scholarly journals Low-income countries are more immune to COVID-19: A misconception

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 5-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumya Roy
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Purchasing Power Parity ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Power Parity ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Financial Condition ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Great Force

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has hit countries such as Italy, Spain, France, UK, and the USA with great force, whereas the number of cases in countries such as India and most parts of Africa is comparatively lower. Such observation has made many people believe that the low-income countries may be more immune to COVID-19. Theories such as warm climate, weaker strain of the virus, and cross-protection by malaria have been popularly put forward. One such interesting theory is that since the general people of the low- income countries are mostly habituated to dwell in lesser hygienic condition and with lesser medical attention throughout their lifetime; hence, they have naturally acquired better immunity and more resilience against many infective diseases. Materials and Methods: We sought to investigate the above claim by comparing the case fatality rate (CFR) as well as number of cases per million population versus the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita of different countries. Results: We found that while the number of cases showed a slight decline in the lower-income countries, the CFR was independent of the financial condition of the country. Conclusion: We conclude that the theory of better immunity in economically poor countries is a misconception. We suggest that people must come out of these misconceptions and resort to strict home isolation.

scholarly journals Pricing-to-Market and the Failure of Absolute PPP

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Alessandria ◽  
Joseph P Kaboski
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Purchasing Power Parity ◽  
Consumer Search ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Power Parity ◽  
Pricing To Market ◽  
Export Prices ◽  
The Us ◽  
International Price ◽  
Use Studies

We show that deviations from the law of one price in tradable goods are an important source of violations of absolute purchasing power parity. Using highly disaggregated export data, we document systematic international price discrimination: at the US dock, low-income countries pay lower prices. This pricing-to-market is about twice as important as local nontraded inputs for differences in tradable prices. We propose a model of consumer search and pricing-to-market in which consumers in low-income countries have a comparative advantage in nontraded, nonmarket search activities. Evidence from cross-country time-use studies and US export prices supports the model. (JEL E31, F14)

scholarly journals Comparing Costs of Living across World Cities

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S79-S88
Author(s):  
Shohei Nakamura ◽  
Rawaa Harati ◽  
Somik V Lall ◽  
Yuri M Dikhanov ◽  
Nada Hamadeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Purchasing Power Parity ◽  
National Level ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Power Parity ◽  
Cost Of Living ◽  
World Cities ◽  
Price Data ◽  
Price Levels ◽  
The Cost

Abstract This paper compares costs of living across world cities. The International Comparison Program (ICP) reports price levels across world economies in its calculation of purchasing power parity through an extensive scale of price data collection and rigorous methodology. While the price levels are reported only at the national level, some modification makes it possible to compare the cost of living across a group of world cities. In addition, various agencies report costs of living rankings for world cities on a regular basis, and some of them, such as the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s World Cost of Living Survey, systematically collect a wide variety of items from a host of cities, even covering low-income countries. This article's application of the ICP method to the EIU price data yields an overall reasonable result: richer cities have higher price levels, and the rankings of cities based on their price levels are similar when using the ICP and EIU data. Nevertheless, the results based on the EIU data differ from the ICP data relatively widely in some nonfood items and among cities with low price levels. This result highlights important issues regarding the data and methodology required to measure costs of living for development purposes.

scholarly journals Enhancing resilience to coastal flooding from severe storms in the USA: international lessons

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1357-1373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren M. Lumbroso ◽  
Natalie R. Suckall ◽  
Robert J. Nicholls ◽  
Kathleen D. White
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Coastal Flooding ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Coastal Hazards ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

Abstract. Recent events in the USA have highlighted a lack of resilience in the coastal population to coastal flooding, especially amongst disadvantaged and isolated communities. Some low-income countries, such as Cuba and Bangladesh, have made significant progress towards transformed societies that are more resilient to the impacts of cyclones and coastal flooding. To understand how this has come about, a systematic review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature related to resilience of communities to coastal flooding was undertaken in both countries. In both Cuba and Bangladesh the trust between national and local authorities, community leaders and civil society is high. As a consequence evacuation warnings are generally followed and communities are well prepared. As a result over the past 25 years in Bangladesh the number of deaths directly related to cyclones and coastal flooding has decreased, despite an increase of almost 50 % in the number of people exposed to these hazards. In Cuba, over the course of eight hurricanes between 2003 and 2011, the normalized number of deaths related to cyclones and coastal floods was an order of magnitude less than in the USA. In low-income countries, warning systems and effective shelter/evacuation systems, combined with high levels of disaster risk-reduction education and social cohesion, coupled with trust between government authorities and vulnerable communities can help to increase resilience to coastal hazards and tropical cyclones. In the USA, transferable lessons include improving communication and the awareness of the risk posed by coastal surges, mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into the education system and building trusted community networks to help isolated and disadvantaged communities, and improve community resilience.

scholarly journals Somalia

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (86) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Debt Relief ◽  
Debt Management ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Debt Sustainability ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries ◽  
Hipc Initiative

This paper presents an assessment of Somalia’s eligibility for assistance under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The macroeconomic framework reflects the policy framework underlying the proposed three-year Fund-supported program. The debt relief analysis (DRA) remains largely unchanged, but some of the underlying debt data has been updated to reflect new information from creditors. In addition, this paper presents an assessment of debt management capacity in Somalia and a full Debt Sustainability Analysis under the Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries. The DRA reveals that, after traditional debt relief mechanisms are applied, Somalia’s debt burden expressed as the net present value of debt-to-exports ratio is 344.2 percent at the end of December 2018—significantly above the HIPC Initiative threshold. Despite the challenging environment, progress on reform and policy implementation has been good and sustained reforms have translated into economic results. In addition to the coordinated support from the World Bank and the IMF, reforms have been supported by other development partners.

