The income elasticity of lottery revisited: a worldwide perspective

Using panel data information from The WLA Global Lottery Data Compendium this paper estimates aggregate demand functions for lottery tickets in order to examine variation in the income elasticity of lottery tickets worldwide. The analysis uses a panel data quantile regression approach. The estimated elasticities are compared across income quartiles and world regions. The results provide evidence that a significant variation in the income elasticities across both geographic areas and the income distribution exists. Also, a clear heterogeneity in the incidence of lottery expenditures is observed. Overall, it is found that lottery is a normal good.

Perceptions of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of science journalists: global perspectives

The article presents the results of a survey of science journalists from six world regions about their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The responses show perception of increasing workload for most participants. Local scientists and peer-reviewed articles are the main sources. According to the respondents, scientists have become more available during the pandemic. The use of preprint articles was a frequent practice, but a considerable proportion declared they did not adopt different procedures when reporting them. Most also said they take fake news into account when writing their stories.

Raising youth unemployment as one of the consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic

For studying the excess of youth unemployment in comparison with other age groups in Europe and selected world regions, the authors hypothesized the high efficiency of government employment policy, taking into account the possible consequences of displacing other age groups. The aim of the study is to formulate proposals for reducing youth unemployment in Europe and selected world regions in accordance with the identified specific causes of this phenomenon. The main objectives of the study are: - consideration of macroeconomic indicators of Europe and selected world regions in 2015 to 2020 and the peculiarities of their interconnection; - identification of the most specific causes of youth unemployment excess in comparison with other age groups in Europe and selected world regions; - formation of proposals for reducing youth unemployment and justification of their feasibility. To achieve the purpose, special and general scientific methods were used, including: graphic method, comparison, formalization, systematization, generalization, induction, deduction, analysis and synthesis. Based on a study of employment in selected world regions in 2015 to 2020, it was found that there is a significant excess of youth unemployment compared to the general unemployment rate. However, unemployment may be less of a problem for young people than for adults, as it tends to be shorter. Moreover, young people may simply change jobs more often, so the higher unemployment rate observed is mainly functional and therefore not particularly harmful. Reducing youth unemployment is a difficult task, but complete inaction in this area or attempts to solve unemployment problems in other age groups at the expense of youth employment can lead to more severe economic consequences. In general, the hypothesis of the high efficiency of government employment policy, taking into account the possible consequences of displacing other age groups, is proven. Among the main motives prompting scientists to further study the problems of youth unemployment are the economic and social difficulties that the economically active population faces when they lose their jobs. In the future, concrete steps can be developed by states in the framework of employment policy, which can include individual counseling procedures, as well as systemic interventions based on the analysis of social circles in which young people are involved (for example, families and couples, not just individuals). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the macroeconomic indicators of Europe and selected world regions is examined. In particular, the dynamics of real GDP and employment rates during 2012-2020 are reflected. It was found that young workers in Europe were more prone to job losses during the crisis than the elderly population. However, the downward trend in youth employment affects not only Europe but also other regions of the world, including developing countries, where youth unemployment can be three times higher than the general rate. A number of reasons for low youth employment are identified, including a barrier to entry the labor market due to the lack of experience, insecurity of jobs, high frequency of voluntary dismissals and a tendency of youth unemployment towards over-cyclicality.

Open Access Religious Resources for your Students

Open Access (OA) journal collections can add diversity and breadth to a library’s theological resources. I discussed my experience of creating a collection of over 800 OA religion journals in the OCLC Knowledge Base. For OCLC member libraries, these titles may be added to their library catalog. For other libraries, these titles are available through the Open Access Digital Theological Library. We considered OA materials from majority world regions and languages such as Spanish and Korean. The proceedings include a list of OA collections and a bibliography. There was time for questions and sharing experiences.

The UNESCO FRIEND-Water program: accelerates, shares and transfers knowledge and innovation in hydrology across the world in the frame of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Program (IHP)

The FRIEND-Water program (FWP) is the oldest and the most transverse program (i.e. Flagship Initiative) within the Hydrological Intergovernmental Program (IHP) from UNESCO. FRIEND means “Flow Regimes from International and Experimental Network Data”. The FWP is dedicated to allow large communities of hydrologists and associated disciplines to collaborate across borders on common shared data and scientific topics which are addressed through large world regions. The program has evolved in its 35 years of existence. There are 8 large regions in the world which gather tenths of hundreds of researchers, and organize events following several research topics defined according to each region priorities. The FWP is chaired by a scientific committee gathering regional coordinators and thematic experts. Each region gives its research priorities which evolve according to the projections given by the member States during the IHP council every year. The future activities of the FWP are defined by the upcoming IHP IX program and with the support of the newly created Montpellier UNESCO Category II Center ICIREWARD, acting as FWP Secretariat.

Conclusions

The conclusion of “World Protests: A Study of Key Protest Issues in the 21st-Century” provides a summary of the content of the book: who protests, why and how they protest, as well as achievements and fallbacks. Protests have increased in all world regions, with demands articulated for real democracy, jobs, public services, social protection, civil rights, global justice and against austerity and corruption. The study also identifies 250 methods of protest and discusses selected topics such as inequality, the rise of radical right and women’s protests. The book calls on governments to listen and act on the main demands of protestors.

Inequalities in COVID-19 inequalities research: who had the capacity to respond?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been testing countries’ capacities and scientific preparedness to actively respond, and collaborate on a common cause. It has also heightened awareness of the urgent need to empirically describe and analyse health inequalities, to be able to act effectively. What is known about the rapidly emerging COVID-19 inequalities research field? We analysed the volume of COVID-19 inequalities scientific production (2020-2021), its distribution by country income groups and world regions, and inter-country collaborations, to provide a first snapshot. COVID-19 inequalities research has been highly collaborative, however inequalities exist within this field, and new dynamics have emerged in comparison to the global health inequalities research field. To ensure preparedness for future crises, investment in health inequalities research capacities must be a priority for all.

China’s Effect on World Energy–Growth Nexus: Spillovers Evidence from Financial Development and CO2 Emissions

This paper aims to extend the literature on the impacts of China’s policies on the world energy–growth nexus by analyzing the spillover effects of financial development and CO2 emissions. An autoregressive distributed lag approach was applied to annual series data from 1977 to 2016. Models for four world regions were developed, as well as a global model. The results reveal the traditional feedback hypothesis on the whole, both in the short- and long-run. Additionally, the results support that China’s CO2 emission and financial development promote world energy consumption. In regard to the four world regions, heterogeneous results were observed. Overall, China’s financial development and CO2 emissions also have heterogenous worldwide impacts with distinct magnitudes. Accordingly, no country should be indifferent to China’s policies, and independence should be promoted for Europe, Central Asia and Asia Pacific aggregates.