This study examines how epidemic outbreaks influence foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in developing countries, with a particular focus on whether healthcare systems can act as buffers during such shocks. Using a panel dataset of 98 countries from 2000 to 2022, the analysis combines two-way fixed effects (FE) models and the Local Projection Method (LPM). The analysis is structured in three parts: First, fixed-effects regressions assess the average effect of 20 major epidemics on FDI, revealing that diseases such as Ebola, MERS, Lassa Fever, and Leptospirosis significantly reduce investment inflows. Second, local projection methods trace the short-and medium-term responses of FDI to health shocks by transmission type. The results show varying recovery patterns: while FDI tends to rebound after direct contact or mosquito-borne outbreaks, airborne diseases cause more persistent declines. Third, the study explores whether stronger healthcare systems can mitigate these negative effects. Results suggest that countries with a higher density of nurses experience less severe FDI losses during outbreaks, particularly for diseases transmitted through direct contact or bodily fluids. These findings underline the importance of healthcare investment not only for public health but also for economic resilience. By distinguishing effects across disease types and highlighting the moderating role of health infrastructure, this study offers practical insights for policymakers seeking to safeguard investment flows during times of crisis.

The choice of cooking fuel is a critical economic and health decision for rural households, with significant implications for well-being and environmental sustainability. This paper examines whether rural non-farm entrepreneurship promotes the adoption of cleaner cooking fuels, specifically liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Using large, nationally representative data from eight WAEMU countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo – we apply econometric techniques to address endogeneity and selection bias. Our findings show that households engaged in non-farm entrepreneurial activities are significantly more likely to adopt LPG. We further show that non-farm entrepreneurship enhances financial inclusion by improving access to microfinance, mobile banking, and informal savings groups (ROSCAs), thereby easing liquidity constraints that limit investments in clean energy. These results suggest that promoting rural non-farm enterprises, along with expanding financial services and infrastructure, can effectively reduce energy poverty and improve health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.

The European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve introduced new policy instruments and made changes to their operational frameworks to address the global financial crisis (2008) and the Covid-19 pandemic (2020). We study the macroeconomic effects of these monetary policy evolutions on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean by developing and estimating a tractable two-country dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model. We show that the euro area and the United States faced shocks of different natures, explaining some asynchronous monetary policy measures between 2008 and 2023. However, counterfactual exercises highlight that all conventional and unconventional policies implemented since 2008 have appropriately (i) supported economic growth and (ii) maintained inflation on track in both areas. The exception is the delayed reaction to the inflationary surge during 2021–2022. Furthermore, exchange rate shocks played a significant role in shaping the overall monetary conditions of the two economies.

This study develops a new theoretical framework to explain how secularity influences migration aspirations in the Arab world. We argue that secular individuals incur significant psychological costs when living in highly religious societies. This value incongruence pushes them to seek out more secular environments, whereas strongly religious individuals face higher cultural costs of moving and thus prefer to stay. We derive testable hypotheses on how individual secularity and socio-political secularity act as push pull factors for different communities and migration destinations. We then test these hypotheses using 2018 2019 Arab Barometer data from eleven MENA countries. We construct original indices for individual secularity and socio-political secularity via multiple correspondence analysis. Consistent with our theory, probit and instrumental-variable probit estimates show that secular individuals are significantly more likely to express intentions to emigrate particularly to highly secular Western countries. Among Muslim majority populations, both individual and socio-political secularity increase the desire to migrate, whereas among Christian minorities only individual secularity has this effect. Moreover, secularity drives regular migration aspirations, with no measurable impact on irregular migration except in the case of religiously unaffiliated “nones,” who exhibit a heightened willingness to migrate by any means. These findings contribute to the migration literature by emphasizing the substantial, yet previously underexplored, influence of secular beliefs and practices on migratory behavior in the Arab context.

Political risk is a significant barrier to sustainable economic development. Identifying factors that can help mitigate it is therefore essential. This study contributes to the literature by examining an often-overlooked yet important factor: population health. Specifically, we investigate whether improvements in population health can reduce political risk in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To this end, we use a new measure of health that accounts for both life expectancy and morbidity, allowing us to assess both the quality and length of life. Using panel data from 32 SSA countries (1991–2021), we find that better health conditions significantly reduce political risk. Moreover, we identify income per capita, financial development, and education as key transmission mechanisms, with education emerging as the primary channel. Extending the analysis to a global sample confirms the negative relationship between health and political risk, as well as the relevance of the identified transmission mechanisms. By highlighting the critical role of population health in reducing political risk, this study underscores that investing in population health is not only a moral duty but also a strategic necessity for sustainable economic development.

This article examines the impact of environmental stringency on firm efficiency, using a large cross-country dataset of 68 developing countries from 2006–2020. We combine the newly published Environmental Performance Index (EPI) as an indicator of the stringency of environmental regulations with firm data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES). Our results indicate that stricter environmental policies significantly increase firm efficiency, and the effect is robust. Moreover, we find that the intensity of environmental stringency matters, and that firm size, firm pollution intensity, and institutional quality also influence the relationship between environmental stringency and efficiency. Thus, our results support the Porter hypothesis in the case of developing countries.