Since third sector research emerged as a fully fledged inter-disciplinary academic field during the late 1980s, a separation has usually been maintained—in common with many other social science disciplines—between communities of researchers who are primarily concerned with the study of the third sector in rich Western countries and those who work on the third sector in the so-called ‘developing world’. While internationally focused researchers tend to use the language of ‘non-governmental organizations’, those in domestic settings usually prefer the terms ‘non-profit organization’ or ‘voluntary organization’, even though both sub-sectors share common principles and are equally internally diverse in terms of organizations and activities. While there has long been common-sense logic to distinguishing between wealthier and poorer regions of the world based on differences in the scale of human need, the ‘developed’ versus ‘developing’ category can also be criticized as being rather simplistic and unhelpfully ideological. As the categories of ‘developing’ and ‘developed’ countries become less clear-cut, and global inter-connectedness between third sectors and their ideas grows, this paper argues that we need to reconsider the value of maintaining these parallel worlds of research, and instead develop a more unified approach.

This article analyses the influence of national context on civil society strength based on four key dimensions: level of democracy, political stability, rule of law and economic development. Whereas existing studies mainly focus on Western and post-communist countries, we explicitly include developing countries in our analysis. We use associational membership as proxy for civil society strength and include data of 53 countries. Rule of law, economic development and (to a lesser extent) political stability emerge from our multilevel regression models as the main factors affecting civil society membership. Unlike previous studies, we show that these relations are quadratic instead of linear. This means that where existing theories predict a drop in memberships in developing countries, we find a rise. In other words, harsh conditions actually strengthen civil society in terms of membership levels. We argue that this could be the case because reasons for CSO membership are essentially different in the developed and in the developing world. Contrary to theoretical assumptions, democratic rights do not appear critically important for civil society membership.

In this article, the probability of opening to trade is related to a country's propensity to learn from other countries in its region. It is argued that countries have different motivations to learn, depending upon the responsiveness and accountability of their political regimes. Whereas democracies cannot afford to be dogmatic, authoritarian regimes are less motivated to learn from the experience of others, even if they embrace policies that fail. Using data on trade liberalisation for 57 developing countries in the period 1970–1999, it is found that democracies confronting economic crises are more likely to liberalise trade as a result of learning; among democracies, presidential systems seem to learn more, whereas personalist dictatorial regimes are the most resistant to learning from the experience of others.

The non-NGO literature provides evidence that employees’ perceptions about their organization’s support to them influences their commitment to the organization. NGOs, which have an increasing presence in developing countries, have not been a target for this type of organizational research. This cross-sectional study, based in a health NGO in Pakistan, examined relationship between employees’ perceived organizational support (POS) and their organizational commitment, and relationship between perceptions about organizational fairness, supervisor support, and job conditions with POS. The current organizational commitment literature guided the design of the survey tool. Focus group discussions were carried out at another health NGO to identify NGO and developing country specific items for inclusion in the survey tool. A total of 249 employees participated in the study, yielding a response rate of 96%. Factor analysis of the survey items indicated that the current scales used for measuring the study variables in the non-NGO sector were valid for the NGO sector as well. In addition, three new variables, namely female supportiveness, personal supportiveness, and favorableness of work conditions were assessed. Findings revealed that POS was significantly related with organizational commitment and actions, such as organizational fairness, supervisor support, and extrinsically satisfying job conditions. Female and personal supportiveness, which are generally ignored in developing countries on the pretext of limited resources and lack of organizational capacity to address them, were also found to be important in influencing POS.

Many volunteer organizations offer short-term international voluntary service (IVS) opportunities as an avenue for participants to provide aid and humanitarian relief in international communities. This study empirically examines four potential antecedents of IVS performance among short-term IVS participants in developing countries: IVS participants’ intention to serve in similar IVS roles in the future, whether their IVS is at their preferred geographic location, IVS participants’ prior experience in the host country, and their performance in the sending organization’s trainings prior to the IVS. Utilizing both analyses of variance and OLS regression analysis of 147 IVS participants across 18 developing countries, we find evidence that short-term IVS performance is positively associated with future intentions to participate in IVS, previously having visited the host country, and performance during pre-travel trainings. Further, we analyze 158 blog posts written by 19 sample IVS participants, which provides a unique ‘inside look’ into the relationship between host country language skills and IVS performance.

