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This paper analyzes the persistence of the sovereign debt / GDP and sovereign debt / GDP per capita series for the five largest European economies and the US using fractional integration. We use historical data starting in 1800 for the US and the UK, in 1861 for Italy and in 1880 for Germany, France and Spain. The results indicate high degrees of persistence of debt-to-GDP and debt per capita ratios with clear evidence of no mean reversion in both debt indicators. We also find evidence of correlation with the primary deficit, supporting the idea that one of the causes of this debt persistence is precisely the primary deficit persistence. Empirical results support the need for a better coordination between fiscal and monetary policies to enhance debt control in the countries under examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between certain economic and psychological factors and demographic characteristics of Slovene taxpayers, such as gender, income level and size of settlement as it is becoming important for a country's tax compliance framework to align with the tax recommendations of global institutions. The results show some gender differences, with males being less likely to feel guilty or bad if taxes are not paid in full than females, whereas females tend to have the opinion that working for cash-in-hand payment without paying tax is not a trivial offence. Taxpayers with low incomes tend to agree that tax evasion is morally acceptable if tax rates are too high. Taxpayers from rural settlements exhibit a higher tendency to feel morally obligated to pay their taxes than taxpayers from urban settlements. The findings indicate that the vast majority of taxpayers feel morally obligated to pay their taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the factors that determined labour market outcomes for recently graduated, underrepresented college students. Chile's largest higher education institution, which has a significant number of first-generation students from more deprived social sectors, was considered. A quantitative methodology was applied using logistic and multinomial regression models. Occupational status and income level were chosen as the dependent variables and five dimensions of independent variables were considered: sociodemographic attributes, human capital, academic characteristics, personality traits, and work environment. The results indicated that males, graduates who worked during their studies, heads of households, graduates from technical-professional high schools, those who completed their higher education studies in a timely manner, those who worked for larger private companies, and those who worked in a different geographical region to the one in which they studied had better labour market outcomes. Suggestions for institutional practices to help underrepresented students have successful career transitions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs an evaluation index system of digital literacy based on the data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2018 from five dimensions: information and learning, vocational abilities, digital sociability, digital content creation, and digital security, and empirically tests the impact of digital literacy on individuals' income level and income gap. Firstly, The results show that digital literacy can significantly improve the overall individual's income level and narrow the internal individual income gap. Digital literacy is conducive to narrowing the income gap between the sexes but has an insignificant impact on the intergenerational and urban-rural income gap. In addition, digital literacy in paternal and urban samples is more conducive to narrowing the internal income gap among women, offspring, and rural samples than males. The corresponding use of digital skills and productive digital literacy have a greater impact on narrowing residents' internal income gap than the penetration of digital awareness and living digital literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study documents the vital outcome of COVID-19 lockdown on the lifespan of women in Pakistan. The lockdown has affected the unemployment rate, particularly in the rural region of the country. Passing along the eleven in-depth interviews and one focus group discussion (FGD) conducted in rural parts of the twin cities (Islamabad & Rawalpindi), the survey demonstrated that the ruination of the income level during COVID-19 lockdown has increased partner violence in the country. The information received further revealed that the bread earners of the families are enduring greater levels of stress and anxiety eventually resulting in a substantial growth in intimate partner violence (IPV). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case of metropolitan Doha presents a unique study that has witnessed several transition phases in the urbanization process. It has embarked in massive urbanization processes as part of the national planning vision. Nationals constitute 11% and expatriates constitute 89% of the total population of Qatar, which is environed by the government to manage the economic dynamism. Housing choice reflects the joint influences of government policies, housing market conditions, and personal factors such as housing preferences and the income level. The paper aims at studying housing choices for nationals and expatiates in metropolitan Doha through assessing the factors that limit housing choice for nationals and expatriates, providing policy recommendations to address the demand-supply gap in the market, and propose housing distribution in view of the developed housing choice framework. Three tools have been used: content analysis of reference