Public Health Expenditure

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have emerged as an innovative investment model for infrastructure projects. Introduced in Morocco during the 1990s, PPPs have since become an important element of the country's economic development strategy, in order to stimulate economic development and address infrastructure challenges. Our paper aims to study the impact of investment in public-private partnerships on economic growth. This study serves to enrich and complement the existing work in this field, thus contributing to the advancement of knowledge and expanding the boundaries of the existing literature.The dataset was analyzed using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL). The results indicate that investment in PPPs has a positive and statistically significant impact on Morocco's economic growth in the long term, highlighting the effectiveness of this investment model in the national context.

This paper analyses the dynamics of a double Cobb-Douglas economy with overlapping generations and public health investments that affect the supply of efficient labour of the old-aged. It is shown that the positive steady state of the economy is unique. Moreover, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the emergence of endogenous deterministic complex cycles when individuals are perfectly foresighted. Interestingly, (i) the equilibrium dynamics shows rather complicated phenomena such as a multiplicity of bubblings depending on the size of the public health system, and (ii) the higher the degree of thriftiness, the likelier an economy is exposed to endogenous fluctuations because the need to save when young to support consumption when old reduces.

Human development index as the measure of human capital development has always attracted interest of economists, researchers and policy makers. Government across the globe, South Africa in particular is also trying to improve the human capital by pumping more investments on, such as education and health. But the issue whether improved level human capital result in economic growth is still divisive. This paper uses HDI (human development index) as the proxy for human capital and GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as proxy for economic growth. The johanson co-integration test theoretical and OLS. The study further uses Granger Causality methods to determine the causal relationship between HDI and Economic Growth for the period 1980-2011. The findings indicate that in the long run HDI is subject to responsive movements as a result of changes in its proxies and fundamentals and that being the reason for government's inducements. Consequently, the changes in the human capital reciprocate positively to the growth of the economy.

Introduction: Despite improvements in a country's income during the era of decentralization, catastrophic expenditures persist. This study aimed to establish the determinants of household healthcare expenditures in rural Kenya. Methods: The study utilized data from the Kenya Household Health Expenditure and Utilization Survey (2018). A multiple regression model was employed to estimate the impact of respective determinants on postdevolution health expenditures in rural Kenya. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation technique was adopted. Results: The gender of respondents, marital status, medical insurance, and chronic illness were found to be positively related to health expenditures, whereas education levels (primary, secondary, and higher levels) and wealth index (second and third wealth quintiles) were significant predictors but had a negative relationship with health expenditures. Recommendations: The study suggests promoting gender equality in healthcare access and implementing incentives and training programs to encourage men to practice preventive care, thereby reducing hospital visits. Additionally, the study recommends the creation and implementation of awareness programs across organizations, schools, and government agencies. Empowerment programs should be established to help the population lower hospital visits, consequently reducing healthcare expenditures. Furthermore, the government should increase the number of public health facilities to enhance access to subsidized services in rural areas.

PurposeBecause of the 2008 global financial crisis aftermaths, economic downturn and prolonged recession, several OECD countries have adopted an austerity compound by significantly reducing public health expenditure (PHE) for dealing with their fiscal pressure and sovereign-debt challenges. Against this backdrop, this study aims to examine the responsiveness of PHE to macro-fiscal determinants, demography, as well to private health insurance (PHI) financing.Design/methodology/approachThe authors gather annual panel data from four international organizations databases for the total of OECD countries from a period lasting from 2000 to 2017. The authors apply static and dynamic econometric methodology to deal with panel data and assess the impact of several parameters on PHE.FindingsThe authors’ findings indicate that gross domestic product, fiscal capacity, tax revenues and population aging have a positive effect on PHE. Further, the authors find that both unemployment rate and volunt...

This paper compares efficiency dynamics (steady state and convergence) between Islamic and conventional banks using parametric (stochastic frontier analysis) and non-parametric (classification trees) methods. Analysis is based on an unbalanced panel of Islamic and conventional banks from 23 countries over the period 1999 to 2014. We specify a β-convergence model with bank type shift (steady state efficiency) and slope dummies (efficiency convergence). Speed of convergence and steady state efficiency of the two types of banks are found to be similar in the initial parametric analysis. A classification trees framework is adopted to identify banking ‘clubs’ with respect to estimated efficiency steady states and convergence rates. This reveals variations between countries in terms of the convergence and steady states of the two types of banks: in some countries the two banking sectors have distinct models, while in others they do not.

Background: Diagnostic health laboratory services are regarded as an integral part of the national health infrastructure across all countries. Clinical laboratory tests contribute substantially to health system goals of increasing quality of care and improving patient outcomes.Objectives: This study aimed to analyse current laboratory expenditures at the primary healthcare (PHC) level in South Africa as processed by the National Health Laboratory Service and to determine the potential cost savings of introducing laboratory demand management.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of laboratory expenditures for the 2013/2014 financial year across 11 pilot National Health Insurance health districts was conducted. Laboratory expenditure tariff codes were cross-tabulated to the PHC essential laboratory tests list (ELL) to determine inappropriate testing. Data were analysed using a Microsoft Access database and Excel software.Results: Approximately R35 million South African Ran...

