A pervasive issue in social and environmental research has been how to improve the quality of socioeconomic data in developing countries. Given the shortcomings of standard sources, the present study examines luminosity (measures of nighttime lights visible from space) as a proxy for standard measures of output (gross domestic product). We compare output and luminosity at the country level and ...

The total cost of fire in the United States in 2008, as defined by NFPA, is estimated at $310 B, or roughly 2 % of U.S. gross domestic product. Structure fires and fire protection account for $170 B. To reduce the U.S. fire burden, the Fire Risk Reduction in Buildings program focuses on the development and application of measurement science and standards directly on the two largest components o...

W hen we began to put together this special feature on poverty and sustainability science, we sought significant science-based research and perspectives on poverty worldwide. However, the six articles that have emerged from a lengthy solicitation, preparation, and review process, with one exception, all focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The exception, the absolute poverty measures for the developing...

295 Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Quality Measures/Downloads/NationalImpact AssessmentofQualityMeasuresFINAL.pdf). 2. Martin AB, Lassman D, Washington B, Catlin A. Growth In US health spending remained slow in 2010; health share of gross domestic product was unchanged from 2009. Health Aff (Millwood) 2012;31:208-19. 3. Jha AK, Joynt KE, Orav EJ, Epstein AM. The long-term effect of Premier pay ...

More generally, globalization of trade in goods, services, and assets continues to move forward at an impressive pace, despite some indications of increased resistance to that process and the evident difficulties in completing the Doha Round. The volume of trade relative to world gross domestic product has been rising for decades, largely because of decreasing transportation costs and lowered t...

Fisheries management systems around the world are highly diverse in their design, operation, and effectiveness at meeting objectives. A variety of management institutions, strategies, and tactics are used across disparate regions, fishing fleets, and taxonomic groups. At a global level, it is unclear which particular management attributes have greatest influence on the status of fished populati...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The botanic gardens of the world are now unmatched ex situ collections of plant biodiversity. They mirror two biogeographical patterns (positive diversity-area and diversity-age relationships) but differ from nature with a positive latitudinal gradient in their richness. Whether these relationships can be explained by socio-economic factors is unknown. METHODS Species and ...

The new UK focus on well-being: what will it mean for tackling social inequalities in health? It is difficult to imagine who would not be in favour of improving well-being. Yet a major problem with well-being is knowing what different commentators understand by the term. First introduced by the World Health Organization in 1948, 1 there is still little consensus over how well-being should be de...

Seventeen years have passed since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro took place. When the leaders will meet next time at the Johannesburg Summit, they will confront a world situation markedly different in many ways. Globalization, characterized by the liberalization of trade and capital markets and the rapid development of information and communi...

We measured the business-cycle correlations of the real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates of two cities to capture the degree of segmentation across China’s provincial and regional borders. This type of segmentation can be caused by local protectionism as well as other economic and geographic factors. After controlling the other factors, we zeroed in on the administrative border effect ...