How can artificial intelligence and data science algorithms predict life expectancy - An empirical investigation spanning 193 countries

Improving life expectancy, which is falling and declining globally, is getting harder, especially given the limited economic resources in most parts of the world. This study seeks to identify the most significant factors that positively and negatively affect life expectancy, separating them from less significant factors. This way, specific areas can be identified to channel scarce economic resources towards increasing life expectancy. Using data science techniques on a dataset comprising economic, immunological, health, personal, and social attributes, we have been able to achieve this. Furthermore, four machine learning tree regression algorithms were employed using the identified attributes to develop and evaluate life expectancy prediction models. The extremely randomized tree model performed best using evaluation matrices: MAE, RMSE, R2, and CV score. This research can help governments, especially in low-income, developing countries, make better decisions and investments, as well as help digital health experts develop technologies that could improve life expectancy

Supply Chain Integration, Interfirm Value Co-Creation and Firm Performance Nexus in Ghanaian SMEs: Mediating Roles of Stakeholder Pressure and Innovation Capability

Strategic decisions like supply chain integration and interfirm value co-creation are significant to SMEs’ performance. Therefore, this paper aims to find out the relationships between supply chain integration, interfirm value co-creation, and firm performance in Ghanaian SMEs. We employed a structural equation model (SEM) to estimate the responses of 473 SMEs registered with the Association of Ghanaian Industries (AGI) to find the nexus between supply chain integration, interfirm value co-creation, and the performance of Ghanaian SMEs. Further, we test for the mediating role of innovation capability and stakeholder pressure in the relationships between supply chain integration and firm performance and the relationship between supply chain integration and interfirm value co-creation, respectively. We found a positive significant relationship between the variables. Innovation capability mediates the positive relationship between supply chain integration and firm performance. Interfirm value co-creation has a negative relationship with the innovation capabilities of SMEs. Therefore, Ghanaian SMEs can invest in technologies, which promote collaborations with external parties to create value while minimizing cost