Between 1960 and 1997, life expectancy at birth of Americans increased approximately 10%-from 69.7 to 76.5 years -and it has been estimated that the value of life extension during this period nearly equaled the gains in tangible consumption. We investigate whether an aggregate health production function can help to explain the substantial fluctuations in the rate of increase in longevity since 1960. We view longevity as the output of the health production function, and output fluctuations as the consequence of fluctuations in medical inputs (expenditure) and technology. We estimate longevity models using annual U.S. time-series data on life expectancy, health expenditure, and medical innovation. Reliable annual data are available for only one type of innovation -new drugs -but pharmaceutical R&D accounts for a significant fraction of total biomedical research. The empirical analysis provides strong support for the hypothesis that both medical innovation (in the form of new drug approvals) and expenditure on medical care (especially public expenditure) contributed to longevity increase during the period 1960-1997. The estimates imply that the medical expenditure needed to gain one life-year is about $11,000, and that the pharmaceutical R&D expenditure needed to gain one life-year is about $1,345. Previous researchers have estimated that the average value of a life-year is approximately $150,000.

The input-output (IO) method is widely used in economic analysis to
understand the relationship between sectors of the economy. One of the major
advantages of the IO method is its ability to capture the direct and indirect
effects of different policies in one sector on other sectors of the economy. The
IO table system is a crucial component of the European System of Accounts,
a standardized framework for the production of European Union statistics on
economic activities. Utilizing various mathematical techniques and methods,
the IO analysis shows adaptability as a tool of analysis. In comparison to
alternative methods, one of the primary benefits of the IO method is its
flexibility in incorporating aggregate data. This enables researchers and
policymakers to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the
interrelationships between different sectors of the economy as well as the
effects of different policies on multiple sectors of the economy. This paper
examines several studies by different authors related to IO analysis, which use
official data from IO tables across various countries to analyze the economy
of a country, region, and global impact. This paper evaluates the limitations of
the application of the IO method in Albania, considering the techniques of
constructing symmetrical IO tables and the types of analyses conducted
through these data.

Health is wealth. For mankind to live the expected life standard, it requires a sustainable good healthcare condition. For this, understanding the influence of public health expenditure on life expectancy in Nigeria becomes imperative. The study therefore examines the impact of public health expenditure on life expectancy in Nigeria utilizing annual data from 1990 to 2023. Data were analyzed using Johansen Cointegration and Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VECM). The variables adopted for the study were public health expenditure (PHEX), life expectancy (LEXP), per capita income (PCIN), population growth rate (POPGR) and unemployment rate (UNEMR). The result revealed that in the long run, PHEX and PCIN have a positive relationship with LEXP, whereas POPGR and UNEMR revealed a negative relationship with LEXP. In the short run, PHEX and PCIN were statistically significant in explaining LEXP, while POPGR and UNEMR were insignificant in explaining LEXP. UNEMR revealed a negative relationship with LEXP in the short run, while all other variables revealed a positive relationship with LEXP in the short run. The speed of adjustment shown by the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) was approximately 35 per cent. Findings from the study showed that life expectancy in Nigeria increases as public health expenditure increases. Based on the results, the study recommends the need for continual allocation of funds into the health sector as it shows a positive relationship between public health expenditure and life expectancy in Nigeria.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the non-communicable diseases that depletes the wealth of any individual directly and indirectly due to the cost associated with treating the illness and its complications. The study aims to estimate the economic burden of Diabetes mellitus in Kenya from a societal perspective using a cost-of-illness approach. The study's results and findings for the economic burden of diabetes mellitus in Kenya relied on the cost of illness approach. The approach identifies and measures all the costs of Diabetes mellitus, including direct and indirect costs. The 552,400 adult cases reported in 2019 resulted in a total economic cost of USD 372,184,585, equivalent to USD 674 per diabetes mellitus patient. The total direct costs accounted for the highest proportion of the overall costs at 61% (USD 227,980,126), whereas indirect costs accounted for 39% of the total economic costs (USD 144,204,459). Costs of medicines accounted for the highest costs over the total economic costs at about 29%, followed by the income lost while seeking care at 19.7%. Other costs that accounted for more than 10% of the total costs include productivity losses (19%), diagnostic tests (13%), and travel (12%). The rest of the cost categories accounted for less than 5%. Efforts should be made to reduce the costs of these medicines to enhance care. The high indirect costs reported, majorly in income lost by patients while seeking medical care, are 19%. Access to affordable health services such as diabetes mellitus education, regular blood glucose screening initiatives, and increasing

Between 1960 and 1997, life expectancy at birth of Americans increased approximately 10%-from 69.7 to 76.5 years-and it has been estimated that the value of life extension during this period nearly equaled the gains in tangible consumption. We investigate whether an aggregate health production function can help to explain the substantial fluctuations in the rate of increase in longevity since 1960. We view longevity as the output of the health production function, and output fluctuations as the consequence of fluctuations in medical inputs (expenditure) and technology. We estimate longevity models using annual U.S. time-series data on life expectancy, health expenditure, and medical innovation. Reliable annual data are available for only one type of innovation-new drugs-but pharmaceutical R&D accounts for a significant fraction of total biomedical research. The empirical analysis provides strong support for the hypothesis that both medical innovation (in the form of new drug approvals) and expenditure on medical care (especially public expenditure) contributed to longevity increase during the period 1960-1997. The estimates imply that the medical expenditure needed to gain one life-year

This paper focuses on using time series data on real GDP, energy consumption, and CO2 emission to examine the effect of economic growth and energy consumption on CO2 emission for a panel of 23 African countries within the period 1980–2019. The study used Pedroni (1999) approach of panel cointegration analysis to test for existence of long-run cointegration relationship between the variables.  Fixed effect model was used to test for the Environmental Kutznets Hypothesis, and income squared was included as an additional explanatory variable. The estimated empirical results for the panel of 23 African countries from fixed effect model indicates the evidence of EKC hypothesis. At the level of individual countries, there is large divergence. 13 countries show evidence of EKC, implying that CO2 emission  has fallen over the long run. As income increases, the levels of environmental damage decreases in those countries. 10 countries show opposite relationship among the variables. Based on t...

