Search Results (37)

This research provides the first comprehensive analysis of the rural–urban wage gap in Colombia, with a focus on the coffee and cocoa sectors, over the past two decades. Using household survey microdata from 2001 to 2023 and international sources, we estimate wage differentials and apply econometric models—including Mincerian wage regressions and Blinder–Oaxaca decompositions. Results reveal a persistent and substantial wage gap: on average, rural coffee and cocoa workers earn roughly half as much as urban manufacturing workers. Even after controlling for education, experience, and other characteristics, a substantial share of the gap remains unexplained, indicating structural issues such as lower productivity, elevated levels of informality, and labor market segmentation in rural areas. Moreover, time-series evidence from the past two decades shows no significant convergence between rural and urban wages. Comparative analysis with Brazil, Mexico, and other Latin American countries highlights how policy interventions, such as rural social protection programs, labor formalization, and support for agricultural cooperatives, have helped narrow rural–urban wage disparities elsewhere. Drawing on these lessons, we discuss policy implications for Colombia and recommend measures to boost rural human capital, strengthen labor institutions, expand social safety nets, and promote rural economic development. These recommendations aim to gradually close the rural–urban wage divide, reduce rural poverty, and foster inclusive growth. Full article

The present study investigates Vietnam’s economic structural transformation from 2007 to 2023, identifying key sectors contributing to output growth and poverty reduction. The study is situated within the broader context of industrialization and sustainable development in emerging economies. It employs structural decomposition analysis using Vietnam’s national input–output tables for the years 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023. The analysis decomposes changes in total output into technical effects and final demand effects, allowing for an evaluation of the relative contributions of sectoral productivity and demand side factors. The findings of the study indicate that the manufacturing and services sectors have been the primary drivers of economic growth, with the electrical and optical equipment, food, beverages and tobacco, and basic metals sectors demonstrating particularly strong performance. The factor of final demand, which is derived from consumption, investment, and exports, has played a dominant role in driving output. Notably, export-led manufacturing has experienced significant benefits due to Vietnam’s engagement in free trade agreements. It is noteworthy that the agriculture sector demonstrated a period of recovery between 2019 and 2023, driven by an increase in final demand. This study underscores the pivotal function of sectoral adaptability, trade openness, and strategic policy in maintaining inclusive economic development. It is evident that the phenomenon under scrutiny is not only indicative of vulnerabilities and opportunities but also shaped by global shocks, for example, the coronavirus pandemic. Full article

This study investigates a hybrid renewable energy system combining the municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification and solar photovoltaic (PV) for electricity generation in Lobito, Angola. A fixed-bed downdraft gasifier was selected for MSW gasification, where the thermal decomposition of waste under controlled air flow produces syngas rich in CO and H₂. The syngas is treated to remove contaminants before powering a combined cycle. The PV system was designed for optimal energy generation, considering local solar radiation and shading effects. Simulation tools, including Aspen Plus v11.0, PVsyst v8, and HOMER Pro software 3.16.2, were used for modeling and optimization. The hybrid system generates 62 GWh/year of electricity, with the gasifier contributing 42 GWh/year, and the PV system contributing 20 GWh/year. This total energy output, sufficient to power 1186 households, demonstrates an integration mechanism that mitigates the intermittency of solar energy through continuous MSW gasification. However, the system lacks surplus electricity for green hydrogen production, given the region’s energy deficit. Economically, the system achieves a Levelized Cost of Energy of 0.1792 USD/kWh and a payback period of 16 years. This extended payback period is mainly due to the hydrogen production system, which has a low production rate and is not economically viable. When excluding H₂ production, the payback period is reduced to 11 years, making the hybrid system more attractive. Environmental benefits include a reduction in CO₂ emissions of 42,000 t/year from MSW gasification and 395 t/year from PV production, while also addressing waste management challenges. This study highlights the mechanisms behind hybrid system operation, emphasizing its role in reducing energy poverty, improving public health, and promoting sustainable development in Angola. Full article

