Human Development Countries Research Articles

Factors of Gender Inequality and Development among Selected Low Human Development Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa

Gender inequality and poor women empowerment retard improvement in living standards of women and act as a clog in their contributions to governance and economic development. Gender inequality lower quality of life and culminates in limited productivity, hinder economic efficiency and growth. For over three decades, gender issues have been at the front burner of international summits. In spite of much progress in recent times, gender inequalities remain pervasive in many dimensions of life in various regions around the world particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Treatment of women is yet to be fairer and related policies can be more effective to improve the status of women. No-doubt studies have been carried out on gender inequality, but less emphasis has been raveled with respect to hindrances and implications of gender inequality. Hence, understanding the nature of gender inequality will not only promote sound awareness among African countries, but also ignite government efforts as well as NGOs toward effective interventions for reduction of gender inequality especially in the economic and political realms where women are made worse off by the socio-cultural milieu. The methodological approach to this paper was based on reviews of published multiple documents to draw up statistical profile of the situation of women in selected countries of low human Development index in SSA to show the existence of gender inequality. The paper found among all the 12 low human development countries and SSA region examined that gender indicators such as human development index, expected years of schooling, mean years of schooling, estimated gross national per capita, share of seats in parliament, population with at least secondary education and labor-force participation rate are all in favor of men. The paper concludes with recommendations to narrow the gender gaps.

THE AVAILABLE ECONOMIC RESOURCES AND POTENTIALS OF ENHANCING JOINT COOPERATION BETWEEN EGYPT AND NILE BASIN COUNTRIES

This study aims at identifying the available economic resources in Nile Basincountries and potentials of enhancing joint cooperation between Egypt and thesecountries through studying social and economic development indicators in Nile Basincountries, studying the available water resources and energy production, the availableinvestment opportunities, and the joint projects between Egypt and these countries . Thetotal area of Nile Basin countries is about million km , most of Nile Basin countrieshave large areas of agricultural land and abundant water resources, including Nile waters,rainfall and lakes. Given the overall economic activity of Nile Basin countries, the totalGDP of Nile Basin countries was estimated at $ billion in , representing aboutof the GDP of the African continent. As for the indicators of human developmentin Nile basin countries, all are among the low human development countries exceptEgypt, which are classified among medium human development countries. One of themost important opportunities for Egyptian investment in Sudan is investment inagricultural production. Investment opportunities in Tanzania include agriculturalinvestment, especially animal and fish production and investment in manufacturing.Investment opportunities in Ethiopia are to invest in agricultural, plant and animalproduction, fish, forest and honey production, and investment in leather manufacturing.As for the investment opportunities in Kenya, the most important investment in plant,animal and fish production as well as investment in the field of agricultural processing,and the investment opportunities in Uganda, including animal and fish production. Thestudy recommends the establishment of a legal and institutional framework to achieveeconomic integration between Egypt and Nile Basin countries, investment ininfrastructure projects, and reviving of joint economic projects with Nile Basin countries

Analysis of relationship between interpersonal trust and social and economic indicators

The paper deals with the analysis of the type and the degree of relationship between the interpersonal trust index and social and economic indicators: Income (GDP per capita), Inequality (Gini coefficient), Human development index (HDI), Corruption (Corruption perception index). The methods of correlation analysis and neural network modeling are applied. The World Bank, World Values Survey (WVS) and European Social Survey (ESS) database is used. The analysis was carried out on the sample of 105 countries, where WVS and ESS interviews were conducted. The closest correlation dependence was found out between the trust index and HDI in a group of high human development countries, as well as among high income countries. The correlation is positive in these cases. In medium and low income level countries this relationship is weak and contradictory. The correlation between trust and corruption perception has similar nature: high income countries are characterized by close positive relationship between trust and corruption intolerance, in the low-income group this relationship is weaker, and in the group of middle income countries the correlation is negative. The weakest relationship is observed between the trust and GDP per capita (in the high income group it is positive, in the low income countries it is negative). There is negative weak correlation with Gini index in all the groups, except for the countries, where trust level is high: correlation dependence is strong there). Using a neural network model based on GDP per capita, the human development index and the corruption perception index, it was shown the possibility to predict the trust index for a group of high income countries.

