Role of Governance and Public Trust on Government Debt-Economic Growth Nexus (A Global Empirical Analysis)

High government debts in several countries have the potential to trigger or exacerbate economic instability. These concerns are consistent with the results of this study, where countries that have a high debt ratio tend to have declining economic growth. To provide more understanding about this effect, this study tries to examine the effect of debt on economic growth by utilising the governance and public trust level as a contextual variable and mediator. Empirically, both variables have a prominent role in the debt and economic growth nexus. The debt threshold as a budgetary rule is necessary but might not be sufficient to validate the rationality of rising debt. The capability of government in providing public governance and the effect of additional debt on public trust is another crucial aspect that needs to be seriously scrutinised, or when the addition of debt becomes inevitable (such as in pandemic situation), the government should strengthen governance capability to ensure the productivity of debt and mitigate the decreased public trust. This finding implies that the debt policy should not only be based on budgetary rule but also the capacity of governance and the potential implication of the falling public trust.

Developing Community Disaster Resilience in Lembang Fault Area, Indonesia: Lessons Learned from Japanese Experience

Having experienced large-scale disasters between 2004 and 2006, the fatalities due to large-scale disasters in 2018 were still high. In contrast, disaster risk management (DRM) and CDR in Japan have been continuously improved. Thus, there is a need to develop CDR for supporting DRM in Indonesia by learning from the Japanese experience, particularly in a disaster-prone area without large-scale disaster experience. This research was a pilot project on the development of CDR in Indonesia. The case study was a geological hazard-prone Lembang Fault area. People’s perception was collected using structured interviews, while demographic and local economic data was acquired from official statistical publications. Satellite imageries were utilized to acquire natural and built environment and land use/land cover and their changes between 2019 and 2021. Although the degrees of social capital, risk knowledge including indigenous knowledge and past disaster experience were high, government interventions on DRM and land administration are required to develop CDR in Lembang Fault area. Organized community development is expected rather than to solely involve NGOs. Moreover, strategies to develop economic resilience are needed to allow the community to bounce back from future disaster. Finally, a detail baseline data should be collected to develop DRM strategy and CDR.

Whether high government subsidies reduce the healthcare provision of township healthcare centers in rural China

Background China’s government launched a large-scale healthcare reform from 2009. One of the main targets of this round reform was to improve the primary health care system. Major reforms for primary healthcare institutions include increasing government investment. However, there are insufficient empirical studies based on large sample to catch long-term effect of increased government subsidy and lack of sufficient incentives on township healthcare centers (THCs), therefore, this study aims to provide additional empirical evidence on the concern by conducting an empirical analysis of THCs in Shaanxi province in China. Methods We collected nine years (2009 to 2017) data of THCs from the Health Finance Annual Report System (HFARS) that was acquired from the Health Commission of Shaanxi Province. We applied two-way fixed effect model and continue difference-in-difference (DID) model to estimate the effect of percentage of government subsidy on medical provision. Results A clear jump of the average percentage of government subsidy to total revenue of THCs can be found in Shaanxi province in 2011, and the average percentage has been more than 60% after 2011. Continue DID models indicate every 1% percentage of government subsidy to total revenue increase after 2011 resulted in a decrease of 1.1 to 3.5% in THCs healthcare provision (1.9% in medical revenue, 1.2% in outpatient visit, 3.5% in total occupy beds of inpatient, 1.1% in surgery revenue, 2.1% in sickbed utilization rate). The results show that the THCs with high government subsidy reduce the number of medical services after 2011. Conclusions We think that it is no doubt that the government should take more responsibility for the financing of primary healthcare institutions, the problem is when government plays a central role in the financing and delivery of primary health care services, more effective incentives should be developed.

Stock Returns During Religious Holidays: The Role of Culture and Belief

This research investigates the effects of culture and belief on stock returns in Asia and Europe during religious holidays. Culture was proxied by power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation. Belief was proxied by government regulation, government favoritism, and social regulation. Seventeen stock indices were selected, and the data employed in this research are stock returns during religious holidays commemorated by each country listed in the top world indices from 2016 to 2020. A quantitative method was employed and the data analysis was done using a multiple linear regression method with panel data. This research shows that individualism, government regulation, favoritism, and social regulation positively affect stock returns during religious holidays. This implies that investors recognize stock market characteristics to facilitate investment decision-making. It is recommended that investors maximize positive stock returns found in individualistic countries and countries with high government regulation, favoritism, and social regulation.

Improving Governance in Tightly Controlled Societies

This chapter is about the seeming contradiction—quality of government without full democracy. Quality of government (QoG) depends critically on the vision and actions of transformational or less-than-transformational leadership. This factor is often overlooked by analyses of structural and contingent factors. The nature of that leadership sometimes leads to societies in which citizens enjoy high QoG despite undemocratic rule. A few nations provide high government quality to their citizens, but restrict fundamental freedoms (and thus are less than democratic). Should we reconceptualize quality of government to take account of these “imperfect” governmental providers?

