non-OECD Nations Research Articles

Adherence to Mask Wearing Policies in OECD and Non-OECD Nations

Abstract Background When medical facemasks became a key non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) against COVID-19, public health researchers quickly tried to understand why persons did or did not comply with masking policies. Research connected mask adherence to various social characteristics and psychological attitudes. While important, much of this research was performed in the Global North and one might wonder: Are the characteristics of persons who adhere to mask policies the same in industrialising non-OECD nations as in more economically developed OECD nations? Methods To examine this question, we used the global COVIDiSTRESS survey and responses from over 15,000 persons in 49 countries to examine the demographics, socioeconomic status (SES), sources of COVID-19 information, and levels of trust of those persons who consistently adhered to mask policies. Using logistic regression analysis, we find important differences between respondents in non-OECD and OECD nations. Results We find that identifying as a woman has a significantly stronger impact on mask adherence in OECD nations than in non-OECD nations. In contrast, higher levels of SES (especially higher levels of education) have a stronger impact on mask adherence in non-OECD nations. Furthermore, only in OECD nations is social media use related to a decreased likelihood of adherence and trust in the government's ability to handle COVID related to an increased likelihood of mask adherence. Conclusions Our research shows that the characteristics related to adhering to mask policies varies depending on whether one is referring to OECD or non-OECD nations and that research from the Global North cannot not be simply applied to the Global South. Instead, when another global pandemic occurs, mask policies should be developed based on research findings specifically related to that nation and its level of economic development. Key messages • We find important differences in mask adherence between persons in non-OECD and OECD nations. • Research on mask adherence produced in the Global North cannot simply be applied to the Global South.

Sustainable development and convergence under energy sector transition in industrial nations: An application of DEA environmental assessment

Environmental protection is important for all nations. For preparing a policy to combat the climate change, we propose a new approach whose assessment is useful for promoting sustainable development and green growth economy. The approach also assesses a technological progress over time, focusing upon pollution reduction. We apply it to 37 OECD countries during 1995–2014, examine performance differences among country groups, and discuss these convergences over the period. Methodologically, we extend the previous study (Sueyoshi and Wang, 2020) that has compared between OECD and Non-OECD nations. It concluded that the former group outperformed the latter group in their environmental measures and club convergence. It is expected that the organization provides member nations with an opportunity to improve the status of green technology for economic growth. Focusing upon OECD nations, this study examines two unified performance measures. The results of this study cannot find their overall convergence. Rather, they are classified into one or two club(s). The results indicate that there are uneven economic and technological progresses between higher and lower groups. The disparity implies that OECD membership does not guarantee uniform green growth and sustainable development for countries. This study also finds that "renewable and nuclear" energy shares are important in maintaining the higher group within OECD because both are zero-carbon emission energy sources.

Limited Progress in Improving Gender and Geographic Representation in Coral Reef Science

Despite increasing recognition of the need for more diverse and equitable representation in the sciences, it is unclear whether measurable progress has been made. Here, we examine trends in authorship in coral reef science from 1,677 articles published over the past 16 years (2003–2018) and find that while representation of authors that are women (from 18 to 33%) and from non-OECD nations (from 4 to 13%) have increased over time, progress is slow in achieving more equitable representation. For example, at the current rate, it would take over two decades for female representation to reach 50%. Given that there are more coral reef non-OECD countries, at the current rate, truly equitable representation of non-OECD countries would take even longer. OECD nations also continue to dominate authorship contributions in coral reef science (89%), in research conducted in both OECD (63%) and non-OECD nations (68%). We identify systemic issues that remain prevalent in coral reef science (i.e., parachute science, gender bias) that likely contribute to observed trends. We provide recommendations to address systemic biases in research to foster a more inclusive global science community. Adoption of these recommendations will lead to more creative, innovative, and impactful scientific approaches urgently needed for coral reefs and contribute to environmental justice efforts.

Predictors of (in)efficiencies of Healthcare Expenditure Among the Leading Asian Economies - Comparison of OECD and Non-OECD Nations.

