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Theories predict that the timing of childbearing and number of children born are determined by multiple socio-economic factors. Despite this, many methods cannot investigate the interrelationships between these determinants, including the direct and indirect influence that they have on fertility over the life course. Here we use the parametric g-formula to examine the interdependent influences of time-varying socio-economic processes—education, employment status and partnership status—on fertility. To demonstrate this approach, we study a cohort of women who were born in the UK in 1970. Our results show that socio-economic processes play an important role in determining fertility, not only directly but also indirectly. We show that increasing attendance in higher education has a largely direct effect on early childbearing up to age 25 years, resulting in a substantial increase in childlessness. However, childbearing at later ages is dominated by an indirect effect of education on fertility, via partnership status and employment status, that is twice as large as the direct effect. We also use the g-formula to examine bias due to unobserved heterogeneity, and we demonstrate that our results appear to be robust. We conclude that the method provides a valuable tool for mediation analysis in studies of interdependent life course processes.

Maintaining ecological quality of energy use without compromising on economic growth has become the key research agenda of existing literature. Emerging economies are particularly facing this dual problem where they need to look in to the factors which impact sustainable energy consumption. The article, thus, aims to examine impact of economic and non-economic determinants on sustainable energy consumption in Vietnamese context. Factors such as industrialization, population growth, inflation, and employment rate are being considered as economic indicators and eco-innovation and political instability are being used as non-economic indicators. The study has taken secondary data from secondary sources such as Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the global economy, and World Development Indicators (WDI) from 1986 to 2020. The study has applied the Bayesian auto-regressive distributed lags (BARDL) model and the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) technique to check the association among variables. The results revealed that industrialization, population growth, inflation, employment rate, and eco-innovation have a positive linkage with SEC in Vietnam. The results also indicated that political instability has a negative association with SEC in Vietnam. In the light of results, it is obvious that government fiscal and monetary policies must be favorable to inflation so that sustainable energy can be introduced and started to consume. The study also conveys that the policymakers must take care of employment rate growth, for it can encourage sustaining energy consumption.

The paper examines the relationship between dependent variables (spending on social protection and spending on social protection benefits) and variables that capture the economic structure of the population and economic activity on the example of panel data of 26 European Union (EU) countries (except for Bulgaria and Croatia) over the years 2000-2017. In particular, the economic structure of the population is analysed by the age dependency ratio, while economic activity is expressed by the real GDP per capita growth rate and the unemployment rate. Regardless of the estimation technique for specifications with variables transformed to first differences, the results of the study indicate a statistically significant association between the dependent variables and the macroeconomic conditions of the EU countries. By contrast, the relationships between the dependency ratios and the dependent variables are positive but generally statistically insignificant, although EU countries are undergoing advanced processes of population ageing.

Local, bivariate relationships between coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection rates and a set of demographic and socioeconomic variables were explored at the district level in Oman. To limit multicollinearity a principal component analysis was conducted, the results of which showed that three components together could explain 65% of the total variance that were therefore subjected to further study. Comparison of a generalized linear model (GLM) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) indicated an improvement in model performance using GWR (goodness of fit=93%) compared to GLM (goodness of fit=86%). The local coefficient of determination (R2) showed a significant influence of specific demographic and socioeconomic factors on COVID-19, including percentages of Omani and non-Omani population at various age levels; spatial interaction; population density; number of hospital beds; total number of households; purchasing power; and purchasing power per km2. No direct correlation between COVID- 19 rates and health facilities distribution or tobacco usage. This study suggests that Poisson regression using GWR and GLM can address unobserved spatial non-stationary relationships. Findings of this study can promote current understanding of the demographic and socioeconomic variables impacting the spatial patterns of COVID-19 in Oman, allowing local and national authorities to adopt more appropriate strategies to cope with this pandemic in the future and also to allocate more effective prevention resources.

BACKGROUND: Antenatal Care (ANC) is universally considered important for women and children. This study aims to identify factors, demographic, social and economic, possibly associated with three ANC indicators: number of visits, timing of visits and content of services. The aim is also to compare the patterns of association of such factors between one rural and one urban context in northern Vietnam. METHODS: Totally 2,132 pregnant women were followed from identification of pregnancy until birth in two Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites (HDSS). Information was obtained through quarterly face to face interviews. RESULTS: Living in the rural area was significantly associated with lower adequate use of ANC compared to living in the urban area, both regarding quantity (number and timing of visits) and content. Low education, living in poor households and exclusively using private sector ANC in both sites and self employment, becoming pregnant before 25 years of age and living in poor communities in the rural area turned out to increase the risk for overall inadequate ANC. High risk pregnancy could not be demonstrated to be associated with ANC adequacy in either site. The medical content of services offered was often inadequate, in relation to the national recommendations, especially in the private sector. CONCLUSION: Low education, low economic status, exclusive use of private ANC and living in rural areas were main factors associated with risk for overall inadequate ANC use as related to the national recommendations. Therefore, interventions focussing on poor and less educated women, especially in rural areas should be prioritized. They should focus the importance of early attendance of ANC and sufficient use of core services. Financial support for poor and near poor women should be considered. Providers of ANC should be educated and otherwise influenced to provide sufficient core services. Adherence to ANC content guidelines must be improved through enhanced supervision, particularly in the private sector.

