Middle-income Economies Research Articles

THE IMPACT OF TRADE OPENNESS ON INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE FORMER CENTRALLY PLANNED MIDDLE–INCOME ECONOMIES

This study investigates the association between trade openness and income inequality in the former centrally planned middle–income economies over the period 1994–2019. Apart from the full sample, the EU member or candidate middle–income Balkan economies, and the middle–income CIS countries subsamples were used in estimations as benchmark. Foreign direct investment, inflation, government expenditures and gross fixed capital formation control variables are incorporated into the PMG–ARDL model used in the study. Although some individual country or a few panel studies in the literature have investigated the relationship between trade openness and income inequality, to the best of our knowledge, none have examined these issues focusing on the middle–income post-communist economies and its subgroups particularly. The PMG estimation results for the sample including the middle–income Balkan economies reveal that within 1% increase of trade openness, income inequality worsens by 0.27. We suggest these countries to strengthen their income redistribution strategies while pursuing policies that promote integration into the global market.

Impact of Domestic and Foreign Capital on Economic Growth and Employment: Empirical Analysis of 43 Lower Middle-income Economies

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of domestic and foreign capital inflows on economic growth and employment in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). To analyze the impact of domestic and foreign capital on economic growth and employment, this study used panel data from 43 LMICs spanning the period 1990 to 2021. The study employed the Panel Ordinary Least Squares (POLS) estimation method for the baseline regression analysis. However, the Breusch-Pagan test suggested that the estimation model is not suitable for GDP per capita growth (GDPPCG) under POLS estimation. Thus, the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) procedure has been employed to examine the impact of domestic and foreign capital on economic growth. After the Hausman specification test, we used a random-effect estimation procedure for the conclusion of the impact analysis under panel data analysis techniques. This study concludes that there is a positive impact of both domestic and foreign capital on economic growth in LMICs. However, only foreign capital inflow has a significantly positive impact on employment. The impact of domestic and foreign capital inflows on economic growth and employment differs significantly. Therefore, this study advises that, for LMICs, domestic capital is more important for growth and employment.

Composition of the editorial staff of major spinal journals based on geo-economic background: A survey analysis

BackgroundThe widespread absence of papers originating in low and middle income economies (LAMIE) across various scholarly disciplines has been widely acknowledged. One potential reason for this could be editorial biases against submissions from LAMIE. Although this bias has been observed in different academic areas, its extent in spinal research remains largely uninvestigated. This research endeavored to investigate the composition of editorial staff members (ESM) within major spinal journals and scrutinize the degree of international diversity represented among the ESM. MethodsWe pinpointed ten major spinal journals by referencing their presence in the Journal Citation Reports of 2021. Countries of the ESM affiliated with these journals were categorized according to World Bank classifications. Following this, we conducted a thorough analysis of the ESM compositions. ResultsA total of 982 ESM from 50 countries were identified. The United States exhibited the highest representation among ESM (395, 40.22%), followed by South Korea (57, 5.80%), Switzerland (53, 5.40%). When segmented by geographical regions, North America emerged with the highest representation, constituting 43.38% of ESM at 426, trailed by Europe & Central Asia at 31.16% (306), East Asia & Pacific at 17.92% (175). The majority of ESM, amounting to 87.98%, hailed from high income economies (HIE). There was an absence of ESM representation of low income economies. The relationship regarding the quantity of ESM in each country and its population failed to demonstrate significance (p = 0.274, r = 0.281). However, a notable positive correlation emerged when exploring the connection between ESM numbers and gross domestic product (p = 0.033, r = 0.517). ConclusionsMajor spinal journals exhibit a notable absence of international representation within their editorial boards, predominantly comprising members from HIE. This underscores a substantial underrepresentation of ESM originating from LAMIE within the sphere of spinal investigation.

Financial development, institutional quality and economic growth in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

Over the years, there have been huge variations in the growth performances of the economies in SSA. Whilst these disparities can be attributed to a wide range of factors, it is generally understood that differences in their economic structures explain the capacity for generating growth and absorbing shocks during a recession. This study contributes to literature by examining the impact of institutional quality and financial development on economic growth in low- and middle-income countries. Data was obtained from the World Bank and covered the period from 1975 to 2020. The study employed an ARDL model to establish both short and long run dynamics in the two sub samples. The study confirmed both short and long run causality from financial and institutional quality to growth. Institutional quality enhances growth in both low- and middle-income countries in the long run. Whilst the direction of the impact is the same, the magnitude of the impact of institutional quality is different within the two categories. Institutional quality plays a more significant role in low-income countries compared to middle income economies. The study brings out potential financial fragility and systemic risks in financial institutions among countries in SSA. Policies that enhance the quality, consistency, and uniformity of legal reasoning in judicial decisions are ideal. Reducing the risk profile for investments may enhance the flow of credit to the private sector by financial institutions.