This study investigates the role of public health expenditure on human capital development in South Africa to promote economic development. Despite extensive public health investments and economic reforms, persistent socioeconomic challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and inequality impede sustainable economic growth. This study uses an autoregressive distributed lag model, a vector error correction model (VECM), quantile regression, and Granger causality analysis to assess the relationship between fiscal health policies and human development. The findings confirm that government health spending significantly enhances human development in the short and long run, while unemployment and population growth exert adverse effects. VECM variance decomposition results indicate that the influence of public health expenditure remains persistent, though diminishing over time, with growing contributions from unemployment. Quantile regression shows the heterogeneous impact of health spending across different levels of economic development, emphasising its greater effectiveness at higher development stages. Causality analysis reveals a unidirectional relationship from public health expenditure to human development; this shows the need for sustained healthcare investment. The study calls for policies combining health spending with economic strategies to boost productivity, reduce inequality, and promote inclusive growth. Strengthening institutional efficiency and ensuring macroeconomic stability are crucial for maximising long-term human capital to promote sustainable development. Full article

Background: The link between chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and poverty in underdeveloped countries is debated. This study aims to examine socioeconomic inequalities related to NCDs and assess the contributing factors to these disparities. Methods: The study utilized data from the National Health Services Survey in Shaanxi Province for 2003, 2008, and 2013, having 71,766 respondents. The concentration index (CI) was employed to rigorously quantify the degree of socioeconomic inequality in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The CI decomposition identified the contribution of each variable, while the horizontal inequity (HI) index was calculated annually to assess changes in inequality. Additionally, a Probit model was employed to examine the significant determinants contributing to the occurrence of NCDs. Results: The results show a significant increase in NCD prevalence with age, particularly for individuals aged 60 and above, who experienced a 286.55% rise from 2003 to 2013. Higher education levels are associated with decreased NCD prevalence, as evidenced by a 74.13% reduction for those with high school education or above. Additionally, wealthier individuals had a 15.31% lower prevalence of NCDs, indicating that higher socioeconomic status correlates with a reduced likelihood of chronic diseases. Conclusions: The study finds that NCD prevalence significantly increases with age, while higher education levels and greater wealth are associated with reduced prevalence. These findings highlight the need to target older populations and lower socioeconomic groups for effective NCD prevention and management. Policies should focus on improving educational opportunities and socioeconomic conditions to reduce the burden of NCDs, particularly among older and economically disadvantaged groups. Full article

Mainstreaming gender issues in a demographically divided setting remains a critical component in policy frameworks and project designs. The focus of this study revolves around male- and female-headed households’ engagement in business operations, with an extended effect on household welfare. This study uses Malawi’s Integrated Household Survey 5, and answers two research questions: Are there any determinants of household engagement in non-farm businesses in rural and urban areas of Malawi? And is there any impact of gender differentials in household engagements in non-farm business operations on household welfare in rural and urban areas of Malawi? This study notes that male-managed non-farm SMEs had better profits compared with their female counterparts, as described by the Probit and the Oaxaca two-fold decomposition models. Mediation analysis was later used to establish the impact of the gender differentials using profits as the mediating variable. In general, females were found to be better off, but the benefits were insignificant in reducing the general rural–urban gap. This study recommends the provision of support towards credit structures for rural households and women-headed households; improved financial and business literacy for increased engagement in business operations and reduced poverty; and support towards advocacy of gender inclusion in economic empowerment approaches. Full article

This study conducts a spatio-temporal analysis to identify trends and clusters of child sexual abuse in Mexico City before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Sexual abuses of children were analyzed considering various crime theories. Trends and patterns were identified using time series decomposition and spatial autocorrelation techniques. Time series considered three relevant periods. Anselin’s Local Moran’s I identified the spatial distribution of significant clusters. The child sexual abuse rate presented similar values following school closures. The resumption of classes entailed a decrease of −1.5% (children under 15) and an increase of 29% (children over 15). Particular locations in Mexico City experienced significant clusters among those over 15. There were eight noteworthy clusters displaying recidivism patterns with lower poverty rates and a high level of education. Efforts to combat child sexual abuse should prioritize specific areas in Mexico City where female children over 15 are at high risk of becoming victims of sexual abuse. Full article