ANALYSIS OF THE HUMANISM PRINCIPLE IN TODAY’S IN ECONOMIES OF FORMER SOVIET UNION COUNTRIES

This publication aims at analyzing of the dominant of the humanism principle in today’s in economies in the new European Union (EU) Member States, the Baltic States and Belarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine, with special emphasis on Human Development Index (HDI), and to compare them on the Europe and welt development level.This section is focused on Member States of the former Soviet Union countries on human development, in particular in HDI-index, life expectancy at birth, gross national income per capita, Gini-index, poverty and other indicators. Scientific novelty is analysis of human development quality of between very high and high human development countries, of between the two very different groups the former Soviet Union countries and also short secular humanism analysis.

Predictive global trends in the incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer based on geographic location, socio-economic status, and demographic shift.

Pancreatic Cancer (PC) is a lethal malignancy that accounts for about 4% of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The aim of this study is to describe the influence of geography (based on WHO regions), socio-economic development (based on Human Development Index [HDI]) and demographic shift on the temporal trends in global incidence and mortality of PC. Data (2012-2030) relating to the incidence, mortality of PC and demographic shifts based on WHO regions and HDI areas were extracted from GLOBOCAN 2012. Linear regression was used to evaluate trends in total incidence and mortality. We noted a definite association between PC and higher socio-economic status. Advanced age (age ≥65) contributed to the rising burden in all socio-economic regions of the world except in the Low Human Development (LHD) countries where the disease predominantly affected population <65 years of age. The global burden of PC is expected to rise significantly over the next few decades regardless of geographic location, socio-economic development, age and gender. Advance knowledge of this data can help formulate strategies to specifically target countries and populations that promote public health policy to tackle this lethal disease on the global stage. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:736-742. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Refusal of recommended travel-related vaccines among U.S. international travellers in Global TravEpiNet.

Background: International travellers are at risk of travel-related, vaccine-preventable diseases. More data are needed on the proportion of travellers who refuse vaccines during a pre-travel health consultation and their reasons for refusing vaccines.Methods: We analyzed data on travellers seen for a pre-travel health consultation from July 2012 through June 2014 in the Global TravEpiNet (GTEN) consortium. Providers were required to indicate one of three reasons for a traveller refusing a recommended vaccine: (1) cost concerns, (2) safety concerns or (3) not concerned with the illness. We calculated refusal rates among travellers eligible for each vaccine based on CDC recommendations current at the time of travel. We used multivariable logistic regression models to examine the effect of individual variables on the likelihood of accepting all recommended vaccines.Results: Of 24 478 travellers, 23 768 (97%) were eligible for at least one vaccine. Travellers were most frequently eligible for typhoid (N = 20 092), hepatitis A (N = 12 990) and influenza vaccines (N = 10 539). Of 23 768 eligible travellers, 6573 (25%) refused one or more recommended vaccine(s). Of those eligible, more than one-third refused the following vaccines: meningococcal: 2232 (44%) of 5029; rabies: 1155 (44%) of 2650; Japanese encephalitis: 761 (41%) of 1846; and influenza: 3527 (33%) of 10 539. The most common reason for declining vaccines was that the traveller was not concerned about the illness. In multivariable analysis, travellers visiting friends and relatives (VFR) in low or medium human development countries were less likely to accept all recommended vaccines, compared with non-VFR travellers (OR = 0.74 (0.59–0.95)).Conclusions: Travellers who sought pre-travel health care refused recommended vaccines at varying rates. A lack of concern about the associated illness was the most commonly cited reason for all refused vaccines. Our data suggest more effective education about disease risk is needed for international travellers, even those who seek pre-travel advice.

Epidemiology, incidence and mortality of lung cancer and their relationship with the development index in the world.