data, questionnaire survey of housing preferences, and qualitative interview of experts’ perceptions. This study has provided qualitative data on the issues of housing distribution and expansion in relation to housing choices. It has concluded baseline information for the nationals and expatriates housing distribution and the demographic dilemma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of corruption on trade. Design/methodology/approach - The authors estimate gravity equations with the last econometric advances on a wide sample of countries and years using three different measures of corruption. Two of them belong to the so-called perception-based indexes and the third is derived from a structural model that takes into account the causes and indicators of corruption across countries. Findings - A negative effect of corruption on trade appears with perceptions, but it is not widespread. However, the authors find sensible evidence of the "grease the wheels" view with the structural index if low and middle income countries are implicated. Additionally, when using this measure, differences in corruption levels negatively impact trade. Both results are in line with expectations. Originality/value - Moreover, membership in regional trade agreements does not seem to significantly alter these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental issues are already the focus of the world's attention. The government, as a provider of environmental public goods, has to take the unshirkable responsibility. In recent years, the Chinese government has also formulated many policies and adopted many measures for environmental protection and improvement, but the results are not satisfactory. The reason is that citizens' willingness to pay for environmental protection, as an important factor, has long been ignored. In order to explore the influencing factors of Chinese citizens' willingness to pay for environmental protection, this paper, based on China's comprehensive survey data, CGSS2010, employed principal component analysis to analyze the willingness to pay for environmental protection and obtained the willingness factor of environmental protection. Then, it analyzed the government trust and income by constructing OLS model. The results of the study showed that citizens' trust in the government would affect their willingness to pay for environmental protection, and in this process, the income level would exert the inhibiting effect on the relationship between two of them. The stronger the willingness of citizens to trust the government was, the better environment the citizens with higher income level needed, so these people were willing to pay for that. However, citizens with higher income levels did not necessarily trust the government more, so it would exert inhibiting effect on government trust and willingness to pay. This was one of the reasons why China's environmental governance was not very effective. In addition, the higher the degree of education was, the stronger the willingness to pay was, and the willingness to pay of members of the Chinese Communist Party was more than non-party members. The conclusions of the study provided a decision-making reference for the government to formulate environmental protection mechanisms, policies and measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of female owned enterprises is gradually increasing as more and more women are starting their own businesses. This has encouraged, governments, policy makers, and scholars to focus on unearthing different individual, social, and economic factors, which can promote female entrepreneurial activities. However, a majority of the studies concerning female entrepreneurial activities have focused on their overall level of business start-ups. These studies have failed to delineate between necessity based and opportunity driven entrepreneurship. Moreover, little empirical work is done to investigate how different economic, social, and cultural factors shape women's entrepreneurial initiatives. This study aims to fill the gap in the extant literature by investigating the impact of economic development and social progress on necessity based and opportunity driven entrepreneurship among females. For this purpose, data regarding different types of female entrepreneurship was collected from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, while Gross National Income, the Social Progress Index, and the Human Capital Index were used as measures to capture economic and social factors. Regression Analysis using the Ordinary Least Square method was used for hypothesis testing. Results of this study indicate that GNI per capita, social progress and human development are positively related with opportunity driven female entrepreneurship, while the same predictors are negatively associated with necessity-based entrepreneurship among women. Moreover, GNI per capita, social progress and human development have a U-shaped relationship with overall female entrepreneurship implying that at the left side of the curve, necessity-based entrepreneurship is more prominent, while on the other side opportunity-driven entrepreneurship dominates. This finding shows that distinguishing between different types of entrepreneurship can provide more nuanced explanations regarding effects of different social and economic initiatives to foster entrepreneurial activities among women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Wuhan University Journal (Philosophy & Social Sciences) / Wuhan Daxue Xuebao (Zhexue Shehui Kexue Ban) is the property of Wuhan University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inlammatory disease that has a substantial economic impact on patients. Patients with RA are at an increased