Incentivizing restraint in drug use The accelerating tide of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major worldwide policy concern. Like climate change, the incentives for individual decision-makers do not take into account the costs to society at large. AMR represents an impending “tragedy of the commons,” and there is an immediate need for collective action to prevent future harm. Roope et al. review the issues associated with AMR from an economics perspective and draw parallels with climate change. A major stumbling block for both challenges is to build consensus about the best way forward when faced with many uncertainties and inequities. Science, this issue p. eaau4679 BACKGROUND Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is increasing, driven by widespread antibiotic use. The wide availability of effective antibiotics is under threat, jeopardizing modern health care. Forecasts of the economic costs are similar to those of a 2°C rise in global average surface temperature, above preindustrial levels. AMR is becoming an urgent priority for policy-makers, and pressure is mounting to secure international commitments to tackle the problem. ADVANCES Estimating the value of interventions to reduce antibiotic use requires predictions of future levels of antibiotic resistance. However, modeling the trajectory of antibiotic resistance, and how marginal changes in antibiotic consumption contribute to resistance, is complex. The challenge of estimating the resulting impact on health and the economy is similarly daunting. As with the cost of climate change, estimates of total AMR costs are fraught with uncertainty and may be far too low. Much of the uncertainty arises from the complexity of estimating the cost of changes in overall resistance levels. This cost depends on various factors: which drug and pathogen are involved, the mechanism of antibiotic resistance, the prevalence of that pathogen, the types of infections it causes and their level of transmissibility, the health burden of those infections, and whether alternative treatments are available. Effective new antibiotics are urgently needed. However, without government intervention, R&D for antibiotics is rarely profitable, and most major pharmaceutical companies have left the field. New ways are needed to make antibiotic development profitable, decoupling profits from volumes sold. OUTLOOK Analogies can be drawn between climate change and AMR, both of which have been described as a global “tragedy of the commons.” There is some consensus that we should treat carbon emissions reduction as an insurance policy against the possibility of a catastrophic climate outcome—and avoid waiting for a definitive optimum-abatement policy. A similar paradigm shift is needed to incentivize both the introduction and valuation of interventions to reduce antibiotic use and R&D of new antibiotics. Rather than taxing the price and letting the market dictate the quantity of antibiotics supplied, an alternative may be to establish a regulatory body that issues prescribers tradable permits and to allow the market to determine the price. Such an approach could create a predictable revenue stream through more-foreseeable licensing fees for important antibiotics by decoupling the return on investment from the volume used. Approaches such as this could incentivize industry to develop new antibiotics for which there would otherwise be too small a market to provide a sufficient return on investment. Reducing inappropriate antibiotic use while expanding essential access is a difficult challenge, especially in low- and middle-income countries. However, policy-makers and philanthropists are alert to the importance of AMR and increasingly are making substantial research funds available, with much of these funds devoted to the social sciences. We need economists, across many different fields, to engage with this pressing global problem. Excess antibiotic use versus access-related mortality in young children. The top map depicts excess: use of so-called “watch” and “reserve” antibiotics in standard units (SU) per 100,000 children under the age of 6. The World Health Organization’s watch group includes antibiotics that are recommended as first- or second-choice treatments for only a small number of infections, owing to greater potential to select for antibiotic resistance. The reserve group includes antibiotics that should be considered last-resort options and used only in the most severe circumstances, when all other alternatives have failed. The bottom map depicts access: simulated estimates of annual deaths from community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, expressed per 100,000 children under the age of 5, which could be averted with universal access to antibiotics. (TOP) Based on data from Y. Hsia et al., Lancet Infect. Dis. 19, 67 (2019), and population estimates from https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Population/; (BOTTOM) Based on data and estimates from R. Laxminarayan et al., Lancet 387, 168 (2016), and population estimates from https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Population/ As antibiotic consumption grows, bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to treatment. Antibiotic resistance undermines much of modern health care, which relies on access to effective antibiotics to prevent and treat infections associated with routine medical procedures. The resulting challenges have much in common with those posed by climate change, which economists have responded to with research that has informed and shaped public policy. Drawing on economic concepts such as externalities and the principal–agent relationship, we suggest how economics can help to solve the challenges arising from increasing resistance to antibiotics. We discuss solutions to the key economic issues, from incentivizing the development of effective new antibiotics to improving antibiotic stewardship through financial mechanisms and regulation.