The highest incidence of lung cancer is seen in North America and the lowest incidence in central Africa. Socioeconomic factors of inequality reflect regional disparities in human development. Due to the importance of awareness about incidence and mortality of lung cancer in health programming and the possible role of the human development index (HDI), this study was done with the aim to investigate the epidemiology of lung cancer in the world and its relationship with HDI. The study was conducted based on data from the world data of cancer and the World Bank (including the HDI and its components). Data about the age-specific incidence and mortality rate (ASR) for every country in 2012 were getting from the global cancer project. To analyze data, correlation tests between incidence and death rates, and HDI and its components were employed with a significance level of 0.05 using SPSS software. Lung cancer with standardized incidence rate (ASIR) and standardized mortality rate (ASMR), equal to 23.1 and 19.7 (in 100,000 people), respectively. The highest and lowest values of mortality incidence ratio (MIR) for lung cancer due to continents division were 0.93 and 0.71 for Eastern Africa and Australia/New Zealand, respectively. Univariate analysis showed significant relationship (P<0.0001) between ASIR and ASMR with life expectancy at birth and mean years of schooling. The highest MIR for lung cancer was for medium human development countries. Linear regression analysis showed a reverse significant relationship between MIR and HDI.

Limited resources of genome sequencing in developing countries: Challenges and solutions

The differences between countries in national income, growth, human development and many other factors are used to classify countries into developed and developing countries. There are several classification systems that use different sets of measures and criteria. The most common classifications are the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank (WB) systems. The UN classification system uses the UN Human Development Index (HDI), an indicator that uses statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita for countries' classification. While the WB system uses gross national income (GNI) per capita that is calculated using the World Bank Atlas method. According to the UN and WB classification systems, there are 151 and 134 developing countries, respectively, with 89% overlap between the two systems. Developing countries have limited human development, and limited expenditure in education and research, among several other limitations. The biggest challenge facing genomic researchers and clinicians is limited resources. As a result, genomic tools, specifically genome sequencing technologies, which are rapidly becoming indispensable, are not widely available. In this report, we explore the current status of sequencing technologies in developing countries, describe the associated challenges and emphasize potential solutions.

Hard-to-reach populations of men who have sex with men and sex workers: a systematic review on sampling methods.

BackgroundIn public health, hard-to-reach populations are often recruited by non-probabilistic sampling methods that produce biased results. In order to overcome this, several sampling methods have been improved and developed in the last years. The aim of this systematic review was to identify all current methods used to survey most-at-risk populations of men who have sex with men and sex workers. The review also aimed to assess if there were any relations between the study populations and the sampling methods used to recruit them. Lastly, we wanted to assess if the number of publications originated in middle and low human development (MLHD) countries had been increasing in the last years.MethodsA systematic review was conducted using electronic databases and a total of 268 published studies were included in the analysis.ResultsIn this review, 11 recruitment methods were identified. Semi-probabilistic methods were used most commonly to survey men who have sex with men, and the use of the Internet was the method that gathered more respondents. We found that female sex workers were more frequently recruited through non-probabilistic methods than men who have sex with men (odds = 2.2; p < 0.05; confidence interval (CI) [1.1–4.2]). In the last 6 years, the number of studies based in middle and low human development countries increased more than the number of studies based in very high and high human development countries (odds = 2.5; p < 0.05; CI [1.3–4.9]).ConclusionsThis systematic literature review identified 11 methods used to sample men who have sex with men and female sex workers. There is an association between the type of sampling method and the population being studied. The number of studies based in middle and low human development countries has increased in the last 6 years of this study.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-015-0129-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Asymmetric Impact of Growth Fluctuation on Human Development

In this paper, we re-examine the impact of economic growth fluctuation on human development indicators. Using the per capita growth rate and human development indicators for 131 countries between 1974 and 2007, we find that growth acceleration and deceleration have significant impact on the human development indicators. We also find that the effects are asymmetric. This asymmetric effect is valid both in terms of acceleration and deceleration periods and countries which are classified according to human development. Namely, the negative impact of economic deceleration on human development outcomes is greater than the positive impact of economic acceleration for all countries. The same is true for medium and low human development countries. The positive impact of economic acceleration and negative impact of economic deceleration are greater than the impacts on very high and high development countries. Therefore, economic growth must be provided, which will reach everyone and ensure everyone's utilization of economic opportunities in order to achieve the 2023 Millennium Goals.