From the perspective of household productivity, this paper analyzes the capital composition of the household and the formation mechanism of relative poverty. Based on the CFPS data in 2020, it uses the Alkire–Foster (AF) index to measure the breadth and depth of relative poverty in different regions and puts forward its governance mechanism. The results show that there are significant differences between urban and rural areas and among different regions. The relative poverty incidence rate is mainly concentrated in four indicators, accounting for 30.8% of the total number of indicators. From high to low, the incidences of relative poverty in a single dimension include financial assets, livelihood assets, health, and employment levels. The breadth is mainly reflected in economic capital, health, employment, and education level. The depth is reflected in financial assets, health level, and social network indicators. Except for the social capital dimension, the poverty in rural areas is higher than urban areas, and the central and western regions are higher than the eastern regions, showing a distinct characteristic of imbalanced urban–rural and regional development. This paper proposes the relative poverty governance mechanism of households’ capital accumulation, urban–rural integrated development and regional coordinated development. Full article

In China, income disparities between regions continue to widen, especially in rural areas where environmental policies are implemented, where regional development is more underdeveloped and inequality is high. This paper provides an explanation from the perspective of social capital. Based on the panel data of 2077 counties in 2001–2015, this paper finds that the difference in social capital between ecological and non-ecological functional areas is not only from the gap in the total amount but also from the gap in the income effects. Empirical evidence shows that, although there is a positive correlation between social capital and rural income, the difference between the income effects is further caused by the lower level of social capital in ecological functional areas than in non-ecological functional areas. It is proved that there is a gap between the income effects of social capital in ecological function areas and non-ecological function areas, especially among the low-income groups of the two sectors. The results of the further decomposition of the differences show that the total difference in rural income between ecological function areas and non-ecological function areas is about 40%, of which the contribution of social capital is greater than the contribution of the two sectors. Therefore, the national key ecological functional areas need to explore new models for poverty reduction through social capital. Full article

This paper aims to study the change and decomposition of multidimensional relative poverty in China. The data we use are from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). The data cover 12 provinces in China and span a long period, from reform to precise poverty alleviation. The results show that the multidimensional relative poverty index presents a change pattern of “gradual rise (1991–2004)-decline (2004–2011)-rise again (after 2011)”. The dimensions of education, income, and employment contribute more to multidimensional relative poverty, followed by health and living standards. Multidimensional relative poverty is more severe in rural areas, central and western regions, women, and the elderly. The “incidence of poverty effect” is the main factor in the changes in multidimensional relative poverty, and its contribution is higher than the “intensity of poverty effect”. Full article

Ending poverty in all its forms is the first of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Therefore, it is of great significance to study poverty in the context of sustainable development. At present, the effect of income growth on poverty reduction is becoming less evident, whereas the effect of inhabitant heterogeneity on poverty reduction is becoming increasingly significant in China. Based on the original two-dimensional poverty decomposition of income growth and redistribution, this study introduces the heterogeneity effect to decompose rural poverty in China from three dimensions. It first decomposes the change in income distribution into mean, variance, and residual effects using counterfactual analysis. Then, it introduces the Foster–Greer–Thorbecke index decomposition to decompose China’s rural poverty under the different poverty line. In addition, this paper employs mathematical statistics to analyze the effects of poverty’s growth, dispersion, and heterogeneity. This study finds that the three-dimensional poverty decomposition method can measure the trajectory and trend of poverty more precisely and comprehensively. Moreover, it found that the contradiction between economic growth and poverty regression is due to the fact that the poverty reduction effect of the growth effect and the poverty alleviation effect of the discrete effect have asymmetrical characteristics, whereas the discrete effect and the heterogeneous effect have symmetrical characteristics; that is, the poverty reduction effect of income growth is insufficient to compensate for the poverty deepening effect brought about by the widening income gap, and that the heterogeneous poverty reduction effect plays an increasingly important role. Therefore, to prevent residents from falling back into poverty after being lifted out of it, we must reduce the widening income gap. Moreover, residents’ ability to reduce poverty on their own must be strengthened. Full article