Analisis Kepemimpinan Perempuan Muslim dalam Konteks Kontemporer

<p><em>Women's leadership has been a controversial issue in the contemporary history of several Muslim societies. Meanwhile, in relation to this, some scholars have permitted it as a form of social necessity in a modern context, most Muslim scholars have also refused because of its effect which is considered to be debilitating. Examples of women's leadership in general and as heads of Muslim states can be found in the context of the success of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, Khalida Zia and Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh, Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indonesia, Atifete Jahjaga in Kosovo, Roza Otunbayeva in Kyrgyzstan, and Mame Madior Boye in Senegal. This issue is debatable because there is no clear direction regarding the leadership of the state and the high position of government which makes the problem divisive and full of conflict. Given the context, there is a need to analyze Muslim leadership in a contemporary context. This paper discusses the concept, brief history, the importance of women's leadership and analyzes the views of Islamic scholars within the scope of contemporary Islamic thought, which are based on the textual arguments of the Qur'an and Sunnah of Muslim scholars. This paper concludes that although a small portion of the entire Muslim spectrum tries to justify allowing women's leadership to develop social, economic and political perspectives, many Muslim scholars view it as a violation of God's commandments and, therefore, strictly preventing the appointment of women as both heads of state. high government officials.</em></p>

Malawi anti-corruption drive faces multiple obstacles

Significance The initial refusal of MPs to approve Martha Chizuma was widely seen as an attempt to protect themselves against a fervent anti-corruption campaigner. However, a public outcry forced the committee to revisit the finding. Impacts Widespread corruption will undermine efforts to strengthen the health sector and enhance public service provision. High government spending amid depressed tourism revenues is likely to increase Malawi’s uncomfortable debt burden. Evidence of continued corruption will deter international donors from providing much-needed financial assistance to the new government.

How does globalization affect COVID-19 responses?

Background The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vast differences in approaches to the control and containment of coronavirus across the world and has demonstrated the varied success of such approaches in minimizing the transmission of coronavirus. While previous studies have demonstrated high predictive power of incorporating air travel data and governmental policy responses in global disease transmission modelling, factors influencing the decision to implement travel and border restriction policies have attracted relatively less attention. This paper examines the role of globalization on the pace of adoption of international travel-related non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the coronavirus pandemic. This study aims to offer advice on how to improve the global planning, preparation, and coordination of actions and policy responses during future infectious disease outbreaks with empirical evidence. Methods and data We analyzed data on international travel restrictions in response to COVID-19 of 185 countries from January to October 2020. We applied time-to-event analysis to examine the relationship between globalization and the timing of travel restrictions implementation. Results The results of our survival analysis suggest that, in general, more globalized countries, accounting for the country-specific timing of the virus outbreak and other factors, are more likely to adopt international travel restrictions policies. However, countries with high government effectiveness and globalization were more cautious in implementing travel restrictions, particularly if through formal political and trade policy integration. This finding is supported by a placebo analysis of domestic NPIs, where such a relationship is absent. Additionally, we find that globalized countries with high state capacity are more likely to have higher numbers of confirmed cases by the time a first restriction policy measure was taken. Conclusions The findings highlight the dynamic relationship between globalization and protectionism when governments respond to significant global events such as a public health crisis. We suggest that the observed caution of policy implementation by countries with high government efficiency and globalization is a by-product of commitment to existing trade agreements, a greater desire to ‘learn from others’ and also perhaps of ‘confidence’ in a government’s ability to deal with a pandemic through its health system and state capacity. Our results suggest further research is warranted to explore whether global infectious disease forecasting could be improved by including the globalization index and in particular, the de jure economic and political, and de facto social dimensions of globalization, while accounting for the mediating role of government effectiveness. By acting as proxies for a countries’ likelihood and speed of implementation for international travel restriction policies, such measures may predict the likely time delays in disease emergence and transmission across national borders.

A Model for Right-Wing Populist Electoral Success?

This article adds to the large literature on right-wing populist parties (RWPP), explaining how anti-immigrant sentiments become salient for vote choice. Within the large literature on RWPP, anti-immigration attitudes are the most important variable to explain the vote share of RWPP. Yet, recent research shows that there is not always an empirical effect between having anti-immigrant attitudes and voting for the RWPP. In this article, we develop a theoretical model that explains the conditions under which anti-immigration attitudes matter. We then test this model based on the case of the AfD in Germany, a typical case for a right-wing populist party exploiting anti-immigrant sentiment. Focusing on the AfD in Germany, we illustrate that the refugee crisis in 2015 in combination with a perception of high government unresponsiveness to stop the crisis provided the structural conditions necessary to activate latent anti-immigration sentiment among large parts of the population. Using a structural analysis and individual panel data for Germany’s general elections in 2013 and 2017, we find that immigration critical attitudes were already present among parts of the population in 2013 but immigration was a secondary topic in the 2013 election, even among AfD voters. Due to the immigration crisis in 2015, immigration became a salient topic. The combination of a perceived external crisis or shock combined with a perceived government’s unresponsiveness quickly offered a winning formula for the AfD. A probability probe for two other countries (Sweden and Italy) with different contexts also show salience for the model.

Islamic Legal Modernism and Women's Emancipation in Tunisia

The article aims to analyze the role of modern interpretations of Sharia on women's emancipation in Tunisia. Even though Tunisia is a Muslim country influenced by the Maliki school of thought, its social, cultural, and political conditions are conducive to women's emancipation efforts. This condition was created partly by the government's efforts to adopt Sharia's modern interpretation in Tunisia. Efforts to modernize Islamic law through state law have been going on for a long time and are consistent. Islamic legal modernism is evidenced by the Constitution, which guarantees women's equal rights, manifested in state law and policies. A case in point is family law in Tunisia that prohibits the practice of polygyny, gives equal share of the inheritance, and punishes perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence against women. Modern interpretations of Sharia have resulted in Islamic law that is more gender-friendly and maximizes women's potential in Tunisia's public sector. As a result, women's political participation in Tunisia is very high: they occupy many Parliament seats and high government bureaucracy positions. The condition of equality of women in Tunisia is far different from that of its compatriots in the middle east and north African countries, which are still influenced by conservative Islamic law interpretations.Keywords: Islamic legal modernism, women's Emancipation, polygyny prohibition, sexual harassment