggest that the global financial crisis significantly altered the high-income and lower middle-income countries in terms of the relationship between exports and pollution. The crisis also impacted the lower middle-income countries in terms of the imports/pollution relationship. These findings suggest that a country’s income level is important when considering the relationship between exports/imports and pollution following a crisis.

Relationship Between Energy Security and Economic Growth: A Bootstrap Panel Granger Causality Analysis

This study is aimed to examine the relationship causality between energy security and growth for a total of 74 countries including 39 high-income countries, 23 upper-middle-income countries, and 12 lower-middle-income countries by using the Kónya´s (Kónya, 2006) Bootstrap Panel Granger Causality approach. According to the results obtained, it has been determined unidirectional causality relationship from energy security risk level to GDP for 14 countries and from GDP to energy security risk level for 20 countries. On the other hand, there is bidirectional causality between energy security risk level and GDP for 22 countries, while there is no causality between energy security risk level and GDP for 18 countries. Moreover, the results are also demonstrated that the rate of detection of a causality relationship increases as one moves from high-income group countries to lower-middle-income group countries. The results, which evidence the existence of a relationship between energy security risk level and economic growth for many countries, reveal the importance of the policies to be implemented in this direction.

Does China's direct investment in “Belt and Road Initiative” countries decrease their carbon dioxide emissions?

Carbon dioxide emissions of “Belt and Road Initiative” countries account for one-third of the global value. China's direct investment in “Belt and Road Initiative” countries has a significant impact on their carbon dioxide emissions. This paper studies the effect of China's direct investment on carbon dioxide emissions in “Belt and Road Initiative” countries from 2003 to 2017. We apply a panel quantile model and the MCMC optimisation method to estimate the parameters. Then, 67 “Belt and Road Initiative” countries are divided into two groups to compare the different impacts of China's direct investment on their carbon dioxide emissions. The empirical results show that China's direct investment has a negative impact on the carbon dioxide emissions of “Belt and Road Initiative” countries no matter the sample is grouped or not. In the group of high-income countries, every 1% increase in Chinese investment reduces their carbon dioxide emissions by 0.04%. In the low-income group, for every 1% increase in China's direct investment, the national carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 0.02%. Thus, it is suggested that China should further strengthen investment cooperation with “Belt and Road Initiative” countries in the future to promote global carbon dioxide emission reduction.

The global migration network of sex-workers.

Differences in the social and economic environment across countries encourage humans to migrate in search of better living conditions, including job opportunities, higher salaries, security and welfare. Quantifying global migration is, however, challenging because of poor recording, privacy issues and residence status. This is particularly critical for some classes of migrants involved in stigmatised, unregulated or illegal activities. Escorting services or high-end prostitution are well-paid activities that attract workers all around the world. In this paper, we study international migration patterns of sex-workers by using network methods. Using an extensive international online advertisement directory of escorting services and information about individual escorts, we reconstruct a migrant flow network where nodes represent either origin or destination countries. The links represent the direct routes between two countries. The migration network of sex-workers shows different structural patterns than the migration of the general population. The network contains a strong core where mutual migration is often observed between a group of high-income European countries, yet Europe is split into different network communities with specific ties to non-European countries. We find non-reciprocal relations between countries, with some of them mostly offering while others attract workers. The Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDPc) is a good indicator of country attractiveness for incoming workers and service rates but is unrelated to the probability of emigration. The median financial gain of migrating, in comparison to working at the home country, is 15.9%. Only sex-workers coming from 77% of the countries have financial gains with migration and average gains decrease with the GDPc of the country of origin. Our results suggest that high-end sex-worker migration is regulated by economic, geographic and cultural aspects.

