The household economic cost of caregivers: children with congenital heart diseases attending to Pediatric Hospital, Sri Lanka

Introduction Congenital heart disease is the commonest type of birth defect of which the estimated prevalence is around 8–12/1,000 worldwide. Caregivers of children with congenital heart diseases are easy victims of high economic burdens and economic instability. Objective The aim was to describe the household economic cost for a clinic visit, of primary caregivers having children with CHDs who are awaiting cardiac surgery attending a cardiology clinic at a major pediatric hospital in Sri Lanka. Methodology A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over three months among 427 samples of caregivers of children with congenital heart diseases at Cardiology clinic, Lady-Ridgeway Hospital Sri Lanka. A consecutive convenient sampling method was used to recruit the participant and economic cost was developed based on previous studies, surveys and opinions of an expert in economics. Results Out of caregivers, 75% were unemployed, and the median income was ₹30,000. The median direct cost per clinic visit was ₹1,800. A large proportion of direct cost was showed in traveling expenses. The median indirect cost was ₹1,000. Of the caregivers, 28.7% were falling into catastrophic expenditure during that particular month of the clinic visit. The mean waiting time per clinic visit was 53 minutes. Statistically significant association found distance with transport cost (Chi-square value = 25.14, df = 1, p & .001, OR = 3.4 (CI: 2.1–5.5). There was no statistically significant association between the income of the caregiver and expenditure (Chi-square value = 0, df = 1, p = .998, OR = 1 (CI: 0.678–1.473). Conclusions Assessment of economic burden and its associated factors is vital to recognize high-risk caregivers early, and improvement of monetary support methods.

Love Thy Neighbour? Perceived Community Abidance and Private Compliance to COVID-19 Norms in India

To arrest the spread of COVID-19 infection, strict adherence to frequent hand washing and respiratory hygiene protocols have been recommended. While these measures involve private effort, they provide health gains along with collective community benefits and hence are likely to be driven by pro-social motives like altruism and reciprocity. Using data from 934 respondents collected from April till May 2020 across India, we assess if changes in perceived community compliance can predict changes in individual compliance behaviour. We observe statistically significant and positive relationship between the two, even after accounting for observable and omitted variable bias allowing us to view the results from a plausible causal lens. Further, we find subsequent lockdowns having a detrimental effect on individual compliance though the gains from higher perceived community compliance seem to offset this loss. We also find positive perceptions about community can be particularly effective for people with pre-existing co-morbidities. Our findings underscore the need for multi-level behavioural interventions involving local actors and community institutions to sustain private compliance during the pandemic. We suggest these interventions need to be specially targeted for individuals with chronic ailments and emphasize on community behavioural practices in public messaging. JEL Codes: I12, I18, I19, I31

The Optimum Level of Income Inequality in South Asia: An Econometric Analysis

Inequality in the distribution of income can be beneficial or detrimental for economic growth depending on the level of inequality. This study advocates that when income inequality is low, increase in income inequality increases economic growth, whereas when income inequality is high, increase in income inequality decreases economic growth. The level of inequality that maximizes economic growth is defined as the optimum level of income inequality. This article attempts to determine the optimum level of income inequality for South Asia through an econometric analysis. It uses panel data from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, over a 34-year period to undertake a systematic investigation using panel instrumental variables techniques. The results of this study confirm that an optimum level of income inequality does exist, and occurs at a Gini coefficient value of 0.4492. Thus, this research empirically confirms that the relationship between income inequality and economic growth is non-linear. Further calculations show that for an economy that is at the optimum level of income inequality, the per capita gross domestic product can be expected to double within approximately 13 years, provided all other factors are held constant. However, a change in the Gini coefficient by 0.10 units in either direction—higher or lower—away from the optimum level, can increase the number of years for the per capita gross domestic product to double by 55 to 57 years, depending on the method of approximation. JEL: D31, D63, O15, O40

Demystifying Blue Box Support to Agriculture Under the WTO: Implications for Developing Countries

