| 1. |
- Abu Hatab, Assem, et al.
(author)
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COVID-19 risk perception and food security in the MENA region: evidence from a multi-wave household survey
- 2024
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In: Food Security. - : Springer Nature. - 1876-4517 .- 1876-4525. ; 16, s. 989-1008
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic had disruptive consequences for MENA countries’ agri-food value chains that exacerbated poverty and jeopardized food security. This study examines the relationship between individuals’ perception of contracting COVID-19 and their experience of food insecurity, using longitudinal data from the Combined COVID-19 MENA Monitor Household survey. It also investigates the underlying mechanisms of COVID-19 concerns and explores coping strategies employed by households to identify vulnerabilities in food security. The results provide compelling evidence of a strong association between individuals’ concern about the virus and various dimensions of food security, particularly reduced purchasing power and decreased meal frequency. Notably, this association follows an inverted U-shaped curve, with food insecurity initially increasing as worry grows, but declining after individuals contract the virus. High levels of concern were also linked to significant income decreases and worsening economic conditions. Moreover, individuals with higher concerns were more likely to rely on specific coping strategies, particularly spending savings and obtaining funds from relatives or friends. These findings underscore the need for government interventions during disease outbreaks and economic downturns to focus on alleviating individuals’ worry and fear to facilitate informed decision-making that minimizes food insecurity consequences. Additionally, the findings emphasize the need to strengthen social protection systems during public health and economic challenges to ensure food security for vulnerable populations.
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| 2. |
- Abu Hatab, Assem, et al.
(author)
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COVID-19 risk perception and public compliance with preventive measures : Evidence from a multi-wave household survey in the MENA region
- 2023
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 18:7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study investigates the association between individuals’ concern about contracting COVID-19 and their compliance with recommended preventive and mitigation measures, namely wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing and handwashing, in the context of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The empirical analysis is based on a panel dataset from the Combined COVID-19 MENA Monitor Household Survey, which was carried out in Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Egypt. Applying a probit estimation technique, a positive and statistically significant association was found between the level of COVID-19 worries and individuals’ compliance with the mitigation measures. Notably, the results revealed that this association followed a “first-up-then-down” trend, showing that compliance with the three mitigation measures rose as individuals’ worries about contracting the virus increased, and then markedly decreased after they had been infected. Socio-demographic characteristics contributing to lower levels of compliance included being male, being over 60, having lower levels of education and having a lower household income. A cross-country analysis revealed remarkable differences between the five countries, with the strongest association between COVID-19 concerns and adherence to mitigation measures observed in Tunisia and Sudan, and the weakest association seen in Jordan and Morocco. Policy implications are outlined for effective risk communication and management during disease outbreaks and public health emergencies to encourage appropriate public health behaviours.
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| 3. |
- Abu Hatab, Assem, et al.
(author)
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Who moves and who gains from internal migration in Egypt?: Evidence from two waves of a labor market panel survey
- 2022
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In: Habitat International. - : Elsevier. - 0197-3975 .- 1873-5428. ; 124
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In recent decades, Egypt has experienced rapid internal migration movements triggered by urbanization, socioeconomic development, and environmental changes. From a literature perspective, few scholarly studies have empirically examined the drivers and welfare impacts of internal migration in Egypt, despite the increasing recognition of its inextricably links to urban sustainability. The present study utilized data from two waves of an Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS) conducted in 2012 and 2018 and consisting of 63,909 observations to examine factors that determine internal migration decisions and their subsequent welfare effects. The results of the two-stage Heckman selection model indicate that both the determinants of internal migration decisions and welfare outcomes differ appreciably depending on migration stream as well as the socioeconomic characteristics of the migrants. In particular, females were found to be more likely to migrate from rural to urban areas, lending support to the growing literature on the “feminization of migration” in developing countries. The OLS regression results, after correcting for self-selection, make a strong case for the positive welfare gains from internal migration in Egypt. Specially, we found that the welfare gains for older and female migrants are much higher than other age and gender groups. A comparison of the welfare effects between different migration streams shows that all migratory movements were associated with positive and statistically significant welfare gains, except for rural-to-urban migration that was surprisingly found to be associated with significant welfare loss for the migrants. Urban-to-urban migration was found to have the strongest welfare enhancing effects on all migrant groups. The empirical findings underline a number of research and policy implications for a sustainable management of internal migration in Egypt and other countries with similar internal migration trends.
