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A large body of research has found an association between short birth intervals and the risk of infant mortality in developing countries, but recent work on other perinatal outcomes from highly developed countries has called these claims into question, arguing that previous studies have failed to adequately control for unobserved heterogeneity. Our study addresses this issue by estimating within-family models on a sample of 4.5 million births from 77 countries at various levels of development. We show that after unobserved maternal heterogeneity is controlled for, intervals shorter than 36 months substantially increase the probability of infant death. However, the importance of birth intervals as a determinant of infant mortality varies inversely with maternal education and the strength of the relationship varies regionally. Finally, we demonstrate that the mortality-reducing effects of longer birth intervals are strong at low levels of development but decline steadily toward zero at higher levels of development. These findings offer a clear way to reconcile previous research showing that birth intervals are important for perinatal outcomes in lowincome countries but are much less consequential in high-income settings.

The environment surrounding the automobile industry is currently in a period of change. It is no longer necessary for the automotive industry to maintain a competitive advantage on its own. Electronic components are one of the technologies that support automobiles in the information field. Electronic components require not only processing speed, but also reliability and durability. In particular, automobiles are expensive and used for long periods of time. Therefore, electronic components are expected to operate stably without malfunctioning until the end of use. Obtaining a competitive advantage in the technological development of electronic components has a significant impact on spillovers to various areas. However, there has not been much progress in research analyzing the technological development of the electronic component industry from the perspective of supporting automobile safety and security from the perspective of low failure. In this study, an international comparison of the current status of technological development by companies in various countries is conducted in the field of electronic components, which are indispensable for the safety and security of next-generation automobiles. Specifically, the number of patents and the status of response to failure modes in patent information, which are indicators of technological development capability, are analyzed. The results show that Japanese firms have characteristics that differ from those of firms in other countries in these fields.

In this article we consider how an online resource that publishes the findings and video, audio and written extracts from narrative interview studies has developed as an international collaboration, currently including 14 countries worldwide. In the two decades since the initiative was founded, the robust, national qualitative studies for DIPEx International have branched out from patient information and support to learning and teaching, insights and service improvement and cross-national comparisons. Embracing the challenge to reflect plural discourses of illness, health and care in societies that appear increasingly polarised, the DIPEx collaboration presents polyphonic perspectives that stand as potential counters to reductive dualities. As a result the collaboration has established a collection of unique, international resources that can be leveraged to promote understanding and learning from people’s experiences of illness and care.

Despite the increased interest in recent decades in the study of children’s subjective well-being (SWB), much too little is known about the factors that contribute to their SWB, especially with regards to socio-demographic characteristics. In addition, only handful of studies has made a comparison between countries and was based on large samples. The present study is a first of its kind. Utilizing the International Study of Children’s Well-Being first wave data set with questionnaires from over 34,500 children from 14 different countries to explore the characteristics of children’s SWB and the relations between an array of socio-demographic variables and children’s SWB. SWB was measured using three scales—overall life satisfaction, overall satisfaction in specific domains and overall SWB that was measured using agreement items. The socio-demographic variables were composed of demographic characteristics (e.g. gender and age), self-reported socio-economic items and the children’s country of residence. Findings show that children’s SWB in all countries is relatively high, although some variation can be found between the three SWB scales. Differences were found between the three measurements of SWB in regard to the explained variance, nevertheless the socio-demographic characteristics explain relatively low amount of the variance in SWB (10.9–20.2 %). The demographic variables have the lowest contribution, followed by the socio-economic items, while countries have the highest contribution. Thus one of our main conclusions is that the answer for understanding children’s SWB does not lay in the socio-demographic characteristics. The implications of these findings for further research of children’s SWB are discussed.

Understanding how children's broader context influences their development is critical if we are to develop policies that help them flourish. Combining sociological, economic, and psychological literature, we argue that ability stratification—the degree to which children of similar levels of ability are schooled together—influences a child's academic self-concept. This is because countries with more ability stratification should have larger Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effects (the negative effect of school average achievement on academic self-concept). We used four cycles of the Trends in International Math and Science Study to test the hypothesis that more country-level ability stratification is associated with larger country-level Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effects for math self-concept Findings strongly support this hypothesis. Our findings have implications for school system design and policy.

Background Denmark, Finland and Sweden pursue equity in health for their citizens through universal health care. However, it is unclear if these services reach the older adult population equally across different socioeconomic positions or living areas. Thus, we assessed geographic and socioeconomic equity in primary health care (PHC) performance among the older adults in the capital areas of Denmark (Copenhagen), Finland (Helsinki) and Sweden (Stockholm) in 2000–2015. Hospitalisations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) were applied as a proxy for PHC performance. Methods We acquired individual level ACSCs for those aged ≥ 45 in 2000–2015 from national hospitalisation registers. To identify whether the disparities varied by age, we applied three age groups (those aged 45–64, 65–75 and ≥ 75). Socioeconomic disparities in ACSCs were described with incidence rate ratios (IRR) and annual rates by education, income and living-alone; and then analysed with biennial concentration indices by income. Geographic disparities were described with biennial ACSC rates by small areas and analysed with two-level Poisson multilevel models. These models provided small area estimates of IRRs of ACSCs in 2000 and their slopes for development over time, between which Pearson correlations were calculated within each capital area. Finally, these models were adjusted for income to distinguish between geographic and socioeconomic disparities. Results Copenhagen had the highest IRR of ACSCs among those aged 45–64, and Helsinki among those aged ≥ 75. Over time IRRs decreased among those aged ≥ 45, but only in Helsinki among those aged ≥ 75. All concentration indices slightly favoured the affluent population but in Stockholm were mainly non-significant. Among those aged ≥ 75, Pearson correlations were low in Copenhagen (-0.14; p  = 0.424) but high in both Helsinki (-0.74; < 0.001) and Stockholm (-0.62; < 0.001) – with only little change when adjusted for income. Among those aged ≥ 45 the respective correlations were rather similar, except for a strong correlation in Copenhagen (-0.51, 0.001) after income adjustment. Conclusions While socioeconomic disparities in PHC performance persisted among older adults in the three Nordic capital areas, geographic disparities narrowed in both Helsinki and Stockholm but persisted in Copenhagen. Our findings suggest that the Danish PHC incorporated the negative effects of socio-economic segregation to a lesser degree.