PurposeThe goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of healthcare spending among the leading Asian economies.MethodsWe have selected a total of nine Asian nations, based on the strength of their economic output and long-term real GDP growth rates. The OECD members included Japan and the Republic of Korea, while the seven non-OECD nations were China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand. Healthcare systems efficiency was analyzed over the period 1996–2017. To assess the effectiveness of healthcare expenditure of each group of countries, the two-way fixed effects model (country- and year effects) was used.ResultsQuality of governance and current health expenditure determine healthcare system performance. Population density and urbanization are positively associated with a healthy life expectancy in the non-OECD Asian countries. In this group, unsafe water drinking has a statistically negative effect on healthy life expectancy. Interestingly, only per capita consumption of carbohydrates is significantly linked with healthy life expectancy. In these non-OECD Asian countries, unsafe water drinking and per capita carbon dioxide emissions increase infant mortality. There is a strong negative association between GDP per capita and infant mortality in both sub-samples, although its impact is far larger in the OECD group. In Japan and South Korea, unemployment is negatively associated with infant mortality.ConclusionJapan outperforms other countries from the sample in major healthcare performance indicators, while South Korea is ranked second. The only exception is per capita carbon dioxide emissions, which have maximal values in the Republic of Korea and Japan. Non-OECD nations’ outcomes were led by China, as the largest economy. This group was characterized with substantial improvement in efficiency of health spending since the middle of the 1990s. Yet, progress was noted with remarkable heterogeneity within the group.

Primary Suppliers Driving Atmospheric Mercury Emissions through Global Supply Chains

Summary The Minamata Convention on Mercury, which came into force in 2017, aims to control mercury-related risks to human beings and ecosystems by reducing anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions. Existing studies have identified direct atmospheric Hg emitters and final consumers causing atmospheric Hg emissions but overlooked primary suppliers driving atmospheric Hg emissions through global supply chains. Here, we identify critical primary suppliers and supply-chain paths for global atmospheric Hg emissions in 2015. Results show that China, Indonesia, and India are major primary suppliers causing global atmospheric Hg emissions. Major sectors and critical supply-chain paths from the supply viewpoint are related to resource extraction and power generation. Findings of this study can support supply-side measures to implement the Minamata Convention on Mercury, such as the optimization of labor and capital input structures and the optimization of product-allocation behaviors to downstream producers.

The growth-maximizing level of regulation: Evidence from a panel of international data

Existing evidence suggests that regulation diminishes economic growth. In theory, however, regulation may be either growth-enhancing or diminishing. We therefore empirically revisit the relation between regulation and growth, allowing for both positive and negative effects. In an unbalanced panel of 132 countries over eight time periods, we find evidence of a hump-shape relation between regulation and growth. The estimates imply that for more than 95% of the sample the total effect of regulation on growth is positive. The estimates also imply that about 60% of the sample observations are associated with over-regulation, relative to the growth-maximizing level. Similar findings apply to the (majority) subsample of non-OECD nations in the dataset. However, for the (minority) subsample of OECD nations, both the total and marginal effects of regulation on growth are negative.

Distributions of carbon pricing on extraction, combustion and consumption of fossil fuels in the global supply-chain

Pricing carbon is one of the most important tools to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change. Already, about 40 nations have implemented explicit or implicit carbon prices, and a carbon price was explicitly stated as a mitigation strategy by many nations in their emission pledges submitted to the Paris Agreement. The coverage of carbon prices varies significantly between nations though, often only covering a subset of sectors in the economy. We investigate the propagation of carbon prices along the global supply-chain when the carbon price is applied at the point where carbon is removed from the ground (extraction), is combusted (production), or where goods and services are consumed (consumption). We consider both the regional and sectoral effects, and compare the carbon price income and costs relative to economic output. We find that implementation using different accounting systems makes a significant difference to revenues and increased expenditure, and that domestic and global trade plays a significant role in spreading the carbon price between sectors and countries. A few single sectors experience the largest relative price increases (especially electricity and transport), but most of the carbon price is ultimately paid by households for goods and services due to the large expenditure and indirect supply chain impacts. We finally show that a global carbon price will generate a larger share of revenue relative to GDP in non-OECD nations than OECD nations, independent on the point of implementation.

