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\"Currency values, prices, consumption and incomes are at the heart of the economic performance of all countries. In order to make a meaningful comparison between one economy and another, economists routinely make use of purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates, but whilst PPP rates are widely used and well understood they take a lot of effort to produce and suffer from publication delays. Currencies, Commodities and Consumption analyses the strengths and weaknesses of two alternatives to PPP. Firstly, the so-called 'Big Mac Index' which uses hamburger prices as a standard of measurement and secondly, a less well known technique which infers incomes across countries based on the proportion of consumption devoted to food. Kenneth Clements uses international macroeconomics, microeconomic theory and econometrics to provide researchers and policy makers with insights into alternatives to PPP rates and make sense of the ongoing instability of exchange rates and commodity prices\"-- Provided by publisher.

We present a new identity that relates expected exchange rate appreciation to a risk-neutral covariance term, and use it to motivate a currency forecasting variable based on the prices of quanto index contracts. We show via panel regressions that the quanto forecast variable is an economically and statistically significant predictor of currency appreciation and of excess returns on currency trades. Out of sample, the quanto variable outperforms predictions based on uncovered interest parity, on purchasing power parity, and on a random walk as a forecaster of differential (dollar-neutral) currency appreciation.

Background The effect of a cancer diagnosis is wide-ranging with the potential to affect income, employment and risk of poverty. The aim of this systematic review is to identify the economic impact of a cancer diagnosis for patients and their families/caregivers. Methods The search covered peer-reviewed journals using MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Epistemonikos and PsycINFO databases. Quality appraisal was undertaken using CASP tools. Monetary values were converted to US Dollars/2019 using a purchasing power parities (PPP) conversion factor. The review included articles up to and including January 2020, written in English language, for patients with cancer aged ≥ 18 years and focused on the costs up to 5 years following a cancer diagnosis. Results The search was run in January 2020 and updated in November 2021. Of the 7973 articles identified, 18 met the inclusion criteria. Studies were undertaken in the USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, France, UK, Malaysia, Pakistan, China and Sri Lanka. The majority were cohort studies. Twelve reported out-of-pocket costs (range US$16–US$2523/month per patient/caregiver) consisting of medical expenses (e.g. surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) and non-medical expenses (e.g. travel, food and childcare). Fourteen studies reported patient/caregiver loss of income and lost productivity (range 14–57.8%). Conclusions A high percentage of cancer patients and their families/caregivers experience out-of-pocket expenditure, loss of income and lost productivity. Future research is needed to observe the effects of continuing changes to healthcare policies and social protections on the economic burden among cancer patients and their families/caregivers.

International relative prices across industrialized countries show large and systematic deviations from relative purchasing power parity. We embed a model of imperfect competition and variable markups in a quantitative model of international trade. We find that when our model is parameterized to match salient features of the data on international trade and market structure in the United States, it can reproduce deviations from relative purchasing power parity similar to those observed in the data because firms choose to price-to-market. We then examine how pricing-to-market depends on the presence of international trade costs and various features of market structure.

Background Dementia imposes a significant economic burden worldwide, particularly in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs), where the majority of people with dementia (PWD) live. Understanding the costs of dementia and resource utilisation is essential to inform future cost‐effectiveness analyses and economic modelling. We aimed to describe and analyse resource utilisation and costs across all stages of dementia in LMICs. Method We conducted a systematic review following a PROSPERO‐registered protocol (CRD42017071413). We identified studies using patient‐level data, published between 1 January 2000 and 14 August 2023, across several databases and registries. Data were selected, extracted, and quality appraised by two independent reviewers. The main outcomes were resource utilisation and cost per PWD. Outcomes were annualised and reported as total costs, by cost category and disease stage. Costs were adjusted for inflation and converted to international dollars using 2024 purchasing power parities (PPP). We assessed quality using a shortened version of the BMJ guidelines. Result The review included 23 studies, of which 21 provided unique patient‐level datasets, covering 14 countries and 14,392 PWD. Resource utilisation was not reported separately in most studies, and results varied widely: inpatient admissions ranged from 0 to 4.9 per year, outpatient visits from 0.4 to 14.9 per year, and informal caregiver time from 0.2 to 17.9 hours/day. Only 43% reported the mean annual total cost per PWD by disease stage. Mean annual total cost per PWD, irrespective of dementia stage, ranged from 4,658 to 37,887 USD PPP. Greater variation was observed across stages: from 1,316 to 27,438 USD PPP in mild dementia; 3,981 to 36,637 USD PPP in moderate; and from 7,520 to 51,456 USD PPP in severe dementia. Costs in severe dementia often doubled those in earlier stages. Few studies reported caregivers’ productivity losses, and none included pre‐dementia or end‐of‐life stages. Conclusion Resource utilisation and costs of dementia increased substantially with disease progression, but the reporting of both outcomes was highly heterogeneous. There is an urgent need to improve the quality of reporting in studies from LMICs. Further research using patient‐level data is needed, given that only 10% of LMICs had at least one study.