Political consumption is an individualized form of collective action that varies considerably across Europe. Citizens as consumers participate in boycotts and 'positive' buying of goods based on ethical, political and environmental considerations. Overcoming the individualistic bias of past research, the comparative analysis extends actor-centred explanations by focusing on political, cultural and economic opportunity structures and on globalization as contextual factors. Economic opportunities for political consumption are provided by national affluence, retailing structures and the supply of environmental and fair-labelled goods. Political and cultural opportunities are facilitated by 'statist' institutions, social movement organizations as well as trust and post-materialist culture. The impact of globalization is measured by international economic exchange. Logistic multi-level models on the first wave of the European Social Survey for 19 countries reveal that economic opportunity structures and political institutions best explain variations, while globalization does not affect citizens' decisions to voice their interest in consumption. Finally, the effect of individual value orientations is increased by a low-cost context.

Purpose This study aimed to analyze the domestic and international landscape of imaging diagnostics and treatments, focusing on Japan, to provide current insights for policymaking, clinical practice enhancement, and international collaboration. Methods Data from 1996 to 2021 were collected from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare database for medical device counts of CT, MRI, PET, mammography, and radiotherapy. The National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan was utilized for examination numbers. An international comparison was made with data from 41 countries using the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) database. Results The data included a total of 108,596 CT devices, 47,233 MRI devices, 2998 PET devices, 20,641 MMG devices, and 8023 RT devices during the survey period. Upon international comparison, Japan ranked first in CT and MRI devices per million people and second in examination numbers per 1000 people. The number of PET devices per million people exceeded OECD averages; however, the number of examinations per 1000 people was below the OECD average in 2020 (Japan: 4.0, OECD: 4.9). Although Japan exceeded OECD averages in mammography device counts (Japan: 33.8, OECD: 24.5 in 2020), radiotherapy device counts were similar to OECD averages (Japan: 8.3, OECD: 7.9 in 2020). Conclusion We have analyzed the utilization of equipment in the context of diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy in Japan. Since the initial survey year, all devices have shown an upward trend. However, it is essential not only to increase the number of devices and examinations but also to address the chronic shortage of radiologists and allied health professionals. Based on the insights gained from this study, understanding the actual status of diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy equipment is critical for grasping the domestic situation and may contribute to improving the quality of healthcare in Japan.

The Digital Transformation (DX) megatrend is fundamentally disrupting and changing the nature of work, business, and industry at a rapid pace. Although the notion of DX has garnered much research interest from practitioners, scholarship on this topic is somehow lagging behind, possibly because of the lack of theoretical frameworks on DX. Recently, most Japanese firms have begun to use diverse digital technologies to sustain their competitive advantages. However, the return of investment on digital technologies has not been as high as expected for some firms. Furthermore, as the visions of Industry 5.0 describe sustainable, resilient, and human-centered future factories that will require smart and resilient capabilities both from next-generation manufacturing systems and human operators, it is necessary to design resilient human–machine collaborations within factories. To this end, this paper presents a research model between DX technologies and scientific problem-solving in terms of deduction, induction, and abduction inference structures as an approach to resilient human–machine collaborations. The purpose of this research is to analyze the difference in the utilization pattern of the digital technology of American, German, and Japanese firms based on three types of decision-making methods. Next, we apply this framework in a comparative case study of two Japanese firms and one German firm, where we find that there is a difference in DX technologies utilization among the Japanese and German firms. We assert that the utilization of IoT technology in the United States and Germany is pursuing IoT with the aim of autonomous control, whereas Japanese firms prioritize robot–human collaboration. Finally, we discuss how our findings contribute to the burgeoning field of resilient human–machine collaborations by showing the distinct roles of deduction, induction, and abduction inference structures. Furthermore, our research contributes to international comparative studies to identify the difference in national IT utilization. Lessons and implications are discussed.

Background: Aimed to develop a unitary scoring system for the ‘Health Behaviour in school-aged Children’ (HBSC) symptom checklist that would facilitate cross-national comparisons and interpretation. Rasch measurement analysis and investigation of differential item functioning (DIF) were conducted. Methods: Data were obtained from the ‘WHO collaborative study HBSC 2001/2002’. A total of 162 305 students aged 11, 13 and 15 years from 35 European and North American Countries were surveyed. Unidimensionality of the items and local independence were tested using means of confirmatory factor analysis. DIF across countries, age groups and gender was investigated using a logistic regression procedure. Item and person parameters were estimated according to the Rating Scale Model (RSM). Results: All items proved to be unidimensional. One item displayed noticeable DIF across countries and was discarded. The remaining items were functioning equally across subgroups. The RSM analysis resulted in Rasch model conform item parameter estimation. Infit mean square values between 0.84 and 1.35 revealed acceptable item fit. Conclusion: The control of DIF enables comparable and unbiased assessment of subjective health complaints across countries, age groups and gender. A scoring algorithm could be developed which enables a cross-cultural comparable and interval-scaled assessment of subjective health complaints.