Investigating Gender Differences in Mathematics and Science: Results from the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and Science Survey

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related fields remains a concern for educators and the scientific community. Gender differences in mathematics and science achievement play a role, in conjunction with attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs. We report results from the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), a large international assessment of eighth grade students’ achievement, attitudes, and beliefs among 45 participating nations (N = 261,738). Small- to medium-sized gender differences were found for most individual nations (from d = −.60 to +.31 in mathematics achievement, and d = −.60 to +.26 for science achievement), although the direction varied and there were no global gender differences overall. Such a pattern cross-culturally is incompatible with the notion of immutable gender differences. Additionally, there were different patterns between OECD and non-OECD nations, with girls scoring higher than boys in mathematics and science achievement across non-OECD nations. An association was found between gender differences in science achievement and national levels of gender equality, providing support for the gender segregation hypothesis. Furthermore, the performance of boys was more variable than that of girls in most nations, consistent with the greater male variability hypothesis. Boys reported more favorable attitudes towards mathematics and science, and girls reported lower self-efficacy beliefs. While the gender gap in STEM achievement may be closing, there are still large sections of the world where differences remain.

The Role of Energy in Development

AbstractUsing World Bank Development Indicators, it is shown that the use of energy is strongly related to almost every conceivable aspect of development. Wealth, health, nutrition, water, infrastructure, education, even life expectancy itself, are strongly and significantly related to the consumption of energy per capita. In general, the approach taken was to break the consumption of energy into three or more classes, to calculate the average value of the relevant indicator in each class, and to demonstrate that the average value in one class was statistically different, at above the 95% confidence level, from the average in adjacent classes. In the case of life expectancy, the change in expectancy was tracked against energy consumption over 40 or more years, in India, China, Indonesia and Brazil. It is concluded that energy is such a necessary element in development that it should be seen as a basic right. The impact of energy on development is felt strongly up to about 2 000 kg oil equivalent per capita, and is essentially saturated above that level. The data are qualitatively assessed using the environmental Kuznets curve. The OECD nations appear to have peaked, and emissions may continue to drop for the foreseeable future. However, emissions from the non-OECD nations have surged in this millennium, and are likely to exceed 40 000 Mt CO2 per annum before slowing. In this light, the intent of the Paris Agreement to constrain global temperature rise to less than 1.5 °C, seems unrealistic. Any hopes of reducing carbon dioxide emissions significantly, in the face of development by the developing nations, seems doomed to failure. Keywords: development, World Bank Indicators, life expectancy, future emissionsHighlights• Many development indicators are strongly related to the per-capita energy consumption.• The impacts of increasing energy on development continues up to about 2000 kg oil equivalent per capita per year.• Over the past 50 years, increases in per-capita energy consumption correlate strongly with increases in life expectancy. • If all developing nations strive for 2000 kg per capita per year energy consumption, CO2 emissions will continue to rise.

Introduction to the Supplement Issue: Building Global and Intercultural Studies in Christian Spirituality