Poverty is a critical issue in sustainable development, and the study of poverty has gradually shifted from absolute to relative poverty. This paper measures three types of relative poverty—strongly relative poverty (50% of median income), strongly relative poverty (50% of mean income), and weakly relative poverty. Then this paper decomposes the change of relative poverty into the growth component, redistribution component, and poverty line change component. Further, the intra- and inter-group decompositions of relative poverty change are carried out by considering the urban and rural population mobility components. We apply the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data from 1989 to 2015 for an empirical study. The results show that: (1) In recent years, the change in relative poverty in China has shown a trend of low fluctuation (1989–1997), rising fluctuation (1997–2006), and high fluctuation (2006–2015). (2) In the decomposition of relative poverty change, the growth component has the most excellent effect on alleviating relative poverty, the redistribution component exacerbates the occurrence of relative poverty in most years and reduces it in a few years, and the poverty line change component offsets the poverty reduction effect of the growth component. (3) The change in relative poverty is decomposed by urban and rural sub-groups, and it is found that the population mobility from rural to urban can reduce the national relative poverty. Full article

China has eliminated absolute poverty and begun to tackle relative poverty, yet the change in relative poverty in China has been less studied. In this paper, we develop a three-component decomposition of the change in relative poverty and apply it to analyze the relative poverty in China. The change in relative poverty is decomposed into identification, growth, and redistribution components. We compare the three-component decomposition with other decomposition methods in the existing literature and show the advantages of the former. Our study, using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2010–2018 data, shows that relative poverty is rising. Examining the periods of 2012–2014, 2014–2016, and 2016–2018, we show that the three components differ in their contribution to relative poverty. The identification component rises with income growth and increases relative poverty by 8.42%, 12.19%, and 12.55%, respectively. The growth component reduces the incidence of relative poverty by 8.34%, 11.24%, and 12.18%, respectively. In comparison, the redistribution component increases the incidence of relative poverty by 2.88%, 1.12%, and 6.60%, respectively. Full article

Youth is an important and critical transition stage towards adulthood, during which time individuals are supposed to prepare in the best possible conditions for adulthood. Moroccan youth are facing unequal opportunities to develop because of the circumstances of their household background and childhood deprivation. This paper measures the level of poverty and the equality of opportunities among Moroccan youth aged 18–29 years utilizing the Human Opportunity Index (HOI). It analyzes poverty from a multidimensional perspective. The findings demonstrate that younger youth are at substantially higher risk of poverty than older young. Poor youth have low educational attainments. The unemployment rate for the non-poor youth is lower than for the poor. Unemployment rates continue to be high for secondary and university graduates, particularly for the poor. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that education deprivation followed by healthcare deprivation is the most prevalent severe deprivation among youth. The results from both the logit regression and the descriptive analyses show that youths of illiterate parents are more likely to have poorer health, drop out of school themselves, and work rather than attend school. Youth in rural areas are least likely to have the opportunity to complete secondary and university education as well as to attend school/university than those in urban areas. Moreover, the decomposition of the total difference of HOI between urban and rural areas into access and equality of opportunities indicates that the differences are mainly due to the coverage effect. Full article

Housing quality is a well-established determinant for health and its relevance has been increasing in the context of sustainable development. Prior research has emphasized the importance of adequate housing for the health and comfort of householders. However, this link is still poorly characterized and understood regarding the vulnerable segments of the population. In this study, a mediation analysis is proposed to test and identify the role of energy affordability in the relationship between poor housing and health status. It resorts to microdata from the European Union—Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) database, focusing on the analysis of Portugal as the case study. Research findings confirm the role of energy affordability as a mediator. The research findings supported the energy efficiency as a direct pathway with protective and preventive effect for poor health, followed by energy affordability as a mediated or indirect pathway. A complementary approach that addresses energy efficiency and energy poverty should be pursued to maximize health risk reduction. Full article