Abstract Introduction Antidepressant consumption has risen sharply in high-income countries over the past two decades, driven by both clinical trends and socioeconomic dynamics. Previous studies show strong positive associations between changes in nominal GDP and antidepressant use. However, nominal GDP can misrepresent real purchasing power. This study incorporates GDP adjusted for purchasing-power parity (PPP) to better capture economic conditions and assess how real income fluctuations relate to mental health care utilization. Methods We compiled annual data (2010–2023) on defined daily dosages (DDD) of antidepressants per 1,000 inhabitants per day, alongside nominal and PPP-adjusted GDP for 22 OECD countries. Yearly percentage changes were computed. Analyses included: Spearman's rank correlations between changes in GDP (nominal and PPP) and antidepressant use; Simple linear regressions (ΔAD = β0 + β1 ΔGDP), estimating slopes and R²; Subgroup comparisons of antidepressant change (ΔAD) during years of GDP decline vs. growth/stability. Results Nominal GDP: Strong correlations (ρ = 0.85–0.99, p < 0.01; median ≈ 0.95). Regression slopes ranged 1.8–3.5 (mean R² ≈ 0.75). PPP GDP: Weaker correlation (ρ = 0.597, p = 0.003), β₁ = 2.36, R² = 0.337. Subgroup: GDP-decline years (n = 8) had ΔAD = –78.6% vs. –22.7% in growth/stable years (n = 12). Differences were significant (t-test p = 0.015; U = 0.008). Discussion PPP-adjusted GDP attenuates-but does not eliminate-the correlation between economic growth and antidepressant use. Nominal GDP explains ∼75% of variance, while PPP explains ∼34%, suggesting price-level differences matter. Both nominal and real wealth impact psychiatric medication access. Policymakers should consider PPP trends when forecasting service needs and ensuring care continuity during economic hardship. Key messages • ADPs use rose with GDP across 22 OECD countries. Nominal GDP showed a strong link (ρ ≈ 0.95), while PPP-adjusted GDP showed a weaker one(ρ = 0.597), highlighting economic impact on mental health. • ADPs use dropped 78.6% in GDP-decline years vs. 22.7% in growth years, showing economic downturns significantly reduce access to care - highlighting need for resilient mental health policies.

Background Purchasing power parities (PPPs) are indicators of price level differences for all goods and services across countries. Their calculation follows the ÉKS method (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/prc_ppp_esms.htm). Prices of pharmaceuticals are collected by national statistical offices using different methods, from asking prices in pharmacies to retrieving scanner data. The sample is limited to 150 top-selling medicines, which are not available in all countries. Consequently, the PLIs (price level indices) and PPPs derived are sometimes based on only 50 pharmaceuticals. In a cooperation between Eurostat and EURIPID the PPP calculation was alternatively done with the EURIPID database for 28 countries. Methods The study compared the PLIs/PPPs derived from the E20-2 “Furniture and health” survey (aka CGS) with those from EURIPID for 2018-2020. The main challenge was to identify comparable products from the 224,448 products in EURIPID. For this we grouped those that shared the same 1) ATC, 2) active substance(s) & strength(s), 3) pack size group and 4) dosage form group (e.g., oromucosal) resulting in 157,186 distinctive products compared to 1,928 included in CGS. We used the Gross Retail price (GRP) as defined in the Eurostat PPP manual. Results The ranking of PPPs was similar in both approaches, with Switzerland and Iceland in the lead and Poland and Hungary in the end. Only for some countries, e.g. the Netherlands deviations were identified. The Pearson correlation between the 2020 PLI for the Euripid subsample using the asterisk method with all products marked as representative and the CGS results was 0,946. Conclusions Results from EURIPID show the same trend as the CGS. It is possible to replace the national data collection by a central source. This would reduce the data collection burden on the statistical offices and allows a closer monitoring of the evolution of pharmaceutical prices (bi-annual PPP publication instead of current 3-year interval) Key messages • To monitor affordability of medicines for all citizens it is important to compare prices on a regular basis with a simple tool as e.g. some products prices differed by 1000-times across countries. • The EURIPID database (www.euripid.eu) allows detailed analysis of pharmaceutical prices in Europe and is available for free to non-commerical researchers.

This research examines how the type of money (cash vs. digital) affects consumers’ perceived purchasing power (PPP) of the money and the mediating mechanisms of psychological ownership and psychological distance. Three lab experiments confirm that cash results in higher PPP than does digital money, and that both psychological ownership and psychological distance contribute to the effect of money type on PPP. Our findings provide theoretical implications for the psychological research on the type of money and its influence and practical implications for e-payment and online shopping behaviors.

This paper presents a framework for action that accounts for both how organizations get routine things done and how they pursue markedly new things through “creative projects.” Based on this framework, organizational routines and creative projects are viewed as two types of action trajectories differing with respect to their repetitiveness. An ethnographic case study of an automotive prototype-purchasing process and two initiatives to redesign that process is used to compare an organizational routine with creative projects occurring within the same organizational setting and to further explicate the framework. Case analysis reveals how projection and planning, as well as combinatorial action, knowledge articulation, and contingency management, unfold differentially in organizational routines and creative projects. This paper contributes to our understanding of different forms of organizational change and innovation. It also provides a framework to examine the role of nonroutine organizing at several levels of organizational analysis and its relationship to more routine forms of organizing.