Sub-national Regional Level Research Articles

The Domestic Transition: Progress Towards Decent Living of Households in Low and Middle‐Income Countries

ABSTRACTOver the past decades, households have gradually increased their ownership of goods that make life easier and more comfortable, such as furniture, TVs, kitchen supplies, phones, (motor)bikes, and cars. We refer to this development, in which households move from having few durable assets to having many, as the domestic transition. In this study, we argue that this transition reflects the rise towards what could be called a decent standard of living. While this standard has been reached decades ago in affluent societies, the domestic transition has hardly started in the poorest countries. The current paper aims to assess the status of the domestic transition at the level of subnational regions within low‐ and middle‐income countries and to examine how variations in its pace relate to these regions' socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural characteristics. Our analyses reveal that the domestic transition in these regions follows an S‐shaped curve and that the speed of the transition is faster in wealthier, more educated, and urbanised regions with smaller dependent populations.

Analysing space-time patterns of maternal mortality attributed to anaemia in Karnataka, India: a spatial epidemiological study

BackgroundMaternal health is a globally important health challenge and is the key indicator of healthcare services in any given region. One of the main objectives of Sustainable Development Goal 3.1...

The price of regionalisation: Discursive dominance and stakeholders coalitions in the Northern Adriatic Sea fishery governance arrangement

The regionalisation process promoted by the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) enabled the formulation of a new governance arrangement at the sub-national regional level of the Northern Adriatic Sea (NAS). Given the potential for dominating narratives to foster simplified solutions for fishery management, the article sought to analyse discourse formations across Italian Regional Fishery Departments (RFDs) of the NAS. A discourse analysis based on the Discursive Agency Approach (DAA) delineated the discursive strategies, while a weak vs strong sustainability narrative was adopted to broadly group stakeholders into discourse coalitions. The results showed the presence of a dominating narrative in RFD settings, prioritising the economic growth of the fishery sector- particularly the trawling industry- over current environmental concerns. The study points to a possibly increasing dominance of weak sustainability narratives in the Italian NAS and invites for stakeholders' representation to significantly broaden and diversify, enabling the development of multifaceted solutions to the NAS crisis.

Knowledge gap among one health key actors on multi-sectoral coordination at national and sub-national levels in Tanzania

Abstract Knowledge about One Health approach and its importance among the practitioners and the community in addressing health threats is of paramount important. This study aimed to assess knowledge of One Health actors on multi-sectoral coordination in addressing health risks in selected regions of Tanzania. A descriptive study was conducted from June to August 2023 in selected regions of Arusha, Iringa and Dodoma where quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 101 participants representing the line ministries and sub-national regional and district levels. Descriptive analysis was done using EPI INFO 7.2.5.0 statistical software and Microsoft excel. Results showed a decreasing proportion of participants reporting to be aware of One Health approach at the National level with 100.0% awareness and only 32.3% awareness at the district level. It was also revealed that 76.9% of the participants at the national level had received One Health training through short courses, workshops meetings, and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses compared to the varying proportions of 57.7% and 19.4% at the regional and district level, respectively. Limited awareness of different professional disciplines on One Health approach is the major challenge in its operationalisation and institutionalisation at sub-national levels. Awareness creation to One Health actors and advocacy to policy and decision-makers at all levels will enhance implementation, multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration among key actors in addressing health risks emergencies.

RE‐SCALING TERRITORIAL STIGMATIZATION: The Construction and Negotiation of ‘Declining Medium‐Sized Cities’ as a Stigmatizing Imaginary in France

AbstractLoïc Wacquant's work on the production and reproduction of socio‐spatial inequalities in Chicago and La Courneuve has inspired a literature on how imaginaries of low‐income, often racialized neighborhoods are spread through discourse and policy, and how residents respond to the stigmatization of their neighborhoods through internalization, deflection or resistance. While this body of scholarship has almost exclusively focused on the marginalization of urban neighborhoods, I argue in this article that the process of ‘territorial stigmatization’ analyzed by Wacquant also operates at the level of entire cities and subnational regions, with comparable political outcomes: the shifting of attention away from the structural causes of poverty onto its symptoms and, ultimately, the normalization and exacerbation of inequalities between people and places. Drawing on eight months of ethnographic fieldwork in Nevers, I analyze the stigmatizing imaginaries surrounding ‘declining medium‐sized cities’ in France and how they affect residents’ experience of place. The article contributes to the debate on the internalization/contestation of territorial stigma by showcasing the efforts of Nevers residents to restrict local critical discourse to insiders. It also adds to the literature on resistance through place re‐scription strategies by emphasizing the role played by the physical characteristics of place within alternative narratives.