This study focused on the Child Rights Act and how relevant stakeholders, institutions and agencies have been able to guarantee the attainment of these rights through budgetary provisions. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to determine the effects of public healthcare expenditure on the attainment of these rights. To this end, the study employed the Grossman human capital development model and fitted a time series data obtained from World Development Indicators and CBN statistical bulletin using OLS and TSLS. In the process, we observed that public healthcare expenditure has been on the increase, while the under-five mortality rate has been falling but not in the same proportion. Secondly, we observed that public healthcare expenditure is statistically significant with under-five mortality rate but with an infinitesimal magnitude of 0.017% (OLS) and 0.035% (TSLS). Public education expenditure is positively but has no statistically significant relationship with primary school enrolment. It was discovered that the incidence of mortality is higher than the child school enrolment. The findings also show that location and accessibility to both health and education facilities are important in explaining under-five mortality and primary school enrolment respectively. We therefore suggest that more proportion of the public healthcare expenditure should be allotted to the welfare of the under-five, thereby fulfilling the Child Rights Act.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the non-communicable diseases that depletes the wealth of any individual directly and indirectly due to the cost associated with treating the illness and its complications. The study aims to estimate the economic burden of Diabetes mellitus in Kenya from a societal perspective using a cost-of-illness approach. The study’s results and findings for the economic burden of diabetes mellitus in Kenya relied on the cost of illness approach. The approach identifies and measures all the costs of Diabetes mellitus, including direct and indirect costs. The 552,400 adult cases reported in 2019 resulted in a total economic cost of USD 372,184,585, equivalent to USD 674 per diabetes mellitus patient. The total direct costs accounted for the highest proportion of the overall costs at 61% (USD 227,980,126), whereas indirect costs accounted for 39% of the total economic costs (USD 144,204,459). Costs of medicines accounted for the highest costs over the total economic co...

Kenya being a lower middle income country compliments tax revenue with government borrowing to finance its national development plans. In an attempt to add to available domestic resources, successive governments have relied on both domestic and external debt to finance the country's budget. In light of the growing concerns over Kenya's national public debt sustainability and its potential effect on the economy, this study aimed at analyzing the effect of national public debt on economic growth in Kenya. Specifically, the study sught to establish the effect of domestic debt and external debt on Kenya's economic growth. Gross Domestic Product was used as the proxy for economic growth while domestic debt, external debt, inflation rate, exchange rate, capital stock and labor force are the explanatory variables. The study used time series data for the period 990 to 20 9. The data was extracted from the World development indicators and this data was harmonized with data extracted from the data bases of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The data was analyzed through the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression technique. The findings indicated that domestic debt had an insignificant negative effect on Kenyan economy while external debt has insignificant positive effect. The study concluded that internal debt

Domestic private investment serves as a prerequisite for the development and modernization of any economy. In Kenya, macroeconomic and political uncertainties play a significant role in influencing private domestic investments. This is informed by the fact that these investments allow investors to fund ventures, which creates jobs and increase government revenues through taxation. Hence, it boosts the growth of the economy and improves the living standards of the people. However, private domestic investments are severely affected by both macroeconomic and political uncertainties about how the government formulates political, economic, and regulatory policies that affect the business climate. Investors are risk-averse; hence they base investment decisions on prevailing and future conditions of the business environment. This paper focuses on analyzing the effects of uncertainty on Kenya's domestic private investments. The study estimated the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds technique which captures both short and long-run dynamics of this relationship among the variables. Time series data from UNCTAD, the World Bank, and the Central Bank of Kenya for the period spanning 1980 to the year 2019 was used. The study results suggest that real GDP (RGDP) and real effective exchange rates (REER) have a significant and positive effect on private domestic investment

Civil conflict risk shows the possibility of armed confrontation with the government in its various forms. This research tried to investigate the factors affecting on the civil conflict risk with an Emphasis on the natural resource abundance and interactive effects in 87 countries of the world during the period of 2000-2018 using the dynamic panel data approach. Experimental results using System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) show that the effect of natural resource abundance on the civil conflict risk is positive and significant, and this effect is negative and significant for indicators of institutional quality, militarization and decentralization. Also, the positive effect of the natural resource abundance on the civil conflict risk decreases in the presence of good institutions and militarization and increases with the application of decentralization policy. According to other results, the variables of per capita income and the share of arable land from the total area of the country have a negative and significant effect, and population and religious and racial tensions have a positive and significant effect on the civil conflict risk in the studied countries.

The study sought to establish the relationship between monitoring and evaluation practices and performance of County Maternal Health programmes in Kenya. The combined monitoring and evaluation practices included planning for M&E, stakeholder engagement, capacity building for M&E, and M&E data use. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. To obtain 282 respondents, stratified random sampling was used. A self-administered structured questionnaire was the study's research instrument. Using descriptive narratives, qualitative data was analyzed within specific themes. Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively using measures of central tendencies and measures of dispersion. Regression was conducted for testing the study hypotheses. Data was presented using frequency tables. The study found that stakeholders’ engagement in M&E and capacity building for M&E influenced the performance of County Maternal Health Programmes in Kenya. The study also found that the responden...