Abstract 3225: Gross Domestic Product and Health Expenditure Associated with Incidence, 30-Day Fatality and Age at Stroke Onset: A Systematic Review

Stroke ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Sposato ◽  
Gustavo Saposnik
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Gross Domestic Product ◽  
Purchasing Power Parity ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Stroke Onset ◽  
Power Parity ◽  
Day Case ◽  
Scatter Plots ◽  
Per Capita

Background: Differences in definitions of socioeconomic status (SES) and between study designs hinder their comparability across countries. We aimed to analyze the correlation of three widely used macro-SES indicators with stroke incidence and age at stroke onset. Methods: We selected population-based studies reporting incident stroke risk and/or 30-day case fatality according to pre-specified criteria. We used three macro-SES indicators that are consistently defined by international agencies: per capita gross domestic product adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP-aGDP), total health expenditures per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP-aTHE) and unemployment rate. We used two-tailed Spearman’s test and scatter-plots for analyzing the correlation of each macro-SES indicator with incident risk of stroke, 30-day case fatality rates, proportion of hemorrhagic strokes and age at stroke onset. Results: Twenty-three manuscripts comprising 30 population-based studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Age-adjusted incident risk of stroke using standardized World Health Organization World population, 30-day case fatality rates, proportion of hemorrhagic strokes and age at stroke onset were associated to lower PPP-aGDP and PPP-aTHE ( Table 1 and Figures 2 and 3). There was no correlation between unemployment rates and outcome measures. Table 1. Correlation Analyses of Macro-Indicators of Socioeconomic Status Figures 1. Scatter Plots for PPP-aGDP Figures 2. Scatter Plots for PPP-aTHE Conclusions: Lower PPP-aGDP and PPP-aTHE were associated with higher incident risk of stroke, higher case fatality, greater proportion of hemorrhagic strokes and lower age at stroke onset. As a result, these macro-SES indicators may be used as proxy measures of quality of primary prevention and acute care and considered as important factors for developing strategies aimed at improving worldwide stroke care.

A New Development Opportunity Confronts Old Paradigms

2011 ◽  
pp. 171-198
Author(s):  
Peter A. Kwaku Kyem
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Development Discourse ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Technological Gap ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Developed Nations ◽  
Ict For Development

There is a considerable debate about how the technological gap between rich and poor countries of the world can be bridged or eliminated. Technological optimists argue that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can bring accelerated development to poor countries. Others question the viability of relying on ICT for development in low income countries. The ensuing debate has masked the digital divide problem and prevented a true discussion of how ICT can be deployed for the benefit of low income countries. On the otherhand, confronted with the persistent failures of one-size-fits-all economic development models, low income countries can no longer treat modernization as the pivot towards which all ICT-related development efforts must gravitate. There is a need to drop the singular vision of development which is premised on the experiences of Western developed nations and rather restore local actors and their cultures into the actual roles they play in development processes that occur within localities. Accordingly, this chapter reviews the perspectives that currently shape the ICT for development discourse and offers the multiplicity theory to bridge the gap in development theory and promote a development strategy which incorporates activities of both local and global actors in the development of localities.

Staff Guidance Note on the Application of the Joint Fund-Bank Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries

Policy Papers ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Debt Relief ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Bank Debt ◽  
Debt Sustainability ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Guidance Note ◽  
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries ◽  
Alternative Scenarios ◽  
Sustainability Framework

The objective of the joint Fund-Bank debt sustainability framework for low-income countries is to support LICs in their efforts to achieve their development goals without creating future debt problems. Countries that have received debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) need to be kept on a sustainable track. Under the framework, country DSAs are prepared jointly by Bank and Fund staff, with close collaboration between the two staffs on the design of the macroeconomic baseline, alternative scenarios, the debt distress rating, and the drafting of the write-up.

Purchasing power parity as a long-term memory process

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Bilel Triki ◽  
Samir Maktouf
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Purchasing Power Parity ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Power Parity ◽  
Fractional Cointegration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Usa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on whether the deviations from the cointegrating relationship possess long memory and the fractional cointegration analyses may capture a wider range of mean-reversion behaviour than standard cointegration analyses. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a fractional cointegration technique to test the purchasing power parity (PPP). Findings – The authors found that PPP held, but very weakly, in the long run between the Argentine, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Thailand and Venezuela and US exchange rate during our floating exchange rate period but that the deviations from it did not follow a stationary process. Nevertheless, it is also found that the deviations from PPP exists and can be characterized by a fractionally integrated process in nine out of 13 countries studied. Originality/value – The findings are consistent with the consensus of the empirical literature, reviewed earlier in this paper, on PPP between Argentine, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Thailand and Venezuela and the USA.

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