The article studies the concept of circular economy as an alternative of traditional linear model oriented to efficient use of natural resources, cutting wastes and development of closed material cycles. The basis of circular economy is formed by the principle of maximum use of resources through recycling and repeated use of materials. Transition to circular economy can become an important strategic element for Russia, especially in conditions of such challenges as dependence on import and sanctions. The article provides analysis of data concerning recycling and import of plastics in Russia, where considerable volumes of plastic wastes cannot be used due to insufficient development of recycling infrastructure. The proposed economic model shows that transition to recycling of 95% of imported plastics can both create a serious economic potential for import substitution and result in extra economic benefits, including new sources of revenues, jobs and transition to economy of closed cycle without necessity of raw material purchase with foreign currency. In conclusion the authors underlined the necessity of complex approach to effective recycling of plastics and cutting plastic wastes within the frames of goals of sustainable development in the Russian Federation.
Primasari Fitria, Ayu Geby Gisela Syaputri, Muhammad Bahrul Ulum
This study aims to examine the extent to which World Oil Prices and Infrastructure Spending influence Indonesia's Budget Balance in 2015-2024. The data used in this study are secondary data from 2015-2024. The analysis method used is multiple linear regression analysis. The analysis results indicate that crude oil prices and infrastructure expenditure simultaneously have a significant effect on the Budget Balance, with an F-value of 5.720 and a significance level of 0.013 < 0.015. Partially, infrastructure expenditure has a significant impact on the state budget deficit, with a coefficient of β = 0.456 and p < 0.05, whereas crude oil prices do not have a significant effect (β = -0.106, p = 0.28). This is due to fluctuations in crude oil prices that do not always align with the continuously increasing trend of the state budget deficit each year. Infrastructure expenditure plays a crucial role in supporting economic growth, prompting the government to increase capital spending for development.
RESUMEN: Este trabajo tiene por objetivo principal analizar, a la luz de las fluctuaciones de los precios de los commodities, la evolución de la integración de países latinoamericanos seleccionados (Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, Chile, México y Perú) en cadenas globales de valor (CGV) durante el periodo 1998-2018. A partir de información proveniente de las matrices insumo-producto globales de la OCDE, se calculan los encadenamientos backward y forward, así como la participación y posicionamiento en CGV, de los casos seleccionados, utilizando una descomposición matemática de las exportaciones en términos de valor agregado. La representación de trayectorias de posicionamiento en CGV, para cada país en el tiempo, arroja evidencia de comportamientos inerciales y dependientes de las fluctuaciones de los precios de los commodities. Se concluye que la integración de países latinoamericanos en CGV fue acotada debido principalmente a la reprimarización de las economías y a la ausencia o fracaso de políticas de industrialización.
Martin Åhlén, Suzanna Törnroth, Åsa Wikberg-Nilsson
This article introduces the Design Sensibility Approach—a sensorial and embodied process for making sense of possible futures. The approach is applied through a case study on speculative energy design in the home, conducted and adapted within a participatory workshop held at a regional art hall in Northern Sweden. It unfolds in four phases—Imagine, Make, Explore, and Reflect—across a broader timeline comprising pre-workshop, active workshop, and post-workshop stages. During the workshop, participants were invited to engage with their senses through a series of activities designed to prompt reflection on their own future energy imaginaries, which they materialized using a MakeTools kit. The results reveal three themes: emotional responses elicited from embodied experiences with energy; energy as a lifestyle; and critique of the political landscape surrounding resource extractivism in Northern Sweden. These findings inform the research question: How might the human senses be leveraged to create stronger emotional connections with future domestic energy products and systems? The article concludes by proposing concrete applications of the Design Sensibility Approach at individual, community, and governance levels, highlighting its ethical and inclusive dimensions as areas for future development.
The new industrial era has brought new opportunities and chances for the entire business development. Smart machines, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, big data are taking over many jobs and roles, thus leaving room for the development of new skills and abilities. The rapid technological development in terms of automation and digitization has made machines replace human work. In this sense, it is a matter of time when technology will replace traditional accountants. (Management) accountants who want to adapt and survive in the digital world have to improve their offer and change the focus from data calculation to interpretation of results and business management. Thus, by applying new digital information technology tools, management accounting can provide quality information for determining the costs of products and services, performance measurement, planning and control, strategic and operational decision-making and the like. The general objective of this paper is to review the potential impact of digital information technologies on the usefulness of cost accounting systems and organizational performance in healthcare institutions in the Republic of Serbia with the help of statistical analysis of the relationship between the selected variables. The results of the analysis show that digital technologies have a great impact on the usefulness of the cost accounting system. Also, the largest number of respondents pointed out that improved IT systems have a positive effect on increasing organizational performance.
This paper provides a state-of-the-art investigation of advances in data science in emerging economic applications. The analysis was performed on novel data science methods in four individual classes of deep learning models, hybrid deep learning models, hybrid machine learning, and ensemble models. Application domains include a wide and diverse range of economics research from the stock market, marketing, and e-commerce to corporate banking and cryptocurrency. Prisma method, a systematic literature review methodology, was used to ensure the quality of the survey. The findings reveal that the trends follow the advancement of hybrid models, which, based on the accuracy metric, outperform other learning algorithms. It is further expected that the trends will converge toward the advancements of sophisticated hybrid deep learning models.
