Gender Bias in Education Expenditure among Religious and Social Groups: A Case Study for Below Class 10 Level in West Bengal

This article attempts to capture gender bias in education expenditure among the religious (Hindu, Muslim and others) and the social groups (SC, ST and General) in West Bengal. Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition technique is used to obtain gender bias for a specific demographic group. Further, an attempt has been made to identify the religious or social groups with the acute problem of gender bias. In this work, 71st round (January–June 2014) education expenditure data (individual level) provided by NSSO (National Sample Survey Office) is used. JEL: I24, R1, C55

Impacts of COVID-19 on rural livelihoods in Bangladesh: Evidence using panel data

Rapid assessments have been emerging on the effects of COVID-19, yet rigorous analyses remain scant. Here, rigorous evidence of the impacts of COVID-19 on several livelihood outcomes are presented, with a particular focus on heterogenous effects of COVID-19. We use a household-level panel dataset consisting of 880 data points collected in rural Bangladesh in 2018 and 2020, and employ difference-in-differences with fixed effects regression techniques. Results suggest that COVID-19 had significant and heterogenous effects on livelihood outcomes. Agricultural production and share of production sold were reduced, especially for rice crops. Further, diet diversity and education expenditure were reduced for the total sample. Households primarily affected by (fear of) sickness had a significantly lower agricultural production, share of crop market sales, and lower health and education expenditure, compared to households affected by other COVID-19 effects, such as travel restrictions. In turn, (fear of) sickness and the correlated reduced incidence of leaving the house, resulted in higher off-farm incomes suggesting that households engage in less physically demanding and localized work. Policy-makers need to be cognizant of these heterogenous COVID-19 effects and formulate policies that are targeted at those households that are most vulnerable (e.g., unable/willing to leave the house due to (fear of) sickness).

Malaysia’s Healthcare Expenditure: ARDL Bound Test

This study aims to analyse the relationships between income level, education expenditure, inflation, and ageing population towards health expenditure in Malaysia over the period of 1997 until 2017. This study employs Autoregressive Distributed-Lag (ARDL) Bound test in determining the long-run empirical relationships between all independent variables and healthcare expenditures in Malaysia. The findings show the existence of long run cointegration between healthcare expenditure inflation, income level, and the government’s education expenditure. The results confirmed that all independent variables have positive long run relationships, except the ageing population that displays a negative relationship in influencing healthcare expenditure in Malaysia. The regression result of GDPP shows income elasticity value of 0.690, reflecting the necessity of healthcare expenditure. The outcome of the paper hopes to provide insights on the importance of healthcare expenditure for the development of this country, especially on its economic fronts.

Does Nigeria Non-Renewable Resource Abundance Leads to Macroeconomic Performance? A Trend Analysis (1970-2014)

Theoretically, natural resource abundance is expected to create national wealth; however, the inconclusiveness in the literature and among the African rich resources motivated this study. Our paper investigated that does Nigeria's non-renewable resource abundance leads to sustainable macroeconomic performance? To achieve the objectives of this study, our paper employs descriptive trends analysis, using tables and charts to measure the relationship between the non-renewable resource abundance, proxied as oil and gas variables, and the selected macroeconomic variables to draw an inference within the study period of 1970 – 2014 in Nigeria. In summary, our study concludes that an inverse relationship exists between non-renewable resource abundance and macroeconomic performance in Nigeria for the covered period 1970 – 2014. Therefore, our study conforms to the existing studies of Sachs & Warner, 2001; Gylfasson, 2005, VanPloeg and Venables, 2013 that African rich-resources countries, including Nigeria, a non-renewable resource abundance retards macroeconomic performance within the period of study. Nonetheless, this study recommends that government should consistently endeavor to increase the proportion of education expenditure to total expenditure as well as same for capital expenditure to total expenditure, and finally, transform the economy from an oil-dependent economy to a non-oil driven economy, that is diversification of the economy, which would change the non-renewable resource-abundant nation from curse to blessing and thus, guarantee sustainable macroeconomic performance in Nigeria.

Peranan Pembantu dan Anggota Rumahtangga Lain (Extended Family) Terhadap Partisipasi Kerja dan Lapangan Usaha Ibu Rumah Tangga Di Kota Jambi

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of other household members "extended family" on the work participation and business field of housewives as well as taking into account other factors that play a role in increasing work participation and business preferences of housewives, including: level of education of housewives, per capita expenditure, presence of children aged 0-6 years and 7-12 years, age group, husband's education, and husband's working status. The analytical method that will be used in this research is descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. The analysis used in this paper uses a multifactorial logit regression model to see the ratio of the tendencies of the independent variables in influencing the work participation of housewives. The results of this study indicate that the role of other household members is very helpful for housewives in work participation and business fields, both education, expenditure, and the presence of children aged 0-6 years and 7-12 years.

Impact of Women Education on Economic Growth: An Evidence from Pakistan

Education is the most fundamental right in the current situation, and it is an essential element of economic growth. No country can achieve economic development and goals without investing in education. Pakistan’s economic development is possible when education is equal for both men and women, but the government did not give importance to the sector as it deserved. This study investigated the determinants of female higher education in Pakistan and the impact of women's education on the economic growth of Pakistan. This study utilized time-series data from 1991 to 2019. The autoregressive distribution lag (ARDL) model is applied to estimate the impact. The result shows that in Pakistan, education expenditure has no positive effect on female education. In contrast, a positive relationship between female higher education and GDP growth exists, but this relation is not strong in the short run and long run.

Public education expenditure and economic growth: based on panel data from 2009 to 2019 in China

Public education expenditure is the largest public expenditure and the foundation of education development in China. This paper uses Cobb-Douglas production function model to analyze the relationship between public education expenditure and China's economic growth, and explores the impact of the proportion of public education expenditure in primary, secondary and tertiary education expenditure on economic growth. The results show that public education expenditure has a positive effect on economic growth, and that secondary education accounts for the largest contribution to economic growth, followed by higher education and primary education. The research results suggest that China should increase financial investment in education and optimize the expenditure structure of three-level education.