Development of Social Welfare Policies in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Countries: Globalization and Democracy
This article investigates the impact of globalization and democracy on the aggregate and disaggregates levels of social spending for the selected SAARC countries from the period 1996 –2018. The investigation includes how governments react to the challenges of globalization with the welfare policy decisions that are located more toward reducing cost ("efficiency theory") otherwise ensuring individuals' government assistance ("compensation theory"). The results support both the efficiency and compensation thesis depending on which type of globalization indicator is taken under consideration, however, it...
Source: Social Indicators Research - June 1, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
The Effects of the COVID-19-induced Lockdown on the Social Capital and Cultural Capital in Italy
AbstractThe present study investigated the effects of the first COVID-19 lockdown on the Cultural and Social Capitals in Italy in a large group of adults (n = 1125). The relationships between the COVID-19 spread and participants’ Cultural Capital, Social Capital, educational level, occupational prestige, and age were studied using structural equation models. For women but not for men, pandemic spread was positively affected by occupational presti ge and it had a positive relationship with their Social Capital (women: CFI = 0.949; RMSEA = 0.059 [CI = 0.045-0.075]; men: CFI = 0.959; RMSEA = 0.064 [C...
Source: Social Indicators Research - June 1, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Towards ISEW and GPI 2.0: Dealing with Cross-Time and Cross-Boundary Issues in a Case Study for Belgium
AbstractScholars have long had difficulties when dealing with cross-time and cross-boundary issues in the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) and Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). This case study for Belgium is the very first that tackles these complexities by calculating two ISEW-variants with distinct time and boundary perspectives that are based on Fisherian or Hicksian income. Experiential welfare looks at what is currently experienced within domestic borders, whereas the benefits and costs of present activities also include the welfare impacts shifted in time and space. The former construct only registers pre...
Source: Social Indicators Research - May 30, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Vulnerabilities in Mental Health due to Covid-19 Pandemic: The Response of the Italian Physicians
AbstractCOVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities in societies. In this paper we analyse the categories that have suffered more than others from the pandemic and the restrictions on social life in terms of mental health. We rely on the Serendipity project based on a survey administered between November 2021 and February 2022 to a sample of Italian physicians (n = 1281). The survey aimed to assess the perception of general practitioners, paediatricians, geriatricians, and mental health specialists (psychiatrists, neurologists, child neuropsychiatrists), about changes in the men...
Source: Social Indicators Research - May 30, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Sub-Saharan Africa ’s Tragedy: Resource Curse, Democracy and Income Inequality
This study utilized instrumental variable techniques and the Driscoll-Kraay estimator to examine the effect of democracy and natural resources on income inequality using a comprehensive panel dataset from 43 sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The findings from our empirical analysis indicated that natural resources and democracy indices such as electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian drive income inequality in SSA. Regional comparative analysis also showed that the democracy indices increase income inequality in West, Central, and Southern Africa while having a neutral effect on income inequality in Eastern...
Source: Social Indicators Research - May 29, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
