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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate if country development indicators, i.e. gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC), literacy rate, internet penetration and urban population, influence the generation of e-waste on a global level. The moderation effect due to differences between countries in terms of absence or presence of e-waste policy and level of development is also checked.Design/methodology/approachThis is an archival study that builds upon data from United Nations (UN), World Bank and Global E-waste Statistics Partnership. The authors did a path analysis comprising mediation and multigroup analyses to decipher the proposed rese arch model containing data from 172 countries.FindingsThe results indicate that GDPPC, literacy rate, internet penetration and urban population do not directly influence the generation of e-waste. However, higher internet penetration in developing countries leads to higher e-waste, while higher literacy rates in developed countries suppress e-waste generation. When it comes to e-waste policy, a higher urban population without a regulatory legal framework boosts higher e-waste. The authors observed that higher internet penetration leads to higher e-waste in the presence of e-waste policy as well.Originality/valueThis is the first study to include economic well-being indicators in elaborating e-waste generation, on a global scale. No previous study has observed differences between countries nested in e-waste policy and level of development.

Purpose South Asia is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world. With its fast economic development, the energy requirement for the region has rapidly grown. As the region relies mainly on nonrenewable energy sources and is suffering from issues like pollution, the high cost of energy imports, depleting foreign reserves, etc. it is searching for those factors that can help enhance the renewable energy generation for the region. Thus, taking these issues into consideration, this paper aims to investigate the impact of macroeconomic factors that can contribute to the enhancement of renewable energy output in South Asia. Design/methodology/approach An autoregressive distributed lag methodology has been applied to examine the long-term effects of remittance inflows, literacy rate, energy imports, government expenditures and urban population growth on the renewable energy output of South Asia by using time series data from 1990 to 2021. Findings The findings indicated that remittance inflows have a negative and insignificant long-term effect on renewable electricity output. While it was discovered that energy imports, government spending and urban population growth have negative but significant effects on renewable electricity output, literacy rates have positive and significant effects. Originality/value Considering the importance of renewable energy, this is one of the few studies that has included critical macroeconomic variables that can affect renewable energy output for the region. The findings contribute to the body of knowledge that a high literacy level is crucial for promoting renewable energy output, while governments and policymakers should prioritize reducing energy imports and ensuring that government expenditures on renewable energy output are properly used. SAARC, the governing body of the region, also benefits from this study while devising the renewable energy output policies for the region.

Does culture have a causal effect on economic development? The data on European regions suggest that it does. Culture is measured by indicators of individual values and beliefs, such as trust and respect for others, and confidence in individual self determination. To isolate the exogenous variation in culture, we rely on two historical variables used as instruments: the literacy rate at the end of the 19th century, and the political institutions in place over the past several centuries. The political and social history of Europe provides a rich source of variation in these two variables at a regional level. The exogenous component of culture due to history is strongly correlated with current regional economic development, after controlling for contemporaneous education, urbanization rates around 1850, and national effects.

Much empirical literature has focused on investigating the role of government expenditure in promoting long-term economic growth in South Africa. However, few studies in comparison have considered the impact of government spending on literacy level in the country. To this end, this paper examines the impact of government spending on literacy rate in South Africa using an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model with annual time series data over the period from 1994 to 2021. The key findings of this study are: (a) there is evidence of a long run relationship between government spending on education and the literacy rate in South Africa; (b) while the long run effect of government education spending on literacy is not significant, there is a statistically significant positive effect in the short run. These findings have several implications for policymakers and other stakeholders. Therefore, the study recommends that increased monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are desirable in the primary and secondary education sectors for accountability and reducing wastage of taxpayer funds. The Department of Education is also encouraged to re-consider current teacher training practices and fill long standing vacancies in the school sector that negatively impact education outcomes.

This study aims to see the effectiveness of education performance in Indonesia which has been budgeted in the state budget (APBN) from 1996 to 2020. This effectiveness can be evaluated from the number of gross enrollment rates aged 15 years and over. The number of gross enrollment rates is affected by the government spending in education sector, national per capita income, and national literacy rate that is measured by the number of literacy. This study uses Auto Regression Distributed Level (ARDL) model to see the government’s performance in education sector in the short term and long term. The finding of the study shows that in the short term, the government’s expenditure for education sector and national literacy level supports the effectiveness of education performance. Meanwhile in the long term, literacy level supports the effectiveness of education performance.

Unemployment is a significant challenge globally, and it threatens economic growth and stability, particularly in developing countries such as Bangladesh. Both economic and non-economic factors influence a country’s unemployment rate. Identifying and addressing the factors that contribute to the unemployment rate is crucial to reduce it. Therefore, this study aims to identify an effective model for depicting the unemployment scenario by evaluating its predictive performance and identifying its contributing factors. Yearly data from 1991 to 2023 were extracted from the World Bank and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ publicly accessible databases to model unemployment trends. The study employed Nadaraya-Watson kernel regression with Gaussian, Truncated Gaussian, and Epanechnikov kernels, along with the Generalized Additive Model (GAM) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). The results revealed a nonlinear pattern in unemployment rate data. Among the models, the Nadaraya-Watson Gaussian kernel demonstrated superior predictive accuracy based on most of the performance measures, achieving an R-square value of 0.9913, the lowest AIC (−102.1859) and BIC (−84.5971), RMSE of 0.0067, MAE of 0.0035, and MAPE of 0.6442. The study concludes that the Nadaraya-Watson Gaussian kernel is a highly effective model for modeling unemployment trends in Bangladesh for the data. The study also identifies significant potential factors associated with unemployment, such as GDP growth, literacy rate, and FDI. The Nadaraya-Watson Gaussian kernel model is the most robust and reliable approach for modeling unemployment dynamics in Bangladesh.