Objectives HIV counselling and testing is critical to HIV prevention and treatment efforts. Mass campaigns may be an effective strategy to increase HIV testing in countries with generalized HIV epidemics. We assessed the self‐reported uptake of HIV testing among individuals who had never previously tested for HIV, particularly those in high‐risk populations, during the period of a national, multisector testing campaign in South Africa (April 2010 and June 2011). Design This study was a prospective cohort study. Methods We analyzed data from two waves (2010/2011, n=16,893; 2012, n=18,707) of the National Income Dynamics Study, a nationally representative cohort that enabled prospective identification of first‐time testers. We quantified the number of adults (15 years and older) testing for the first time nationally. To assess whether the campaign reached previously underserved populations, we examined changes in HIV testing coverage by age, gender, race and province sub‐groups. We also estimated multivariable logistic regression models to identify socio‐economic and demographic predictors of first‐time testing. Results Overall, the proportion of adults ever tested for HIV increased from 43.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 41.48, 45.96) to 65.2% (95% CI: 63.28, 67.10) over the study period, with approximately 7.6 million (95% CI: 6,387,910; 8,782,986) first‐time testers. Among black South Africans, the country's highest HIV prevalence sub‐group, HIV testing coverage improved among poorer and healthier individuals, thus reducing gradients in testing by wealth and health. In contrast, HIV testing coverage remained lower for men, younger individuals and the less educated, indicating persistent if not widening disparities by gender, age and education. Large geographic disparities in coverage also remained as of 2012. Conclusions Mass provision of HIV testing services can be effective in increasing population coverage of HIV testing. The geographic and socio‐economic disparities in programme impacts can help guide best practices for future efforts. These efforts should focus on hard‐to‐reach populations, including men and less‐educated individuals.

This paper examines the role of macro and microeconomic determinants in bank profitability in the EU-27. To identify how defined variables can affect profitability, a regression model was constructed with a multicollinearity condition, with multicollinearity below the defined value. Data were collected based on 3,257 bank balance sheets and the World Bank and ORBIS Bank Focus databases. Based on a literature review, we have stated that the bank sector profitability is measured by Net Interest Margin (NIM), Return on Average Assets (ROAA), and Return on Average Equity (ROAE) as dependent variables. The statistical model showed no acceptable solution for Return on Average Equity. Four allowable solutions were found for the profitability of average assets and six solutions for net interest margin. Lastly, the results indicate a clear effect of rising inflation on increasing bank interest rates, and therefore higher interest margins. A healthy economy, also characterized by a growing GDP rate, also positively affects the interest margin.

The economy is part of everyday life in modern societies and is a crucial determinant of social well-being. For this reason, it is important to observe how economic determinants can influence a fundamental social phenomenon: faith. This paper analyzes how economic determinants influence international pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fátima (Portugal). A data panel from 2008 to 2022 was constructed, and a panel ARDL model was estimated. The results confirm the relationship between economics and homo religiosus. The cost of transportation, national income, unemployment, globalization, and inflation influence the international pilgrimages to Fátima.

The projections of UN indicate that by the year 2030, natural resource demand will become threefold as of today. This for sure surpasses existing capacity due to which many countries are facing depletion issue or might face depletion issue in coming years. Realizing this challenge, economies all over the globe are shifting towards circular economy development in order to address the environmental sustainability issue. In Vietnam, economic activities are normally based on the principle of linear economy. However, this traditional approach not only creates shortage of natural resources but also becomes the reason of environmental destruction. Thus, the study is an attempt to find out the harmonious relationship of economic and non-economic determinants with circular economy in the presence of sustainable supply chain management as a moderator. By employing structural equation modelling, findings indicate that circular economy is the right direction as it ensures job security and bring quality education and political stability. Results also confirm that sustainable supply chain management increases the strength of positive relationship of said variables. In the light of the evidences, the paper proposes few suggestions and implications to promote the development of circular economy so that economic growth and environmental quality can be achieved at the same time.

The commercial determinants of health (CDoH) describe the adverse health effects associated with for-profit actors and their actions. Despite efforts to advance the definition, conceptualization, and empirical analyses of CDoH, the term's practical application to mitigate these effects requires the capacity to measure the influences of specific components of CDoH and the cumulative impacts of CDoH on the health and well-being of specific populations. Building on the Global Burden of Disease Study, we begin by conceptualizing CDoH as risk factor exposures that span agency and structural influences. We identify 6 components of these influences and propose an initial set of indicators and datasets to rank exposures as high, medium, or low. These are combined into a commercial determinants of health index (CDoHi) and illustrated by 3 countries. Although now a proof of concept, comparative analysis of CDoH exposures by population, over time and space, and their associated health outcomes will become possible with further development of indicators and datasets. Expansion of the CDoHi and application to varied populations groups will enable finer targeting of interventions to reduce health harms. The measurement of improvements to health and wellness from such interventions will, in turn, inform overall efforts to address the CDoH.