Financial rules can prevent budget fluctuations by regularizing the financial relations of the public sector. This research analyzes four financial rules in the framework of the Stock-Flow Consistent model. These rules are government spending as a constant ratio of GDP, government budget deficit as a constant ratio of GDP, government debt as a constant ratio of GDP, and a balanced budget. The simulation results of the research model for 50 years (2011-2061) show that the choice of financial rule can differ depending on the government's goals, the desired time horizon, and the economic conditions. Among the examined rules, government spending as a fixed ratio of GDP is optimal in the condition of oil sanctions, since it reduces the negative effects of oil sanctions on the selected macroeconomic variables of the model. Considering the importance of choosing a financial rule in accordance with changing economic conditions, such as an oil sanction, it is suggested that the rules should be designed considering the requirements of the country's economy and the goals of the policymaker, and get revised with changes in economic conditions or changes in the priority of goals.

Background: Increasing access to health care has been a policy concern for many governments, Kenya included. The Kenyan government introduced and implemented a number of initiatives in a bid to address the healthcare utilization challenge. These initiatives include 10/20 policy, exemptions for user fees for some specific health services (treatment of children less than five years, maternity services in dispensaries and health centers, Tuberculosis treatment in public health facilities), and increase in the number of health facilities and health workforce. These initiatives notwithstanding, healthcare utilization in Kenya remains a challenge. The Kenya Household Health Expenditure and Utilization Survey of 2007 found that 17 percent of those who needed health care services could not access the services from both government and private health facilities largely due to financial constraints. This paper employed econometric analysis to examine what could be constraining health care utilization in Kenya despite all the efforts employed. Methods: Using the 2007 Kenya Household Health Expenditures and Utilization Survey (KHHEUS) data (n = 8414), this paper investigates the factors that affect health care utilization in Kenya by estimating a count data negative binomial model. The model was also applied to public and private health facilities to better understand the specificities of poverty in these two facility types. Common estimation problems of endogeneity, heterogeneity, multicollinearity and heteroskedasticity are addressed. Findings: The econometric analysis reveals that out-of-pocket expenditures, waiting time, distance, household size, income, chronic illness area of residence and working status of the household head are significant factors affecting health care utilization in Kenya. While income and distance are significant factors affecting public health care utilization they are not significant in explaining healthcare utilization in private facilities. In

The productivity of Kenyan manufacturing firms is way lower than that of many developed economies and has generally exhibited a consistent decline over the last decade. While this productivity trend has largely been attributed to the presence of a high distortionary institutional and business regulatory environment, existing studies on the role of the investment climate in determining firm performance are ostensibly scanty. This study, thus, employed the World Bank panel enterprise data for the period 2007-2013- 2018 in assessing whether investment climate mattered for firm performance in Kenyan manufacturing firms. More particularly, the study sought to establish the role of the court system and property rights ownership in determining firm performance; a feat that remains unexplored in the Kenyan context. The random effects model was estimated while controlling for the year, industry, and firm-specific control variables. The findings revealed that while court inefficiencies significantly impeded labor productivity, property rights ownership significantly increased productivity. Further, human capital positively determines labor productivity. Concerning governance and institutional factors, ISO-certified firms were found to be significantly more productive. Conversely, business licenses and permits constrain firm productivity. Therefore, to ensure unrelenting firm productivity, speedy and just delivery of court rulings on firm-related matters is critical. Secondly, the acquisition of patents relating to product or process innovation by firms enhances product competitiveness. Thirdly, manufacturing firms should invest more in human capital. Finally, the imposition of favorable business licenses and permits by the governments globally coupled with the ISO Certification requirement by firms is integral in optimizing labor productivity.

Keywords: Investment climate; labor productivity; manufacturing firms; Kenya

This study investigates the effect of government public expenditures on Nigeria's economic growth and development using the sectorial economic function approach. The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the outcome variable in this study, was employed as the proxy for economic growth while government's expenditures on administrative services, economic services, social and community services, and transfers were used as the predictor variables in this study. Surprisingly, the results from the cointegration test and Vector Error Correction Model estimate reveal that all the predictor variables, apart from expenditure on administration, have a positive relationship with economic growth. While expenditures on economic services and social and community services have positive and significant relationship with economic growth, government transfers has a positive but insignificant relationship with economic growth. Emphatically, expenditure on administrative services has a significant negative relationship with economic growth. The result from Wald coefficient diagnostic test reveals that there is short run causality running from the public expenditure aggregates to economic growth. Thus, this study recommends, among others, that efforts should be made to reduce the deadweight aggregate public expenditure on administrative services since it has a significant negative impact on economic growth trend in Nigeria.

Previous studies indicate that under-five mortality rates have remained stagnant and Uganda failed to meet the Millennium Development Goals target and hence unlikely to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. Although effective health reforms and programs such as the Immunization Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), and Home Based Management of Fever (HBMF) and increasing health expenditure were undertaken since1990s, health outcomes especially under-five mortality rates have remained poor. Uganda’s under-five mortality rate has remained high that is 68 per 1000 live birth in relation to MDGs target 56 per 1000 live birth in 2014 .The MDGs assessment report by United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) shows that the low level of public health expenditure is a major factor determining poor child health outcomes in Uganda. However empirical evidence on the health expenditure and its effect on under-five mortality rate have remained inconclusive. Simple Ordinary least squ...