risk for disability and for loss of income. The inclusion of biologic drugs in RA therapy has increased the cost of treatment. Little is known about the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and the out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures for prescription drugs for patients with RA, including biologics, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), corticosteroids, and analgesics. OBJECTIVES: To explore the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics, personal characteristics, and OOP expenditures associated with RA prescription medications. A secondary objective was to measure the average OOP expenditures for different therapeutic classes of RA medications, including biologics, DMARDs, NSAIDs, corticosteroids, and analgesics. METHODS: In this retrospective analysis of Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data from 2009 to 2012, we identified a patient sample of 1090 adults with RA, which represented approximately 9.71 million patients in the MEPS database. The total OOP expenditure was calculated based on the OOP expenditure for each prescription drug corresponding to an individual. Patient variables included age, race, sex, insurance status, number of comorbid conditions, region, area of living, annual family income, and marital status. Logistic regression and generalized linear models were used for analysis. The mean OOP expenditure for therapeutic classes was estimated using nonparametric percentiles from 1000 cluster bootstrap estimates. RESULTS: Overall, the mean annual OOP expenditure was $273.99 (95% confidence interval [CI], $197.07-$364.75). The OOP expenditures were lower for privately insured (0.31; 95% CI, 0.21-0.45) patients and publicly insured (0.18; 95% CI, 0.12-0.27) patients versus uninsured patients, and for poor (0.60; 95% CI, 0.43-0.84) and low-income (0.69; 95% CI, 0.49-0.97) patients versus high-income patients. The mean annual OOP expenditure decreased with age (0.98; 95% CI, 0.97-0.99), was lower (0.73; 95% CI, 0.58-0.92) for male patients than for female patients, and increased with the presence of comorbidities (1.16; 95% CI, 1.07-1.25). The average annual OOP expenditure was highest for bio- logics ($2556.73), followed by DMARDs ($89.37). The average annual OOP expenditures were $27.97, $52.36, and $72.51 for corticosteroids, NSAIDs, and narcotic analgesics, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Age, sex, race, income level, insurance status, and comorbidity status significantly affected patient OOP expenditure. Higher OOP expenditures among the uninsured, female patients, patients with low income levels, and patients with several comorbidities could adversely affect RA therapy. The use of expensive biologics needs to be monitored to reduce prescription-related cost-sharing among patients with RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retail loans play a key role in the banking of many countries. At the same time loans to individuals are regarded as more risky than business loans. For these reasons, the efficiency of retail credit granting is important for the welfare of both households and of banking system. In this paper a fuzzy logic model for retail loan evaluation is proposed. The fuzzy model consists of five input variables such as “income”, “credit history”, “employment”, “character”, and “collateral condition” and single output variable which indicates credit standing. Whether applicant's credit standing shall be regarded as “low”, “medium” or “high” depends on the degree of membership for the linguistic terms of fuzzy output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security is one of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and is widely considered a useful measure for evaluating the progress of a country in terms of wellbeing. Despite, various concern by governments all over the world on ensuring that every household can at least provide three square meals per day, food insecurity continues to be a major development problem across the globe, undermining people's health, productivity, and often their very survival. Evidence suggests that Nigerians food production is increasing at less than 2.0% while population growth rate is estimated to be 2.5% per annum. The suggested disparity indicates that low rate of food production and high rate of population growth will generate high rate of food demand, thereby causing food Demand-Supply gap which can give rise to food insecurity. Thus the study analyzed household food security in Kaduna state using consumption surveys containing subjective (qualitative) data. The study revealed that on average, only 14 percent of the households were food secured. Hence, 47 percent of the households were found to be food insecured without hunger and 36 percent were food insecured with hunger. Furthermore, the findings also showed that at least 38 percent of the household live below one hundred dollar ($100), 52 percent are fairly living on a hundred dollar ($100) while only 10 percent live above one hundred dollars margin. Income level of households was found to be a factor that will provide them with greater food adequacy. Some actions to be taken by librarians to ensure the provision of sustainable information for households were highlighted. Recommendations based on policies were also proffered to improve upon the food security and hygiene of households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast and hectic life of professionals has created an essence of convenience and urgency in their activities and behavior. With the advent of technology and the swift internet era online activities are on a growing trend. This growing trend in online shopping has led to the consideration of this paper