Long run sustainability of current account balance of China and India: New evidence from combined cointegration test

This paper investigates the long run sustainability of current account balance (CAB) in two fast growing emerging economies of Asia, China and India, using annual data from 1980 to 2014. Sustainability of current account balance is analyzed by examining the long run equilibrium relationship between exports and imports of goods and services. We use the Bayer-Hanck (2013) combined cointegration test to examine the long run relationship between exports and imports. The results indicate that while China has a sustainable current account balance, India’s current account balance is not sustainable in the long run. Therefore, in terms of maintaining the growth momentum, India has to enhance the rate of growth of its exports while China has to maintain high levels of export growth, even in an era of sluggish global demand

Current account sustainability in SAARC economies: Evidence from combined cointegration approach

Majority of the South Asian economies are experiencing continuous deficits in their current account along with high external borrowing. This may question the sustainability of their external obligation in the long run. Therefore, this study examines the long run sustainability of current account imbalances of Seven South Asian economies for the period 1980 to 2014. By applying the recently developed econometric methods, we found that the current account of Maldives and Sri Lanka is sustainable in the long run, while for the rest of the South Asian economies the current account is not sustainable. This results have important policy implications. In particular, the South Asian economies should increase their cooperation with each other in terms of trade and investment to minimize the external sector imbalances and to achieve an increasing growth momentum in the future

Current account sustainability in SAARC economies: Evidence from combined cointegration approach

Majority of the South Asian economies are experiencing continuous deficits in their current account along with high external borrowing. This may question the sustainability of their external obligation in the long run. Therefore, this study examines the long run sustainability of current account imbalances of Seven South Asian economies for the period 1980 to 2014. By applying the recently developed econometric methods, we found that the current account of Maldives and Sri Lanka is sustainable in the long run, while for the rest of the South Asian economies the current account is not sustainable. This results have important policy implications. In particular, the South Asian economies should increase their cooperation with each other in terms of trade and investment to minimize the external sector imbalances and to achieve an increasing growth momentum in the future

Good Health at Low Cost 25 years on: lessons for the future of health systems strengthening.

In 1985, the Rockefeller Foundation published Good health at low cost to discuss why some countries or regions achieve better health and social outcomes than do others at a similar level of income and to show the role of political will and socially progressive policies. 25 years on, the Good Health at Low Cost project revisited these places but looked anew at Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which have all either achieved substantial improvements in health or access to services or implemented innovative health policies relative to their neighbours. A series of comparative case studies (2009-11) looked at how and why each region accomplished these changes. Attributes of success included good governance and political commitment, effective bureaucracies that preserve institutional memory and can learn from experience, and the ability to innovate and adapt to resource limitations. Furthermore, the capacity to respond to population needs and build resilience into health systems in the face of political unrest, economic crises, and natural disasters was important. Transport infrastructure, female empowerment, and education also played a part. Health systems are complex and no simple recipe exists for success. Yet in the countries and regions studied, progress has been assisted by institutional stability, with continuity of reforms despite political and economic turmoil, learning lessons from experience, seizing windows of opportunity, and ensuring sensitivity to context. These experiences show that improvements in health can still be achieved in countries with relatively few resources, though strategic investment is necessary to address new challenges such as complex chronic diseases and growing population expectations

EROSIVE BEHAVIOR OF COHESIVE SOILS

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The impact of macroeconomic policies on the growth of public health expenditure: An empirical assessment from the Indian states

The impact assessment of macroeconomic policies on public health expenditure is very relevant in Indian economy because of tax reform, fiscal consolidation, and expenditure policy reform. These have been undertaken after economic liberalization in order to sustain a high economic growth. Despite the several fiscal policy initiatives, there is a persistent slowing down of growth in public health expenditure and a huge disparity in the allocation of budget toward health care among the Indian states. Using the period 1990–2014, the study examines the dynamic relationships between public health expenditure and macroeconomic factors (economic growth, domestic revenue, domestic debt, fiscal balance, and central government transfer) of 15 major states of India. Our empirical result shows that state’s revenue (i.e. tax revenue and indirect tax) and central transfer (i.e. tax devolution) are the major public providers for financing the health care of Indian states. Other sources of revenue of the government, namely non-tax revenue and direct tax show no impact on public health expenditure in the short run, while it shows a positive impact in the long run. As a consequence, we find that economic growth and fiscal balance lead to a favorable impact on public health expenditure in the long run. The result suggests the improvement in revenue collection, increase in the tax base and the efficient utilization of central grants would generate fiscal space in the economy, and thereby the government can allocate more funds toward public health care

Impact of GDP and tax revenue on health care financing: An empirical investigation from Indian states

This paper investigates the long run impact of GDP and tax revenue on public health care expenditure using panel FMOLS and DOLS models for sixteen major states of India over the period 1980-2013. This study is more relevant in order to measure the progress in universal health care financing across the states of India because states are heterogeneous in terms of health care spending, associated with low tax bases and low level of GDP growth. The empirical result shows that health expenditure, GDP and tax revenue are cointegrated in the long run. There is a positive and significant impact of income and revenue generation on growth of health care expenditure while the elasticity of health care expenditure is less than one. The result implies that there is state level heterogeneity in the share of medical and public health care expenditure to income in India. These research findings would serve as effective policy instruments to measure the progress towards universal health coverage among the states of India

Geographical accessibility and spatial coverage modelling of public health care network in rural and remote India.