Natural hazards like floods and droughts affect many aspects of life. The study in particular examined the impacts of droughts on under-five mortality rate in Southern Africa, adjusting for gross domestic product (GDP) and literacy rate. Despite drought and child mortality being key public health concerns in Southern Africa over the past few decades, there have hardly been any studies examining the relationships between them. The study used publicly available data from 1980 to 2012. The Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) was calculated for 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-monthly time scales for ten southern African countries. The wetter and drier states are represented by positive and negative SPI values, respectively. SPI, GDP, and literacy rate were considered for predicting child mortality rate using both Multiple Linear Regression techniques and nonlinear methods (Generalized Additive Model), on a leave-one-year-out cross validation approach for model evaluation. Child mortality increased as the drought worsened for five countries in this region, namely Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia. We found that child mortality can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy using three predictor variables—drought index, GDP and literacy rate. Statistical modelling based on early warning system can complement regional capacities for drought response systems to increase child survival rate in drought-prone areas

The Buddhist sangha played a crucial role in ancient China, exerting significant influence on its society through religious identity and cultural knowledge. However, not all members of the monastic community were literate. The Tang Dynasty introduced an examination system that assessed monks’ proficiency in reciting Buddhist scriptures, determining their eligibility for ordination. Simultaneously, efforts to remove unqualified monks and nuns provided an opportunity to estimate the literacy rate within the monastic community. A statistical analysis of the literacy rate offers a novel perspective for understanding the evolution of Buddhism, the intricate relationship between religion and politics, and the role of the monastic community in local society during the Tang Dynasty.

This study utilizes the demographic metric of Literate Life Expectancy (LLE) to evaluate Vietnam’s 70-year journey of social development across birth cohorts. By analyzing the Life Table (2019) and Age-specific Literacy Rates (2020), the magnitude of the gap in LLE between women and men is calculated to provide insights into the progress of healthcare initiatives and literacy improvement. A narrow women-men gap in LLE indicates a society with higher mortality rates and a significant literacy gap between women and men. Conversely, a wide women-men gap in LLE illustrates a society with lower mortality rates and apparent gender equality in literacy. Findings reveal three distinct stages of social development in Vietnam. Stage 1 (1935–1945) indicates LLE for women being lower than that of men which reflects slow pace of social progress during colonization. Stage 2 (1945–1975) illustrates LLE for women surpassing that of men, marking developing social progress after Vietnam’s declaration of independence from colonization. Stage 3 (1975–2004) shows a widening women-men gap in LLE, reflecting rapid social development with revolutionary reforms in healthcare and education after the Vietnam War. The discussion section outlines a compilation of basic education and primary healthcare policies corresponding to stages of social development in Vietnam. Plain language summary Measuring social development in Vietnam across birth cohorts using literate life expectancy This study examines how social development in Vietnam has changed over the past 70 years by looking at different generations. We use a measure called Literate Life Expectancy (LLE), which combines life expectancy with literacy rates, to understand these changes. By analyzing the differences in LLE between women and men, we can explore Vietnam’s social development across generations, which corresponds to historical milestones. A small gap in LLE between women and men suggests higher mortality rates and a large difference in literacy between genders, while a larger gap indicates lower mortality rates and better gender equality in literacy. Our findings show three stages of social development in Vietnam: Stage 1 (1935–1945), during which LLE for women was lower than LLE for men, indicating slow progress during colonization; Stage 2 (1945–1975), when, after gaining independence, LLE for women surpassed LLE for men, showing developing social progress; and Stage 3 (1975–2004), where the gap between LLE for women and LLE for men widened, reflecting rapid social development with significant improvements in healthcare and education following the Vietnam War. The study also discusses various education and healthcare policies that correspond to these stages of social development in Vietnam.

Amidst the challenges faced by economically developing countries in managing their plastic waste, the decentralized solid waste management practices followed in Kerala emerge as a unique example of a people-centric waste management program. Considering the importance of people’s cooperation in the success of such initiatives, we conducted an online survey among Keralites to understand their behaviors, opinions, and knowledge regarding plastic waste and its management. Further, the influence of sociodemographic attributes in shaping individual characteristics was also investigated. The Plastic Waste Literacy Rate (PWLR) of the state was 62%, with women and older people being increasingly pro-environmental in managing plastic waste. However, despite this positive trend, a majority of women still resort to improper methods for disposing of sanitary pads. Illicit dumping of plastic waste was more prevalent in urban areas compared to rural ones. Even though the plastic waste collection service provided by Haritha Karma Sena (HKS) received positive feedback, most of the public (40.7%) opined against levying user fees for the same. In essence, the present work offers insights to enhance the efficiency of the existing waste management program, which will ultimately broaden the scope of adoption of the model by other regions in the developing world.