which aims to explore the role of individual income as a motivator of online shopping behavior. This study is descriptive in nature. It consists of primary survey of customers belonging to different individual income levels. The researcher has classified respondents on the basis of their individual income earned per annum into low, medium and high category. It investigates the influence of demographic factor income on shopping experiences of users of the major shopping websites of India. Data has been collected both from primary as well as secondary sources. The sampling technique used is convenience with a sample size of 755.The research results reveal that there is no significant effect of income on product categories purchased online. The effect of income on frequency of online shopping is not significant. There is no significant effect of income on payment mode in online shopping. Further there is no significant relationship between income and satisfaction in online shopping. The managers can benefit immensely from the results. Customers are offer driven in case of all items except necessary and emergency goods. The necessary items would sell even if there is no discount and offers on them. For other items offers and discounts influence the shopping behavior. The higher the offer the better the sale. Moreover to gain competitive advantage online marketers need to provide products and brands of higher value to customers. The cash on delivery facility should be applied to all product categories across the country so that every customer benefits from it. Care should be taken to manage reverse logistics as there should be a pick up facility from the delivered address if the product is not liked by the customer. Other services associated with the shopping process such as customer complaint handling and order processing should be made easier and smoother. This paper studies the gap in literature on motivator of individual income on online shopping trend. Extant literature has found studies on the relationship between household income and online shopping but not on individual income. Moreover the income has been categorized into low, medium and high levels of income as motivators for online buying behavior. It further draws on the research domino effects for implications for shopping website management and design, then suggests some ways to enhance performance for the website shopping industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-government refers to the delivery of government information and services online through the Internet or other digital means (West, 2004), and well-implemented e-government platforms can help to improve the business environment and the creation of new businesses. The present article has as its main goal to measure the impact of change of the index of e-readiness of e-Government (and its sub-indices) on ease of doing business, in the new business rate and the perception of corruption in countries of high, medium and low income, in order to test whether the effects depend on the income level. The study used a panel data (repeated measures), with four points (years 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014), with three periods of change (2008/2010, 2010/2012 and 2012/2014), with data the following databases: Doing Business Report of the World Bank, the United Nations Survey on e-Government, Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International and World Bank's Survey on Entrepreneurship. Data were analyzed using Mixed Linear Models procedures with fixed and random effects. The findings indicate that different models should be employed to understand e-government impact depending on the income level of the countries, since they have a very diverse technological and service delivery capacity and different population profiles when compared on digital and Internet use, and even cultural traits. Thus, the findings support the hypothesis that the effects are diverse and depend on the income level. Indications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Prefectural carbon footprint varies substantially according to household type. • Income groups with highest/lowest carbon footprints are in low-GRP prefectures. • Carbon footprint of single-person households in high-GRP prefectures is lower. • Carbon inequality gradually decreases as household income increases. • Even in the same sector, carbon inequality differs by household type. Affected by income level, household type, and other socioeconomic factors, carbon inequality among households substantially differs across prefectures in Japan, thereby profoundly affecting the country's sustainable development. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the carbon footprint of different households on the basis of systematically grouped income levels and evaluate carbon inequality in all prefectures. Using the 2005 multi-regional input–output table of Japan, we identified detailed structures of household carbon footprint (HCF) across single- and multi-person households of different income levels in Japan's 47 prefectures. We elucidated carbon inequality across prefectures through the carbon footprint Gini coefficients of the aforementioned households. The results showed that substantial differences in HCF exist among prefectures, thus contributing to variances in carbon inequality levels. Multi-person households are currently the main contributors to Japan's HCF, but the contribution of single-person households has considerable potential to grow. Income level has the most direct influence on HCF, which considerably determines the amount and structure of household consumption. Changes in carbon inequality among prefectures indicate that the aggravation of income inequality widens