The study examines the convergence patterns of real healthcare expenditure per capita (RHEPC) for 43 countries of sub-Saharan African (SSA) from the period 2000 and 2017. Conventional absolute and conditional β-convergence models are first applied. Several factors such as income, democracy, urbanisation and ageing population are found to significantly affect relative RHEPC (RRHEPC) within the conditional β-convergence model. The speed of convergence of RRHEPC is higher for the conditional β-convergence model than the absolute β-convergence one. In general, β-convergence and σ-divergence are detected while no support for the stochastic convergence hypothesis is uncovered. These neoclassical models impose restrictive assumptions that countries follow the same growth path. As such the dynamic distribution approach proposed by Quah is applied to analyse the dynamics of RRHEPC. This is followed by the club convergence test as proposed by Phillips and Sul which allows individual countries to follow distinctive growth paths. Both convergence tests point towards the existence of three clubs. In sum, we find strong evidence of divergence of RHEPC among the 43 SSA countries. Policy implementations based on model results are discussed while several aspects of policy reforms in the healthcare sector within the African continent are highlighted.

Background: Tomato yellow leaf curl disease (TYLCD), which is caused by the genus Begomovirus, is basically transmitted by the vector whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (B. tabaci). It remains a destructive disease of tomato across the world. The disease is present in many tomato growing countries, and it has a broad geographical distribution. The population and distribution of the vector are therefore an important factor in disease spread. This study assesses the determinants of the relationship between climatic factors and whitefly population. A thorough search of relevant papers was first initiated, and eventually 16 articles with 142 estimates were selected. A meta-regression analysis, especially the random-effects model with a restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimator, was applied.

Results: Summarization of effect sizes revealed a mean effect size for the study of r = 0.15. The forest plot suggested a significant amount of study heterogeneity. No evidence of significant publication bias was uncovered. The meta-analysis revealed that the population of whiteflies was significantly related to climatic independent variables such as maximum and minimum temperature and rainfall. Other factors such as altitude, number of symptoms, pesticide policy, type of soil, number of references, impact factor and publication status were found to significantly influence the effect sizes.

Conclusions: Whiteflies are playing a major role in spreading the TYLCD. Several factors were identified to have a significant impact on the climatic conditions-whitefly population nexus. Since climatic factors, altitude, existing pesticide laws and type of soil were found to have a significant impact on the effect sizes, agricultural management policies could be enacted by specifically considering those factors in a view to minimize the impact of whiteflies. In general, all the above factors could be considered in strategy to manage TYLCD.

A free universal healthcare provision exists in Mauritius. Yet the share of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure out of total household expenditure has been growing over time. This study estimates income elasticity of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure using Mauritian household data within an Engel curve framework. In the absence of longitudinal data on out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure patterns, the study proposes the application of the pseudo-panel approach using cross-sectional Household Budget Survey waves from 1996/97 to 2017. Income elasticity of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure is estimated to be 0.938, which is just below unity. This implies that out-of-pocket healthcare demand is not considered to be a luxury, but a necessity in Mauritius. In order to see the differences in income elasticities by income groups, separate regressions are estimated for each income quartile over different years. The results indicate that income elasticities of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure vary non-monotonically.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess the determinants of willingness to pay to enhance pandemic preparedness in Mauritius.

Study design: A contingent valuation method is used to estimate willingness to pay to pay for enhancing pandemic preparedness using a sample of working people in Mauritius.

Methods: A two-phase decision process analysis is carried out to model the willingness to pay to enhance pandemic preparedness. The first phase is to analyse the respondents' decision of whether or not to pay for enhancing pandemic preparedness using a Probit model. The second phase is to estimate the determinants of the amount of money respondents are willing to pay using a Tobit model.

Results: Income earners are willing to pay an average of Rs. 1,900 (approximately USD 50) per annum to enhance pandemic preparedness. ‘Perceived Response Efficacy’, ‘Awareness of the Need and Responsibility for Paying’, ‘Subjective Obligation to Pay’ and the ‘Theory of Planned Behaviour’ are found to affect both stages of of the decision-making process. Knowledge on COVID-19 is found to have a positive impact on the decision to pay and health responsibility attitude is found to have a negative impact on the amount people are willing to pay.