BackgroundLong distances to facilities, topographical constraints, inadequate service capacity of institutions and insufficient/ rudimentary road & transportation network culminate into unprecedented barriers to access. These barriers gets exacerbated in presence of external factors like conflict and political disruptions. Thus, this study was conducted in rural, remote and fragile region in India measuring geographical accessibility and modelling spatial coverage of public healthcare network.MethodsVector and raster based approaches were used to discern accessibility for various packages of service delivery. Alternative scenarios derived from local experiences were modelled using health facility, population and ancillary data. Based on that, a raster surface of travel time between facilities and population was developed by incorporating terrain, physical barriers, topography and travelling modes and speeds through various land-cover classes. Concomitantly, spatial coverage was modelled to delineate catchment areas. Further, underserved population and zonal statistics were assessed in an interactive modelling approach to ascertain spatial relationship between population, travel time and zonal boundaries. Finally, raster surface of travel time was re-modelled for the conflict situation in villages vulnerable to obstruction of access due to disturbed security scenario.ResultsEuclidean buffers revealed 11% villages without ambulatory & immunization care within 2 km radius. Similarly, for 5 km radius, 11% and 12% villages were bereft of delivery and inpatient care. Travel time accessibility analysis divulged walking scenario exhibiting lowest level of accessibility. Enabling motorized travel improved accessibility measures, with highest degree of accessibility for privately owned vehicle (motorcycle and cars). Differential results were found between packages of services where ambulatory & immunization care was relatively accessible by walking; whereas, delivery and inpatient care had a staggering average of three hours walking time. Even with best scenario, around 2/3rd population remained unserved for all package of services. Moreover, 90% villages in conflict zone grapples with inaccessibility when the scenario of heightened border tensions was considered.ConclusionsOur study demonstrated the application of GIS technique to facilitate evidence backed planning at granular level. Regardless of the scenario, the analysis divulged inaccessibility to delivery and inpatient care to be most pronounced and majority of population to be unserved. It was suggested to have concerted efforts to bolster already existing facilities and adapt systems approach to exploit synergies of inter-sectoral development

Drivers of technical efficiency in Malaysian banking: a new empirical insight

Restructuring and rationalization of Malaysian banking in 2000 and the subsequent policy of deregulation and liberalization adopted by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) have resulted in a significant transformation of Malaysian banking. Banks are now poised to play a pivotal role in the economic transformation of the economy as envisaged in the Financial Sector Blue Print 2011–20 of BNM. Using the data envelopment analysis technique, the technical efficiency of 19 commercial banks (8 domestic banks and 11 foreign banks) operating in Malaysia during 2005–12 is evaluated. Then, using bootstrap-corrected efficiency scores, the drivers of bank efficiency were estimated using the Tobit regression approach. Results clearly show that three large domestic banks are not only more efficient than their counterparts, but are also more efficient than the foreign banks.Bank size and return on assets are found to be the significant drivers of technical efficiency of Malaysian banks. Capital adequacy and the advances to deposit ratio also have a role in driving technical efficiency.The results also indicate that banks that are more effective in managing credit risk, as reflected in a lower level of non-performing assets as a percentage of total assets, and have lower levels of personnel expenses to total assets, are more efficient.The findings have significant implications at the individual bank level and also at the policy level

Wealth inequalities in nutritional status among the tribal under-5 children in India: A temporal trend analysis using NFHS data of Jharkhand and Odisha states - 2006-21

Background: Undernutrition remains a major public health concern in India, especially among children belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (ST). In this study, we analyse wealth inequalities in nutritional outcomes within ST communities in two tribal-dominated states of India, namely, Odisha and Jharkhand. The study also compares the trends in nutrition outcomes between ST and Non-ST children in these states. Methods: We have conducted a trend analysis of the prevalence and inequalities in the nutritional indicators among ST children under age five using unit-level data of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) [NFHS-3(2005–06),4 (2015–16) and 5(2019–2021)]. Wealth-related inequalities were analysed using the Slope Index of Inequality (SII), which measures absolute inequality, and the relative Concentration Index (CIX), which measures relative inequality. We have also analysed the correlation between Antenatal Care (ANC) visits and nutritional indicators using the Pearson Correlation test. Results: The trend analysis shows that the prevalence of undernutrition remains higher among ST children in India as compared to Non-ST children between NFHS-3 (2005–06) and NFHS-5 (2019–2020) in Jharkhand and Odisha. The SII and CIX values show that statistically significant inequalities in stunting and underweight exist among children belonging to various wealth quintiles within the ST category in both states. Wasting is found to be significantly prevalent across all wealth quintiles. Also, we found a negative association between ANC visits and all three nutritional indicators. Interpretation: Our study highlights the importance of monitoring both the absolute and relative wealth inequalities in nutritional outcomes. This is due to the fact that while inequalities across groups may reduce, the prevalence of poor nutritional outcomes may increase among certain groups. Such observations, therefore, will enable policymakers to focus further on those groups and devise appropriate interventions