The ‘Subsidy Targeting Project’ was introduced by the government of Iran in 2010 to ease the impact of removing price subsidies (carried out as part of recent economic liberalization reforms). Under this scheme, regardless of their socio-economic characteristics, Iranian citizens residing in Iran receive the same amount of cash rebate (currently 455,000 Iranian Rials per month). Thi...

Baloxavir marboxil has been used for influenza treatment since March 2018 in Japan. After baloxavir treatment, the most frequently detected substitution is Ile38Thr polymerase acidic protein (PA/I38T), and this reduces susceptibility A viruses. To rapidly investigate frequency of PA/I38T (H1N1)pdm09 (H3N2) viruses clinical samples, we established a rapid real-time system to detect single nucleo...

This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. Using available data on the distribution of HIV/AIDS prevalen...

Are Lone Mothers Responsive to Policy Changes? Evidence from a Workfare Reform in a Generous Welfare State There is a heated debate in many European countries about a move towards a welfare system that increases the incentives for lone mothers to move off welfare and into work. We analyze the consequences of a major Norwegian workfare reform of the generous welfare system for lone mothers. Our ...

This paper explores the extent and nature of gender differences, by age, in household health expenditure allocation. Using South African data, we adopt a hurdle methodology, constructing a sequence of decision stages (reporting sickness, consulting medical practitioner, incurring positive medical expenditure, and the conditional amount of expenditure) in order to examine all these possible chan...