К построению единого хозяйственного пространства России: актуальные акценты категории «связанность»

Based on the rather well-known features of Russia, size, physical-geographical and economic-geographical position of the territory, the task of organizing business activity in the country, both at the national and subnational levels, remains constantly relevant. The interactions that developed during the Soviet period in the development of the state, which included Russia, have largely lost their significance by now. For modern actors of business activity in the time being, the difficulties of interaction are obvious, the reason for which is a significant spatial differentiation and polarization of the economic space. In this respect, the article analyzes scientific ideas regarding the category of “coherence”, presented in modern economic studies of the last three decades, during which there was a decrease in the coherence of the economic space of Russia, which in the time being began to act as an acting factor restraining economic growth at the national and subnational (regional) levels. The modern idea of coherence is inseparable from such categories as “economic space” and “interaction.” The authors identified a number of significant concepts associated with the key category of “coherence.” The dynamics in the content saturation of this category are revealed, which can be interpreted as a continuous process of updating development priorities and the need for new emphasis in understanding this category. The multidimensional nature of the application of the “coherence” category requires specification of its subject area to clarify additional characteristics of coherence. With the focus on the economic space coherence, we note the significance of such an indicator as the intensity of interactions between spatial structures that receive the status of “centers” that influence the maintenance and development of their environment. Clarifications in the interpretation of the concept of “coherence” are closely related to its quantitative assessment. Differences in the concept of “coherence” in domestic and foreign studies are revealed.

Regionalizing a Tourism Satellite Account: A top-down approach based on existing data sources

Purpose: Developing Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) at regional level is a challenging task for any country that wishes to have data for its component regions or its sub-national entities. There are numerous conceptual and methodological issues to be faced in such an endeavour. Considering data availability, particularly the lack of demand-side data at regional level, the purpose of this paper was to employ a top-down method for regionalizing TSA data in Romania at the level of its eight development regions. Design/methodology/approach: This method is based on using multiple regional indicators and existing data sources coming from the supply side: tourism statistics, passenger transport statistics, culture statistics, administrative data, structural business survey, labour cost survey, as well as national and regional accounts. Findings: Regionalizing TSA was obtained but restricted only to calculating the TSA aggregates at regional level. Originality: This paper will contribute to enhancing the TSA development at sub-national (regional) level by proposing a quick top-down method based only on the existing data sources. Research limitations/implications: The major limitation is the lack of a direct reconciliation of data between regional supply and regional demand which is actually the philosophy of any TSA. Practical implications: The regionalization of TSA data proposed in this paper can be illustrative for countries having national TSAs and wishing to make advancements at sub-national (regional) level.

Latin American Experience of Paradiplomacy: The Case of Mercocities

At present, the nature and scope of paradiplomacy vary depending on the level of political activeness of the regions, local challenges and the willingness of both states and sub-national entities to implement paradiplomacy strategies. Latin America, taken as an object of study, is no exception. Over the past three decades, Latin America has gained considerable experience of interaction at the level of cities and sub-national regions. The aim of the research is to identify the key features and problems that shape the development of paradiplomacy in South America, using Mercociudades (Mercocities) as an example. This network includes cities of MERCOSUR member states, while remaining open to other cities. Mercociudades might be regarded as the largest and most influential actor of that nature, whose aim is to develop regional units. Relying on case study, document analysis, comparative analysis and SWOT technique, the authors reveal some problems of institutional and organizational nature, differences in legal frameworks of different actors and irrelevance of separate Mercociudades projects and structures for tackling common challenges. Many of the shortcomings of Mercociudades lie in the very nature of the network, determined by its structure and the policies of MERCOSUR member states. At the same time, it is argued that the Mercociudades network can be considered one of the most advanced paradiplomacy cases. Its experience is relatively successful, contributing to the economic, social and political development of the member cities and states concerned. The research is based on official documents and respectful academic sources.