Introduction to the Supplement Issue:Building Global and Intercultural Studies in Christian Spirituality Claire E. Wolfteich (bio) The study of Christian spirituality is, necessarily, a global and intercultural endeavor, reflecting the diversity of contexts in which lived faith takes root, is embodied, and passed along. This supplemental issue of Spiritus has been initiated and assembled by the editor and the editorial staff of the journal. The issue reflects the growth of spirituality studies as an international field of research as it also seeks to advance such vibrant intercultural and global scholarly exchange. To put the contribution of this issue in a broader context, I note first that the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality (SSCS) has made the development of global and intercultural scholarship a key priority. For years, the Society has had a largely American membership, though it included members from the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa and other regions. With the creation of an International Relations ad hoc Committee (IRC) and sponsoring of two international conferences in spirituality, SSCS seeks further global and intercultural scholarship. Specifically, we identified the following goals for the IRC: to expand the international connections of SSCS so as to engage diverse contexts of spirituality scholarship; to build constructive exchanges between SSCS and international scholars; to welcome more international members; and to develop a more fully international presence/impact. The IRC committee members have included: Noel Burke (Barbados); Gilberto Cavazos-González (Rome); Rebecca A. Giselbrecht (Switzerland); Pan Yi Jung (Hong Kong); Michael O’Sullivan (Ireland); Kurian Perumpallikunnel (Bangalore); Diana Villegas (Columbia); Claire Wolfteich (United States); and Rossano Zas Friz (Rome). One of the challenges of expanding the international scope of SSCS and the readership of Spiritus has been economic; membership, which includes subscription to Spiritus, can be prohibitive for scholars in many low-income nations. To mitigate those economic impediments, this year the Society worked with Johns Hopkins University Press to arrange for a reduced membership rate that includes online access to Spiritus; scholars from non-OECD nations are eligible (see https://faq.press.jhu.edu/sscs). We also are working to expand access to leadership within SSCS by using technology creatively to enable [End Page ix] members who live at a distance to participate remotely in Board and committee meetings. We hope that such practical arrangements facilitate international readership for Spiritus and enable persons from regions underrepresented in the academy to participate fully in the scholarly inquiry and exchange prized by this journal and by the Society. Bi-annual meetings of SSCS also disseminate global and intercultural scholarship in Christian spirituality. The 2015 conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, took up “holiness” as its central theme, and featured papers by scholars from South Africa, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United States. Leading scholars Bernard McGinn and Kees Waaijman gave keynote addresses. The third bi-annual meeting of the Society will be held in Kappel, Switzerland in June 2017. Focusing on the theme of prayer, it is organized in partnership with the Center for the Study of Christian Spirituality of the University of Zurich (CSCS) and encourages papers from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives that also reflect the diversity—for example, racial/ethnic, gender, denominational, and generational—of scholars and practitioners in the field. This special issue of Spiritus presents a sampling of the global and intercultural scholarship in spirituality that is, in many ways, a leading edge of our discipline. Our understanding of spirituality is grossly truncated when we look only to European or American contexts and texts, and expanded through coming to understand the rich diversity and commonalities of lived faith across cultures and regions. Articles within this issue advance understanding of the diverse contours of Christian spirituality in, for example, Hong Kong, Haiti, Ireland, Switzerland, and South Africa. Indeed, we can underscore the importance of historical, cultural, political, and economic contexts in understanding spirituality. Nelson Sadrack, for example, explores the meaning of holiness amidst the dire situation of poverty in Haiti; he critiques an individualistic understanding of holiness that ignores such socio-economic realities. Pieter de Villiers picks up a significant topic of spirituality studies—mysticism—but looks specifically at what he calls the “fusion of traditions in the melting...

Carbon Reduction or Unequal Exchange? The Effects of Globalization on Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 1970-2010

Researchers have proposed conflicting theories over the effects of globalization on carbon dioxide emissions. Some suggest globalization reduces carbon emissions through global cooperation whereas others doubt that the unprecedented trend of global integration deteriorates the uneven distribution of carbon emissions worldwide. Based on panel data from 1970 to 2010 in 108 countries, we find support for the latter perspective that the effect of globalization on carbon dioxide emissions is asymmetric in OECD and non-OECD nations. In OECD nations, globalization is positively associated with CO2 per capita before the early 1990s and the relationship becomes negative afterwards. The association is opposite in non-OECD nations. The results indicate that increasing global integration mitigates the negative environmental effects in affluent countries, while less developed counties may suffer from ecologically unequal exchange as globalization progresses. The findings highlight the need for a global perspective to examine carbon emissions and reduce environmental risk transfer in a closely connected world.

Archaeologies of Electronic Waste

The toxicity and volume of electrical waste (commonly referred to as e-waste) forms one material legacy of contemporary digital culture which emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the deleterious material impacts of technological assemblages upon human and ecological systems, and asks serious questions about the sustainability and ethical orientation of current technocultural systems. Globally, around 50 million tonnes of e-waste are generated each year, and this waste is considered to be toxic due to the presence of a “witch’s brew” of substances which are highly hazardous to humans and other biotic systems. Whilst there exist inter-, supra-, and national laws and conventions mandating that most OECD nations (the US being a notable exemption) cannot legally export hazardous wastes to non-OECD nations, there exists a vibrant illegal market in exporting e-waste which is systematically mislabelled as working second-hand electronics goods for sale in emerging markets, with an estimated 50–100 shipping containers of illegally exported e-waste arriving daily in Hong Kong. This short essay seeks to sketch several ways that media archaeology and archaeologies of media provide productive apertures through which to consider issues surrounding e-waste, whilst contextualizing how media archaeology fits within the broader field of materialist media studies.