OBJECTIVE The irruption of SARS-CoV-2 and its different incidence on the regional mortality rate could be revealing the effects of the change in the paradigm of health justice, initiated in Spain in 2010 and applied, more or less enthusiastically, by the different autonomous communities. The objective of this work was to look for if the socio-economic conditions and the policy of budgetary expenditure followed by the different Spanish autonomous communities have incidence, by themselves, on the mortality rate caused by the SARS-CoV-2. METHODS Econometric research based on Multiple Linear Regression to determine the direct cause-effect relationship between the dependent variable, mortality associated with COVID-19, with explanatory variables of the health budget and socio-economic type. RESULTS The number of deaths caused by COVID-19 has a positive relationship with the rate of GDP per capita and inversely with expenditure on hospital and specialized services, teaching and IRMs and w...

Cost stickiness affects the behavior of costs in different ways. In this paper, the effect of economic growth and economic sanctions on cost stickiness was investigated. The data from 117 companies of the Tehran Stock Exchange from 1996 to 2015 was selected. Multiple regression was used for hypothesis testing and to compare the coefficients during the minor and severe sanctions, the Petronaster test has been used. To examine the cost stickiness during these periods the 20-year period was divided into the boom and recession, and usual and severe sanctions periods.Cost stickiness was investigated in terms of public and administrative costs, cost of goods sold and operational costs. Results show that cost responds asymmetrically to identical sales. Economic boom affects positively costs stickiness in other words, cost stickiness raises during the economic boom. Recession has a negative effect on cost stickiness. In other words, there is no cost stickiness during recession. Although sev...

Health inputs are critical in attaining a healthy nation and improving health outcomes. Kenya, like other developing countries, grapples with limited health expenditures and poor population health indicators. Specifically, Kenya is yet to achieve the allocation of least 15% of the government's annual budget to improve the health sector as enshrined in the Abuja Declaration. Though there is an improvement with regards to infant mortality rate decreasing from 96.6 per 1, 000 live birth in 1970 to 30.6 per 1, 000 live birth in 2018. This indicator of population health outcome is currently far below the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of reducing the under five mortality rate to as low as 12 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2030. The literature suggests that increase in government's budgetary allocation to the health sector can improve country's health outcomes. Evidence on the impact of health expenditures on health outcomes is mixed and limited in developing countries. This study aims to analyze the impact of public health expenditures on health outcomes, among other control variables in Kenya. The study uses time series data from 1970 to 2018. The variables are found to be integrated of different orders suggesting the choice of Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model. ARDL provides a useful link between long run equilibrium relationships and short run disequilibrium dynamics is estimated. The ARDL bounds test suggests presence of cointegration thus leading to the estimation of Error Correction Model (ECM). The findings suggest that improvements in public health expenditures enhance health outcomes in Kenya. The control variables that are found to be important determinants of infant mortality rate in Kenya include the national income and number of hospital beds per 100, 000. The study recommends that Kenyan government should increase annual budgetary allocation to health sector. Such increase is likely to lead to investments in physical and human capital in the health sector thus translating to improved health outcomes in Kenya.

This paper focuses on using time series data on real GDP, energy consumption, and CO2 emission to examine the effect of economic growth and energy consumption on CO2 emission for a panel of 23 African countries within the period 1980–2019. The study used Pedroni (1999) approach of panel cointegration analysis to test for existence of long-run cointegration relationship between the variables.  Fixed effect model was used to test for the Environmental Kutznets Hypothesis, and income squared was included as an additional explanatory variable. The estimated empirical results for the panel of 23 African countries from fixed effect model indicates the evidence of EKC hypothesis. At the level of individual countries, there is large divergence. 13 countries show evidence of EKC, implying that CO2 emission  has fallen over the long run. As income increases, the levels of environmental damage decreases in those countries. 10 countries show opposite relationship among the variables. Based on t...

Economic sanctions are a common diplomatic tool for countries to pursue political demands abroad or to punish non-aligned countries. Economic sanctions have been criticized for failing to achieve their goals and negatively impacting areas such as human rights, democracy, poverty, health care and basic living conditions. Sanctions imposed on Iran have affected various aspects of the economy, in terms of consumption, revenue, production, import of goods and services, and so on. This study examines the history and effects of economic sanctions on income inequality in Iran imposed by the United States during the period 1978-2018 using the Distributed Interrupt Autoregression ARDL method. Therefore, in this study, changes in oil revenues have been used as an indicator of economic sanctions. The results show that economic sanctions have different effects on income inequality in the short and long term. Also, the variables of foreign direct investment, inflation rate and degree of trade openness have a positive and significant effect on income inequality.

In September, 2000, the 189 member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted a millennium declaration tagged “The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).” as an attempt to address the challenges relating to extreme poverty, hunger, health, gender equality, education, environmental sustainability and global partnership for development. Three of the goals were health-specific while the others can be regarded as health enhancing as there exist some form of positive correlation between health system development and sustainable economic growth . This study empirically investigates the effect of Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) health interventions on economic growth in Nigeria for the period 2000 – 2015. It adopts the least squares regression analysis to examine the impact of MDGs 4, 5, and 6 in improving the health system performance for Nigeria’s economic growth. The model adopted views health as a durable capital stock that yields an output of a healthy economy whose productio...