Typology of Human Capital Development in EU Countries

Abstract This paper proposes to reveal typology of EU countries in human capital development. On the bases of theoretical findings on human capital development human capital development index which consists out of three sub-indices: Social progress of human capital, Innovation development rate of Human capital and Potential of Human capital development had been created. The human capital development index verified using the factor analysis and reliability analysis methods, created out of 26 primary variables and data of 26 EU countries were used. The hierarchical cluster analysis of human capital development in EU countries revealed six groups of the countries having the different human capital development patterns in EU. This scientific research is financed by the Research Council of Lithuania (Institutional scientific research program “Challenges of Lithuanian economyʽs long-term competitiveness”).

The influence of national leader change on corruption and sovereign rating

Corruption is a critical social and ethical problem that can impede the economic growth of a country or even ruin a country. In addition, the importance of the sovereign rating of a country cannot be underestimated. A change in the sovereign rating of a country can affect its borrowing capacity. Using members of the United Nations from 1995 to 2012 as the research sample, this study investigated the influence of national leader change on corruption and sovereign rating by analyzing one year after the change in national leadership. The results showed that national leader change exerted a significant, positive effect on the degree of corruption and the sovereign rating one year after the change in national leadership. By including national characteristics, this study found that for countries that have adopted the semipresidential system, national leader change had a significant, negative effect on the degree of corruption and the sovereign rating. For extreme human development countries, national leader change had a significant, negative effect on the degree of corruption but did not significantly affect the sovereign rating. The results of this study can serve as a reference for investors engaged in international investment decision-making.

Toward malaysian sustainable agriculture in 21st century

Sustainable agriculture should be able to meet various social goals and objectives so that it can be maintained for an indefinite period without significant negative impacts on environment and natural resources. A wide variety of agricultural activities are running in Malaysia. Maintaining high quality of agricultural products with lower environmental impacts through a sustainable economic viability and life satisfaction of farmers and community are important factors helping to meet sustainable agriculture. Human resources are playing key role in directing the community toward sustainable development. The trend of improving the human development index in Malaysia is highest in the East Asia and the Pacific, high human development countries and the world, since 2000. Precision agriculture is providing strong tools to achieve sustainable agriculture. Different types of sensors, positioning and navigation systems, GIS, software and variable rate technology are well known components of precision agriculture. Drones and robots are promising tools that enabling farmers and managers to collect information or perform particular actions in remote areas or tough conditions. According to a survey, forestry and timber, rubber production and oil palm estates are three main agricultural divisions that precision agriculture may improve the productivity in respect to area of cropland/worker. Main factors affecting the adoption of precision agriculture in Malaysia are: a) Political and legal supports, b) Decision support systems and user interfaces c) Experienced research team works d) National educational policy e) Success in commercialization of precision agriculture system.

To What Extent is the HDI a Good Indicator of the Relative 'Success' or 'Failure' of National Social Policies?

The Human Development Index was launched in 1990. The idea was to measure development not just through income but also by looking at various indicators such as life expectancy and schooling. The HDI is not a good indicator of national social policies' success or failure. It suffers from many problems including; having fewer indicators to monitor for the sake of simplicity; poorly chosen indicators; methodological problems; calculation flaws and trade-off issues between variables. However, this does not change the fact that the index is, at the moment, is one of the most trustworthy and cited indexes in the field of development and it is welcomed by many governments and institutions around the world. Having said that, there are still more ways for us to develop more accurate and targeted, well grounded indexes to monitor the progress of countries in human development. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n8p208

The Cost of Living and Terror: Does Consumer Price Volatility Fuel Terrorism?

Do fluctuations of consumer prices prompt terrorist activity? A latent assumption among conflict scholars is that price volatilities for basic consumer goods produce hardships for people that increase popular grievances, damage government legitimacy, and raise the chances for terrorism. In this study, I use a series of regression estimations to test volatility in consumer price indices for energy, housing, and foods as predictors of domestic and transnational terrorism in a cross section of countries. I produce several findings. First, food price fluctuations are significant predictors of multiple measures of terrorism, while energy and housing prices are not. Second, rapid food price increases, not decreases, promote terrorist attacks. Third, the relationship between food price volatility and terrorism is most consistently present in nondemocratic and “hybrid” political regimes and in medium human development countries rather than in democracies or in countries characterized by very high or very low economic development.

