Policy Options Research Articles

Exempting Least Developed Countries from Border Carbon Adjustments: Simple Economically but Complex Legally

Abstract The EU has introduced a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which extends its carbon prices to imported products in some sectors. Increasingly considered by other countries, such border carbon adjustments (BCAs) are facing a global backlash against the lack of consideration of the adverse impacts on developing countries and particularly, least developed countries (LDCs). This article first argues that small overall import volumes support the conclusion that exempting or lessening BCA requirements from LDCs would not undermine developed countries' climate-related objectives in practical terms. An economic analysis of EU and UK trade in relation to a CBAM supports this assertion. However, legally, such an exemption or development-based preferential treatment is difficult under existing multilateral trade rules and jurisprudence, owing to the legal characterization and objectives of BCAs; their interaction with existing special and differential treatment (SDT) provisions; and complexity of available policy options. We thus highlight the gap between normative aims of SDT provisions to support development, and current WTO law and jurisprudence which expose WTO members providing preferential treatment to allegations of discrimination. With increasing unilateral climate action, an inability to integrate SDT more meaningfully into WTO non-discrimination frameworks risks further weakening of international cooperation on climate and trade.

Contemporary Financial Nationalism in Theory and Practice

Abstract The 2008 global financial crisis and its aftermath provided fertile soil for criticism of and alternatives to the international liberal order, including the rise of financial nationalism. Contemporary financial nationalism is a view of the world that is nationalist in its motivation for political action, financial in its policy focus, and illiberal in its conception of political economy. At the same time, it is fundamentally shaped by its emergence from within the international liberal order, which both constrains the policy options of financial nationalists and provides opportunities for them to draw on transnational financial resources and institutions to advance nationalist causes. This article offers a conceptual analysis of contemporary financial nationalism that explores its fundamental characteristics, explains what is distinctive about it, delineates its four major policy subtypes, identifies the resources and capabilities required to successfully engage in it, and discusses the implications of doing so. It aids researchers in thinking about financial nationalism’s internal workings across different contexts, in understanding why it has lasted as long and spread as far as it has, in considering how it may evolve, and in contemplating how it can affect domestic and international political economies.

Cost effectiveness and decision analysis for national airport screening options to reduce risk of COVID-19 introduction in Uganda, 2020

IntroductionEarly during the COVID-19 outbreak, various approaches were utilized to prevent COVID-19 introductions from incoming airport travellers. However, the costs and effectiveness of airport-specific interventions have not been evaluated.MethodsWe evaluated policy options for COVID-19-specific interventions at Entebbe International Airport for costs and impact on COVID-19 case counts, we took the government payer perspective. Policy options included; (1)no screening, testing, or mandatory quarantine for any incoming traveller; (2)mandatory symptom screening for all incoming travellers with RT-PCR testing only for the symptomatic and isolation of positives; and (3)mandatory 14-day quarantine and one-time testing for all, with 10-day isolation of persons testing positive. We calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) in US$ per additional case averted.ResultsExpected costs per incoming traveller were $0 (Option 1), $19 (Option 2), and $766 (Option 3). ICERs per case averted were $257 for Option 2 (which averted 4,948 cases), and $10,139 for Option 3 (which averted 5,097 cases) compared with Option I. Two-week costs were $0 for Option 1, $1,271,431 Option 2, and $51,684,999 Option 3. The per-case ICER decreased with increase in prevalence. The cost-effectiveness of our interventions was modestly sensitive to the prevalence of COVID-19, diagnostic test sensitivity, and testing costs.ConclusionScreening all incoming travellers, testing symptomatic persons, and isolating positives (Option 2) was the most cost-effective option. A higher COVID-19 prevalence among incoming travellers increased cost-effectiveness of airport-specific interventions. This model could be used to evaluate prevention options at the airport for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases with similar requirements for control.