Conclusions: On average, the government can potentially expect to mobilise an additional Rs. 1,047,470,000 (USD 27,565,000) from taxpayers to spend on enhancing pandemic preparedness in Mauritius. To increase willingness to pay for enhanced pandemic preparedness, the government can focus on improving knowledge on a pandemic, perceived response efficacy and awareness on need and responsibility of paying.

Mauritius has a universal free healthcare system, based on the Beveridge model which is financed by taxpayers. There are growing considerations over improving quality of healthcare services. The purpose of the study is to employ a contingency valuation (CV) to investigate the willingness of Mauritians people to pay to improve the quality of public healthcare services and the associated determinants using the double-bounded dichotomous choice model. A drop off survey with a sample size of 974 respondents from the working population is used. The empirical analysis shows that the majority of the sample was willing to pay for improving quality of public healthcare services. Other than the conventional determinants of respondents’ demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, the findings support the assertion that psycho-social constructs such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Norm-Activation, Public Good Theory, and Perceived Response Efficacy are found to significantly affect Willingness-to-Pay (WTP). The results of this study might be of use to policymakers to help with both priority setting and fund allocation.

The Mauritian Flying Fox (Pteropus niger), familiar as Greater Mascarene Flying Fox (Mauritius Fruit Bat), a large bat species common to Mauritius and La Ré-union. Mauritian Flying Fox is vulnerable to extinction due to lack of concern in their conservation, particularly when they are perceived as a threat to urban life. Preservative initiatives among the public are subject to awareness and perception. Assessment of public attitude and perception in the case of elusive animals is quite challenging. The paper examines public awareness, experience and threat encountered, perception, willing to preserve Mauritian Flying Fox, along with significant socio-demographic factors. NEP scale is used to test the willingness to accept these mammals. Using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire, a drop-off survey is conducted. The response rate is satisfactory (KMO and Bartlet: significant at 0.5, 0.7, 0.7, and 0.8) and suitable for further analysis. Factor Analysis (FA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is computed followed by a path diagram. Contingency Valuation Method (CVM) is used to test the respondent’s willingness (Willingness to Accept) in preserving these mammals. Respondents are having decent information about the ecosystem and perceived these mammals positively, while few respondents have an adverse approach towards these mammals and support culling. This may be due to ignorance and lack of awareness in the ecological system. The study indicates that the conservation success of Mauritian Flying Fox mainly depends on good awareness programs among the community. Positive perception and attitude mend the willingness to preserve these mammals. The findings of this study recommend more holistic approaches to wildlife conservation (Mauritian Flying Fox) that integrate simultaneously knowledge, attitude, perception, and willingness to preserve wildlife perfection.

Purpose and background

Goa is in western India with shorelines along the Arabian Sea which has a long history of a Portuguese colony (earlier to 1961) with tropical spice plantations and cathedrals. With oscillating widespread beaches (Calangute and Palolem) Goa is a tourist attraction (Velha, Panaji) for many locals and foreigners. As a separate state, it has its perspectives in enticing the tourists. The study aims at examining the pre and post-visit behaviors of tourists in Goa and their destination loyalty. Destination loyalty is tested with internal and external satisfaction factors and their influence on tourist satisfaction. Internal factors tested are refreshment, excitement, a new destination to see, visiting friends and relatives. External factors include liking towards nature and historic destinations, infrastructure and facilities, safety and comfort, budget and affordability, and socio-cultural factors. Loyalty is understood on the tourist behavior of revisit to Goa and their goodwill towards Goa tourism destination experience.

Research design/methodology/approach

The data is collected from 950 respondents, including local and international tourists who visited Goa during 2018 and 2019. Well, a structured questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale developed en route for data collection. The questionnaires are administered through a drop-off survey. Most advanced techniques of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is designed for the data analysis using software IBM SPSS AMOS. SEM is considered as the most reliable technique for testing the factors in-depth in understanding the crucial components that are manipulating each other. Data is cleaned with Data Imputing Technique, tested for reliability and suitability (KMO and Bartlett- 0.709; Cronbach s Alpha, 0.764), additional precautions are taken in identifying the outliers to avoid inconvenience while computing the data. All the beaches in Goa, Tourist Destinations, Resorts, Hotels, Clubs and Amusement parks, Homestays, Shopping malls, and the pilgrimages are plotted for data collection. The techniques adopted for examining the rapport among the constructs of tourist satisfaction and their loyalty in the Post-Visit stages of their visit to Goa using the concepts of Intrinsic and Extrinsic influencing factors of travel. Demographic/Psychographic [IAO variables; Interests, Activities, and Opinions] profile of the respondents is introduced as a control variable to identify whether there is a direct or inverse correlation on the dependent variable, Tourist Loyalty.