the HCF gap among income groups—a situation inconducive to the reduction of per-household CF during climate mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is a relationship between higher building density and higher air pollution. • There is an inverse relationship between the isolated street trees and less pollution. • The areas with higher income level are related with the worse the air quality. • The GWR models show a more complete view that OLS models for the air quality studies. During the last two decades, many studies have described the effects of air pollution in urban areas. This paper analyses the spatial patterns of the main air pollutants in the city of Barcelona, i.e. nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), fine particulates of less than 2.5μm (PM 2.5) and coarse particulates of 10μm (PM10), and explores the factors associated with air quality in relation to the social and environmental characteristics of each area of the city using 1068 census tracts. The city exhibits a situation of high annual averages of pollutants regarding the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and the European Union regulations, with most of the census tracts with amounts of NO 2 >20 µg/m3, PM 2.5 >10 µg/m3 and PM 10 >20 µg/m3. To analyse the spatial pattern, we use exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and estimation of spatial econometric models. We test global and local spatial autocorrelation, and we identify spatial clusters of pollutants with the Local Moran cluster map. We use different geographically weighted regression (GWR) approaches to provide local insight and to consider the spatial heterogeneity of the relationships analysed, including standard GWR, multiscale and mixed techniques. Our results for Barcelona reveal a clear relationship, but with opposite signs depending on the census tract, between the pollutants commonly analysed and population density (from -2.17 to 3.69, median 1.3), income (from -7.20 to 20.55, median 6.45) and population aged 0-4 (from -1.96 to 12.38, median 0.74). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is strong evidence measuring the association between leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and socioeconomic status (SES) there are limited data on the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and SES. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine differences in CRF and LTPA between household income and individual education in young adults. A sample of 171 (males n=98, female n=73) young adults participated in the University of Pittsburgh- Physical Activity Study. Participants completed CRF testing. Demographic characteristics were assessed via interviewer administered standardized survey and LTPA was assessed using the interviewer administered Modifiable Activity Questionnaire. Participants were grouped by income and education level. Analysis of variance and general linear modeling was used to compare LTPA and CRF between groups. There were no differences in CRF between income levels (p=0.126) or education levels (p=0.990) for the total sample. There were no differences in LTPA between income levels (p=0.936) or education level (p=0.182) for the total sample. Results suggest that neither income nor education levels are indicators of CRF in this sample of young adults. Other environmental, sociological, or familial health mediators may have a strong effect on CRF in young adult males and females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Administraçãao da UNIMEP is the property of Revista de Administracao da UNIMEP and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The level of e-government readiness or development is widely unequal between countries. One of the main variables that explain this difference is the income level of the country. This paper aims to measure the impact of change of e-government index (and its composing sub-indexes) in the ease of doing business and the rate creation of new business in different groups of countries, categorized into high, middle and low income countries. The study used a panel data design, with four points (years 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014), in three change periods (2008/2010, 2010/2012 and 2012/2014), collecting data from various databases: Doing Business Report by World Bank, United Nations E-Government Survey, Corruption Perception Index by Transparence International and World Bank Entrepreneurship Survey. The data was joined and analyzed with non-parametric correlation and stepwise regression. The models had good predictive power for upper and middle income countries, but not for low income, indicating that different models should be applied to understand e-government relationship with outcome variables, according to the income level and e-government development level. Suggestions for future research are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The business environment in Romania has not proved to be very attractive to investors compared to other states, but for small Romanian investors problems with are facing are only daily realities to be overcome. Some people start their careers without being involved in the enterprise, while they accumulate skills and knowledge that makes them go beyond the limits previously imposed by themselves. The large number of those who have not yet validated in the economic environment indicates the involvement of persons seeking employment or who are dissatisfied with what is currently working in professional training courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that examined the development of monthly gross wages and wage distribution in the Czech Republic from 2002-2009. The study gave special attention to the behaviour of wage distribution between men and women in the country and the gender dependence of gross monthly wages. A comparison of income level development in the Czech Republic with other member states of the European Union from 2005-2009 is presented.

