The impact of government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic on GDP growth: Does strategy matter?

We analyze whether and to what extent strategies employed by governments to fight the COVID-19 pandemic made a difference for GDP growth developments in 2020. Based on the strength and speed with which governments imposed non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) when confronted with waves of infections we distinguish between countries pursuing an elimination strategy and countries following a suppression / mitigation strategy. For a sample of 44 countries fixed effect panel regression results show that NPI changes conducted by elimination strategy countries had a less severe effect on GDP growth than NPI changes in suppression / mitigation strategy countries: strategy matters. However, this result is sensitive to the countries identified as “elimination countries” and to the sample composition. Moreover, we find that exogenous country characteristics drive the choice of strategy. At the same time our results show that countries successfully applying the elimination strategy achieved better health outcomes than their peers without having to accept lower growth.

Migration and Asylum Flows to Germany: New Insights Into the Motives

This study analyzes the determinants of both total migration and asylum migration to Germany. For the analysis, a comprehensive empirical model is set up that includes climate change, economic opportunities, such as per capita income differentials, links to Germany, home country characteristics (population growth, poverty, consumer confidence, unemployment), the political and institutional situation in the sending countries (measured by internal and external conflict, ethnic and religious tensions, government stability, law and order, military in politics), and a control for migration opportunities to alternative destinations. Panel data techniques (Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood) for the estimation of the parameters of interest are employed using a panel of 115 (134) origin countries for asylum migration (total migration) over the period of 1996–2017 or 2001–2017, depending on data availability. The analysis reveals that political, socioeconomic, and economic factors determine both total migration and asylum migration. Economic factors are also determinants of asylum applications, as asylum seekers most often come for several reasons. Poverty plays a distinct role in total migration and asylum migration. An alleviation of poverty in origin countries is associated with less overall migration to Germany but with more asylum migration. Increases in average temperature also impact asylum migration in the expected direction, thus, increasing forced migration. The most interesting findings are revealed when considering country groupings (main migration countries, major asylum countries, countries whose asylum applicants enjoy high, intermediate, or low recognition rates).

Setting the Scene

· Changing rationales for European integration. The initial rationales for integration seem less cogent and less resonant. Are they still at the core of the ‘project’? Which newer rationales need to be taken into account? Because of their cogency? Because of their resonance? · Facing up to both internal and external challenges: a huge agenda across political, economic, societal, and security concerns. · Differing narratives. Growth of Euroscepticism and Eurocriticism, though in differing manifestations. How far do these phenomena reflect transversal European factors? How far are they the product of different country characteristics and cultures? Is there a space to construct a shared European narrative? How does the new ‘Conference on the Future of Europe’ fit into this set of issues? · Diverse needs and aspirations. From 6 to 27(8) members with a variety of features political, economic, and societal—and geographic. Is differentiated integration the way forward or are other approaches needed to strike an accepted balance between the country level and the European level of practice? The old discussion of subsidiarity seems no longer to offer potential solutions. The capability to absorb yet more member states is contested. · Can political, economic, and societal concerns be aligned? Initial successes of the EC were very much tied to clever ways in which these different concerns were taken into the process. Can a successor version of pluri-dimensional integration be achieved based on diffuse reciprocity—cross-temporal and cross-sectoral? Or will the EU shift towards a more fragmented version of specific reciprocity based on sector by sector cost–benefit analyses?

Carbon Emissions Reduction and Corporate Financial Performance: The Influence of Country-Level Characteristics

Using a cross-country dataset covering 9265 observations on 1785 firms representing 53 countries over the period 2004–2019, this study investigates the relation between carbon emissions reduction and corporate financial performance (CFP). We perform OLS regressions with fixed effects. We found that carbon emissions reduction increases the return on assets, the return on equity, and the return on sales, whereas it has no effect on the Tobin’s Q and the current ratio. The positive relationship with the return on assets is stronger for firms with a higher responsibility score. We study country characteristics by modeling GDP growth, overall emissions within a country, and the presence of carbon emissions legislation. Our results indicate that the overall carbon emissions of a country and the presence of carbon emissions legislation are related to both corporate carbon emissions reduction and CFP. Moderating effects of the country’s overall emissions and the presence of carbon emissions legislation do not affect the relationship between carbon emissions reduction and CFP. Despite the further understanding gained, the issue of whether it “pays to be green” can still not be resolved well.