An approach to regionalise the life cycle inventories of Spanish agriculture: Monitoring the environmental impacts of orange and tomato crops

Agricultural life cycle assessment (LCA) at the sub-national regional level may be a valuable input for the decision-makers. Obtaining representative and sufficient data to develop life cycle inventories (LCIs) at that level is a relevant challenge. This study aims to contribute to the development of LCIs representative Spanish crops based on economic and operational information available in official sources to assess the average environmental impacts of these crops in the main producing regions. A comprehensive approach is proposed considering both the temporal variability and uncertainty of input data by using different methods (e.g. linear programming, weighted averages, Monte Carlo simulation, forecasted irrigation, etc.) to estimate the inventory data of reference holdings. From these inventories, the environmental assessment of those reference holdings is carried out. Two case studies are developed, on orange and tomato crops in the main producing regions, where climate change (CC), freshwater scarcity (WS), human toxicity non-cancer (HTnc), and freshwater ecotoxicity (ET) are evaluated. The environmental scores obtained differ significantly from region to region. The highest environmental scores of orange reference holdings correspond to Comunidad Valenciana for CC (1.94·10−1 kg CO2 eq.) HTnc (4.16·10−11 CTUh) and ET (7.45·10−3 CTUe), and to Andalucia in WS (17.4 m3 world eq.). As to greenhouse tomatoes, the highest scores correspond to Comunidad Valenciana in the four categories analysed (CC = 3.18 kg CO2 eq., HTnc = 3.6·10−9 CTUh, ET = 1.5 CTUe and WS = 13.3 m3 world eq.). The environmental scores estimated in this study are consistent with the literature, showing that the approach is useful to obtain a representative description of the environmental profile of crops from official statistical data and other information sources. Widening the data gathered in ECREA-FADN, and also that from other data sources used, would increase the quality of the environmental impact estimation.

Household and context-level determinants of birth registration in Sub-Saharan Africa.

While according to the United Nations birth registration is a human right, in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) only half of new-born children currently have their birth registered. To gain insight into the reasons behind this low registration rate, we study the role of determinants at the household, sub-national regional and country level, using self-reported birth registration data on 358,842 children in 40 SSA countries. While most of the variation in reported birth registration is due to factors at the household level, context factors are found to play an important role as well. At the household level, poverty, low education, restricted autonomy of women, and belonging to a traditional religion are associated with lower odds of being registered. Lack of professional care during pregnancy, delivery, and early life also decrease the odds of being registered. Important factors at the context level are the average number of prenatal care visits in the local area, living in an urban area, the kind of birth registration legislation, decentralization of the registration system, fertility rates, and the number of conflicts. To improve registration, the complex dynamics of these factors at the household and context level have to be taken into account.

Use of HIV Recency Assays for HIV Incidence Estimation and Other Surveillance Use Cases: Systematic Review.

BackgroundHIV assays designed to detect recent infection, also known as “recency assays,” are often used to estimate HIV incidence in a specific country, region, or subpopulation, alone or as part of recent infection testing algorithms (RITAs). Recently, many countries and organizations have become interested in using recency assays within case surveillance systems and routine HIV testing services to measure other indicators beyond incidence, generally referred to as “non-incidence surveillance use cases.”ObjectiveThis review aims to identify published evidence that can be used to validate methodological approaches to recency-based incidence estimation and non-incidence use cases. The evidence identified through this review will be used in the forthcoming technical guidance by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on the use of HIV recency assays for identification of epidemic trends, whether for HIV incidence estimation or non-incidence indicators of recency.MethodsTo identify the best methodological and field implementation practices for the use of recency assays to estimate HIV incidence and trends in recent infections for specific populations or geographic areas, we conducted a systematic review of the literature to (1) understand the use of recency testing for surveillance in programmatic and laboratory settings, (2) review methodologies for implementing recency testing for both incidence estimation and non-incidence use cases, and (3) assess the field performance characteristics of commercially available recency assays.ResultsAmong the 167 documents included in the final review, 91 (54.5%) focused on assay or algorithm performance or methodological descriptions, with high-quality evidence of accurate age- and sex-disaggregated HIV incidence estimation at national or regional levels in general population settings, but not at finer geographic levels for prevention prioritization. The remaining 76 (45.5%) described the field use of incidence assays including field-derived incidence (n=45), non-incidence (n=25), and both incidence and non-incidence use cases (n=6). The field use of incidence assays included integrating RITAs into routine surveillance and assisting with molecular genetic analyses, but evidence was generally weaker or only reported on what was done, without validation data or findings related to effectiveness of using non-incidence indicators calculated through the use of recency assays as a proxy for HIV incidence.ConclusionsHIV recency assays have been widely validated for estimating HIV incidence in age- and sex-specific populations at national and subnational regional levels; however, there is a lack of evidence validating the accuracy and effectiveness of using recency assays to identify epidemic trends in non-incidence surveillance use cases. More research is needed to validate the use of recency assays within HIV testing services, to ensure findings can be accurately interpreted to guide prioritization of public health programming.