Triple vectorial analysis of financial development impact on economic growth: evidence from the Middle East and Central Asia

PurposeThis paper provides a state-of-the-art review of the financial development in the Middle East and Central Asia (MECA) and examines its impact on its economic growth.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a Panel Data Regression Analysis on a sample of 21 countries in MECA for the period 2008–2018.FindingsUsing the financial development indices and subindices retrieved from IMF, the study finds that the whole region has a below average index compared to other developing regions. However, this hides a great deal of variation across MECA countries. Surprisingly, financial development does not necessarily contribute to economic growth. It seems that some developing countries are still not predisposed to benefit from financial development due to several obstacles.Practical implicationsThe authors recommend policymakers and regulators in MECA to promote financial stability and keep inflation in check so that economic agents can reap the fruits of financial development and foster economic growth. Policymakers should also stimulate competition in the financial sector, build skillful human capital, attract foreign direct investments, strengthen supervision and forensic audit and more importantly reinforce the independence of central banks.Originality/valueThe authors mitigate the shortcomings of single indicators as proxies for financial development by using the IMF Financial Development index that captures the depth, access and efficiency of both financial institutions and financial markets. The authors employ lower-middle-, upper-middle and high-income country groups to test the magnitude of income level on the relationship between financial development and economic growth.

Brain drain and economic growth: evidence of productivity growth from brain circulation

This paper analyzes the effect of the so-called ‘brain drain’ on economic growth through the channel of growth in total factor productivity. We analyze panel data that measure the severity of brain drain, which are from IMD and the U.S. National Science Foundation. Our analysis shows that middle-income countries have more brain drain compared to the group of high-income countries. Also, emerging economies that grow fast tend to experience more brain drain. Our results from fixed effects regression models show that that brain drain has a significant and positive impact on economic growth, and the main channel is productivity growth. This can be considered as evidence of the positive effects of ‘brain circulation’, which is one of the brain drain phenomena that settlement of the talents in advanced countries can eventually help improve the productivity of home country by the sharing of advanced technologies and skills around them with colleagues in motherland. Therefore, a strategy of utilizing overseas resident talents should also be considered, alongside the brain-attraction policy.

Investigation of the Effect of R&D, Education and Health Expenditures on Economic Growth by Panel Data Analysis Method

This study aims to reveal the effects of R&D, education, and health expenditures on economic development. For this purpose, the study examines the 2000-2019 data of 45 countries in the middle-upper-income and high-income country groups by panel data analysis method. Errors encountered in panel data basic assumption tests were corrected with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors. As a result, it has been determined that a one-unit increase in education and health expenditures contributes more to economic growth than one unit. In contrast, R&D expenditures have a minor positive effect on economic growth in the short run but more in the long run.

A model for estimating hearing aid coverage world-wide using historical data on hearing aid sales

Objective To estimate the hearing aid coverage for people with disabling hearing loss using data on hearing aid sales. Design Data on prevalence of disabling hearing loss from WHO and on hearing loss from moderate to severe from the Global Burden of Disease enterprise are used to estimate the number of people with hearing loss. Data on hearing aid sales from the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA) are used to estimate the number of people using hearing aids. Study sample From 2009 to 2018, the worldwide sales of hearing aids by the EHIMA members were 124 million units. Results The world-wide hearing aid coverage is 10–11% depending on the prevalence of data source. For all low- to middle-income regions that make up 85% of the world population, the coverage ranges from 1.5% to 12%. In the group of high-income countries as defined by WHO, the coverage is 57%. Conclusions Data on hearing aid sales can be used to estimate hearing aid coverage regionally, and world-wide. Globally, there is a huge unmet need for hearing instruments since less than 11% of people with a disabling hearing loss are hearing aid users.

SM2 The Consequences of Greater Net Price Transparency for Innovative Medicines in Europe: Insights from a Multi-Agent Simulation Model

