COVID-19 and Tasmanian youth unemployment: a policy recommendation

The unemployment rate in Australia is expected to be at historically high levels because of the Covid-19 health crisis and policies associated with social distancing. Youth unemployment is generally twice the general unemployment rate. Tasmania youth unemployment is likely to reach 25-30% by the end of the year as the main industries affected by this crisis are tourism and hospitality, which employ a large share of young workers. This will have a significant impact on future skills and social costs for years to come. The literature on youth unemployment indicates that long-term unemployment after high school leads to higher structural unemployment, poverty, crime, drug and alcohol abuse and welfare dependency. Consequently, it is vital to provide better incentives for upskilling the youth population in Tasmania. Achieving this imperative support will avoid a cohort of structural unemployment in Tasmania and higher income inequality

Environmental Performance in the West African Economy: MM-Quantile and 2SLS Approach

The 2019 World Bank report on West Africa's coast indicates that over $3.8 billion is lost annually due to environmental issues, like erosion, flooding, and pollution. In this paper, the newly introduced environmental performance index (EPI) is incorporated into the neoclassical growth model to empirically address the impact of environmental performance on economic growth for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Using the novel Method of Moments-Quantile Regression methodology and 2SLS models, the empirical investigation finds a positive relationship between environmental performance and economic growth across quantiles for ECOWAS. Empirical results provide evidence supporting bidirectional relationships running from environmental performance to economic growth; from government size to economic growth; and from trade openness to economic growth across all quantiles. Results show that environmental performance, government size, labour, and capital stock have a positive impact on West African Economic Growth, while trade openness decreases economic growth. We find a 48% optimal threshold of environmental performance index (EPI) on economic Growth for ECOWAS countries. Based on the findings, policies to encourage improved environmental performance above the threshold estimated will go a long way to enhance West African economies