Where’s the beef?: the politics of health care reform in South Korea

Background: In February 2024, the South Korean government released a policy proposal for healthcare reform, with one of the main pillars being increased medical school admissions. This policy has sparked intense opposition from the physicians’ top association. Most importantly, interns and residents—the bedrock of the medical workforce in Korean hospitals—began to leave en masse. Consequently, a medical crisis emerged, in which many medical and surgical procedures were delayed.Current Concepts: According to studies on comparative health policy and systems, the crisis could be attributed to the unique characteristics of the Korean healthcare system, in which the administration and doctors have failed to establish a substantive dialogue through which policy options are examined and deliberated. These dynamics necessitated the establishment of an institutional space for interest group politics, causing both to suffer from a lack of action repertoires. The stalemate we witness reflects the enduring patterns of the same issue.Discussion and Conclusion: To ensure the success of the current initiative, institutional arrangements must be established in which policymakers and physicians make a credible commitment to each other. Alternatives, for instance, include reactivating and regularizing the Health and Medical Services Policy Deliberation Committee, which could pave the way for establishing a venue where key stakeholders can discuss future agendas, such as how to ensure improved accessibility to “essential” care and mitigate its subnational variation, thereby creating a long-term vision for new health system governance in South Korea.

The value of scenario discovery in land-use modeling: An automated vehicle test case

Long-range planning is an uncertain endeavor. This is especially true for urban regions, small ships in a global urban storm that are too small to influence macro policies and without the land-use powers of local governments. Exploratory scenarios, the established practice for planning under deep uncertainty, have inspired stakeholders to consider multiple futures but have fallen short of identifying robust and contingent policies. We need new tools to plan under conditions of deep uncertainty. Scenario discovery is a technique for using simulation models to explore the performance of policy options across uncertain scenarios. This paper presents an application of scenario discovery in land-use modeling and asks what this computationally intensive approach offers relative to a more circumscribed exploration of uncertainty space. The introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and their associated impacts on land use provide a test case demonstrating this method, as well as a topic of substantive concern. This research concludes that scenario discovery is particularly valuable for identifying the conditions under which contingent policies are likely to succeed. In terms of AV policy, this research establishes that forward-thinking, transit-oriented-development strategies can mitigate spatial dispersion while also reducing overall housing costs. In addition, I find that AVs may blunt the impacts of some current policy tools if they extend the distance individuals are willing to travel to work.

An Experiment in Governmental Futures Thinking: long-term insights briefings

New Zealand’s Public Service Act 2020 requires departmental chief executives to give a long-term insights briefing (LTIB) to their respective ministers at least once every three years. The LTIBs must provide ‘information about medium- and long-term trends, risks, and opportunities that affect or may affect New Zealand’, along with ‘information and impartial analysis, including policy options’ to address the matters raised. The first suite of LTIBs were prepared during 2022–23. This article assesses the first round of LTIBs, giving particular attention to how they identified future risks and opportunities and the extent to which they adopted robust foresight techniques. Based on this analysis, we suggest how the process for preparing future LTIBs might be improved.

A system dynamics approach for cost-benefit simulation in designing policies to enhance the cybersecurity resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises

The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with limited investment capacity are likely to be lax in enhancing their cybersecurity. Therefore, to strengthen cybersecurity at a national level, governments must intervene in the market by using support or regulatory policies to overcome market failures and address weaknesses. This study reviewed the efficiency of policy options to improve corporate cybersecurity resilience for SMEs that require government support, unlike large companies that can invest in security on their own. To achieve this, a causal loop diagram was created and analyzed from the perspective of system dynamics. The model incorporated government support variables and the decline in capabilities over time into the existing corporate security investment model reflecting the standard framework for cybersecurity from NIST. The simulation scenarios were constructed based on policy options considered by the Korean government. These include 1) pre-incident or post incident support services, and 2) management through tax credits and regulation. The results indicated that incentives, specifically tax credits, rather than regulation, were more effective in strengthening cyber resilience. This study describes the investment and internal capability development of a company affected by government policy, which is an external factor, and changes in profits can be observed by adding the company's profits and costs as variables. This profit variable allows for the comparison of a company's cyber resilience across scenarios. Additionally, if the government provides direct support immediately after a hacking incident, the company can recover more quickly. If these benefits are known and if the reporting of hacking damage is activated, cyber threat visibility will be secured by revealing hacking attacks that have been secretly conducted. Governments can use cyber threat visibility to strengthen national cybersecurity.