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| 4. |
- Adom, Philip Kofi, et al.
(author)
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What drives the energy saving role of FDI and industrialization in East Africa?
- 2016
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In: Renewable & sustainable energy reviews. - : Elsevier. - 1364-0321 .- 1879-0690. ; 65, s. 925-942
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Analysis of the unconditional impacts of foreign direct inflows (FDIs) and industrialization on energy intensity does not show the hidden roles of some economic conditions such as income and trade openness. In this study, we focused on the conditional impacts of FDIs and industrialization on energy productivity using a panel data consisting of thirteen (13) East African countries covering 1980–2011. The baseline result shows that higher income and a well-integrated economy are pro-energy productive, but FDIs and intense industrialization are anti-energy productive in the sub-region. This result remains robust even when we exclude the high income group and control for income group effects. Income significantly promotes energy productivity more in low income group than middle income group. Intense industrialization and FDIs significantly decreases energy productivity only in low income countries. Trade openness significantly promotes energy productivity only in middle income group. We have shown that FDIs and income, intense industrialization and FDIs, and intense industrialization and globalization are complementary forces that promote energy productivity in East Africa but this is more evident for the middle income group than the low income group in the sub-region. Based on the result, we recommend a quadruplet programme called the “Growth, Industrial, Foreign investment and Trade programme” (GIFTP). Last, our result suggests that unconditional analysis of energy productivity should not be seen as an end in itself but a basis for further analysis.
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| 5. |
- Alygizakis, Nikiforos, et al.
(author)
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Making waves: The NORMAN antibiotic resistant bacteria and resistance genes database (NORMAN ARB&ARG)–An invitation for collaboration to tackle antibiotic resistance
- 2024
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In: Water Research. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0043-1354 .- 1879-2448. ; 257
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With the global concerns on antibiotic resistance (AR) as a public health issue, it is pivotal to have data exchange platforms for studies on antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. For this purpose, the NORMAN Association is hosting the NORMAN ARB&ARG database, which was developed within the European project ANSWER. The present article provides an overview on the database functionalities, the extraction and the contribution of data to the database. In this study, AR data from three studies from China and Nepal were extracted and imported into the NORMAN ARB&ARG in addition to the existing AR data from 11 studies (mainly European studies) on the database. This feasibility study demonstrates how the scientific community can share their data on AR to generate an international evidence base to inform AR mitigation strategies. The open and FAIR data are of high potential relevance for regulatory applications, including the development of emission limit values / environmental quality standards in relation to AR. The growth in sharing of data and analytical methods will foster collaboration on risk management of AR worldwide, and facilitate the harmonization in the effort for identification and surveillance of critical hotspots of AR. The NORMAN ARB&ARG database is publicly available at: https://www.norman-network.com/nds/bacteria/.
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| 6. |
- Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin, et al.
(author)
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Climate variability and infectious diseases nexus: Evidence from Sweden
- 2017
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In: Infectious Disease Modelling. - : KeAi Publishing. - 2468-0427. ; 2:2, s. 203-217
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many studies on the link between climate variability and infectious diseases are based on biophysical experiments, do not account for socio-economic factors and with little focus on developed countries. This study examines the effect of climate variability and socio-economic variables on infectious diseases using data from all 21 Swedish counties. Employing static and dynamic modelling frameworks, we observe that temperature has a linear negative effect on the number of patients. The relationship between winter temperature and the number of patients is non-linear and “U” shaped in the static model. Conversely, a positive effect of precipitation on the number of patients is found, with modest heterogeneity in the effect of climate variables on the number of patients across disease classifications observed. The effect of education and number of health personnel explain the number of patients in a similar direction (negative), while population density and immigration drive up reported cases. Income explains this phenomenon non-linearly. In the dynamic setting, we found significant persistence in the number of infectious and parasitic-diseased patients, with temperature and income observed as the only significant drivers.
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| 7. |
- Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin, et al.