Results and findings

The results are directing that the pre-visit behavior (Intrinsic motives and extrinsic motives) can act as a stimulus for post-visit behavior, which has a direct effect on post-visit (behavioural) intention but has no intervening influence. Re-visit choice and references are generally grounded on destination satisfaction and familiarity. Also, being an education hub, it is found that there are more visitors to Goa on academic, research, or professional purposes. The study indicated that constructive socio-demographic variables hold a momentous impact on tourists’ pre-visit actions. Moreover, the result of the ‘post-visit‘ model indicates that internal satisfaction has a constructive influence on destination loyalty, as compared to external satisfaction.

Conclusion, implications, and further research

Concerning this, the study concludes that internal satisfiers has an impact on external satisfiers and accentuates destination loyalty. The study strongly recommends for the service providers to study the tourist behavior and their preferences and act accordingly to attract more tourist customers to Goa.

The threatened Mauritian Flying Fox (Pteropus niger) has been facing repeated mass-culling since 2015 due to the perceived damage to commercial fruits. The significant reduction in numbers from that period had led to its International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Status being up-listed to endangered status. The purpose of the study is to employ a contingency valuation method (CVM) to determine the factors influencing the decision to contribute and how much to contribute for conserving the Mauritian Flying Fox by the Mauritian public in the midst of the human-wildlife conflict (HWC). A household drop-off survey with a sample size of 525 observations was employed. Favourable environmental attitudes, higher perceived ability to contribute (PAC), better knowledge about bats, higher aesthetic value of bats and lower negativistic attitudes towards bats were found to increase the probability of contributing to the conservation of the species. Conditional on these results, individuals with higher knowledge about bats and perceived ability to contribute were found willing to pay more for conserving the species. The findings help us to draw attention on the perspective of supporting a preservation fund for the Mauritian Flying Fox.

Small Island, Mauritius is adopting drastic changes with reference to technology. The prime focus of extant study is exploratory in nature and trying to examine the relationship between the factors that are inspiring Mauritian consumers and customers to go with technology and technological advances that are user friendly. E-banking services are one among them. Also, try to test which of the dimensions has the strongest potential in influencing ‘e-customer’. This study focuses mainly on perception of the customer, e-banking adoption motif, ‘e-banking satisfaction’ and ‘quality’ of ‘e-banking services’ in Mauritius. Primary data is collected with the help of drop-off survey and were statistically analysed with the help of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and ordered probit and logit regressions. The empirical evidences of this study reveals, reliability, responsiveness, secured transaction, comfort, efficiency, dependence and ease-of-use has a striking impact on the ‘customer satisfaction’ and e-loyalty. With these findings, for Mauritian content, ‘electronic banking’ would be indispensable ‘banking service’ that can be, provided, well executed to improve ‘e-customer satisfaction’ and ‘e-customer loyalty’ to sustain goodwill of the e-banking customers. Relative importance and service quality of e-banking technology at Maurtius would support the banking industry to motivate the customers.

Recent years, the idea of shopping online has become a necessity than a luxury. The singularities of online shopping are budding considerably. The players of this inclination show that there is still a huge possible demand for these shopping trends. There are many contributing factors that are influencing these behaviours. This study intends to scrutinize the contributing factors that are persuading the customers and consumers to opt for online shopping in Mauritius. The sample size is from the respondents having exposure to online shopping or e-stores. The primary data collected through survey with the help of well-designed questionnaire (5-point Likert scale), with SERVQUAL, CDMM and OSAM models. The data is analysed to test the hypothesis and model fit using AMOS. From the findings and conclusion of this study, it is understood that there is a significant influence of personality traits (SERVQUAL), Internet knowledge, purchase intention and experience, followed by post-purchase satisfaction (OSAM, CDMM). The contribution of this study for corporate academics and existing literature is very stimulating for further research, being first and pioneer in Mauritius.