Air pollution resulting from the use of unhealthy/unclean energy sources for cooking causes illnesses such as lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and ischaemic heart disease. ...In Ghana, each year, about 18 000 deaths are recorded due to the use of unhealthy energy sources for cooking. While financial inclusion can influence the adoption of healthy energy sources for cooking, less attention has been paid to it. This study, therefore, investigates the effect of financial inclusion on the choice of healthy source of energy for cooking among households in Ghana. Doing so reveals whether financial inclusion can be employed as a tool to decrease the use of unhealthy sources of energy for cooking in Ghana. We employ the Ghana Living Standards Survey round 7 (GLSS7) as the data source for the study whiles the binary logistic regression is used as the estimation technique. The findings show that, households with financial inclusion (using a single indicator) are more likely to choose healthy sources of energy for cooking relative to those without financial inclusion (OR = 2.52, P < .01). Moreover, the effect of financial inclusion (using a single indicator) on choosing a healthy source of energy for cooking is greater among rural households (OR = 3.18, P < .01) relative to their urban counterparts (OR = 2.27, P < .01). The findings are robust even after using a different estimation technique and a combined index of financial inclusion. Thus, in the quest to improve the use of healthy sources of energy for cooking, enhancing financial inclusion among households, could be a useful strategy.
Seaport terminals are major facilitators of international trade. One issue that is very crucial to the performance and survival of seaport terminals is the quality of service provided. However, in ...order to enhance the quality of service provided at these terminals, it is important to know customers' expectations and perceptions about service quality. Notwithstanding, very little is known about customers' expectations and perceptions on the service quality of seaport terminals in Africa. This paper therefore provides a comparative analysis of service quality of Nigerian seaport terminals with the aid of the gap score technique of the service quality (SERVQUAL) model. It is found that generally, all the selected terminals studied have low service quality. With regard to the average gap score per service quality dimension for all the selected terminals, transparency has the best service quality (least gap score) whiles responsiveness has the least service quality (highest gap score). The implication is that, in seaport terminals quest to enhance service quality, more attention should be paid towards enhancing responsiveness by providing prompt services, helping customers and informing them when exactly services will be performed.
There is ample evidence from economic growth literature that investment accelerates economic growth and development of developing countries, of which Ghana is not an exception. Based on this, recent ...growth and development policies in Ghana have focused more on encouraging private sector investment through the development of the financial sector. This paper investigates the short- and long-run impact of financial development on private investment in Ghana for the years 1970-2014. Additionally, to find out whether the measurement of financial development matters for private investment, several indicators of financial development are used. The results, based on the ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration, suggest that financial development has not been a key driver of private investment in the long run, while, in the short run, the effect of financial development on private investment depends on how financial development is measured. Given these results, policy makers should be circumspect regarding the choice of financial development indicator used as a policy instrument in the design and implementation of private investment policies for Ghana.
Dental diseases remain major health problems worldwide, leading to pain, discomfort, and even death. In Saudi Arabia, public dental care services (i.e., services provided by government-owned health ...facilities) are provided free of charge for all Saudi citizens. However, public dental care facilities are overburdened and overcrowded, resulting in long waiting times to access dental care services. The consequent limited access to dental services can prolong discomfort and delay pain management, thereby exacerbating the suffering of patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the socioeconomic determinants of the willingness to pay for immediate public dental care in the face of a dental emergency in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional design was employed to obtain data from adult citizens of Saudi Arabia who were residents of the Holy City of Makkah. A pre-tested online questionnaire was used to obtain the responses from 549 individuals, selected through a snowball sampling technique, from 15 July to 10 August 2021. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages), Pearson's chi-square test, and binary probit regression were used as estimation techniques. The findings showed that 79.4% of the respondents were willing to pay for immediate public dental services, with the majority (86%) expressing a willingness to pay less than 500 Saudi Riyal (SAR). The binary probit regression estimates showed that respondents who were unemployed, those with a high school level of education or below, and those without private health insurance were less likely to be willing to pay for immediate public dental services. Thus, policies and initiatives aimed at enhancing the willingness to pay for immediate public dental services should target the unemployed, those with a high school level of education or below, and people without private health insurance.
Seaports are an integral part of maritime transport and major facilitators of international trade which is an important determinant of economic growth. Therefore, identifying the determinants of the ...choice of seaports is very important for economic growth policy purposes. This is particularly more essential to the African continent which has been plagued with relatively lower economic and social welfare outcomes. Hence, this study uses cross-sectional data on the opinions of customers of selected seaports in ECOWAS to investigate the determinants of the choice of seaports in the region. We use a two-stage sampling technique to select seaports and respondents (customers) used by the study. The seaports are the Port of Banjul (Gambia), Port of Apapa (Nigeria), Tin Can Island Port (Nigeria), Port of Abidjan (Cote d'lvoire), Port of Cotonou (Benin), Port of Tema (Ghana) and Port of Lome (Togo). The customers surveyed are 1,461 exporters and importers (shippers), shipping lines, freight forwarders and custom brokers. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the multinomial probit model are used for the empirical analyses. The results indicate that, adequacy of seaport facilities (the size of container port yards and seaport's shore container - handling equipment), reasonable seaport cost (reasonable cargo - handling charges and berth service fees) and efficiency of seaport (average length of ship's service time and efficiency of the port/terminal's service operations for the multimodal interface) influence the choice of the most frequently used seaports. In addition, the choice of the most frequently used seaports is found to be determined by services at seaport (assistance provided by the seaport with regard to claims handling, frequency of departures that the seaport can facilitate and quality of the personnel involved in seaport operations) as well as intermodal and value-added services (provision of support services e.g. incoming goods inspection, spare parts support and connectivity of the seaport or port terminal to a multimodal interface). Moreover, information system availability (the availability of cargo - tracing/handling information service and modern IT and computerized information systems) and seaport geography (maximum distance to another seaport and average distance to other seaports) are also found to determine the choice of the most frequently used seaports. It is therefore recommended that policy designs aimed at enhancing demand for seaport services in ECOWAS, pay attention to these factors.