Background: Price transparency of innovative medicines is a heavily debated topic and, despite no evidence suggesting that greater net price transparency (NPT) could benefit either the payers or the patients, it is believed by many stakeholders as a mechanism to promote competition and equity across markets. The aim of this study is to explore the effects of a policy requesting greater NPT in Europe on the achievable pharmaceutical pricing and access in different European countries. A computational multi-agent model representing the European country-level situation was developed to conduct counterfactual analyses of various NPT systems. In particular, the model considers only the case of manufacturers of in-patent pharmaceutical products acting as monopolists, hence not facing competition, when negotiating the price and reimbursement of new drugs. The results of the computational model indicate that lower-income markets could expect price increases under transparent conditions whereas higher-income markets could expect price decreases. A full NPT system encompassing higher- and lower-income European countries would not be viable as middle- and lower-income countries acting as rational economic agents would not give up their confidential agreement system with the pharmaceutical industry. A partial price transparency system could be a viable solution if entailing only the group of high-income countries committing to NPT and accepting a higher price than they could get in their present confidential rebate system, leaving all other countries free to opt for confidential discounts. Results from the computational model are fully in line with previous studies indicating an increasing imbalance between higher- and lower-income countries, with the latter likely to have to pay more for the same value that they get now. This goes against the spirit of Ramsey Pricing principles with which a mark-up would be implemented to countries featuring highly inelastic demand to ensure distributive justice amongst European markets.

Predictors of global carbon dioxide emissions: Do stringent environmental policies matter?

This study examines potential predictors of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions with a focus on the effect of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s environmental policy stringency measure which is an internationally comparable indicator of the stringency degree of environmental policy instruments. The study uses a 21-year (1995–2015) panel dataset of 15 large greenhouse gas emitter countries distinguished between high-income and middle-income economies. Reflecting both demand- and supply-side determinants of CO2 emissions, the regression model includes control variables such as industrialization, trade openness, income per capita, energy productivity, and international investment. The results show that higher environmental policy stringency does not help in reducing the CO2 emissions, rather, it significantly gives rise to CO2 emissions in the cases of the all sample and middle-income economies. Additional findings provide no support for the presence of the global adjustment pattern of the environmental Kuznets curve since CO2 emissions and income are found positively associated in both high-income and middle-income country groups and the nexus is even higher in magnitude for high-income economies. Increases in the levels of industrialization and trade openness lead to more CO2 emissions, whereas an increase in energy productivity is considerably mitigating the emissions in both high-income and middle-income economies. Inward foreign direct investment stocks are negatively associated with CO2 emissions for middle-income countries, while outward foreign direct investment stocks-CO2 emissions nexus is positive in high-income countries. Overall evidence suggests that CO2 mitigation actions in both middle-income and high-income countries need to encourage energy productivity and redesign pro-environmental policies by considering the industrial structures of countries.

Mortality Rates of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Caused by the Novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).

BackgroundThe significance of the global prevalence and incidence of coronavirusdisease 2019 (COVID-19) is a measure of its severity. However, without statistical data, one cannot understand the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. This study, based on good data, enables us to know how the disease is spreading, what impact the pandemic has on the lives of people around the world, and whether the countermeasures that countries have been taking are successful for controlling and preventing the disease. Therefore, this study is undertaken to estimate the infection fatality rates (IFRs) and case-fatality rates (CFRs) in various countries and regions of the world.MethodsCOVID-19-related data were collected from various countries belonging to different World Bank categories based on economies (low-income, low-middle income, upper-middle income, and high-income countries) and the World Health Organization's (WHO's) regional classification of countries (the Americas, European, African, South-East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific regions). The data were collected from the WHO’s dedicated website on COVID-19, and statistical methods like mean, standard deviation, p-value, and percentages were used to calculate the IFR and CFR.ResultsMexico (8.94%) reported the highest IFR among all the countries. The low-income countries reported increased IFR (2.46±1.91) as compared to the other groups. The European region (7.3%) and the American region (5.3%) recorded the highest CFRs. The South-East Asian region reported the lowest CFR (1.1%).ConclusionsThe low-income group countries showed higher rates of IFR and lower CFRs. Lower IFRs and increased CFRs were noted among the high-income group countries and the American and European regions respectively. The varied IFRs and CFRs could be attributed to multiple factors that include climatic conditions, living environments, age, sex, comorbidities, among others.