„Chybiona analogia”– czyli o różnicach między referendum w Szkocji i Katalonii

„Misleading analogy”: About Differences Between Referendum in Scotland and Catalonia Separatist aspirations in Europe are now a captivating issue. Regions like Scotland and Catalonia deserve special attention. The aim of the article is to show differences in the perception of both cases, due to their frequent comparing in journalistic papers. The study consists of two parts that concern Scotland and Catalonia. In each of them the institutional and legal positions of the regions were taken into the consideration. In addition, the course of events in Scotland and Catalonia in 2014 and 2017 was considered in the context of the independence referendums carried out in these regions. The summary of this article consists of comparison of the factors which show that there are no grounds for adapting analogy between Scotland and Catalonia. Factors that have been taken into account are: the legal order and the regulations used to define the legal status of the regions, and also the relations between central and subnational (regional) levels in Scotland and Catalonia.

The cultural origins of institutional trust: The case of the European Central Bank

Does culture have a causal effect on institutional trust? We answer this question by assessing the non-economic determinants of public trust in the European Central Bank. To analyse institutional trust, we employ a novel dataset of citizen perceptions and knowledge about the European Central Bank. Cultural traits are measured by indicators of social trust at the level of Euro area sub-national regions. We show that individuals living in regions with lower social trust systematically exhibit less trust in the European Central Bank. An instrumental variable approach based on historical variables of education and political institutions supports a causal interpretation of our findings. These results are robust across different model specifications and measures of trust.

National pride, social trust, and cultural nativism: Findings from East and Southeast Asia

Using the latest (fourth) wave of Asian Barometer Survey (2014–2016), this study examines how national pride and two types of trust (general and particular) are related to nativist preference (cultural nativism), independent of anti-immigration attitudes, among citizens in East and Southeast Asian countries. Findings from multilevel models show that, at the individual level, national pride and particular trust are positively related to cultural nativism, while general trust is negatively related. At the subnational-regional level, we also find significant contextual effects. Living in geographic areas with greater national pride is positively associated with nativist preference, as is residency in places with higher levels of particular trust. In contrast, residency in subnational contexts with higher levels of general trust is negatively associated. Finally, the association between national pride and cultural nativism is stronger in regions with greater contextual national pride.

Spatial trends of innovation in the Russian oil and gas sector: What does patent activity in Siberia and the Arctic reflect?

AbstractDevelopment of mineral (mostly hydrocarbon) resources has shaped the social and economic dynamics of Siberia1 and of the Russian Arctic Zone for a long time. The conditions of such development in the upstream oil and gas sector (OGS)2 get increasingly more complicated, enhancing the need for new knowledge and technologies, as well as the role of cooperation among various companies with their special practices and advantages. The patenting activity is a useful indicator here. The oil‐ and gas‐related patenting tends now to be concentrated in capital agglomerations (Moscow, St. Petersburg) and in the Republic of Tatarstan. This process is reinforced by a declining role of cities in Siberia and the Arctic Zone that used to be focal points of local knowledge and competences. The stronger concentration of patenting activity in the metropolitan areas stems to a large degree from the availability of highly qualified personnel, the overall high quality and intensity of research and development (R&D), and the companies’ policies of locating their technology centers in these cities. This situation conforms to the global trend (in our case, at the level of subnational regions) toward a spatial concentration of R&D activities in large companies and R&D centers located in agglomerations.

Civic Participation and Social Embeddedness: Differences Between Urban and Rural Communities

Does civic participation lead to a large social network? This study claims that high levels of civic participation may obstruct individual social embeddedness. Using survey data from the German Survey on Volunteering (Deutscher Freiwilligensurvey; 1999–2009), this study conducts macro- as well as multi-level regressions to examine the link between civic participation and social embeddedness. Findings reveal that civic participation on the sub-national regional level is not generally associated with social embeddedness, but it affects the participants’ and non-participants’ possibilities for friendships differently. This holds especially true in urban areas, but the effect cannot be found in rural areas. The analysis has implications for further research to enhance the social embeddedness of the excluded.