Copyright of Nefrologia is the property of Revista Nefrologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The requirements for each entrepreneur are essentially the same, but the realities with are faced are different depending by variables that runs the business. Many people begin their careers without expecting to be involved in entrepreneurship, they accumulate over time, skills and knowledge that challenge them, eventually to exceed the limits previously imposed by themselves, while in other cases, the quality of entrepreneurs is that they start their careers. Whatever path they followed, responsibilities will be the same, although there is a higher probability of success for the gradual accumulation of responsibilities. High percentage of those who still have not validated the economic environment indicate the need to restructure the educational environment, the continuous adaptation of education offered to the market and the involvement of persons seeking employment or who are dissatisfied with what currently working in professional qualification courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aim: Aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of demographic factors (DGF) and socio-economic status (SES) on survival after pancreatic cancer resection in a German setting. Methods: Patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and pancreaticoduodenectomy were identified from our pancreatic resection database (1989–2008). DGF, SES, survival and tumor-related information were obtained from hospital records, a registry office questionnaire, and telephone interviews with patients, relatives and general practitioners. Results: Follow-up was completed in 117 patients. Median overall survival and 5-year survival rate was 22 month and 10%, respectively. Survival significantly improved over time with a 16% 5-year survival and a median survival of 27 month for recent patients. The longest survival period with a median of 63 month was observed for patients with AJCC stage I. Tumor-related factors and treatment period, but not SES influenced survival after pancreatic cancer resection in our cohort. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore survival from pancreatic cancer according to DGF and SES in a German setting. Disparities in survival among our patients depend solely on tumor-related factors and treatment period and could not be explained by SES including key factors like income or type of health insurance. The comparable postresection outcome of patients with low and high SES at our department could be in part due to the universal German multi-payer health system, based on compulsory enrolment for the majority, which seems not to support health care inequalities seen in other OECD countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Slovak Republic entered the ERM II in the end of 2005 whereby it came nearer to its strategic objective -- joining the euro area. In this paper we try to answer two questions. Section 1 examines the features and risks of the EMU. Is EMU an optimum currency area and what is the OCA scorecard of euro area? We conclude that euro area -- in spite of its indisputable benefits -- is rather a premature monetary union with asymmetric monetary policy effects and other policy asymmetries. Section 2 analyzes possible effects of the EMU on the Slovak economy. We examine the experience of other countries and compare their real convergence to average level of euro area before and after joining the EMU. The readiness of Slovak economy for euro adoption, possible obstacles on this uneasy way and the connection between income level, price level and real Convergence are analysed at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Selcuk University Social Sciences Institute Journal is the property of Selcuk University Social Sciences Institute Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Economic growth in China improves the quality of life and income-driven levels of consumption. However, environmental behaviours with regard to water and energy consumption, as well as wastes produced, which have significant impacts on sustainable cities, have scarcely been studied. A survey is conducted to interview about 300 residents in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, China. Analysis of both household consumption behaviour and the effectiveness of environmental policies shows a rough pattern of sustainable consumption of Chinese urban residents. This paper concludes that income level is a very significant variable for various sustainable consumption behaviours. The research results will contribute to the study of both sustainable consumption and environmental policy. Policy makers will benefit from the research results as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between municipal solid waste generation rates and income is assumed to be a direct and positive one. The present paper analyzes this relationship for 123 countries, based on data compiled by the United Nations. It was found that instead of a straight line, solid waste generation shows a curvilinear shape as income increases.The proposed model indicates a transitional pattern: as a country develops, its waste generation rate increases; then for middle and upper-income countries a transition takes place, in which waste generation and income show a very weak association, and for the wealthiest countries, their waste generation rates actually decrease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]