scholarly journals The Effects of the Economic Adjustment Programmes for Greece: A Quasi-Experimental Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4970
Author(s):  
Julio Revuelta

Three Economic Adjustment Programmes (EAPs) were implemented in Greece, between 2010 and 2015, without achieving the proposed economic objectives. This article analyses the impact of the EAPs in Greece using the synthetic control method (SCM) and has three main contributions. First, it identifies a long-term negative impact worth 35.3 per cent of the Greek GDP per capita caused by the application of the EAPs. Second, it finds that three-quarters of the estimated negative and unsustainable impact accumulated over the 2010–2012 period. Third, it identifies a regressive effect of the EAPs on income distribution, the Greek population with lower incomes experienced a greater negative effect caused by the adjustment programmes. These results underscore the need to review and correct the conditional financial assistance framework currently in force in the European Union.

Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1040
Author(s):  
Tânia Magalhães Silva ◽  
Marta Estrela ◽  
Eva Rebelo Gomes ◽  
Maria Piñeiro-Lamas ◽  
Adolfo Figueiras ◽  
...  

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread globally and is currently having a damaging impact on nearly all countries in the world. The implementation of stringent measures to stop COVID-19 dissemination had an influence on healthcare services and associated procedures, possibly causing antibiotic consumption fluctuations. This paper aims to evaluate the immediate and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antibiotic prescribing trends in outpatient care of the Portuguese public health sector, including in primary healthcare centers and hospitals, as well as on specific antibiotic groups known to be closely associated with increased resistance. Segmented regression analysis with interrupted time series data was used to analyze whether the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact in antibiotic prescribing tendencies at a national level. The outcomes from this quasi-experimental approach demonstrate that, at the beginning of the pandemic, a significant, immediate decrease in the overall antibiotic prescribing trends was noticed in the context of outpatient care in Portugal, followed by a statistically non-significant fall over the long term. The data also showed a significant reduction in the prescription of particular antibiotic classes (antibiotics from the Watch group, 3rd-generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and clarithromycin) upon COVID-19 emergence. These findings revealed an important disruption in antibiotics prescribing caused by the current public health emergency.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asier Minondo

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the trade of goods and services in Spain. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses monthly trade data at the product, region and firm level. Findings The COVID-19 crisis has led to the sharpest collapse in the Spanish trade of goods and services in recent decades. The containment measures adopted to arrest the spread of the virus have caused an especially intense fall of trade in services. The large share of transport equipment, capital goods, products that are consumed outdoors (i.e., outdoor goods) and tourism in Spanish exports has made the COVID-19 trade crisis more intense in Spain than in the rest of the European Union. Practical implications The nature of the collapse suggests that trade in goods can recover swiftly when the health crisis ends. However, COVID-19 may have a long-term negative impact on the trade of services that rely on the movement of people. Originality/value It contributes to understand how COVID-19 has affected the trade in goods and services in Spain.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Andrea Löther

The Women Professors Program, which was initiated in Germany in 2008, aims to increase the proportion of women professors and to promote structural change in favour of gender equality at higher education institutions (HEIs). It is one of the central gender equality policies in higher education in Germany. The present study evaluates the impact of the program by estimating its causal effects on the proportion of women professors. By adopting a quasi-experimental approach and using a unique dataset—a long term census of German HEIs—the study proves that the proportion of women professors increased more than would have been expected in the absence of the program. Although the evaluation includes preliminary estimates of mechanisms driving the described impacts, the integration of context factors and mechanisms into the assessment of the impact of gender equality policies remains a desideratum. The study shows that the program is working, and it contributes to redressing the lack of impact studies on gender equality in science and research.


2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 832-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawel Swianiewicz ◽  
Julita Łukomska

Debates on the impact of size of subnational jurisdiction on the costs of public-service delivery have a very long tradition, but results are still far from conclusive. This article applies a quasi-experimental scheme of the synthetic control method for Polish municipal fragmentation to analyze the impact of territorial reform on administrative spending as well as on the operating surplus of the budget. Earlier studies using similar methods focused on amalgamation reforms, so the study of territorial fragmentation is an important new contribution to knowledge on scale effects. The analysis clearly confirms the existence of economy of scale in administrative services. The result for the operating surplus is less clear and more ambiguous. Results of the study are to a large extent a mirror of earlier analysis of territorial amalgamation consequences, which confirms the importance of scale for administrative costs, but not necessarily for costs of other local services.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-663
Author(s):  
Tihana Škrinjarić ◽  
Mirjana Čižmešija

Some economic and political events determine the level and dynamics of real economic variables on one hand, and business sentiment as a "soft" variable with a good predictive power for those variables, on the other. In this paper, we observe the impact Croatia's accession to the European Union (EU) in 2013 had on the Industrial confidence indicator (ICI) as a measure of business sentiment in Croatia's industry. Entering the EU had a strong positive impact on the economies of countries that had joined the Union. Unlike other new EU member states, which entered the EU in an upward phase of the European business cycle, Croatia entered this community immediately after the stabilization of the European debt crisis and in a long period of recession. Using a novel application of the Synthetic Control Method (SCM) to the business survey (BS) data, the main hypothesis, that Croatia's accession to the EU had a strong positive impact on the ICI (which can be explained as euphoria), is confirmed. Conclusions derived from this research are a contribution to the improvement and popularization of BS and SCM.