Association and correlation between cardiorespiratory fitness, BMI, musculo-skeletal and handgrip strength among young adult student girl population in Sullia, Karnataka, India

Background: Obesity is at a rising trend among the childhood age group and is a WHO priority on classification of non-communicable diseases. High income group countries once had a statistically higher percent of obesity problems which has been extended both to the developing and low- income countries. Prevalence rate of obesity in India vary between 11.8% to 31.3% and is higher among the women than men. Obesity also affects the physical and cardio-respiratory fitness thereby leading to a group of metabolic, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders. An association between BMI, musculo-skeletal and cardio-respiratory fitness is less reported among the young adult girl population in the context of Indian professional students.
 Aim & Objectives: To assess few of the musculo-skeletal, cardio-respiratory parameters in relation to BMI among the young adult girl students of medical and dental colleges.
 Material & Methods: One hundred and seventy-one girl students in the range of 19 to 21 years were randomly selected from the educational institute of Sullia, Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka and were assessed for BMI, muscular strength, handgrip strength, flexibility test, cardio-respiratory test and pulmonary function test by standard methods. Data was analysed.
 Results: Musculo-skeletal flexibility, strength, cardiorespiratory fitness and pulmonary functions have an inverse association when compared to the BMI and weight of the girl students.
 Conclusion: Obesity and overweight reduces the flexibility, musculoskeletal and cardio-respiratory fitness in addition to the pulmonary functions among the young adult girl population as confirmed by the battery of tests.
 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.20(2) 2021 p.384-389

HEALTH CARE EXPENDITURES OF 179 COUNTRIES WITH DIFFERENT GNI PER CAPITA IN 2018

The aim: To study the difference in health care expenditures in groups of countries with different GNI per capita. Materials and methods: In 4 groups of countries with different GNI per capita were analyzed indicators of Current health expenditure per capita ($) (СHE), Domestic general government health expenditure per capita, PPP ($) (GGHE $) and GGHE%, Domestic private health expenditure per capita, PPP ($) (PHE) and PHE%, Out-of-pocket expenditure (%) (OOP), Current health expenditure (% of GDP) (CHE% GDP). Results: The group of high-income countries differs by CHE, GGHE $, GGHE%, PHE $, PHE%, OOP, CHE% GDP (p <0.001), the group with incomes above the average - by CHE, GGHE $, PHE $, PHE%, CHE%GDP (p <0.001). Groups with lower average income and low income do not differ in CHE, GGHE$, PHE$, PHE%, OOP (p> 0.05). GNI per capita has a positive effect on GDP%GDP, CHE, GGHE, PHE in the high-income group and negatively affects the OOP (p <0.05), GNI per capita has a positive effect on CHE, GGHE in the above-average income group, GNI per capita has a positive effect on CHE, GGHE, GGHE%, PHE and negatively affects OOP (p <0.05) in the income group below average. GNI per capita has a positive effect on the OOP and negatively affects the CHE%GDP (p <0.05) in the low-income group. Conclusions: Each group of countries, depending on per capita income, has its own health care costs.

Acute kidney injury in intensive care unit: A clinical and outcome study

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) has both short term as well as long-term consequences in critically ill patients. The present study is an attempt to study its etiological profile in intensive care units (ICUs) which has been only scarcely done in India. Methods: One hundred and twenty patients admitted with or developing AKI during their ICU stay were included in the prospective study and were defined as well as staged according to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines. Patients were followed up at discharge and at 3 months to determine the outcome as either favorable (renal recovery) or adverse (residual renal dysfunction, dialysis dependence, or death). Various known risk factors, as laid down by KDIGO, were identified and analyzed with respect to their association with the outcome. Results: Out of total of 120 subjects, almost half of the subjects (47.5%) had Stage I AKI, 27.5% had Stage II AKI and the remaining quarter of subjects had Stage III AKI. One fourth had pre-existing chronic kidney disease and three-fourth subjects had developed de novo AKI of which more than half of patients had community-acquired AKI. Anemia and sepsis were the most prevalent risk factors. The highest rate of renal recovery was demonstrated in Stage I AKI. Overall mortality was 28%, highest in Stage III AKI. Conclusion: The study demonstrated increasing prevalence of the adverse outcome in a linear fashion with an increase in the severity of AKI. Sepsis was not only the most prevalent risk factor but was also strongly associated with an adverse outcome. The epidemiology of AKI in critical care in India has started to resemble high-income group countries, in terms of both age distribution as well as etiology.