Store Format Diversification, Customer Orientation and the Performance of Foreign Retailers

Foreign retailers contend with unrelenting challenges to discover and resolve issues affecting their performance in different host country markets. These retailers bear some wealth of international experience and also some liabil-ity of foreignness. Accordingly, managers of foreign retailers must enact strategic decisions that will position their businesses in order to be competitive and profitable. In this study, the authors examine two generally overlooked fac-tors —degree of store format diversification and customer orientation— relating to improved foreign retailer per-formance. The authors also investigate the potential moderating effects of three host country characteristics —retail modernization, collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance— on this relationship. Based on the 2001-2015 panel data for 24 international retailers, results for main effects indicate that foreign retailer performance is influenced nega-tively by store format diversification and positively by customer orientation. These effects are moderated by host country retail modernization, collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance. In particular, host country retail modernization reverses, from negative to positive, the influence of store format diversification on foreign retailer performance. Fur-thermore, both collectivism and uncertainty avoidance strengthen the positive influence of customer orientation on foreign retailer performance. Finally, uncertainty avoidance strengthens the negative influence of store format diver-sification on foreign retailer performance.

Biologic medicine inclusion in 138 national essential medicines lists

Background Essential medicines lists (EMLs) are intended to reflect the priority health care needs of populations. We hypothesized that biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are underrepresented relative to conventional DMARDs in existing national EMLs. We aimed to survey the extent to which biologic DMARDs are included in EMLs, to determine country characteristics contributing to their inclusion or absence, and to contrast this with conventional DMARD therapies. Methods We searched 138 national EMLs for 10 conventional and 14 biologic DMARDs used in the treatment of childhood rheumatologic diseases. Via regression modelling, we determined country characteristics accounting for differences in medicine inclusion between national EMLs. Results Eleven countries (7.97%) included all 10 conventional DMARDs, 115 (83.33%) ≥5, and all countries listed at least one. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was associated with the total number of conventional DMARDs included (β11.02 [95% CI 0.39, 1.66]; P = 0.00279). Among biologic DMARDs, 3 countries (2.2%) listed ≥10, 15 (10.9%) listed ≥5, and 47 (34.1%) listed at least one. Ninety-one (65.9%) of countries listed no biologic DMARDs. European region (β1 1.30 [95% CI 0.08, 2.52]; P = 0.0367), life expectancy (β1–0.70 [95% CI -1.22, − 0.18]; P = 0.0085), health expenditure per capita (β1 1.83 [95% CI 1.24, 2.42]; P < 0.001), and conventional DMARDs listed (β1 0.70 [95% CI 0.33, 1.07]; P < 0.001) were associated with the total number of biologic DMARDs included. Conclusion Biologic DMARDs are excluded from most national EMLs. By comparison, conventional DMARDs are widely included. Countries with higher health spending and longer life expectancy are more likely to list biologics.

Early days of the pandemic—The association of economic and socio-political country characteristics with the development of the COVID-19 death toll

This article examines cross-national differences in growth of deaths by COVID-19 over time in the first phase of the pandemic, during the time period of 31st December 2019 to 2nd April 2020. We seek to understand and explain country level reaction in the initial period of the pandemic. We explore socio-economic and socio-political country characteristics as determinants of deaths per day and we examine whether country characteristics act as moderating factors for different growth patterns of deaths per day over time. The country characteristics include variables about economy, globalization, health care and demography. We examine data published by the European Center of Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in combination with World Bank data and a webscraping approach. Using a conditional growth model specified as a multilevel regression model with deaths by COVID-19 per day as the outcome variable, we show that economic variables are not significantly associated with decrease or increase of deaths by COVID-19. In contrast, variables about national health care mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Demography shows expected effects with an increase of growth of deaths in countries with a higher percentage of people older than 65 years. Globalization predicts the death toll as well: Social interaction between people is deadly on a short-term scale (in the form of tourism). Our results mirror frequent demands for global investment in national health systems.