Factors Affecting Turkish Medical Students' Pursuit of a Career in Neurosurgery: A Single Center Survey Study

Statistics show that over the past 2 decades, even in high-income countries, fewer and fewer students have listed neurosurgery as their top career option. Literature on medical students' pursuit of neurosurgical careers in middle- and low-income countries are scarce. The aim of this research, conducted in Turkey with a middle-income economy, was to contribute insights relevant to medical education and neurosurgery across the world. A survey was conducted with a target sample of fourth-year (167 students), fifth-year (169 students), and sixth-year (140 students) medical students (476 in total) from the Medical School at Istanbul Medeniyet University in Turkey. The response rates of the fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-year students were 62% (104/167), 53% (90/169), and 50% (70/140), respectively (in total, 266, including 147 female and 119 male). In terms of the genuine intention, only 2.5% of men and 2.7% of women were committed to specializing in neurosurgery. This study further revealed that possible reasons for these students' low motivation to specialize in neurosurgery were their beliefs that in neurosurgery, the physical and psychological demands were high, and the night shifts were intense, meaning they would not have a social life or spare time for their hobbies; that morbidity/mortality were high; and that financial incentives were insufficient, especially in public institutions. Turkish medical students did not rank neurosurgery at the top of their career choices. Possible reasons for this are socioeconomic factors and the inadequate introduction of neurosurgery to medical students.

Delivering double wins: How can Africa's finance deliver economic growth and renewable energy transition?

As economies grow, they tend to prioritize industrializing with fossil fuels over protecting the environment, impeding efforts to combat climate change. Therefore, there is an urgent need to address the critical policy concern of financing a clean energy transition to ensure sustainable economic growth for current and future generations. We examine the effect of financial development on clean energy transition in 20 low-income and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The study employs fixed-effects and instrumental variable two-stage Least squares (IV-2SLS) models to examine the effect of financial development on the transition to renewable energy. Overall, the results show a positive effect of financial development on renewable energy transition. However, the financial development effect is only significant for financial institutions instead of financial markets – a signal of weak financial markets in the region. More importantly, the results show that this financial development effect on renewable energy transition is significant only in low-income countries, contrary to middle-income economies. We recommend that governments in the region further develop and promote innovative financial market products such as green bonds and digital finance that support private sector investments in renewable energy. Regarding trade, it is critical to subsidize environmentally friendly green energy imports while taxing non-renewable products that promote the use of fossil fuels.

Hierarchical consumption preferences, redistribution, and structural transformation

Abstract In low- and middle-income economies, consumption preferences are hierarchical and the production structure is dualistic. Wage demand correspondingly articulates with the domestic industrial sector in a limited fashion. Where capital accumulation is directed at this modern/industrial sector, downward redistributions are less expansionary than commonly outlined, even if capacity utilization is an adjusting variable influencing investment decisions. Insofar as economic development is underpinned by structural transformation, policies aligned with downward redistributions have important sectoral ramifications neglected in one-sector frameworks. This paper explores these and related propositions formally, drawing from the analysis of a two-sector growth and distribution model.

Empowering Women through Tourism and Financial Development: Empirical Evidence from Upper Middle-Income Economies

The concept of women’s empowerment in this study focuses on international tourism, economic growth, financial development and financial inclusion among others as integral aspects that would help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Using panel data from 15 Upper Middle-Income Countries between 1995 and 2017, the study employs cutting edge approaches such as fixed-effect models, random effect models, GMM and robust LS regressions to identify major impacts. The results show a strong relationship between these factors regarding women’s empowerment with clear impacts on self-employment among the women and increased participation in serviceability and industrial areas. In particular, these factors play a very important role in total employment of women. The analysis reinforces the ability of international tourism, economic growth, financial development and financial inclusion to facilitate women’s empowerment in Upper Middle-Income Countries. This study illuminates the complex realities that guide how a woman participates in power structures, which partly exposes broad aspiration of sustainable development.

Education, incentive, and engineering-based interventions to promote the use of seat belts.