Many developing countries still struggle to industrialise to speed up the pace of economic growth and development. Given this, they continue to search for antidotes to the challenges of their underdevelopment. Sports development is touted by many as one of the antidotes to the underdevelopment challenges of developing countries. However, the major challenges developing countries face in recent times are how they can develop sports and how they can adequately harness its benefits for economic growth and development. This paper sought to holistically explore the challenges of sports development in developing nations, the long-term complementary strategies or cardinal pillars of sports development in developing nations, and the benefits of sports development and their effects on economic growth and development of developing nations. This paper employed a narrative overview research approach to arriving at its conclusions. It concludes that sports development hinges on the holistic development of ten long-run complementary strategies or cardinal pillars. In addition, sports development offers eight significant benefits that can help achieve economic growth and development in developing nations. One of the study's main recommendations is that sufficient and sustained levels of all kinds of investment in sports, coupled with strong institutions, good governance, and practical and interrelated policies, are critical for sports development and economic growth and development in developing countries.

Nigerian tax authorities have continued to collect huge sums of funds in form of revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT) and plans have been concluded to extend this source of revenue to financial services sector. Meanwhile, empirical study that investigates the relationship that exists among VAT, Economic Growth and Poverty is rather scarce. This paper examines whether VAT revenue could be used to maintain social cohesion needed for sustainable long-run growth in Nigeria. Two Ordinary Least Squares OLS) regressions, are conducted using time series data from 1994-2012. The study however found that VAT revenue has positive and significant (p<0.05) impact on economic growth and that economic growth has negative but insignificant (P < 0.05) impact on poverty reduction.

Expenditure on education is regarded as investment in human capital because it helps in skill formation and thus raises the ability to work and produce more. Government education spending is of great importance to national development and plays a critical role in promoting growth and knowledge deepening. This paper examines government education spending and education outcome in Nigeria from 1970-2013. Employing Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) unit root test and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique, the study revealed that public education spending has a positive and significant effect on education outcome in Nigeria. Public health expenditure and urban population growth were also found to have positive effects on education outcome but are non significant in determining education outcome. The study recommends among other things, that government should spend more on education which needs to be targeted for the desired effects to be realized. Again government should monitor spending given the history of corruption and embezzlement of public funds in Nigeria.

Health holds an important position in maintaining economic development since it is both a prerequisite for and an outcome of economic development. This means that health contributes greatly to the attainment of sustainable development and health outcomes. The importance of health is demonstrated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) where three of the eight goals are aimed at improving health outcomes. Despite progress made by other middle-income countries in achieving health-related MDGs, South Africa is still worse off in respect of health outcomes and experiences a challenge in attaining positive outcomes for these goals. This study's main focus was to identify the association between public health expenditure and health outcomes in South Africa's nine provinces from 2002 to 2016. The study implemented fixed effects and a random effects panel data estimation technique to control for time effects and individual provincial heterogeneity. This was followed by employing the Hausman specification test to identify the fixed effects model as the appropriate estimator for the study. The study also employed the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model and the least squares dummy variable (LSDV) model to examine the impact of public health expenditure on each province separately. The findings elucidated that the relationship between public health expenditure and health outcomes in South Africa varied across provinces depending on provincial management and infrastructure availability.

This article compared single to combined forecasts of wind run using artificial neural networks, decomposition, Holt-Winters’ and SARIMA models. The artificial neural networks utilized the feedback framework while decomposition and Holt-Winters’ approaches utilized their multiplicative versions. Holt-Winters’ performed best of single models but ranked fourth, of all fifteen models (single and combined). The combination of decomposition and Holt-Winters’ models ranked best of all two-model combinations and second of all models. Combination of decomposition, Holt-Winters’ and SARIMA performed best of three-model combinations and ranked first, of all models. The only combination of four models ranked third of all models. The accuracy of single forecast should not be underestimated as a single model (Holt-Winters’) outperformed eleven combined models. It is therefore, evident that inclusion of additional model forecast does not necessarily improve combined forecast accuracy. In any mode...

Fisher equation in its conventional form suggests that nominal interest rate is the sum of real interest rate and expected inflation and, as such, it has been utilized as a standard component in economic literature to predict the behavior of nominal and real interest rates or to analyze investment returns. Nevertheless, Fisher equation has its flaws well documented in the empirical literature. This paper focuses on enriching contemporary theoretical underpinnings by paying attention to Fisher´s illusory nature of nominal interest rate, revisiting original roots of Fisher equation, and contrasting them with modern conventional form of Fisher equation. Consequently, implications will be derived for the relevance of a particular form of Fisher equation. Another important contribution is the connection of Fisher’s equation with money illusion through Modigliani-Cohn hypothesis (1979). This phenomenon might be responsible for an imperfect adjustment of the interest rate to expected infla...

This paper focuses on examining the effect of government external debt on economic growth, investigating the effect of interest rate on economic growth, establishing the effect of government domestic debt on economic growth, and examining the effect of budget deficit on economic growth. The study was carried out for three East African countries, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, over the study period of 1980-2019. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ADL) Panel Approach was used to specifically establish the effect of government external debt, interest rate, government domestic debt, and budget deficit on economic growth. Pooled Mean Estimator (PMG) was used to estimate both the general and full sample model. The results showed that in the long run, government external debt and interest rate had negative but not statistically significant effect on economic growth for the three countries. On the other hand, government domestic debt and budget deficit had positive effect but not statistically si...

Test and Error Correction Model were the tools that were used to estimate the relationship between the variables. Data is from the World Bank Development Indicators (WDI) online database, 2021, Official Gazettes of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Education and Macrotrend, 2021. Empirical results showed that the ratio of human capital to government spending was positive at 5 per cent in the short term, in line with a previous expectation. The long-term relationship between human capital development, poverty and income inequality in Nigeria has been negative. The ECM has a weak rate of adjustment of 1.2 per cent and a 1 per cent significance of this imbalance is corrected annually. Therefore, among other things, it was recommended that the federal government should increase budget allocations for the education and health sectors, and improves living standards through empowerment and the acquisition of self-employment skills.