Focusing on switching the energy inputs to economies from fossil fuels to renewable energy and neglecting material outputs gives an overoptimistic picture of achieving carbon neutrality. We propose a set of equations that integrate analysis of energy and materials, provide a framework for a new carbon neutrality science, and lead to three carbon neutrality conditions. The equations are applied to low carbon materials, such as metals, and high carbon materials, such as wood. Refining carbon is the key carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions source to minimize for steel and aluminium, but slow technological change could create a ‘carbon neutrality gap’ by 2050. This will increase in size unless forest expansion is accelerated to offset remaining CO2 emissions. Principles of a new carbon economics are proposed and applied. Policy priorities include integrating energy and materials in carbon neutrality strategies, strengthening carbon reporting standards, establishing national wood products databases, increasing afforestation rates, and controlling deforestation.
The digital advertising development features and prospects in the world and in the Russian Federation in particular have been considered. An approach to defining the advertising concept essence in the digital field has been presented. A summary of the scientific research results has made it possible to identify the industry’s growth constraints and its main development drivers, as well as define the importance and distinguishing features of modern advertising campaigns in the digital space. Based on analysis of current data from relevant organisations for the digital advertising market, an increase in growth rates has been identified overall by region and country, as well as for individual advertising segments.
Artificial intelligence methods and technologies are increasingly included in human's everyday life. Managing actors in the context of their activities, from the planning stage to the decision-making stage, are faced with the need to operate with big data, non-linear, exponentially growing, critically overloaded data scenarios. In these conditions, the need to introduce artificial intelligence technologies is due to the exhaustion of the intellectual and analytical capabilities of a person.
The article discusses a variety of methods and approaches of artificial intelligence, examines the content of key algorithms, models and theories, their strengths and weaknesses in such important areas of the economy as planning and decision-making. The focus is on their classification. Due to the dependence of the planning process on environmental factors, both classical and non-classical planning environments are discussed. If the environment is fully observable, deterministic and static (external changes are ignored) and discrete in terms of time and action, then we are dealing with a classical planning environment. In the case of a partially observable or stochastic environment, we get a non-classical planning environment. The simplest and most intuitive approach to the planning process algorithms is a Total Order Planning. A scheduling algorithm with parallel execution of actions or without specifying the sequence of their execution is a Partial Order Planning algorithm. Recent research into the development of efficient algorithms has sparked interest in one of the earliest planning approaches – Prepositional Logic Planning. With the Critical Path Method, a schedule of activities is drawn up as part of a plan with zero critical travel time margin for each activity, taking into account the calculation of the time margin for each activity and sequence of activities. A forward-looking planning method for solving complex problems is a hierarchical decomposition based on a Hierarchical Task Networks.
The influence of time and resource factors on planning procedures is separately highlighted. Approaches and methods used in a non-classical planning environment: compatible planning, conditional planning, continuous planning, multi-agent planning.
Special attention is paid to the issues of constructing planning models in conditions of uncertainty based on the theoretical-probabilistic (stochastic) approaches. Bayesian networks are used to represent vagueness. The Relational Probability Model includes certain constraints on the presentation means, thereby guaranteeing a fully defined probability distributions. The main tasks of probabilistic representation in temporal models are: filtering, forecasting, smoothing, determining a probabilistic explanation. By combining these algorithms and additional enhancements, three large blocks of temporal models can be obtained: Hidden Markov Models, Kalman Filter, and Dynamic Bayesian Network. Decision theory allows the agent to determine the sequence of actions to be performed. A simpler formal system for solving decision-making problems is decision-making networks. The use of expert systems containing information about utility creates additional opportunities. Sequential multiple decision problems in an uncertain environment, such as Markov Decision Processes, are defined using transition models. When several agents interact simultaneously, game theory is used to describe the rational behavior of agents.
As we can see, planning has recently become one of the most interesting and relevant directions in the field of artificial intelligence research. There is still a long way to go: it is necessary to develop a clear vision of the problem of choosing the appropriate specific methods depending on the type of task, perhaps by creating completely new methods and approaches.
