Asian Journal of Empirical Research

Age-weighted multidimensional women’s health deprivation in India: A PCA based state-union territory analysis with rural-urban differentials

Silpi Adhya — 2026-04-01

Gendered health disparities in India continue to persist due to deep-rooted social, cultural, and economic barriers that limit women’s access to adequate healthcare, nutrition, and social support throughout their lives. Conventional health indices often overlook the multidimensional and age-specific nature of women’s deprivation, necessitating the construction of an age-weighted Multidimensional Women’s Health Deprivation Index (MWHDI) using NFHS-5 data. This study applies Principal Component Analysis alongside the Alkire-Foster framework to measure and compare levels of deprivation across rural and urban areas in all states and Union Territories. The findings indicate moderate overall deprivation, with rural MWHDI (0.2322) marginally higher than urban (0.1896), highlighting persistent spatial disparities. Substantial regional differences emerge; Bihar, Manipur, and West Bengal demonstrate relatively better outcomes, while Goa, Mizoram, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu record higher levels of deprivation. Among Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Ladakh perform well, whereas Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir remain more deprived. The study underscores the importance of region-specific policy interventions to address these variations. Additionally, the age-weighted MWHDI reveals population sensitivity, being primarily influenced by the middle-aged cohort (20-39 years), which may obscure the heightened vulnerabilities and unmet health needs of elderly women.

De-dollarization in practice? Malaysian traders' openness to a BRICS-backed currency

Teoh Teng-Tenk Melissa — 2026-04-16

Following the growing imbalance and the aggravation of unipolarity in Western markets, the BRICS countries are proposing to develop a common BRICS-backed currency, hoping to rebalance the financial system and be more multipolar. Macro-level geopolitical factors and the level of support of global traders are key contributors to the success of this effort. This study aims to close the gap and focuses on businesses' micro-level perspective instead of emphasizing the geopolitical issues as in past literature. The objective is to investigate Malaysian traders' readiness to adopt a prospective BRICS-backed currency. A survey of 235 international businesses across diverse sectors was conducted and analyzed using binary logistic regression techniques via Python. More than half of these businesses are significant counterparts of BRICS, especially with China, but trades are transacted in USD, though almost all reported that they are exposed to foreign currency risk. The majority are willing to adopt a BRICS-backed currency, mostly because they want to mitigate the effects of U.S. economic policies and USD fluctuations. Companies that do most of their business with China are more than twice as likely to accept the proposed BRICS-backed currency. Malaysian traders see a BRICS-backed currency as a useful tool for risk reduction. Established trade networks and building a new accessible and effective currency are driving the progress of de-dollarization. Policymakers should focus on traders' real adoption decisions that shape the growth of an alternative financial framework. Companies linked to China are likely to be the first to do so.

Fiscal composition, state capacity, and the production of longevity: Macro-micro evidence from Kenya

Eric Ochieng — 2026-04-16

Public health spending is central to human capital formation, yet the role of fiscal composition in shaping longevity in Sub-Saharan Africa remains underexplored. This paper investigates the intertemporal trade-offs of health financing in a low-income African setting, focusing on Kenya, using a dual empirical strategy: A Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) of national time-series data (1981-2023) and region fixed-effects models on census microdata. Macroeconomic results reveal a structural bias in fiscal composition with implications for long-run state capacity. The recurrent health expenditure ratio shows a significant negative long-run association with life expectancy (β=-28.39,p<0.05). While recurrent spending improves short-run service delivery, it is capital accumulation through infrastructure, technology, and sanitation that shifts the longevity frontier. Micro-level analysis highlights distributional effects: recurrent spending interacts positively with maternal education (β=0.007,p<0.05) substituting for household human capital deficits and reducing child mortality among children of uneducated mothers. Female secondary education parity emerges as a binding macro constraint (β=250.71,p<0.001) suggesting diminishing returns to primary schooling. We also document a kinship dividend: higher dependency ratios protect child survival (β=-0.389,p<0.001) challenging conventional dependency-burden models and underscoring the role of extended family systems. Taken together, these findings support a twin-track fiscal strategy: governments should safeguard capital health investments to build long-run state capacity, while deploying recurrent expenditure strategically to mitigate inequality across regions and households.