(author)
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Deriving a Benefit Transfer Function for Threatened and Endangered Species in Interaction with Their Level of Charisma
- 2018
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In: Environments. - : MDPI. - 2076-3298 .- 0711-6780. ; 5:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Biodiversity and species conservation are among the most urgent global issues. Both are under serious threat because of human intrusion and as a result, it is likely that present and future projects will affect threatened and endangered species. Thus, it is important to account for these impacts when evaluating and conducting cost and benefit analyses of projects. Due to their public good character and non-tradability, the total economic value of threatened and endangered species cannot be reflected by a market price and therefore, alternative approaches (stated preference method) are needed to determine their monetary value. This paper reviews and compares the valuation literature on threatened and endangered animals and conducts a meta-analysis regression to identify explanatory variables for the variation in willingness to pay for threatened and endangered species. The main findings of the meta-analysis show that the interaction of the level of threat and charisma have a positive effect on willingness to pay. Furthermore, developed countries have a higher willingness to pay compared to developing countries. Similarly, visitors of conservation sites have higher willingness to pay than residents. The provided example of a benefit transfer of the estimated function shows the practicability of our results.
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| 8. |
- Amuakwa Mensah, Franklin, et al.
(author)
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Quality of institution and the FEG (forest, energy intensity, and globalization) -environment relationships in sub-Saharan Africa
- 2017
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In: Environmental Science and Pollution Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0944-1344 .- 1614-7499. ; 24, s. 17455-17473
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The current share of sub-Saharan Africa in global carbon dioxide emissions is negligible compared to major contributors like Asia, Americas, and Europe. This trend is, however, likely to change given that both economic growth and rate of urbanization in the region are projected to be robust in the future. The current study contributes to the literature by examining both the direct and the indirect impacts of quality of institution on the environment. Specifically, we investigate whether the institutional setting in the region provides some sort of a complementary role in the environment-FEG relationships. We use the panel two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to deal with the simultaneity problem. Data consists of 43 sub-Saharan African countries. The result shows that energy inefficiency compromises environmental standards. However, the quality of the institutional setting helps moderate this negative consequences; countries with good institutions show greater prospects than countries with poor institutions. On the other hand, globalization of the region and increased forest size generate positive environmental outcomes in the region. Their impacts are, however, independent of the quality of institution. Afforestation programs, promotion of other clean energy types, and investment in energy efficiency, basic city infrastructure, and regulatory and institutional structures, are desirable policies to pursue to safeguard the environment.
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| 9. |
- Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin, et al.
(author)
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Re-examining the Determinants of Non-Performing Loans in Ghana’s Banking Industry: Role of the 2007–2009 Financial Crisis
- 2017
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In: Journal of African Business. - : Routledge. - 1522-8916 .- 1522-9076. ; 18:3, s. 357-379
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper uses robust econometric methods to estimate the determinants of non-performing loans (NPLs) with a specific focus on the role of the 2007–2009 financial crisis in explaining NPLs in the banking industry of Ghana. Findings suggest that non-performing loans are significantly affected by bank-specific, industry, and macroeconomic variables. We observed heterogeneity in the determinants of NPLs for sub-samples of the data. The effect of the financial crisis on NPLs is observed to be conditional on the level of credit risk in our sub-sample analysis. The results from the impulse response corroborate that of the regression estimation.
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| 10. |
- Amuakwa Mensah, Franklin, et al.
(author)
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The Determinants of Net Interest Margin in the Ghanaian Banking Industry
- 2015
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In: Journal of African Business. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1522-8916 .- 1522-9076. ; 16, s. 272-288
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study investigates the determinants of net interest margin and the role of the financial crisis in explaining net interest margin (NIM) in the banking industry in Ghana. Further, we assess the sensitivity of our results to the measure of credit risk. We observe a sharp drop in NIM and an increase in bad debt growth during the 2007-2009 financial crisis in Ghana's banking sector. Depending on the definition of credit risk, we observe marginal differences in the magnitude and significance of the determinants of NIM. Generally, NIM is explained by bank-specific, industry and macroeconomic factors. We find risk aversion, operating cost, inflation rate and previous year's GDP growth to be robust drivers of NIM.
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