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This chapter investigates how night-time light images acquired from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System provide spatial and temporal insight into the economic impact of the disintegration of Yugoslavia. First, the chapter provides an overview of the economic development in Yugoslavia using conventional statistics, and second, it presents an analysis of the disintegration of the federation by comparing official statistics with night-time light data. Evaluating the impact of the disintegration of Yugoslavia as a federation and the conflicts arising in the wake of the break up is challenging since reliable data is missing. Therefore, satellite images, as one of the few sources of objective information, are potentially of great importance. We used yearly Operational Linescan System composites covering the period 1992–2013. The analysis is divided into small geographical units (districts) based on the republics in the former Yugoslavia.

The anecdote of this paper is to bring the aid effectiveness debate to the sub-national level using the change in night lights as an alternative measure of economic activity. We observe non-robustness of results regarding the effects of aid types on development in antecedent literature to arise due to the effects of aid being treated as a unitary component. provoked by such insightful observation and literature deficiency we employed geocoded data to examine Causal links between the varying types of aid and local economic development in Malawi.

The main objective of the empirical examination is to examine the distributional effects of distinct aid types in local towns in Malawi. For that purpose, the authors thus have a panel dataset for each aid type indicator. Allowing for fixed time and town effects, the baseline light density growth regression model to estimate the effectiveness of disentangled aid on night light intensity was accomplished by employing a spatial dynamic panel data (SDPD) approach with instrumentation. Thus, panel regressions were performed to investigate both conceptual and policy implications.

Cross-city evidence shows that category aid type brings both negative and positive results depending on location within a country. There are cities and locations where certain aid type(s) does not matter whereas it matters most in some. This speaks to different levels of growth between different regions and cities in Malawi. As a result, we observe the size of the effect of distinct aid type(s) on economic activities to vary (increase/decrease) with the size of the location.

It may be interesting to generalize results from this study to a panel case over long periods of time using dynamic modelling with both threshold analysis and interaction effects Institutional factors need also to be includes in similar analyses. The authors leave this for a follow-up study. Second, the most immediate opportunity is application of the methodology to the other countries with geo-coded AidData. The authors expect to expand the analysis by taking into account other determinants of aid effectiveness at the local level, including the characteristics of donors and varieties of targeted development programmes.

Results in some geographical locations and towns indicate that the authors do not have sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis of the research study at 5% level. However, other geographical locations like Zomba indicate that aid category has a significant bearing on local economic growth. Therefore, as opposed to unitary aid approaches, we recommend distribution of relevant disentangled growth-enhancing aid type to specific administrative regions but with a bias toward smaller socially and economically deprived regions and towns.

The unique insight from this study is that foreign aid-growth benefits are symmetric and skewed toward large towns. If such unbalance aid-growth benefits anomalies are not addressed in a transparent manner it has the possibilities of promoting interregional migration which from Nielsen et al. (2011) and Findley et al (2011)'s evidence might trigger regional tensions and violent armed conflicts. Thus, there is need for equitable distribution of social and economic developmental aid free from political or ethnic inclination but based on transparent needs assessment model(s). Locations where social and developmental aid types seem to have negative or no effect serves as a salient indicator of aid leakages due to rent seeking tendencies of bureaucrats or weak institutions which ultimately pose welfare burden on citizens.

Apart from contributing to the extant literature on aid and economic growth, this paper relates to at least three other strands of research. First, the work partially answers a call by Minoiu and Reddy (2010), Schmid (2013) and Khomba and Trew (2019) for researchers to examine the growth effects of distinct aid types on local economic development. Second, the increase in aid volumes to Africa and the worsening of economic conditions has been the subject of considerable interest amongst development economists (e.g. Ravenhill, 1990; Lancaster, 1999; Easterly, 2003; Bräutigam and Knack, 2004 and Collier, 2006). This makes the use of a major aid recipient developing economy (Malawi) as a laboratory an anecdote. Third, use of disaggregated as opposed to unitary aid data with an African flavour.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of infrastructure on economic development in developing economies.

A panel data analysis approach is utilised to evaluate the influence of various types of infrastructure on economic development in Vietnam over the period 2003–2013. Specifically, this study uses spatial night-light data taken from NASA’s satellite as an alternative proxy for economic development.

