Socio-economic determinants of the family history of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Pakistan

This article aims to assess the role of important socio-economic factors in the family history of tuberculosis patients in Pakistan. Data were collected from 269 patients, and a logistic regression was used to determine the association between risk factors and the vicious circle of TB. Results of the logistic model show that significant risk factors associated with TB history in patients were education, household size, house structure, rooms in the home, room ventilation, monthly income, income food sufficiency, smoking, diabetes, and heart disease. The current TB control programme needs to formulate strategies to target specific risk factors and poverty reduction simultaneously to break the vicious circle of tuberculosis.     

Does the Feldstein–Horioka puzzle exist among South Asian countries? A regime‐switching approach

A plethora of literature has been undertaken to study the validity of the Feldstein–Horioka (FH) puzzle. However, divergent views continue to persist in the FH puzzle literature. This study explores the empirical validity of the FH puzzle in the case of South Asian countries using annual data from 1960 to 2017. Both panel data approach and Markov‐switching regression approach are used to empirically analyze the FH puzzle. The results of the cointegration test confirm the long‐run relationships between saving and investment in the selected South Asian countries. The results of Markov‐switching regression confirm that the saving‐retention coefficient has shifted from high to low values and also from low to high values. Thus, the FH puzzle exists for a particular time period and mostly depends on the regime shifts in the South Asian countries. The results of panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) methods also confirm that FH puzzle holds for the South Asian countries. Therefore, the study suggests that any saving promotion policies are desirable for enhancing investment among the South Asian regions.     

Reproductive health services: “Business-in-a-Box” as a model social innovation

Access to reproductive health services and products in remote and rural communities is a critical area of concern for developing countries. This article considers a pilot intervention in three districts of Pakistan where “Business-in-a-Box” as a model of place-based social innovation is used to improve the socio-economic conditions of women in remote rural settings through socially responsible micro-franchising. It finds that such programmes help build a sense of community, ownership and grassroots capabilities and skills. The article also discusses the impacts of such actions on the individual and community life, and the need to upscale and sustain these initiatives.     

Socio-political tensions in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) development in low-income Asian cities

International development agencies, with the help of the central government, support building state of art Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in low-income Asian cities. However, BRT investment over indigenous modes of mobility is creating socio-political tensions at the local level. This article uses multi-level governance as a theoretical lens to examine the relationships among actors in BRT investment decisions in Bandung and Surabaya, Indonesia. The research finds that local stakeholders can distort national and supranational policy initiatives totally or in a way that while projects are delivered, they are of limited use to the local communities they intended to help.     

Shaking off the neoliberal shackles: “democratic emergence” and the negotiation of democratic knowledge in the Middle East North Africa context

ABSTRACT

There is a general assumption in democracy promotion that liberal democracy is the panacea that will solve all political and economic problems faced by developing countries. Using the concept of “good society” as analytical prism, the analysis shows that while there is a rhetorical agreement as to what the “good society” entails, democracy promotion practices fail to allow for recipients’ inclusion in the negotiation and delivery of the “good society”. Contrasting US and Tunisian discourses on the “good society”, the article argues that democracy promotion practices are underpinned by neoliberal parameters borne out from a reliance on the transition paradigm, which in turn leave little room to democracy promotion recipients to formulate knowledge claims supporting the emergence of alternative conceptions of the “good society”. In contrast, the article opens up a reflective pathway to a negotiated democratic knowledge, which would reside in a paradigmatic change that consists in the abandonment of the transition paradigm in favour of a “democratic emergence” paradigm.     

俄远东地区2001年工业运行浅析

工业是俄罗斯远东地区的主导经济部门。2001年远东工业仍未走出低谷,但有的工业部门生产已出现恢复性增长。按部门概述远东工业生产运行状况,指出存在的问题及成因,以探讨解决问题的途径。     

东盟东增长区的发展与引资成效

自20世纪90年代初以来,东盟次区域经济合作非常活跃,先后出现了新加坡、马来西亚柔佛和印尼的廖内群岛等组成的"新柔廖增长三角",又被称为"东盟南增长三角";印尼、马来西亚、泰国相邻部分组成的"东盟北增长三角";文莱、印尼、马来西亚和菲律宾相邻部分组成的"东盟东部经济增长区(简称东盟东增长区)"等.这些由东盟各国自愿组成的各种增长三角已成为东盟进行合作的重要形式,促进了东盟各国间经济联系和相互合作,带动了贸易和投资的发展.本文选取东盟区域内最大的、最年轻的东盟东增长区,分析其带动资本流动的效果,探讨其发展成效.     

俄罗斯太平洋石油管道与东北亚地缘政治格局

俄罗斯通往亚太地区的第一条石油运输管道已于2006年4月开工修建。太平洋石油管道是俄罗斯落实其东方能源外交战略、实施能源外交多元化战略的重要举措，对东北亚地缘政治格局产生了重要影响。     

试论构建“东亚共同体”的思想文化基础——从历史启迪与未来追求的视角

创建共同合作、协同发展的“东亚共同体”,业已成为不可抗拒的发展趋势。历史事实证明:东亚地区是世界历史上最早“一体化”的区域;它既有成功的、进步的古代“东亚文化圈”,也有反动的、失败的近代“大东亚共荣圈”,还有设想中的“东亚共同体”。然而,现实中的“历史认识问题”,是直接关系到“东亚共同体”能否迅速建立的前提条件。为促进未来“东亚共同体”区域内的沟通和交流,需要在汉字的基础上创建共通文字,这不是复旧,而是与时俱进的创新。当人们思考构建“东亚共同体”时,在普遍关注经济协作的情况下,尤应重视思想文化观念的问题,因为东亚各国间的政治的、经济的、外交的问题,不能光靠政治的、经济的、外交的手段来解决,而确实需要从思想文化观念方面去寻求解决问题的办法。     

东北老工业基地在东北亚经济合作中的区位优势重构

目前,中国东北与东北亚周边国家之间的经济合作还主要以低层次初级产品与劳务输出为主,没有充分发挥出东北所拥有的区位优势和产业优势。东北老工业基地振兴需要加强东北地区与东北亚周边国家的经济合作,这需要重构区位优势,调整东北地区参与东北亚地区国际分工的产业组合。为此,要加快产业转型,打造世界重要的装备制造业基地;重点发展新能源、新材料等新兴替代产业;做强做大农产品加工、生物制药等产业。