This article compared single to combined forecasts of wind run using artificial neural networks, decomposition, Holt-Winters’ and SARIMA models. The artificial neural networks utilized the feedback framework while decomposition and Holt-Winters’ approaches utilized their multiplicative versions. Holt-Winters’ performed best of single models but ranked fourth, of all fifteen models (single and combined). The combination of decomposition and Holt-Winters’ models ranked best of all two-model combinations and second of all models. Combination of decomposition, Holt-Winters’ and SARIMA performed best of three-model combinations and ranked first, of all models. The only combination of four models ranked third of all models. The accuracy of single forecast should not be underestimated as a single model (Holt-Winters’) outperformed eleven combined models. It is therefore, evident that inclusion of additional model forecast does not necessarily improve combined forecast accuracy. In any mode...

This paper focuses on examining the effect of government external debt on economic growth, investigating the effect of interest rate on economic growth, establishing the effect of government domestic debt on economic growth, and examining the effect of budget deficit on economic growth. The study was carried out for three East African countries, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, over the study period of 1980-2019. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ADL) Panel Approach was used to specifically establish the effect of government external debt, interest rate, government domestic debt, and budget deficit on economic growth. Pooled Mean Estimator (PMG) was used to estimate both the general and full sample model. The results showed that in the long run, government external debt and interest rate had negative but not statistically significant effect on economic growth for the three countries. On the other hand, government domestic debt and budget deficit had positive effect but not statistically significant effect on economic growth. The results of the short term showed that government external debt, government domestic debt, and budget deficit had a negative but not statistically significant effect on economic growth for the three countries, while interest rate had a negative and statistically significant effect on economic growth for the three countries. Firstly, in order to achieve a positive economic growth, it is recommended that the East African countries, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, should design and implement debt, interest rates, and budget deficit policies to fit and align with other macroeconomics policies. Secondly, they should restrain their expenditure to sustainable levels to maintain a balanced if not surplus budget. Thirdly, they should endeavor to put economic and legal framework in place to eradicate corruption of public funds. Fourthly, they should design and implement policies to broaden tax base to support a balance budget. Fifthly, the governments should avoid a crowding through huge borrowings in the domestic market at the expense of the private sector.

Domestic private investment serves as a prerequisite for the development and modernization of any economy. In Kenya, macroeconomic and political uncertainties play a significant role in influencing private domestic investments. This is informed by the fact that these investments allow investors to fund ventures, which creates jobs and increase government revenues through taxation. Hence, it boosts the growth of the economy and improves the living standards of the people. However, private domestic investments are severely affected by both macroeconomic and political uncertainties about how the government formulates political, economic, and regulatory policies that affect the business climate. Investors are risk-averse; hence they base investment decisions on prevailing and future conditions of the business environment. This paper focuses on analyzing the effects of uncertainty on Kenya’s domestic private investments. The study estimated the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds technique which captures both short and long-run dynamics of this relationship among the variables. Time series data from UNCTAD, the World Bank, and the Central Bank of Kenya for the period spanning 1980 to the year 2019 was used.  The study results suggest that real GDP (RGDP) and real effective exchange rates (REER) have a significant and positive effect on private domestic investment (PDI). In contrast, inflation (INFL), Real interest rates (RINR), Political uncertainty (PRI), and WUIKEN (economic policy uncertainty and volatility in the stock markets) have a negative and significant effect on private domestic investments. Based on these results, the most significant factors affecting private domestic investments were found to be political uncertainty (PRI), real gross domestic product (RGDP), and WUIKEN (economic policy uncertainty and volatility in the stock markets). Effectively, the study recommends that the government should enact policies that increase the ease of doing business and reduce economic and political uncertainty, such as a reduction in the tax rate, stabilization of the exchange rate, and stable political environment to reduce investor uncertainty and skepticism and also to enhance their confidence.

Rapid human population growth, increased demand for land, over-exploitation and the degradation of local natural resources have led to serious socio-economic and environmental challenges in Machakos County, Kenya, East Africa. This has led to a drastic reduction in tree cover in arid and semi-arid areas over the years. To reverse this trend, it is important to understand the socio-economic factors that determine household tree growth and cover retention in Machakos County. Based on a structured questionnaire targeting 412 respondents (233 men and 179 women) as well as 2 focus group discussions and 14 key informants, we assessed the determinants of tree growing and cover retention among small scale farmer households using a logistic regression model. The study found that socioeconomic variables that significantly influenced tree growing and cover retention in Machakos County in Kenya included gender (p= 0.011), household size (p=0.030), Farm size (p= 0.005), and title deed ownership (p=0.023). The respondents used tree products to enhance their socio-economic resilience. In total, 58 different types of tree species were planted or retained on the farms. The major tree species included Eucalyptus saligna, Grevillea robusta, Mangifera indica, Persea americana, Croton megalocarpus, and Terminalia brownie. Based on our findings we recommend more involvement of women and youth in tree-growing activities in the Matungulu Sub-county.