The analyses indicate that infrastructure enhancement consistently exerts a positive effect on the economy. Upon further investigations of the channels through which infrastructure could affect economic development, the empirical results reveal, in addition, that the developmental impact of infrastructure tends to be stronger if more rigorous government supervision and oversight of the construction and delivery of infrastructure projects are in place to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the private sector’s investment in infrastructure facilities. Finally, the interaction of infrastructure with human capital appears to exert an especially important influence upon economic development.

This study contributes to the debate over whether infrastructure has a real developmental effect in developing countries. Some important policy implications are then drawn from the empirical analysis. As a result, this paper will be of value to other researchers, economists, business leaders and policy-makers attempting to understand the economic benefit of infrastructure development.

This case study documents the move to emergency virtual learning at the University of Johannesburg. Prefacing promoting social justice and care, the authors explain how key challenges unique to a university in a developing world context were considered. The findings highlight the importance of agility, adaptability and the role of Ubuntu (i.e. values of compassion, solidarity and sharing) in higher education institutional leadership in a crisis. Furthermore, the authors highlight the need to address how structural inequality and poverty impact the pace of technological infusion in higher education in the Global South.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a spatial model of population vulnerability (VI) capable of identifying areas of high emergency service demand (ESD) during extreme heat events (EHE).

An index of population vulnerability to EHE was developed from a literature review. Threshold temperatures for EHE were defined using local temperatures, and indicators of increased morbidity. Spearman correlations determined the strength of the relationship between the VI and morbidity during EHE. The VI was mapped providing a visual guide of risk during EHE. Future changes in population vulnerability based on future population projections (2020-2030) were mapped.

The VI can be used to explain the spatial distribution of ESD during EHE. Mapping future changes in population density/demography indicated several areas currently showing high risk will continue to show increased risk.

The limitations include using outdoor temperatures to determine health-related thresholds. Due to data restrictions three different measures of morbidity were used and aggregated to postal areas.

Identifying areas of increased service demand during EHE allows the development of proactive as-well-as reactive responses to heat. The model uses readily available data, is replicable in larger urban areas.

The model allows emergency service providers to work with high risk communities to build resilience to heat exposure and subsequently save lives.

To the authors’ knowledge this triangulated approach using heat thresholds, ESD and projected changes in risk in a spatial framework has not been presented to date.

From the perspective of land mortgages, the purpose of this paper is to understand how farmers can be motivated to utilize environment-friendly formula fertilizers, thereby reducing the use of chemical fertilizers.

Two hypotheses are empirically tested using questionnaire responses from 714 farmers across three provinces in China to establish the relationship and to determine the role land rent plays.

This study finds that farmers who obtain land mortgages will be more willing to apply formula fertilizers in order to obtain higher value of their “own” land. This is because obtaining land mortgages can be considered as the process of titling land management rights. Farmers who have been transferred the land by verbal agreement no longer need to worry about losing it at any time. Hence, they are willing to apply formula fertilizers on their transferred land. Similarly, farmers who have been transferred the land by written contract to obtain more land mortgages will also be willing because the formula fertilizers can not only improve the quality of their transferred land, but also increase its value as collateral. This mechanism is clearer in the area where the average land rent is relatively lower.

No study has yet linked the reform of land mortgages to environmentally friendly behavior. While other studies have focused on the way access to credit changes farmer investments and spending, this particular relationship has not yet been formalized, giving this study theoretical and empirical significance.

In the last 50 years, the Mediterranean Basin has experienced a doubling of its population. This demographic growth has been the cause of extensive land use changes that have undermined the ecological stability of large portions of its fragile ecosystems. The population of the Mediterranean countries is expected to grow by another 20 percent in the next 25 years, further increasing the pressure on the natural resources. In this paper, we present a methodology combining photosynthetic activity and human settlements both derived from satellite data for monitoring the effects of human settlements on the environment. We found photosynthesis decreasing as one moves from rural to urban settings in the north and increasing in the south Mediterranean countries. Regional scale assessments using this approach may help policy makers in designing appropriate measures to combat further environmental degradation.