2017 ◽  
pp. 65-76
Author(s):  
Oksana DESYATNYUK ◽  
Vasyl VOITSESHYN

Introduction. The development of the economy of Ukraine is directly determined by the value of the export of products, in particular, in the long-term perspective, that is, in the future, which is expressed in the export potential, which allows us to assess the level of the economic power of the state and the ability to furtherits development. The deepening of the economic integration of Ukraine, expressed in its participation in the integration associations, when Ukraine has recently become a full member of the European Union (EU) , actualizes the issue ofthe development ofits exportpotential, afterall, the Ukraine's membership in the EU obliges it to implement its norms into the national economy, including the trade (as certifies by the participation of Ukraine in the World Trade Organization (WTO), which directly affects on its export. Purpose. This research sets up an assessment ofthe impact ofthe membership of Ukraine in the WTO and the EU, in part ofits contractual commitments on its exportpotential. Methods. In this research we used a cross-correlation and a correlation-regression analysis. Results. In the course of this research we found that the effect ofthe membership of Ukraine in the WTO and the EU on the export potential is controversial, because with the expansion of the partnership and the sales markets ofthe products and the strengthening ofits competitiveness, a crisis has emerged in the Ukrainian economy generated by a regional integration, which has had a negative impact on the export potential of Ukraine. Conclusion. This research proposes following conclusions and recommendations for improving the impact ofintegration associations on the development of the export potential of Ukraine: • the search forsolutions to the military-political crisis in Ukraine; • trade liberalization in the context ofthe gradual abolition of export duties on goods with the addition ofa new schedule ofremovating ofthe export duties.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
André Pombo ◽  
Carlos Luz ◽  
Cristina de Sá ◽  
Luis Paulo Rodrigues ◽  
Rita Cordovil

During long periods without school, children are more susceptible to unhealthy behaviors, such as an increase in sedentary behaviors, which has a negative impact on children’s motor competence (MC). The COVID-19 lockdown offered us a unique opportunity to test, in a quasi-experimental setting, the impact of lockdown movement restrictions on children’s MC. We assessed the motor competence of 114 children aged 6–9 years using the motor competence assessment. All children were tested before and after the COVID-19 lockdown. Chi-square and 2 × 2 ANOVA (sex by moment) were used to further analyze the data. Regardless of sex, motor performances in all tests (except for jumping sideways in boys) were lower when compared with performances before lockdown. There was a marked decreasing trend in children’s levels of MC, shifting from an upper to a lower quartile in different tests. The results after the lockdown were always significantly inferior to the results before lockdown in all motor tests (except jumping sideways), in the three components of MC, and in global MC. Children’s global MC score decreased by an average of 13 points in boys and 16 points in girls. The imposed movement restrictions had a negative effect on children’s motor competence development.


Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Yan Xu ◽  
Wantian Cui

BACKGROUND: China’s atmospheric PM2.5 pollution is serious, and PM2.5 exerts a negative impact on the human respiratory system, cardiovascular, and mental health, and even more serious health risk for the elderly with weak immunity. OBJECTIVE: This work aims to analyse the impacts of PM2.5 microenvironment exposure on the health of the elderly and provide corresponding countermeasures. METHODS: The survey subjects are 118 retired elderly people in the community. PM2.5 exposure concentrations are monitored in summer (June 10 ∼ July 10, 2019) and winter (November 25 ∼ December 25, 2019). RESULTS: The exposure concentration in winter is higher than that in summer, with statistical difference (P <  0.05). Under the impact of PM2.5 microenvironment exposure, smoking in the elderly can increase the concentration of PM2.5, and long-term exposure to PM2.5 in the elderly can cause mental health problems. CONCLUSION: Long-term exposure of the elderly to the PM2.5 microenvironment leads to physical diseases and even psychological problems, which requires attention.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2631309X2110178
Author(s):  
Eduardo Carvalho Nepomuceno Alencar ◽  
Bryant Jackson-Green

In 2014, the most prominent anti-corruption investigation in Latin America called Lava Jato, exposed a Brazilian corruption scheme with reverberations in 61 countries, resulting in legal judgments for nearly 5 billion USD in reimbursements thus far. This article applies the synthetic control method on data from 135 countries (2002–2018) to test the hypothesis that Lava Jato impacts the Worldwide Governance Indicators in Brazil. The findings reveal that Lava Jato negatively affects control of corruption, the rule of law, and regulatory quality. There are signs of possible improvement in at least the corruption and the rule of law measures. This paper brings value to the criminological body of literature, notably lacking in the Global South.


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