Education, incentive, and engineering-based interventions to promote the use of seat belts.

Biofortification's contribution to mitigating micronutrient deficiencies.

Biofortification was first proposed in the early 1990s as a low-cost, sustainable strategy to enhance the mineral and vitamin contents of staple food crops to address micronutrient malnutrition. Since then, the concept and remit of biofortification has burgeoned beyond staples and solutions for low- and middle-income economies. Here we discuss what biofortification has achieved in its original manifestation and the main factors limiting the ability of biofortified crops to improve micronutrient status. We highlight the case for biofortified crops with key micronutrients, such as provitamin D3/vitamin D3, vitamin B12 and iron, for recognition of new demographics of need. Finally, we examine where and how biofortification can be integrated into the global food system to help overcome hidden hunger, improve nutrition and achieve sustainable agriculture.

Economic growth, energy consumption, and trade openness nexus: Evidence from net energy importing middle-income countries

The study explores both the long- and short-run liaisons between three conceptual dimensions: economic growth, energy consumption, and trade openness in 29 net energy importing middle-income economies using annual data from 1990 to 2019. We hereby assess ARDL models which examine the long-run links by integrations in between these three conceptual variables, and additionally Dumitrescu-Hurlin and Granger causality tests for panel and individual country models, respectively. For panel country samples, we reveal bidirectional causality connection between trade openness and economic growth along with unidirectional causalities from economic growth to energy consumption and from energy consumption to trade openness in the short-run. Bidirectional positive feedback relationships stand between economic growth - energy consumption and trade openness - energy consumption in the full sample and the upper middle-middle economies subsample in the long-run. Findings for individual country estimations reveal significant long-run relationships between energy consumption and economic growth in 12, energy consumption and trade openness in 6, and economic growth and trade openness in 9 of the middle-income economies examined.

Fostering Academic Entrepreneurship for Economic Development: Challenges, Frameworks, and Strategies in ASEAN

The economies of ASEAN countries have experienced growth, but many find themselves stuck in the "middle-income trap" for an extended period. Overcoming this trap is crucial as it is linked to issues such as limited job opportunities and unstable income, especially in Southeast Asia. To avoid this trap, promoting innovation is recommended, with the startup ecosystem seen as a key driver of economic growth since the 2010s. Accelerating business development through startup promotion has become a benchmark for achieving economic development. Encouraging entrepreneurship, particularly through startups, plays a significant role in boosting economies. Academic entrepreneurship, involving students, governments, and private enterprises, has emerged as an important approach. However, middle-income ASEAN economies, especially in the lower-middle-income bracket, face challenges in promoting academic entrepreneurship due to resource, funding, and connection limitations. To address this, a conceptual framework was developed to understand the theoretical relationship between the economic development stage and entrepreneurship through startups. Panel data analysis using natural logarithmic data revealed that entrepreneurship via startups is a significant predictor and a substantial factor in promoting economic development. Building on the panel data analysis results, a strategic framework for promoting economic development through entrepreneurship via startups was formulated through qualitative analysis. This involved integrating insights from academic entrepreneurship policies and the current development conditions in six selected middle-income ASEAN economies, along with the status of the startup ecosystem. Notably, there is a need for further development in financial and educational support to encourage young university students to establish companies in collaboration with governments and enterprises. Tailoring startup policies to the development status of each country is desirable.

Potential Benefits of Crowd-Collaborative Farming in Sustaining Small Scale Dairy Farming Business Performance

The importance of small scale agricultural sustainability is gradually declining in low and middle income economies due to the assortment of changes in agriculture and the environment. Moreover, the high withdrawal of small scale farmers from the market disrupts the direct relationships between producers and consumers, and also puts at risk food security, primarily on the local and regional scale. This paper focuses on optimizing farming activities of the small scale dairy farmers (SSDFs) through crowdsourcing and synergy (CSS) platforms. The methodology for this paper is anchored on the construction of resolve using logic and rationality. This paper points that agricultural outputs are more valuable when delivered by teams because of positive synergies. Moreover, agricultural activities could be optimized through collaborative farming and community supported agriculture as CSS platforms known as crowd-collaborative farming (CCF). CCF could effect increased benefits due to suitability of the crafted member composition, yielding improved local market performance in many settings. Moreover, research on CCF as a tool to develop efficient mechanisms for revenue distribution among the collaborators is necessary. The study further recommends that SSDFs should be trained towards CCF to enhance their production output, especially those experiencing high failures and less returns due to debt erosion. SSDFs they should keep in sync with the consumers.

LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE AND ITS EFFECT ON LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE: AN IMPACT ANALYSIS OF ROHINGYA INFLUX IN UKHIA UPAZILA BETWEEN YEAR 2000 TO 2020

Bangladesh is a country of near about 16 crore people with recently earning status of middle-income economy. Thecountry is already facing so many challenges in the economy and increasing population growth. Overcrowding is one ofthe main concerns of the country right now. Social Crimes, unsafety etc. are the day-to-day deals of the people of ourcountry. Though all these problems are present, the country is growing in the case of its economy. But a country like ourswhich is already encountering so many problems, is facing another big challenge of refugee issues. In 2017, 655,000Rohingya refugee came to Bangladesh in search of safety from the Myanmar militaries and built their residences at thecoastal upazilas of Bangladesh. This led to a tremendous amount of tree cutting, landfilling and other damage to nature.The Ukhia Upazila is the place for the largest refugee camp of the Rohingya people. To make this camp huge areas havefaced deforestation to meet the needs of the helpless people. Every element of nature has been damaged. By ConductingLand Use and Land Change Detection methods, the study has tried to show the amount of damage done by thesedeforestations and their impacts on the environmental parameter. From the years 2000 to 2020, a total of 36.39 sq. km.of vegetation area has been damaged. 25% of the bare lands have been converted to other land uses for fulfilling thepurposes of people living there. 2.88% of waterbodies have been decreased from the year 2010 to 2020. Dense vegetationhas decreased from 118.77 sq. km. to 82.3 sq. km. The land use change rate has also increased from 3.6% to 5.4% in overa year gap. The average land surface temperature increased to 26.5 degrees Celsius as a result of the continuouselimination of land covers. Further analysis of the thesis paper will give details information on the Land use landscapechange and its impact on the environment

Financial Development: The Role of GDP per Capita Dynamics in Low- & Middle-Income Economies

This study delves into the complex role of economic growth on financial development within low- and middle-income economies (LMIE). It analyzes a dataset spanning 85 countries from 1980 to 2020, collapsed into 9 periods, yielding 765 observations. Employing General Method of Moments (GMM), including two-step system GMM and forward-orthogonal deviations IV/GMM methods, the research uncovers intriguing dynamics. Positive shifts in GDP per capita are found to correspond with heightened financial development, whereas negative changes exhibit an adverse relationship. Government consumption yields mixed results, and inflation negatively impacts financial development, while trade openness and favorable terms of trade exhibit positive associations. These findings underscore the significance of economic development, price stability, trade openness, and financial sector stability in nurturing financial development in LMIE. Therefore, policymakers are encouraged to prioritize strategies aimed at fostering economic growth, income augmentation, and economic resilience, particularly in times of economic turmoil. This research offers a unique contribution by dissecting economic growth into positive and negative changes, providing insights into their distinct impacts on financial development using GMM estimation. It empowers policymakers to leverage economic growth shifts and trade reforms for inclusive financial development.

Intensity of labor shocks behind the changes in Brazilian hours worked during the pandemic

COVID-19 has impacted the labor market in multiple ways, including by reducing the number of hours effectively worked. A study on the US economy found that two-thirds of the drop in the aggregate growth rate of hours worked was due to a labor supply shock. This paper quantifies the role of labor supply and labor demand shocks in Brazil’s labor market behavior during the COVID-19 period by estimating a Bayesian Structural Vector Autoregression (BVAR) with sign restrictions on the slopes of the labor supply and labor demand curves. Our results show that labor demand shocks were more important than labor supply shocks in explaining the decline in hours effectively worked. The prominence of labor demand shocks in Brazil is an exciting result that demonstrates the heterogeneous impacts of similar shocks on high- and middle-income economies.

