Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science最新文献

This study explored the relationship between community participation/community attachment and subjective well-being (SWB) among Japanese older adults. The study was conducted in Japanese urban (Tokyo and Osaka) and rural (Shikoku region) areas. Structural equation modelling was performed to assess the potential relationship between community participation, community attachment and SWB. Results showed that community participation and community attachment were positively associated in both areas. However, community attachment had a significant impact on SWB only in rural areas with little impact on increasing SWB in urban areas. We conclude that the role of community attachment varies according to regions with different socioeconomic properties. These findings contribute to the design of detailed region-specific initiatives to improve SWB of older adults.

The second most populous country in the world, India, is severely facing challenges in managing increased amounts of solid and bio-medical wastes leading to associated physical and health hazards. The Government of India (GoI) has launched and modified different policies regarding the handling and management of solid, bio-medical and plastic wastes since independence to deal with the changing waste scenario of the country. However, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country since early 2020, inadequacies of municipal solid waste management (MSWM), bio-medical waste management (BMWM), and plastic waste management policies have occurred with personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, such as facemasks, face shields, gloves, gowns, sanitizer bottles, and remnants of packaging goods from online shopping, putting the waste economy and ecology under further pressure. This article provides a systematic review of literature on the Indian SWM practices during COVID-19 within the larger context of the existing Indian MSWM, BMWM, and plastic waste management policies. Finally, we suggest ways by which the waste scenario can be tackled during cycles of crises including outbreaks of pandemics in the future. We advocate for involving multiple stakeholders like solid-waste management (SWM) officials, local community members, i.e., citizens, ragpickers, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) along with the deployment of different disposal methods, such as biomethanation, pyrolysis, etc. in designing effective and efficient policies and actions. We believe that these sets of recommendations have scalability, especially in managing COVID-19-Associated Waste (CAW) in the global South.

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Air pollution is a serious problem worldwide, and migration for environmental reasons has been emphasized. However, data deficiencies have limited research on the links between air quality and intercity migration. Based on Baidu migration big data of cross-city mobility information, an extended gravity model was built to examine the effects of air quality (PM2.5) on intercity migration. Results showed that air pollution significantly reduces immigration into cities but does not significantly encourage emigration. A 10% increase in air pollution leads to 3.78% and 11.08% decreases in the net and total inflows of the urban population, respectively. Specifically, air quality had a greater influence on the migration of central and northeastern cities and small- and medium-sized or middle-income cities. Influences of the Yangtze River and Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration, two very large and important urban clusters in China, were significantly higher than those of other areas. Air pollution did not significantly drive people to flee from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, which involves, in contrast to the expected situation, people choosing to stay in first-tier cities in China. Those findings are informative for environmental as well as migration policymakers to focus on the heterogeneous nexus between the impacts of policies that is depending on the characteristics of cities.

This study examined the impact of environmental sustainability on financial inclusion and financial stability in Asian countries over the period of 2009–2011. Composite variables representing environmental sustainability, financial inclusion and financial stability were constructed through principal component analysis using a variety of indicators. For conceptual foundation, stakeholder theory was applied, and the association between variables was analyzed using a generalized moment estimation method. Moreover, contrary to previous studies using limited indicators, this study used a wide range of vital indicators to measure environmental sustainability. The findings indicated that a sustainable environment fosters financial stability by reducing risks to financial institutions and increasing financial inclusion. Furthermore, financial inclusion partially mediated environmental sustainability and financial stability. The findings were robust according to different robust checks. Based on the results we conclude that if Asian governments are determined to improve financial stability and inclusion, they need to focus on environmental sustainability related to demand management. No prior study has shown that an enhanced sustainable environment increases financial inclusion and stability.

In India, out-of-pocket (OOP) payments as a share of total health expenditures remain disproportionally high across population groups. When combined with poverty, poor access to healthcare and inadequate health insurance coverage, OOP expenses can have catastrophic consequences for rural households. In this context, the present study explored the levels of catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) and their determinants among rural households of a hilly state in India. Primary data were collected from 300 households in Himachal Pradesh. The focus of the study was to provide information on the distribution of CHE. In addition, various characteristics associated with the incidence of CHE were further studied using multiple logistic regression models. The results showed that households across Himachal Pradesh spend a significant proportion of their budget on healthcare. Among the characteristics associated with the likelihood of facing CHE, seeking outpatient care, having a chronic illness and location of the hospital showed significant associations. In conclusion, the financial risks emanating from OOP payments can be significantly reduced by covering outpatient care needs under social health insurance. Furthermore, strengthening rural health infrastructure to screen and treat chronic diseases locally, and minimizing the need to travel to distant places for treatment can also significantly reduce OOP payments.