A comprehensive analysis of key factors’ impact on environmental performance: Evidence from Globe by novel super learner algorithm

This study aims to analyze comprehensively the impact of different economic and demographic factors, which affect economic development, on environmental performance. In this context, the study considers the Environmental Performance Index as the response variable, uses GDP per capita, tariff rate, tax burden, government expenditure, inflation, unemployment, population, income tax rate, public debt, FDI inflow, and corporate tax rate as the explanatory variables, examines 181 countries, performs a novel Super Learner (SL) algorithm, which includes a total of six machine learning (ML) algorithms, and uses data for the years 2018, 2020, and 2022. The results demonstrate that (i) the SL algorithm has a superior capacity with regard to other ML algorithms; (ii) gross domestic product per capita is the most crucial factor in the environmental performance followed by tariff rates, tax burden, government expenditure, and inflation, in order; (iii) among all, the corporate tax rate has the lowest importance on the environmental performance followed by also foreign direct investment, public debt, income tax rate, population, and unemployment; (iv) there are some critical thresholds, which imply that the impact of the factors on the environmental performance change according to these barriers. Overall, the study reveals the nonlinear impact of the variables on environmental performance as well as their relative importance and critical threshold. Thus, the study provides policymakers valuable insights in re-formulating their environmental policies to increase environmental performance. Accordingly, various policy options are discussed.

Linking farmers to markets: Barriers, solutions, and policy options

The 15 studies highlighted in this special issue collectively underscore the significant impacts of market participation on farmers’ well-being, income, poverty reduction, dietary diversity, and rural economic growth. They also delve into the importance of marketing channel choice and the role of e-commerce in enhancing farmers’ market linkages. In addition, they address farmers’ preferences for market access interventions and the examination of market power within the agricultural industry, especially in low-income countries. The key findings include: (1) Market participation is critical for improving farmers’ subjective and objective well-being, with studies demonstrating positive impacts on income, poverty reduction, and dietary diversity; (2) The choice of marketing channels significantly influences income, with evidence suggesting online sales can substantially increase farmers’ earnings; (3) E-commerce plays a pivotal role in connecting farmers to broader markets, leading to income growth and enhanced market visibility; (4) Understanding and addressing farmers’ preferences for market access through interventions like systematization policies and joint ventures can facilitate better market integration and support inclusive business models; (5) Analysis of market power within the primary foods industry reveals rising markups, particularly affecting low-income countries. These findings suggest that policies and interventions aiming to improve market access, promote e-commerce, and consider farmers’ preferences and market power dynamics can significantly impact farmers’ incomes, poverty levels, and overall rural economic development.

Retention of Doctors and Dentists to Serve in Remote Areas in Indonesia: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

Retaining doctors and dentists in remote areas of Indonesia remains a national priority of the Indonesian government. The purpose of this study was to analyze the interventions for retention of doctors and dentists in remote areas using the discrete choice experiment (DCE) approach. A DCE was conducted to investigate preferences of doctors and dentists for retention in remote areas. This research was conducted in 78 primary healthcare settings across 15 provinces in Indonesia. The conditional logit model was used to explore stated preferences for each attribute. The total number of respondents was 158, including 113 doctors and 45 dentists. In general, doctors placed the highest preference on getting priority for government scholarships to facilitate retention in remote areas (OR=5.65, p<0.001). Specifically, dentists preferred security guarantees from local government (OR = 4.87, p<0.001). Both groups valued having an official residence (OR=3.6, p<0.001) as a factor for retention in remote areas. Scholarship, security guarantees, housing facilities, and medical facilities were the most considered factors for retaining doctors and dentists in a remote area. This study confirms the importance of a combination of interventions in maintaining doctors and dentists in remote areas. Policy options in the form of non-financial and financial intervention packages can be combined to improve their retention.