Human development and South East Asian countries: Special emphasis on India

‘Development’ is to improve the quality of people's lives by creating an environment for them to engage in a wide range of activities, to be healthy and well nourished, to be knowledgeable and to be able to participate in the community life. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a multi-dimensional index of development as it is the combination of three development indices- health index, education index and income index. This article attempts to compare the HDI and its components between various South East Asian countries. Secondary data is used. India's position on the HDI scale is equivalent to the South East Asian average and rank 134 out of more than 190 countries. In South East Asia, India stood fifth in HDI, behind Sri Lanka, Thailand, Maldives and Indonesia. Country has launched several schemes and programs to improve the health indicators, to provide elementary education to every child and to alleviate poverty. India's HDI value has improved with time but still country has a long way to go in achieving an acceptable HDI. Need is to strengthen the existing schemes and programs.

A new RICEs model with the global emission reduction schemes

Taking into account the fact of global economic integration, this paper improves the RICE model and the MRICES model, and establishes a new integrated assessment model MRICES-2012, which takes Ramsey utility as the standard of fairness. Based on the model, schemes which meet the global emission mitigation targets as well as the interests of developing countries are simulated to assess the international fairness of emission reduction. Therefore, a new feasible scheme is proposed, which can not only reach the Copenhagen Consensus but also ensure interests of every country. Specifically speaking, the US and Japan cut emissions 80% and 70% respectively by 2050 relative to the 1990 level; the EU and other developed countries cut 80% by 2050 relative to 1990 level; high human development countries cut 50% by 2050 relative to 1990 level; all above-mentioned countries start emission reduction from 2020 and keep emission on 2050 level by 2100; China begins emission reduction from 2030 and cuts emission 15% by 2050 and 25% by 2100 relative to 2005 level; medium human development countries keep emission on 2020 level by 2100; low human development countries do not take part in reduction on emission intensity and global emission.

Relationship between GDP and Human Development Indices in India

The Human Development Index is a composite index to measure the development of human resources in each country and four indicators of life expectancy; income per capita, the average number of years studying and hope to the number of years of education will be formed. Countries, according to the Department of Human Development Index, with high human development, countries with high human development, and human development countries with medium and low human development are divided. The development goal is to create conditions where people can live a long and healthy life and benefit in knowledge. The Human Resource Development Index is one of the important indicators of economic development for each country and is considered to have an effective role in economic development. The importance of the Human Development Index is put to review on the Indian economy. Trends change each of the three human resource development indexes during the 30-year period from 1980 to 2010. In this article, we will consider the relationship between GDP and three indicators of human resources in India. In addition, we will evaluate the relationship and mutual effects of each of the three indicators of human resource development in the Indian economy using the latest (2010) formula provided by the United Nations. In this study, GDP or income act as the dependent variables and the three indicators of long life, health and education act as independent variables.

New panel data evidence of human development convergence from 1975 to 2005

This paper studies the possibility of human development convergence in the world from 1975 through 2005. Human development is measured by the Human Development Index (HDI) trend, and convergence across countries is tested for by the panel data approach of Ben-David (1993) and bootstrap critical values. Similar analysis is performed on the members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and on the European Union (EU) countries too. Moreover, it is also tested whether low human development countries had been converging to high human development countries, less rich OECD countries to rich OECD countries, and whether those countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 had been converging to those member states that joined the EU earlier. The results suggest that in each case, the general rise of HDI was accompanied by convergence.

Relationship between GDP and Human Development Indices in India

Human Development Index is a composite index to measure the development of human resources in each country and four indicators of life expectancy, income per capita, the average number of years studying and hope to the number of years of education will be formed. Countries, according to the Department of Human Development Index rates countries with high human development, countries with high human development, and human development countries with medium and low human development countries are divided. Development Goal is creating conditions where people can live long and healthy life and knowledge benefit. Human Resource Development Index as one of the important indicators of economic development for each country and is considered an effective role in economic development. Importance of human development index led put review Indian economy. Trend changes every three human resource development index during the 30-year period from 1980 to 2010 of the goals of this research. In this article we will consider relationship between GDP and three indicators of human resources in India. In addition, we will evaluate relationship and mutual effects of each of the three indicators of human resource development in the Indian economy using the latest (2010) formula provided by the United Nations. GDP or income as the dependent variable and three indicators long life, health and education as independent variables in the research model have been told.