Developing members at the WTO face a shrinkage in policy space for supporting their agricultural sector due to the limited room available under the provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). Contrastingly, most developed members can provide high levels of product-specific support without breaching their commitments on account of their support entitlements. For some of these members, the so-called ‘Blue Box’ under the AoA, plays a pivotal role in expanding the policy space with respect to domestic support to agricultural products. Though a lot of scholarship has discussed and examined other support provisions under the AoA, the ‘Blue Box’ remains relatively shrouded in mystery. Testimony to this is the fact that although the Blue Box has found use amongst developed members, no developing member, except for China in 2016, has ever used the Blue Box to support their producers. Given the impasse in the Doha Round of negotiations and limited flexibilities available under the AoA, this paper examines the feasibility and compatibility Blue Box measures with developing members’ socio-economic situation. Findings of this paper bring to fore the variations in member practice and the operational flexibilities available in implementing Blue Box programmes to support agriculture. JEL: F13, F14, F17, Q17

Productive Efficiency and Non-performing Assets of Indian Banks in the Post-global Financial Crisis Period

This study endeavours to augment the existing literature on the productive efficiency of Indian domestic banks in the presence of non-performing assets (NPAs), by employing the Weighted Russell Directional Distance Model (WRDDM). Following the intermediation approach, the banking technology set includes three inputs, three desirable outputs and one undesirable output, namely NPAs. Due to their inherent technological heterogeneity, public sector banks (PSBs) and private banks (PVBs) have been analysed as separate groups. Balanced panels of 26 PSBs and 18 PVBs are constructed from 2010-2011 to 2016-2017. The results indicate a considerable scope of improvement in the productive performance of both categories of banks. The break-up of overall inefficiency into input- and output-specific components reveals some stimulating information. For PSBs, the inefficiencies primarily result due to physical capital, while for PVBs they emerge mainly from other incomes. However, NPAs are also a key contributor to inefficiency for both the categories of banks. The inefficiency scores also indicate that, across ownership categories, medium-sized banks are poorer performers than their smaller and larger counterparts. JEL: C14, C61, D24, G21

An Analysis of Impact of Anti-dumping Duties on India–China Trade

India has imposed anti-dumping duties (ADDs) on a total of 155 commodities against China across many sectors to protect the domestic industry since 2001. The dumping of Chinese goods into Indian markets has led to the downfall and closure of many domestic industries. Under such circumstances, ADDs had been necessitated for protecting the domestic industry. As per the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, imposition of ADDs on imports is permitted, provided that the affected country establishes that the domestic industry has suffered material injury by such imports. An elaborate discussion explaining the investigation pertaining to ADD and imposition of ADD in relation with WTO rules is presented in the present article. During the period between 2014 and 2018, ADD has been imposed on a total of 121 commodities. The study finds that ADDs have been partially effective in reducing the imports of the commodities. JEL: F13

Dynamics of Youth and Gender Divide in Technology in Bangladesh

This article identifies the nature of gendered digital divides between male and female youth (aged 15–29) in the context of Bangladesh. As a measuring indicator for technology inclusiveness, this study examines whether a young male or female owns a mobile phone, the most basic means of accessing the Internet. As observed in the descriptive analysis, on average, 46% of young females have a mobile phone, compared to 79% young males. However, such disparity varies across age cohorts and the divides of rural–urban, poor–non-poor, richer–poorer income deciles, etc. To understand whether there is any significant discrimination against women in terms of technology inclusiveness, this study applies the Blinder–Oaxaca (B–O) decomposition technique. The decomposition analysis shows statistically significant discrimination against women in terms of mobile ownership at both the household and the individual level. The factors such as remittances, average years of schooling of the household members, urban residence, household’s income status, etc., significantly reduce discriminatory behaviour towards young females. JEL: D63, O33, I21

An Analysis of Trade Credit Behaviour of Indian Firms

Trade credit transactions are quite common for businesses. The article carries out the trade credit analysis for an emerging economy, namely Indian corporate sector employing rich information dataset covering multiple industries such as manufacturing, services, construction and others, since the period of financial crisis including both firm specific and macro-economic factors. The annual dataset spans 13 years from 2006 to 2018 covering the crisis period. Applying dynamic panel framework, it is found that the inventory management and macro indicators are significant in determining trade credit for Indian firms. While trade payable is chiefly driven by raw material inventory, firms having reasonable stock of raw or finished goods inventory are less likely to offer trade credit. Large-sized firms are found to be both leading consumers and suppliers of the trade credit. The pecking order theory is clearly validated with net profits being preferred over the trade credit that is a more expensive source of finance. Credit from formal financial sources is found to act as a substitute to trade credit borrowing. JEL: G3, G21, E4, C23