Search

One important and frequently raised issue about foreign direct investment (FDI) is its potentially environmental consequences. In recent years, as severe haze pollution has broken out worldwide, whether FDI inflows increase PM2.5 spillages in a country has sparked a new round of heated discussion. This study attempts to empirically investigate how FDI affects haze pollution in various countries, by employing a cross-country panel dataset during the period 2010–2017, and further to examine the interactive effect of environmental regulation and FDI in the FDI–pollution nexus. Based on a two-way fixed-effects model with robust standard errors, the estimation results show that FDI inflows significantly lead to an increase in PM2.5 exposure, therefore, confirming the validity of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis. Moreover, environmental regulation generally appears to be ineffective in directly reducing haze pollution but acts as an essential underlying mechanism in the relationship between FDI and haze pollution. Under the moderation of environmental regulation, the positive marginal effect of FDI on PM2.5 continues to decrease until it becomes negative. The findings suggest that countries, especially developing countries and emerging economies should consider a mix of policies to manage its inward FDI to achieve sustainable development in the post-financial crisis era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a common form of childhood maltreatment. Several studies have shown that CSA adversely affects the physical and mental health. Numerous studies have evaluated the prevalence of CSA among females using various instruments. In this meta-analysis, we estimated the rate of CSA among women using the short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire for the first time. Four databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase) were systematically searched for studies published as of April 2, 2018. Forty-eight articles (53 groups of samples) covering 22,224 individuals, including women, from 16 countries were selected. Using the random-effects model, the pooled overall rate of CSA was 24% (95% confidence interval [21%, 27%]). On subgroup analyses, the rate of female CSA in people with mental illness was higher than that in the general group; this result showed variability among different geographical regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]