How are telecommunications infrastructure, institutions and poverty related in a war-torn economy such as Afghanistan? Afghanistan has been plagued by poor governance, low usage of telecommunications, and extreme poverty levels which can be termed triple-challenges. High levels of political instability affected telecommunications investment and adversely affected the adoption and diffusion of modern technology. This study examines the asymmetric effect of telecommunications and governance (institutions) on poverty reduction over the period 1989–2019 using a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model. In the short run, we establish that information and communication technology, private domestic credit, governance, and educational access for males and females are essential tools that can be used for poverty reduction. In the long run, we also establish that Afghanistan can reduce poverty levels through the use of information and communication technology, governance, and educational access for both males and females. The following policy recommendations were suggested: research and development, robust policy formulation on governance and ICT, development of the ICT sector, and improved governance. These are critical in reducing the high poverty levels as well as solving the institutional challenges faced by Afghanistan.

The study looks into how governance qualities of decentralized governments mediate the impacts of decentralization on development. Based on a set-oriented approach, the study analyzed data from a nation-wide survey conducted with business managers from all provinces in Indonesia, and found evidence that, despite the country’s uniform decentralization reform, individual provinces exhibited great variation in the qualities of their various physical and institutional infrastructures. Notably, these qualities assumed nested relations, with order and security as well as accountability and rule of law seemingly being the preconditions of basic infrastructure provision as well as local governments’ coordination. Moreover, business investment decisions (measured as staff expansion and product innovation) were found to vary with some specific combinations of these infrastructural conditions. The result provides evidence supporting the argument that both physical and institutional infrastructures are instrumental to realize the supposed benefits of decentralization and supports the recent call of the literature to look into the political-institutional complex in the process of decentralization reform.

This scientific study aims to thoroughly assess the current status and evaluate key indicators influencing healthcare and the workforce in selected European Union (EU) member states. Building upon this ambitious research agenda, we focused on a comprehensive descriptive analysis of selected indicators within the healthcare sector, including healthcare financing schemes, overall employment in healthcare and social care, the number of graduates in healthcare (including physicians and general practitioners), as well as migration patterns within the healthcare sector. The data forming the basis of this analysis were systematically gathered from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat databases. Subsequently, we conducted a robust correlation analysis to explore the intricate relationships among these indicators. Our research endeavour aimed to identify and quantify the impact of these indicators on each other, with a focus on their implications for overall healthcare and the workforce in the respective countries. Based on the findings obtained, we derived several significant conclusions and recommendations. For instance, we identified that increasing employment in the healthcare sector may be associated with the overall quality of healthcare provision in a given country. These findings have important implications for policymaking and decision-making at the EU level. Therefore, we recommend that policymakers in these countries consider implementing measures to further develop the healthcare sector while also helping to retain and attract qualified professionals in the healthcare industry. Such recommendations could include improving healthcare infrastructure, incentivizing professional education and further training in the healthcare sector, and implementing policies to support healthcare provision more broadly.

Starting from the ‘90s, there has been a significant increase in PPP use in the public sector in Europe, benefiting the implementation of infrastructure projects. In Italy, PPP is still much more limited than in such countries as the UK and France: the projects funded are smaller and the sectors involved are less appropriate. Based on the economic literature, European initiatives and international comparisons, the paper examines aspects of regulations that could encourage the appropriate use of PPP and considers the problems with the Italian regulations, while proposing some corrective measures. The main limitations involve: i) the absence of adequate preliminary assessments about the advantages of using PPP rather than the traditional procurement, ii) the relative lack of attention to the contract terms, iii) inadequate safeguards to ensure the bankability of the projects, and iv) limited information transparency and accessibility.

With the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, rural wisdom pension gradually becomes an important direction for the development of rural society. The purpose of this paper is to study the optimization path of rural smart pension in the context of rural revitalization. By analyzing the definition, development status and dilemma of rural wisdom pension, key factors for optimizing rural wisdom pension are proposed, and the paths for enhancing rural wisdom pension are discussed. The research results show that strengthening infrastructure construction, improving service quality, and promoting information technology application are the key paths to realize rural smart aging. This study provides theoretical guidance and policy recommendations for the implementation of rural smart aging.