Are global value chains merely global? The case of Chinese Provinces in global value chains

ABSTRACT We extend the measure of the global value chain (GVC) decomposition framework to the sub-national regional level based on a new Trans-national Inter-regional Input-Output (TIIO) table , which covers 30 Chinese provinces for 2007 and 2012. We answer the question whether fragmentation of GVCs is mainly national, regional or merely global by deriving the geographical distribution by province and the trends related to the production chain of a particular final good. Depending on whether the intermediate inputs cross borders for production or not, we further divide these production activities into GVC or non-GVC activities and identify the changing mechanism from the perspective of simple and complex GVC activities. We find that coastal provinces show a higher decline in nationalization compared to inland provinces. The degree of regionalization weakening of each province is generally the same, which is more evident in coastal provinces. Additionally, coastal provinces show a more significant decline of globalization compared to inland provinces. Regarding border crossing production-sharing activities, complex GVC embeddedness is the main mode of Chinese provinces. They, however, show signs of gradual weakening over time. This is more pronounced in the dynamic evolution of regionalization and globalization in coastal provinces.

Monitoring of Human Development in Regions of Ukraine (Integrated Approach)

The article summarizes the basics of information and methodological metrology of regional human development, the formation and development of which were approved by the Government of Ukraine in 2001, 2012 and 2017. Particular attention is paid to the problems of coordination of the assessment of the dynamics of the components of the Regional Human Development Index (RHDI) with the indicators of the National Regional Development Strategies for the periods up to 2015, 2020 and 2027. In the context of assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the mechanism of state regulation of regional human development on the basis of its forecasting revealed the essence and content of the 4 stages of the algorithm of comprehensive rating assessment of RHDI. Methods of clustering of regions by appropriate components, methods and procedures of composition and decomposition of components of RHDI were used in order to ensure socio-economic security of regions. Differentiation of the system of indicators and procedures for monitoring regional human development at the subnational (regional) level allows to more objectively determine the socio-economic policy of regional and local executive bodies to improve the quality of life of villages, towns, cities, districts and administrative regions of Ukraine.

Identifying spatial technology clusters from patenting concentrations using heat map kernel density estimation

In this paper a methodology for identifying and delineating spatial technology clusters based on patenting concentration is developed. The methodology involves the automated geocoding of patent inventor addresses, the application of a home bias correction factor and a sensitivity analysis to determine the optimal parameters of the kernel density estimation interpolation distance and the minimum concentration threshold to identify clusters. The methodology’s performance is compared to a number of other cluster identification methods and it is validated across 18 individual sectors, including mature broad-based high-technology sectors and emerging niche sustainable energy technology sectors. The results suggest that the performance of the methodology exceed that of alternative cluster identification methods, although there is some variation in performance between different sectors. This demonstrates that the methodology provides researchers, practitioners and policy makers with a useful tool to gain insight into the spatial distribution of sectoral innovation activity at a global scale and sub-national regional level and to monitor changes over time, thereby supplementing more readily available global statistical data which is available at the national level.

The Effect of Subnational Institutions on Foreign Firm Performance: Insights from Emerging Economies

While prior studies have acknowledged the influence of host country institutions in foreign firm behaviors and performance, few investigations have included the roles of subnational institutions. As a matter of the striking institutional difference between emerging economy countries and developed countries, it is important to fully understand the impact of heterogeneous institutional environments of subnational regions in emerging economies on foreign firm performance, which would help foreign firm make a more suitable secondary choice decision of investment destinations at the subnational regional level. At the subnational regions level of emerging economies, we verify the respective and interactive effects of subnational formal and informal institutions (i.e., legal effectiveness and social trust) on foreign firm performance, and further identify the contingent factor (i.e., foreign firm’s institutional experience) that moderates these relationships based on the analysis of multiple secondary databases from China. The results show that, first, both legal effectiveness and social trust at subnational level positively affect foreign firm performance respectively. Second, legal effectiveness and social trust at subnational level have complementary effect in promoting the performance of foreign firms. Third, foreign firm’s institutional experience in target region of emerging economies host country strengthens the positive impact of subnational legal effectiveness on performance, but weakens the positive impact of subnational social trust on performance.