Improving interest in public, active, and shared travel modes through nudging interventions

Nudging is a popular approach to changing behavior by designing interventions to encourage, for instance, sustainable or healthy actions without necessarily limiting freedom of choice. Nudging could show particular potential in changing travel behavior by providing governments with softer policy options to reduce the negative impacts of private vehicles in urban areas. This study examines the efficacy of nudging in changing interest in using public transport, active modes, and carsharing in Flanders, Belgium (n = 292), focusing on moral nudges, highlighting individual and social benefits, and norm nudges, using social pressure to promote appropriate behavior, through independent and paired sample t-tests, ANOVA mean-comparison tests, and multiple linear regression models. Results indicate that moral nudging is effective overall, but particularly for improving interest in carsharing, potentially providing an option for individuals wanting to make environmentally and socially conscious choices without drastically changing their lifestyles. Norm nudging was effective for public transport and especially active travel, indicating that mobility cultures and social acceptance are important to these modes. Attitudes toward public transport and carsharing were important to nudge susceptibility. Women might have greater concerns about making environmentally moral choices, resulting in higher moral nudge susceptibility, particularly for active travel, and trips taken with companions might be more easily swayed toward active modes. Those with greater time flexibility who are younger might be a target group for carsharing, especially when influenced by moral arguments, while older retired and full-time employed individuals may not be willing to give up their private cars and carsharing may not be practical for families with children. Nudging might be effective in changing travel behavior in conjunction with other policy measures to promote sustainable and healthy transport, ideally through a nudge unit to test, advise, and implement these subtle nudges. Further, the location, quality of transport services, and geographical density of cities are crucial aspects regarding the effectiveness of nudges in real-life scenarios.

Population-based Simulation of COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: Comparison of Different Policy Options

Population-based Simulation of COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: Comparison of Different Policy Options

Economic and social costs of flood disasters in Nigeria: Implications for sustainable national development

Nigeria is susceptible to flood disasters, resulting in significant economic and social costs due to natural and human factors. This paper examines the implications of flood disasters on Nigeria's sustainable national development by identifying drivers, estimating costs, analyzing social dimensions, and discussing policy options. The methodology this paper adopted relied on a range of secondary sources such as government reports, academic studies, and media sources which were analyzed through qualitative methods of content and thematic analysis. The study revealed that flood disasters caused economic losses, including damage to infrastructure, loss of income, and reduced agricultural production, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. Effective disaster risk management requires an integrated approach, including investments in flood risk infrastructure, coordination among government levels, and engaging local communities to build disaster reduction capacity. The paper highlights the need for Nigeria to mainstream disaster risk reduction into national development planning for sustainable development.

A-I-D for Cascades: Designing a theory-informed intervention for addressing prescribing cascades in primary care

Abstract Introduction Prescribing cascades, which occur when a medication is used to treat the side effect of another medication, are important contributors to polypharmacy. There is an absence of studies that evaluate the implementation or impact of existing interventions to address prescribing cascades in practice. Aim To design theory-informed options for interventions to address prescribing cascades within interprofessional primary care teams. Methods The Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) framework, and its eight steps, were applied to guide intervention development by the research team. Three target behaviours were drafted and prioritised for intervention development based on data collected as part of two qualitative studies exploring why and how cascades occur across practice settings.[1,2] A target behaviour was selected and the COM-B (capability, opportunity, motivation-behaviour) model was then applied to identify the relevant factors for interprofessional primary care teams. The BCW was used to determine the relevant intervention types and policy options for the behaviour. Next, corresponding behaviour change techniques (BCTs) were identified and intervention options drafted. Prioritisation of behaviours and intervention examples were guided by the APEASE criteria (Affordability, Practicability, Effectiveness/cost-effectiveness, Acceptability, Side-effects/safety, Equity). Results The three target behaviours involved supporting: 1) healthcare providers to ask about, investigate and manage cascades (often through deprescribing), 2) the public to ask about prescribing cascades, and 3) the public to share medication histories and experiences with healthcare providers. The team selected the healthcare provider behaviour, called A-I-D (ask, investigate, deprescribe), for intervention development. Psychological capability and physical opportunity were determined to be the most relevant COM-B components, corresponding to education, training, environmental restructuring, and enablement intervention types and the guidelines, communications and marketing, and service provision policy options within the BCW model. Ultimately, 10 intervention options comprised of BCTs were developed by the team, which are ready for further prioritisation by stakeholders. These can be grouped into three categories: provision of educational content or materials for use by clinicians, provision of consultation or training to support clinicians, and knowledge mobilisation strategies. Through the process, the team identified that development of a practice guidance tool, which assists healthcare providers to investigate and manage prescribing cascades, is needed to support further intervention development. Conclusion The BCW framework guided the design of intervention options that will support primary care clinicians practising in interprofessional teams to address prescribing cascades. A limitation of this work is that applying the BCW framework required several judgements by the team, comprised of scientists, pharmacists, and nurses but not a general practitioner physician. Many but not all have practised with primary care interprofessional teams. When identifying interventions for future consultation, it was determined that the development of a practice guidance tool (i.e., which assists with identifying, investigating, and managing prescribing cascades) underpinned all the proposed interventions for addressing prescribing cascades in practice. Further research is needed to determine what primary care clinicians will need in this practice guidance tool and how it will be used in practice, to support its development.