This study aimed to clarify the impact of National Agricultural Technology Program (phase I) through the approach of common interest group (CIG) on livelihood conditions of resource-poor farmers who have limited income earning opportunities with high dependency on agriculture in Bangladesh. To achieve the purpose of our research, we incorporated structural equation modeling (SEM) based on data collected from questionnaire surveys targeting members of CIG in Trishal Upazila (sub-district) of Mymensingh District. The findings of our study clearly showed that educational qualifications, farm size, farming experiences, group affiliation, effective use of credit, and subsidies received were crucial for the livelihood of CIG farmers in the study area. However, impacts of other livelihood strategies, such as organizational participation, extension media contact, training received, and credit received on farmer livelihoods, could not be determined. The implications of our study suggest a need to pay more attention to the effectiveness of policies. To increase agricultural productivity and farm income, priorities should be set to assess the needs, conditions, and risks associated with the adoption of improved cultivation techniques for the resource-poor farmers.

Urbanisation requires careful planning and monitoring to overcome challenges like overpopulation, inadequate housing, and sanitation. Significant investments are necessary to reorganise urban areas or promote sub-tier urban centres as an approach of growth decentralisation. This study examined urban growth dynamics in Tiruchirappalli and surrounding sub-tier urban centres within a 40-km radius between 1996, 2008, and 2020. Researchers produced highly accurate land use/cover maps using unsupervised classification techniques and simulated these maps using a CA–Markov model powered by an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) that uses Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) algorithm to predict land use changes for the years 2035 and 2050. Statistical methods have quantified land use/cover change rate, growth deviation, and degree of freedom/diversity to explain urban built-up growth dynamics. The CA-Markov simulations show that urban built-up areas are likely to remain the major land use for potential growth, with 174.9 sq. km and 209.3 sq. km in 2035 and 2050, respectively. Urban built-up was the leading class in terms of growth between 1996–2008 and 2008–2020, and growth deviation was high in multiple zones of Tiruchirappalli and Thiruverumbur, indicating significant variation between observed and expected growth rates. The degree of disparity showed a decreasing trend between 1996–2008 and 2008–2020, with higher disparity values recorded in Tiruchirappalli and Thiruverumbur than other urban centres due to the global recession and fiscal policies. At the current rate of growth, Tiruchirappalli urban may experience a significant loss of agricultural land and environmental damage from urban pollutants in surrounding water bodies and fertile lands. The study emphasizes mutual growth of sub-tier urban centres, as suggested by the Indian planning body (NITI Aayog), is a significant intervention to address the negative impacts of urban spatial growth.

This study aimed to examine how far village farms and marketing infrastructures are responsible for agribusiness crises posed by a pandemic induced national lockdown through the lens of farming communities in rural Assam. Instrumental Variable Two Stages Least Square method was applied to determine the impacts of exiting farm infrastructure on crop damage, sales loss and their joint influence on farm income following a national emergency. The estimated results showed that loss in farm income was directly proportional to unsold quantities, the value of damaged crops and sale of crops at low prices by the sampled households. Limited access to storage and agro-processing facilities at the village level were considerably responsible for wastage and damage of perishable crops at the harvesting stage during the crisis period. Policies designed towards creation of rural marketing infrastructures such as storage and agro-processing units may serve as an alternative destination for harvested crops rather than excessively relying on the local market in an emergency situation. Steps towards regular access to Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Yards or Regulated Market Committee (RMC) Yards among rural farmers may also provide benefits for the farmers.

This study aimed to clarify relationships between regional factors and farmland utilization in the context of the current declining and aging population of Japan. We applied path analysis using prefectural data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries to investigate the effective ways of farmland use through farmland utilization programs such as the Farmland Intermediary Management Program as mediating influences based on prefectural regional characteristics. The main findings were as follows. First, the accumulated subleasing area through farmland intermediary management institutions had a positive impact on farmlands accumulated by bearers, but no effect on the restraint of increases in dilapidated farmland areas. Second, the accumulated subleasing area through farmland intermediary management institutions was an intermediate variable of regional factors and farmer- and rural community-related farmland utilization programs and affected farmland transfer to the bearers. Moreover, this study offers a novel approach by quantitatively examining relationships between community-based farming and farmland intermediary management institutions. Our findings also revealed that the corporatization of community-based farming organizations has a significant positive effect on the accumulated subleasing areas through farmland intermediary management institutions. Therefore, we consider community-based farming corporation transfers and the reorganization of farmland through farmland intermediary management institutions as a way to effectively use farmland and realize endogenous development within the community.

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of globalization on human development in 133 countries during 1990–2017 by considering income group countries and regional economic blocks. The choice of income group countries was due to the effect of globalization on human development is likely to differ depending on level of economic development of these countries. Similarly, the regional economic blocks were taken because the member countries of these blocks cooperate and facilitate globalization through free trade, international business and financial integration, which in turn facilitates more human development than countries that are not in these blocks. The panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) method and system-GMM method were used because they are robust for heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation, and endogeneity problems, respectively. The results showed that overall globalization and its three dimensions improve human development. High-income, upper-middle-income, and lower-middle-income countries enjoyed more human development than low-income countries. Similarly, regional economic blocks experienced higher human development than non-regional economic blocks. These results suggest that policies and programmes from international organizations are needed to empower low-income countries so they can reap the benefits of globalization and thereby improve their human development.