Стаття присвячена аналізу особливостей реалізації інструментів маркетингу в умовах воєнного стану. Маркетингові прийоми під час війни чи військових конфліктів будуть корисні бізнесу у будь-якій галузі економіки. Сформульовано комплекс запитань, на які має знати відповіді компанія, здійснюючи свою маркетингову діяльність в умовах воєнного стану. Визначено основні напрями, в яких доцільно зосереджувати маркетингову діяльність підприємства в умовах воєнного стану. Охарактеризовано основні особливості інструментів маркетингу в умовах воєнного стану. Наведено різнопланові приклади маркетингової діяльності окремих брендів під час воєнного стану як у світі, так і в Україні. Зазначено, що воєнні реалії суттєво змінили купівельну поведінку і купівельні звички споживачів. Висновується, що брендам потрібно намагатися завжди бути в курсі поточної воєнної, економічної, політичної ситуації, щоб бути готовими у разі необхідності змінити бізнес-вектор з власними маркетинговими підходами до своїх цільових і потенційних споживачів.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause a number of anogenital cancers (i.e., cervical, penile, anal, vaginal, vulvar) and genital warts. A decade ago, the HPV vaccine was approved, and has been shown to be a public health achievement that can reduce the morbidity and mortality for HPV-associated diseases. Yet, the mistaken over-identification of HPV as a female-specific disease has resulted in the feminization of HPV and HPV vaccines. In this critical review, we trace the evolution of the intersection of science, politics, economics and gender norms during the original HPV vaccine approval, marketing era, and implementation. Given the focus on cervical cancer screening, women were identified as bearing the burden of HPV infection and its related illnesses, and the group responsible for prevention. We also describe the consequences of the feminization of HPV, which has resulted primarily in reduced protection from HPV-related illnesses for males. We propose a multilevel approach to normalizing HPV vaccines as an important aspect of overall health for both genders. This process must engage multiple stakeholders, including providers, parents, patients, professional organizations, public health agencies, policymakers, researchers, and community-based organizations.
ABSTRACT Metrology is the study of measurement science. Publicly funded outputs from measurement science have public good characteristics, and thus scholars have previously investigated the economic impact of such outputs on aggregate productivity as a first look at the impact of such public funds on economic activity. This study is the first to explore the relationships between one output from measurement science—calibration tests at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—and aggregate productivity. The finding of a positive relationship is suggested to be a springboard for future research on the economics of metrology.
The relevance of the study is that a comparative analysis of the conditions of readiness for neo-industrialization of economic systems (states, regions, industrial complexes, industrial enterprises), taking into account the totality of obstacles and risks, makes it possible to establish competitive advantages and weaknesses of objects, strategic and operational directions, effective tools for achieving goals in a new technological order. The aim of the study is to carry out a comparative analysis of the conditions for the readiness of the industry in Russia and Ukraine for neo-industrialization based on digitalization. The methodological basis of the research is made up of general and general scientific methods of cognition, as well as the concrete historical method, the comparative historical method, the method of the unity of the historical and the logical, the method of comparative analysis, etc.
Considering that Russia and Ukraine had equal starting conditions for the beginning of neo-industrialization after the collapse of the USSR, and in the post-Soviet period there were a number of general tendencies in de-industrialization, then the modern experience of Russia should be considered as a standard for a number of post-Soviet countries. The article presents the main results of a comparative analysis of obstacles (institutional, technological, socio-economic) to neo-industrialization in Russia and Ukraine. It has been substantiated that synergistic and multiplier effects from neo-industrialization can be obtained through complex solutions in the spheres of institutions, technologies and economics. The study also presents a classification of risks (by levels of formation: global, supra-organizational, including sectoral, organizational; by areas: social, environmental, cyber-physical, etc.) of neo-industrialization and assessed them.
It has been established that against the background of the continuing «active» processes of de-industrialization in the Ukrainian industry, the Russian industry has a much higher degree of readiness for neo-industrialization, including due to the digitalization of the manufacturing industry. The process of de-industrialization in Ukraine can be stopped only with economic integration with Russia. Having a sufficiently high scientific and educational potential, states should transform it as actively as possible into fundamental innovations: technological, institutional, managerial, product innovations.
The practical significance of the obtained research results lies in the fact that the developed scientific and methodological approaches allow assessing the level of readiness of economic systems for neo-industrialization and comparative analysis with the standard, diagnosing competitive advantages and weaknesses, which should be further taken into account when justifying and implementing strategic and operational decisions. In subsequent publications, the results will be presented, reflecting the developed applied directions and proposed measures to accelerate the neoindustrialization of the two countries, taking into account the spatial and industrial, technological, institutional, organizational and managerial, financial and economic and quantitative (economic and mathematical modeling of the «digital factor» of production) aspects.
Abstract Happiness economics as advocated by Frijters et al. makes three assumptions: that policy should be based on facts about the net effect of a factor on happiness; that wellbeing policy should be technocratic and centralized; and that the only credible objections come from critics who do not value happiness. We argue that all three should be rejected and that the science and policy of wellbeing should instead be pluralistic, context-sensitive and participatory.