Background: Several studies have demonstrated that self-rated health status is affected by socioeconomic variables. However, there is little knowledge about whether perceived economic resources affect people’s health. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between self-rated health status and different measures of income. Specifically, the effect of both objective income and perceived economic resources are estimated for a very large sample of households in Italy. By estimating this relationship, this paper aims at filling the previously mentioned gap. Methods: The data used are from the 2015 European Health Interview Survey and were collected using information from approximately 16,000 households in 562 Italian municipalities. Ordinary and generalized ordered probit models were used in estimating the effects of a set of covariates, among others measures of income, on the self-rated health status. Results: The results suggest that the subjective income, measured by the perceived economic resources, affects the probability of reporting a higher self-rate health status more than objective income. The results also indicate that other variables, such as age, educational level, presence/absence of chronic disease, and employment status, affect self-rated health more significantly than objective income. It is also found that males report more frequently higher rating than females. Conclusions: Our analysis demonstrates that perceived income affects significantly self-rated health. While self-perceived economic resources have been used to assess economic well-being and satisfaction, they can also be used to assess stress levels and related health outcomes. Our findings suggest that low subjective income adversely affects subjective health. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between effects of income and individuals’ perceptions of their economic resources or overall financial situation on their health. From a gender perspective, our results show that females are less likely to have high rating than males. However, as females perceive an improved economic situation, on the margin, the likelihood of a higher self-rated health increases compared to males.

Waste management policies aim to divert waste from lower positions on the waste hierarchy such as landfill and incineration to higher positions in the hierarchy such as energy recovery and recycling. However, empirical evaluations of such policies are scarce. This study highlighted the effect of waste management policies on the amount of waste treated with landfill, incineration, energy recovery and recycling by analysing a panel dataset consisting of 14 European countries and the period 1996 to 2018. Findings from a seemingly unrelated regression model suggest that the landfill ban is associated with a decrease in landfill waste, but an increase in incineration, energy recovery and recycling waste. The landfill tax is also correlated with an increase in energy recovery waste but, in contrast, it is associated with a reduction in incineration and recycling waste. Meanwhile, the deposit refund scheme is associated with a decrease in the amount of landfill waste. Concerning the effects on total waste generated, regression results from a fixed effects model indicate that the landfill tax and the deposit refund scheme are both correlated with a reduction in the amount of waste generated. These findings contribute to the scarce academic literature evaluating waste management policies and may better inform policy makers on their longer-term implications.

This paper examines the relationships among per capita CO₂ emissions, per capita GDP and international trade based on panel data spanning the period 1960–2008 for 150 countries. A distinction is also made between OECD and non-OECD countries to capture the differences of this relationship between developed and developing economies. We apply panel unit root and cointegration tests and estimate a panel error correction model. The results from the error correction model suggest that there are long-term relationships between the variables for the whole sample and for non-OECD countries. Finally, Granger causality tests show that there is bidirectional short-term causality between per capita GDP and international trade for the whole sample and between per capita GDP and CO₂ emissions for OECD countries.

Italy is facing high pressure to meet objectives to recycle waste and national waste management targets set by the European Union Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC; EC European Commission, 2008). However, waste collection and recycling waste costs pose major problems (addressed here) at municipal level for the Italian waste management system. The empirical literature on waste management has paid much more attention to demand-side aspects (reduction and discouragement of land disposal and promotion of recycling and recovery) than to supply-side issues such as analysis of waste management costs. This paper addresses the gap in this research field by estimating the cost function of providing waste collection and recycling services for Italian municipalities during the years 2011–2017. Specifically, we estimate cost elasticity and marginal costs to determine if there are economies of scale for recycling urban waste. Our findings suggest that increasing recycling rates would not substantially increase total costs for most of the municipalities, so recycling should be encouraged, especially for municipalities with low recycling rates. In particular, we observe that cost elasticity is higher in northern municipalities than in central and southern Italian municipalities. Our cost function exhibits economies of scale until a certain amount of recycled waste. The results provide insights into the cost structure of recycling that may lead to more efficient waste management.

The aim of this study is to explore the factors that influence the material footprint (MF), which represents the total amount of raw materials used in the production of goods and services. MF provides a more comprehensive measure of resource use across supply chains, capturing aspects of environmental degradation not addressed by conventional indicators. MF serves as a measure of material consumption across global supply-chain networks that connect production and consumption. Moreover, reducing the MF can promote efficient resource use and encourage sustainable production and consumption patterns. In this study, we explore what socioeconomic determinants affect MF in the European Union. We have utilized a dataset comprising observations from unbalanced panel data of 27 European countries spanning the period from 2000 to 2021. The main findings suggest that GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita, the industry share, fertility rate, and taxes contribute to an increase in MF, while the degree of urbanization, research and development (R&D), and resource productivity rate reduce MF. Our findings have policy relevance within the EU’s sustainability goals, providing insights into the factors that can drive resource efficiency as outlined in the Circular Economy (CE) Action Plan.