Insurance is critical for any country's economic growth and development to be sustainable. In rural areas of Kenya, among the illiterate, unemployed, poor, and vulnerable in society, health insurance adoption is extremely low. This paper focuses on determining the drivers for health insurance uptake among low-income populations in Kibera, Nairobi County. Semi structured questionnaires were administered to households located in Kibera informal settlements to collect data. The Yamane (1967) formula was used to select the sample size. Simple random sampling was adopted in selecting 399 respondents. Both descriptive and inferential analysis were conducted. The binary probit regression model was employed. Health insurance ownership was used as the dependent variable while age, gender, marital status, household size, school attainment, occupation, income levels, religion, cultural beliefs, frequency of hospital visits, cost of premiums, and pre-existing illness were used as the independent variables. Findings revealed that only 27.6 percent of the respondents had health insurance coverage. The findings further revealed that occupation, income levels, and religion significantly influence health insurance ownership among low-income populations in Kibera, Nairobi. Public health insurance cover was the most owned type of health insurance scheme. Recommendations were highlighted

Increasing air pollution and the consequent degradation of environmental quality across the world are posing serious challenges to healthy living, not only through the increasing threat of global warming but also due to increased mortality and morbidity. This paper examines the short-and long-run dynamic relationship between economic growth, air pollution, and public health expenditure in 18 states of India during the period 2007 to 2021, applying panel unit root test, cointegration test, and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) estimation method. The ARDL model estimates the long-run dynamic interaction between the variables and distinguishes the short-and long-run effects. The panel ARDL estimates show that GSDP and air pollution have a significant positive long-run effect on public health expenditure in the states of India. The impact of carbon emissions on health expenditure is higher than the effect of GSDP. The much-desired economic growth comes at the cost of environmental degradation that increases the risk of pollution-induced health diseases including mortality, ultimately rising the public healthcare expenditure.

Against a background of decentralization in Kenya, limited previous research examines its role in resource marginalization in the country. Specific objectives include identifying the socio-economic sources of resource marginalization and identifying solutions to the socio-economic resource marginalization. The results of the study will improve our understanding of decentralization. Qualitative data was collected and analysed using thematic analysis. Quantitative data was collected and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study found that though decentralization has been used as a vehicle to alleviate poverty, it has led to some form of marginalization of certain key groups in the society. Recommendations for policy and further studies are made from the conclusions emanating from the academic study.

The moral hazard problem in government organizations is very recurrent due to weak compensation system (i.e., take-home salary) and non-existence of any additional premium (e.g., ownership of stocks) for public policy makers compared to their counterparts in private firms, which weakens the proprietorship of their organization. Since there is a principal-agent relationship between citizens and public policymakers, a loss in public goods and services to citizens signals a meaningful level of moral hazard problem in public policymakers as agents. The menace of moral hazard problem can be lessened through a proper Reward Punishment Approach (RPA). Under existing setup, a weak compensation system with severe punishment mechanics indicates flaws in PRA which needs improvement through reforms in its existing structure. This paper focuses on bringing the compensation system (i.e., take-home salary in terms of cash and a provision of additional premium) at par with market-based package along with various perquisites. The study expects a bare minimum financial implication which may be affordable for the government and decrease moral hazard problem, at least to some extent, leading to a better delivery of public goods and services for the citizens of the country.

World Bank Development Indicators' most recent data reveals that the nation's Gross Domestic Savings as a proportion of gross domestic product(GDP) was 11.09 percent in 2017, 11.64 percent in 2018, 11.25 percent in 2019, and 12.83 percent in 2020. This shows that the country's domestic savings is increasing but relatively low. As a result of this, the country presents a significant development challenge. Individuals need to learn the basic knowledge of financial areas so that people may make knowledgeable financial decisions about how to earn, spend, save, manage, and invest their money. The purpose of this study was to answer if budgeting practices affect saving behavior among s m a l l-s c a l e entrepreneurs in Kenya. The study's particular objectives were to; establish the influence of monitoring spending, financial planning, and tracking spending patterns on saving behavior among small entrepreneurs. The study was guided by Life Cycle Theory and Financial Literacy Theory. A correlational research design was employed in the study. The target population comprised 914 registered small entrepreneurs in Kisumu town central constituency who have been in business for at least 2 years. The study adopted the Yamane sampling technique and obtained 278 respondents. Open-ended and closed-ended structured questionnaires were employed to gather primary data. To test the reliability of patterns. This will enable them to compare what they have spent concerning what they had planned thereby helping them improve their saving behavior.

This study attempts to examine the effects of public health spending on maternal mortality in Nigeria. It is informed by the escalating nature of maternal mortality outcomes in Nigeria. A panel data regression analysis was employed from the years 2003 to 2015 from selected 25 States in Nigeria. The study adopted instrumental variables strategy as a solution for possible endogeneity for its econometric analysis. After controlling for other relevant covariates like female per capita income, female literacy rate, and urbanization, we realized that public health expenditure is a vital factor in reducing incidences of maternal mortality in Nigeria. Keywords: Maternal Mortality, Public Health Spending, Nigeria, Health Expenditure JEL CODES: JEL-G, H, I

Background: Despite the use of computerized health records systems, its application is fraught with several obstacles, which slow down the pace of operations in Pentecost Hospital in Accra in Ghana. Aim: This study was designed to identify the challenges confronting the Computerized Health Records System performance of the Pentecost Hospital in Accra in Ghana.  Methodology: The study espoused a qualitative method with a case study design through a well-structured interview guide and focus group discussions.  In all, forty-five (45) respondents including ten (10) principal informers who were purposely selected due to their interest in the performance of the Computerized Health Records System at the Pentecost Hospital in the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipality took part in the study. Results and discussion: The study found that the introduction of the computerized health records system was faced with several challenges and they included inadequate knowledge about computerized health re...