The temporal stability and developmental differences in the environmental impacts of militarism: the treadmill of destruction and consumption-based carbon emissions

This study examines the relationship between national-level militarism and consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions. We analyze panel data from 1990 to 2010 for 81 nations to determine whether the magnitude of the effects of (1) military expenditures as percent of total gross domestic product and (2) military personnel as percent of total labor force on carbon emissions change over time. Results of two-way fixed effects models highlight the temporal stability of the environmental impacts of both national-level military characteristics. The findings also reveal that the effect of military expenditures on emissions is larger in the more developed OECD nations than in the developing non-OECD nations. Overall, the results support the treadmill of destruction perspective, which suggests that the nations’ militaries are an important social institution to consider in sustainability science research on the human drivers of global environmental change.

The Changing Effect of Economic Development on the Consumption-Based Carbon Intensity of Well-Being, 1990–2008

Recent sustainability science research focuses on tradeoffs between human well-being and stress placed on the environment from fossil fuel consumption, a relationship known as the carbon intensity of well-being (CIWB). In this study we assess how the effect of economic development on consumption-based CIWB—a ratio of consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions to average life expectancy—changed from 1990 to 2008 for 69 nations throughout the world. We examine the effect of development on consumption-based CIWB for the overall sample as well as for smaller samples restricted to mostly high-income OECD nations, Non-OECD nations, and more nuanced regional samples of Non-OECD nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We find that the effect of economic development on CIWB increased through time for the overall sample. However, analyses of the Non-OECD and OECD samples indicate that while the effect of development on CIWB increased from null to a moderate level for the Non-OECD nations, the effect of economic development was much larger, relatively stable through time, and more unsustainable for the OECD nations. Additional findings reveal important regional differences for Non-OECD nations. In the early 1990s, increased development led to a reduction in CIWB for Non-OECD nations in Africa, but in more recent years the relationship changed, becoming less sustainable. For the samples of Non-OECD nations in Asia and Latin America, we find that economic development increased consumption-based CIWB, and increasingly so throughout the 19 year period of study.

Inequality and the carbon intensity of human well-being

One potential pathway towards sustainability involves reducing the level of anthropogenic carbon emissions per unit of human well-being, also known as the carbon intensity of human well-being (CIWB). I estimate longitudinal models, which indicate that for OECD and non-OECD nations, income inequality began increasing CIWB in the 1990s, and the effect of inequality on CIWB continued to increase in magnitude through time. This suggests that reducing inequality in nations throughout the world could enhance both climate change mitigation efforts and human quality of life.

Determinants of the sacrifice ratio: Evidence from OECD and non-OECD countries

This paper measures sacrifice ratios for all countries in the world over an approximately forty year time period, in addition to exploring the determinants of worldwide sacrifice ratios. We test the most commonly-cited determinants: the speed of disinflation, openness, inflation targeting, central bank independence, and political factors for both OECD and non-OECD countries. We find that the speed of disinflation is the most important determinant of OECD sacrifice ratios, but puzzlingly has no effect on non-OECD nations' disinflation costs. Instead we find evidence that greater central bank independence and more openness are associated with lower non-OECD sacrifice ratios. We also find that the ratio of government debt to GDP – a variable that is not important when it comes to OECD countries – is highly significant for non-OECD economies. Specifically, we find that higher indebtedness is associated with lower sacrifice ratios in non-OECD nations, suggesting that greater levels of debt do not lead to higher expectations of inflation. Furthermore we find evidence that the negative impact of debt on non-OECD sacrifice ratios is being driven by middle income economies.