Resources extraction and access to clean energy a curse or blessing for the economy? Middle-income economies case study

The study evaluates the long-lasting and debatable issue of the resource-growth nexus, which unearths whether natural resources have a curse or blessing on economic growth. Hence, this research revisits the nexus of natural resources and economic growth in middle-income economies with more relevant and effective variables: energy efficiency and access to clean fuel technology from 1988 to 2021. The study leveraged various time series methods, including the ADF-GLS stationary analysis to govern the stationary sequence and the Bayer-Hanck cointegration test for long-term cointegration. The primary methods include FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR, which reveal long-term elasticities between dependent and independent variables. Both non-parametric quantile and parametric robust regression are used for robustness checks. The results reveal that time series were found static D (1) and long-term cointegration occurs between economic growth and its regressors: mineral rents, natural gas rents, energy efficiency, and access to clean fuel technology. The empirical findings exhibit that natural gas and mineral rents show an encouraging influence on the economy's growth in middle-income economies, confirming the blessings of these resources. Moreover, energy efficiency and access to clean fuel technology allow effective use of natural resource rents and endorse supportable economic growth. The robustness check scrutiny confirms the results via robust regression, while the robustness test of quantile regression displays asymmetries in the mineral rents and natural gas rents across quantiles. These results indicate several policy implications to policymakers regarding the use of energy efficiency and access to clean fuel technologies should be increased and encouraged to allow the effective use of natural resources for sustainable expansion of the economy.

What broke the pearl of the Indian ocean? The causes of the Sri Lankan economic crisis and its policy implications

Sri Lanka unilaterally defaulted on its external debt in April 2022, exposing its long-standing economic and financial vulnerabilities and igniting a series of inter-related multiple economic crises—fiscal, debt, currency, inflation, and balance of payments—as well as a vast socio-political upheaval. This paper analyses the economic crisis and its various dimensions to understand the sources of the crisis and draw policy implications. The role of fiscal balances and public debt in the crisis, along with debt sustainability, international sovereign bonds, liquidity crisis, and currency collapse, are analyzed. The root cause of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis was running persistent and large fiscal deficits, which were increasingly financed by unsustainable public debt, particularly foreign commercial borrowings. A substantial reduction and reprofiling of debt through restructuring of both domestic and foreign debt to ensure debt sustainability, meaningful fiscal policy reforms anchored by revenue increases and expenditure rationalization to reduce fiscal deficits, and deep growth-enhancing structural reforms are necessary for medium-term rescue and recovery and long-term growth and stability of Sri Lanka. The findings provide important policy lessons for other emerging markets and middle-income economies.

Critical care bed capacity in Asian countries and regions before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlighted the importance of critical care. The aim of the current study was to compare the number of adult critical care beds in relation to population size in Asian countries and regions before (2017) and during (2022) the pandemic. MethodsThis observational study collected data closest to 2022 on critical care beds (intensive care units and intermediate care units) in 12 middle-income and 7 high-income economies (using the 2022-2023 World Bank classification), through a mix of methods including government sources, national critical care societies, personal contacts, and data extrapolation. Data were compared with a prior study from 2017 of the same countries and regions. FindingsThe cumulative number of critical care beds per 100,000 population increased from 3.0 in 2017 to 9.4 in 2022 (p = 0.003). The median figure for middle-income economies increased from 2.6 (interquartile range [IQR] 1.7 to 7.8) to 6.6 (IQR 2.2 to 13.3), and that for high-income economies increased from 11.4 (IQR 7.3 to 22.8) to 13.9 (IQR 10.7 to 21.7). Only 3 countries did not see a rise in bed capacity. Where data were available in 2022, 10.9% of critical care beds were in single rooms (median 5.0% in middle-income and 20.3% in high-income economies), and 5.3% had negative pressure (median 0.7% in middle-income and 18.5% in high-income economies). InterpretationCritical care bed capacity in the studied Asian countries and regions increased close to three-fold from 2017 to 2022. Much of this increase was attributed to middle-income economies, but substantial heterogeneity exists.

Energy poverty and functional disability nexus: Empirical evidence from Ghana

Energy poverty in developing low- and middle-income economies continues to persist, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. However, empirical studies that examine the channels through which it impacts well-being indicators remain scanty. The growing occurrence of functional disabilities in hearing, vision, mobility, communication, self-care, and cognition, therefore, provides an untapped means of examining the energy poverty and well-being nexus. Against this backdrop, this study uses data from the 10 % microdata of Ghana's recent Population and Housing Census to analyze a modified multidimensional energy poverty for 835,695 households. Underpinned by the capability framework, the structural equation modeling technique was employed to examine the nexus between energy poverty and functional disability. The findings reveal significant positive impact of energy poverty on functional disability and notably, geographical, gender, and age-group differences. Also, a high incidence of modified multidimensional energy poverty was found with greater intensity among rural residents, savanna zone inhabitants, elderly people, and female-headed households. These findings reveal the policy relevance and urgency to alleviate energy poverty to check functional decline and promote household well-being.