Plastic Packaging Waste Management: A Case in Implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility Policies in Minnesota

The plastic pollution crisis is a global challenge affecting governments, private citizens, and the environment. Plastic packaging, which makes up approximately 40% of all plastic material produced globally, accounts for less than 10% of recycled material. This discrepancy highlights the rapid growth of various plastic types and difficulty for local governments to implement needed waste management practices or meet required capacities. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a model for multiple waste streams that places the post-consumer responsibility of a product on the producer. As governments seek to develop legislation to better manage plastic waste, EPR is a policy tool that will promote circularity. This paper discusses the successes and challenges of EPR policies in the European Union (EU), and in states that have enacted them, particularly in California. Many states have introduced or are seeking to introduce legislation on EPR for plastic packaging in the next few years. The Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act, a bill for a product stewardship program for plastic and paper packaging materials was recently introduced in the Minnesota state legislature in 2024. This policy paper discusses several EPR policy options and recommendations to improve transparency and success of future EPR bills in states seeking to enact legislation, including Minnesota.

Fighting plastic pollution with a circular economy roadmap and strategy: Addressed to the United Nations Environment Programme

Plastic pollution poses a significant challenge to the environment, biodiversity, and human health. Each year, the world produces 300 million tons of plastic waste, equivalent to the weight of the planet's entire human population. Only 9% of plastic products worldwide are recycled due to a pervasive throw-away culture and inefficient policies for managing single-use plastic. Over time, plastics fragment into smaller pieces, distributed across ecosystems by wind and rainfall. Marine and terrestrial wildlife accidentally ingest these smaller plastics, leading to a build-up of toxins in tissues. These toxins are transferred to other species, including humans, through the food chain. This document proposes two policy options to address this issue: (a) replacing conventional plastics with more environmentally friendly alternatives or (b) transitioning to a circular economy focused on reducing, reusing, repairing, and recycling. We urge the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to pursue the latter by leading the development and implementation of a comprehensive global policy agenda for the appropriate and effective management of plastics. This would include the development of financial, environmental, and social estimators to quantify, manage, and reduce plastic waste. A UNEP-led global plastic policy agenda has the potential to standardize and regulate plastic production, consumption, and waste management and ultimately reduce the negative impact of plastics on ecosystems and human health.

Developing Nepal's medicines pricing policy: evidence synthesis and stakeholders' consultation.

The objectives of this paper are to (a) explore stakeholders' opinions regarding Nepal's existing medicines pricing practices/situation and (b) build and present a set of medicines pricing policies for Nepal. A review of the literature and field visits to community retail pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, wholesalers, and distributor outlets in Kathmandu were conducted to assess the medicines pricing situation. Following the literature review, preliminary meetings with stakeholders and field visits were held and a draft interview guide was prepared. Consultative sessions subsequently were undertaken in Kathmandu, Nepal, in January 2023 with representatives from the Department of Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Population, Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal, consumer groups, Transparency International, Medicines Importers Association of Nepal/ Pharmaceutical Distributors Association of Nepal, Nepal Chemist and Druggist Association, and Nepal Pharmaceutical Association. Notes were taken during these meetings regarding issues and concerns raised as well as experiences and recommendations for the future, as outlined in the interview guide. The stakeholders in general stated that they do not have any objection to price regulation; however, they believe such regulation should be subject to periodic review. Both the importers and the Ministry of Health and Population have the view that an independent body/authority should be charged with regulating the prices of medicines. A set of policy options to be considered for use in Nepal include cost-plus pricing, external price referencing, internal reference pricing, and mark-up regulations. Key issues related to pricing were identified and suggest that a set of pricing policies and updated regulations need to be considered to establish changes that are transparent, rational, and acceptable to the related stakeholders. Hence, suggestions made in this paper could be useful to inform a rational and fair pricing structure and to improve access to medicines.