Ghana’s under-five mortality rate far exceeds the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.2 Target of 25 deaths per thousand live births by 2030. Therefore to improve upon the situation, it is ...imperative that the factors which determine the health status of children are investigated. This study therefore used data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey to investigate the socio-economic determinants of child health status in Ghana by employing the binary probit model. The study revealed that, Ewe, Grusi, Muslim and Christian children, children from urban areas, Greater Accra, Northern, Ashanti, Upper east, Eastern and Central regions, were more probable to contract cough. Also children with uneducated mothers, those whose mothers had uneducated partners as well as those whose mothers had no health insurance were revealed to be more likely to be anaemic. Further, male children and children from non-wealthy households were revealed to be more likely to have suffered diarrhoea, fever and anaemia. Also children with employed mothers and those with mothers with big distance challenges to seek care were found to be more likely to have fever. These findings, point out the essence of socio-economic factors to child health outcomes and hence the need to be given attention in child health survival interventions in Ghana.
Pneumonia, Diarrhoea, Measles, Polio and Whooping Cough are major killers of children in the world. However, one of the most effective ways of preventing these diseases is through utilising ...completely their respective vaccines which are normally administered in doses. Therefore given that the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) report showed a fall in the coverage of the subsequent doses of the Pentavalent, Pneumococcal, Polio and Rotavirus vaccines for children in Ghana, this study investigated the factors that influence the Utilisation of all Doses of these vaccines as well as the Measles vaccine. Using Data from the 2014 GDHS and employing the binary probit model, the study among other findings revealed that, children from the Eastern, Northern and Western regions were found to be less probable to have received all the doses of the Polio and Pentavalent vaccines. Also unemployed mothers were found to be less likely to demand for all the doses of the Measles, Pentavalent, Pneumococcal and Rotavirus vaccines for their children. Moreover, rising age of the household head was associated with falling utilization of all the doses of the Pneumococcal, Pentavalent and Polio vaccines for children. Furthermore, children with single mothers were found to be less likely to have received all doses of both the Polio and Pentavalent vaccines. Also uneducated mothers were found to be less likely to demand for all the doses of the Polio, Pentavalent and Measles vaccines for their children relative to mothers with secondary education. In addition mothers without health insurance were found to be less likely to utilize all the doses of the Measles and Polio vaccines for their children. Therefore reinvigoration of regional centeredness of child health utilization drives, aiding single, unemployed and uneducated women as well as strengthening the free maternal health insurance registration scheme, could be effective tools in ensuring full utilisation of all doses of these vaccines.
Tobacco consumption, or smoking, is a major cause of preventable morbidity and mortality worldwide, including in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In order to reduce the consumption of tobacco ...products, it is necessary to understand the factors that drive it. However, little is known about the socioeconomic determinants of tobacco smoking in the KSA. This study, therefore, investigates the socioeconomic factors that influence tobacco smoking in the KSA. Using a national health survey, the study employs logistic and negative binomial regressions to examine the socioeconomic factors associated with smoking. Moreover, the inequality concentration indices (CIs) are used to assess inequalities in smoking. The results reveal that the smoking prevalence is 14.09% of the 8813 respondents considered in this study. The prevalence of smoking is higher among men (25.34%) than among women (1.91%). On the determinants of smoking, the logistic regression results show that higher income is associated with lower likelihood of smoking. Other factors significantly associated with current smoking status are marital status, gender, age, and region of residence. Similarly, gender, age and region of residence are significantly associated with smoking intensity. As regards the inequality analysis, at the national level, the results show that smoking is concentrated among those with higher socioeconomic status (income: CI = 0.071, p < 0.01; education: CI = 0.095, p < 0.01), but with significant regional variations. By gender disaggregation, the results also show that the income-based CIs are positive for both males and females, but statistically insignificant. Education-based CI is positive for males and significant (CI = 0.057, p < 0.05), while it is negative and insignificant for females during the study period. The findings call for targeted tobacco control measures focusing on those with higher socioeconomic status, as well as factors such as age, gender, marital status and region of residence.
One of the best ways of Preventing Measles and Yellow fever which are dangerous killers of children is through vaccination. Therefore given the absence of research to the best of our knowledge on the ...factors that affect demand for Measles and Yellow fever vaccines among children in Ghana, this study investigated the socio-economic, demographic and geographic factors that affect the demand for Measles and Yellow fever vaccines among children in Ghana. By using data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey and the binary probit model, the study among other findings revealed that, Children in the Western region were less likely to have received both the Measles 1 and Yellow fever vaccines. Also urban children and children with unemployed mothers were found to be less likely to have received the Measles 1, Measles 2 and Yellow fever vaccines relative to rural children and children with employed mothers respectively. Also Traditional/Spiritualist/No religion faith children were found to be less likely to have received the Yellow fever vaccine. Further, uneducated mothers, mothers without health insurance and non-wealthy households were found to be less likely to demand the Measles 2 vaccine for their children. This study therefore concludes that Socio-Economic, Demographic and Geographic Factors are relevant determinants of demand for measles and yellow fever vaccines among children in Ghana.
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