Analysis of Energy Consumption Indicators for Non-OECD Countries

This paper studies three major indicators of energy consumptions for non-OECD countries, with a view to identifying the major cause of the increasing energy consumption among the non-OECD countries. Multiple regressions using VAR model was used in estimating these relationships. The indicators used are total electricity, GDP and population. It was observed that high level of economic output designates low energy consumption in non-OECD countries due to economic of scale,this is confirmed with high level of significance. However, increase in electricity consumption was observed to cause increase in the total energy consumption in these countries. Population was also found to have negative relationship with total energy consumption in these countries, because there are relatively low energy consumption compare to the population of these countries, where low energy consumption is associated with high population. Therefore, these countries shall all enact energy policies that encourage efficiency on how people use the energy, ranging from electricity consumption, use of appliances as well as the mode and type of transportation and fuel respectively. There should also be improvement in energy per-capita accessibility among the non-OECD nations. Similarly the level of economic output shall be increased to achieve low energy intensity.

How Global Is Globalization?

We examine a balanced panel of globalization indices for 129 countries over the years 1991- 2010. We report evidence of cross-country sigma convergence in the overall globalization index. Sigma convergence also holds for each of the economic, political, and social globalization indices, as well as each sub-index within these indices. However, the evidence for stochastic convergence, based on panel unit root tests, is only strong for the political globalization index. Regarding the economic and social dimensions of globalization, respectively, we find evidence for stochastic convergence only in the flows and cultural proximity sub-indices. For the OECD subsample, evidence supports stochastic convergence for the overall, economic and political globalization indices. Evidence to support regional convergence among the non-OECD nations on various globalization dimensions is much more limited. Our findings indicate that globalization convergence is truly global only on the political dimension.

Canada's neglected tropical disease research network: who's in the core-who's on the periphery?

BackgroundThis study designed and applied accessible yet systematic methods to generate baseline information about the patterns and structure of Canada's neglected tropical disease (NTD) research network; a network that, until recently, was formed and functioned on the periphery of strategic Canadian research funding.MethodologyMultiple methods were used to conduct this study, including: (1) a systematic bibliometric procedure to capture archival NTD publications and co-authorship data; (2) a country-level “core-periphery” network analysis to measure and map the structure of Canada's NTD co-authorship network including its size, density, cliques, and centralization; and (3) a statistical analysis to test the correlation between the position of countries in Canada's NTD network (“k-core measure”) and the quantity and quality of research produced.Principal FindingsOver the past sixty years (1950–2010), Canadian researchers have contributed to 1,079 NTD publications, specializing in Leishmania, African sleeping sickness, and leprosy. Of this work, 70% of all first authors and co-authors (n = 4,145) have been Canadian. Since the 1990s, however, a network of international co-authorship activity has been emerging, with representation of researchers from 62 different countries; largely researchers from OECD countries (e.g. United States and United Kingdom) and some non-OECD countries (e.g. Brazil and Iran). Canada has a core-periphery NTD international research structure, with a densely connected group of OECD countries and some African nations, such as Uganda and Kenya. Sitting predominantly on the periphery of this research network is a cluster of 16 non-OECD nations that fall within the lowest GDP percentile of the network.Conclusion/SignificanceThe publication specialties, composition, and position of NTD researchers within Canada's NTD country network provide evidence that while Canadian researchers currently remain the overall gatekeepers of the NTD research they generate; there is opportunity to leverage existing research collaborations and help advance regions and NTD areas that are currently under-developed.

Gender, culture, and sex-typed cognitive abilities.

Although gender differences in cognitive abilities are frequently reported, the magnitude of these differences and whether they hold practical significance in the educational outcomes of boys and girls is highly debated. Furthermore, when gender gaps in reading, mathematics and science literacy are reported they are often attributed to innate, biological differences rather than social and cultural factors. Cross-cultural evidence may contribute to this debate, and this study reports national gender differences in reading, mathematics and science literacy from 65 nations participating in the 2009 round of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Consistently across all nations, girls outperform boys in reading literacy, d = −.44. Boys outperform girls in mathematics in the USA, d = .22 and across OECD nations, d = .13. For science literacy, while the USA showed the largest gender difference across all OECD nations, d = .14, gender differences across OECD nations were non-significant, and a small female advantage was found for non-OECD nations, d = −.09. Across all three domains, these differences were more pronounced at both tails of the distribution for low- and high-achievers. Considerable cross-cultural variability was also observed, and national gender differences were correlated with gender equity measures, economic prosperity, and Hofstede’s cultural dimension of power distance. Educational and societal implications of such gender gaps are addressed, as well as the mechanisms by which gender differences in cognitive abilities are culturally mediated.