Comparison of ten policy options to equitably reduce children's exposure to unhealthy food marketing.

Reducing children's exposure to unhealthy food marketing is crucial to combat childhood obesity. We aimed to estimate the reduction of children's exposure to food marketing under different policy scenarios and assess exposure differences by socioeconomic status. Data on children's exposure to unhealthy food marketing was compiled from a previous cross-sectional study in which children (n=168) wore wearable cameras and GPS units for four consecutive days. For each exposure, we identified the setting, the marketing medium and food/beverage product category. We analyzed the percentage reduction in food marketing exposure for ten policy scenarios and by socioeconomic deprivation: 1) no product packaging, 2) no merchandise marketing, 3) no sugary drink marketing, 4) no confectionary marketing in schools, 5) no sugary drink marketing in schools, 6) no marketing in public spaces, 7) no marketing within 400m of schools, 8) no marketing within 400m of recreation venues, 9) no marketing within 400m of bus stops, and 10) no marketing within 400m of major roads. Wellington region of New Zealand. 168 children aged 11-14 years. Exposure to food marketing varied by setting, marketing medium and product category. Among the 10 policy scenarios, the largest reductions were for plain packaging (60.3%), no sugary drink marketing (28.8%) and no marketing in public spaces (22.2%). There were no differences by socioeconomic deprivation. The results suggest that plain packaging would result in the greatest decrease in children's exposure to food marketing. However, given that children are regularly exposed to unhealthy food marketing in multiple settings through a range of marketing mediums, comprehensive bans are needed to protect children's health.

Contextualising Antarctic tourism diversification: tourism management implications from multinational policy debates

ABSTRACT Beyond the growth in tourist numbers, tourism in the Antarctic has been rapidly diversifying over the last decades. This paper examines Antarctic tourism policy documents from 1961 to 2022 while exploring Antarctic tourism diversification’s historical development and current state. The paper frames Antarctic tourism diversification, clarifying its dimensions, expressed concerns, and suggested policy options for tourism management and regulation. The results reveal that policy discussions were often not aligned with the practice of tourism in the Antarctic, indicating a lack of a comprehensive understanding of its extent and dimensions. While Treaty Parties have long recognized and voiced several concerns over tourism diversification, they have achieved little progress toward regulation and concrete management actions. Market-based processes and policy indecisiveness, including inaction, strongly influence diversification processes. Given tourism’s increasing importance and potential effects, a structural understanding of tourism diversification, its ramifications, processes, and policy relationships is essential to proactively shape Antarctic tourism governance.

Improving household well‐being through entrepreneurship and inclusive finance in the context of the Next‐11 countries

AbstractScholarship brainstorming on household welfare enablers abounds in academic literature. Nonetheless, the perspective of entrepreneurship, particularly for the Next‐11 countries, is underreported. Likewise, prior literature failed to investigate the influence of categorical (gender‐specific) entrepreneurship on household welfare. Thus, this investigation covers this lacuna by examining the predictive effects of aggregate, male and female entrepreneurship and financial inclusiveness on household welfare. With panel series spanning 2004–2021, both the Westerlund and Banerjee &amp; Carrion‐i‐Silvestre cointegration procedures confirmed long‐term convergence among the series. The estimates of the augmented mean group (AMG) and the cross‐sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CSARDL) techniques revealed that entrepreneurship enhances household well‐being. This outcome validates the self‐determination theory since entrepreneurial engagements enhance household welfare. By extension, policies targeting entrepreneurship empowerment are critical for economic prosperity in these countries. In terms of gender variations, it is established that female entrepreneurship, much more than male, enhances household well‐being significantly. Furthermore, although automated teller machine availability promotes subjective well‐being, the number of commercial bank branches enhances only objective well‐being. Meanwhile, commercial bank loans failed to enhance both aspects of welfare at all times. Hence, we have provided relevant policy options that would ensure the maximization of households’ well‐being in these countries and other emerging economies.