Societal concerns on the environmental impact of manufacturing activities in developing economies have intensified over the past decade. Open innovation (OI) has emerged as a promising approach to mitigate these adverse effects without compromising sustainable performance (SP). This primary aim of this study is to examine and evaluate the current state of research on OI and SP practices for further empirical studies in developing economies. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework, we systematically reviewed and analysed 108 articles from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect databases related to OI and SP practices. Our study highlights significant knowledge gaps in the relationship between OI and SP in manufacturing, noting a predominant focus on developed countries. This research contributes to the existing literature by identifying critical contextual and theoretical gaps, providing valuable insights and theoretical implications for future OI and SP research agendas in developing countries.

Negotiations by more than 180 States during the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) session 5.2 to develop a legally binding instrument with the purpose to end plastic pollution have, once again, concluded without a treaty. This is especially disastrous for developing States and marginalized peoples (such as indigenous communities and waste pickers), who are disproportionately suffering from plastic pollution. In this article, we show that developing States were underrepresented at the INC-5.2 negotiations in Geneva: Their delegations were on average only half as large (~5 delegates) when compared to delegations from Western European States (~13 delegates) and those from States with a high and very high Human Development Index (~10 delegates). In addition, more than 230 industry representatives participated in INC-5.2, exerting influence in diverse ways, both during official negotiations and through side events, organized by lobbying organizations. Finally, we discuss the importance of how treaty negotiations were organized: Simultaneously occurring negotiation formats (such as contact groups and informal meetings) put smaller delegations at a disadvantage, causing procedural injustice, which falls under the responsibility of the INC Secretariat.

This study aimed to adapt and validate the Mental Health Support Scale (MHSS) for Chile and Argentina, hypothesising that it would correlate positively with mental health literacy, negatively with stigma measures, and differ by mental health first aid (MHFA) training history. The MHSS involves the ‘Intended’ scale (assessing intended support) and the ‘Provided’ scale (evaluating actual help), capturing recommended and not-recommended actions. The scales were translated into Spanish, piloted with 17 adults to explore cultural relevance, and validated with 554 Chilean and Argentinian adults using concurrent measures of stigma, social distance and mental health literacy. Factor analysis of the MHSS-Intended identified a recommended factor (16 items) and a not-recommended factor (5 items). The recommended factor correlated positively with mental health literacy (r = 0.19) and negatively with weak-not-sick stigma (r = −0.16) and social distance (r = −0.16). Support scores significantly discriminated between participants with and without MHFA training (recommended d = 0.99, not-recommended d = 1.35) and within participants pre- and post-MHFA training (recommended d = 0.90, not recommend d = 0.47). Overall, the adapted MHSS demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties and is a promising tool for evaluating mental health first aid support in Chile and Argentina.

This study estimates productivity losses resulting from intellectual decrement due to paediatric lead exposure in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The published literature on blood lead levels in LMICs was reviewed and summarised. Intelligence Quotient decrement and consequent productivity losses were calculated for a one-year cohort of 5-year-old children in each country. We calculated the present value of lifetime earnings as the discounted average earning potential for workers in a specific economy. Blood lead level (BLL) data for children were available for 39 countries and could be interpolated for additional 82 countries, resulting in 121 countries in the final analysis. Total lead-attributable productivity losses in LMICs ranged from USD 305 billion in our high discount scenario to USD 499 billion in our low discount scenario for each one-year cohort of 5-year-old children (2019 USD). As a share of GDP, these costs ranged from 0.7 to 4.2% by region, depending on discount scenario used. Total economic impacts were generally consistent with previous estimates and further validate those efforts with a substantially expanded dataset. Differences in the findings resulted primarily from the use of a more conservative dose–response model in the present study. Improved reporting of BLLs is essential and could be facilitated through a centralised registry of study results.

As the UNCITRAL Working Group III is deliberating on an appellate mechanism for investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), this article analyzes the debate surrounding the necessity and feasibility of such an appellate mechanism. It highlights the political and practical issues in establishing such an appellate mechanism, drawing on its comparison with the WTO Appellate Body. Emphasizing the need to balance the interests of developed and developing countries, this article argues that the absence of a structured method in the existing proposals to evaluate equal representation and fairness in the institutional design for the appellate mechanism poses significant challenges. The article makes specific proposals to address such challenges as the financial burden on developing countries, the risk of procedural delays, and the requirement for impartial and diverse tribunal composition. These considerations underscore the critical need to balance party autonomy with centralized oversight and ensure that procedural reforms do not unintentionally disadvantage developing nations.

Modern Western diets, characterised by a substantial proportion of kilocalories derived from ultra-processed foods (UPF), have been associated with systemic inflammation. This study examines the association between UPF consumption and inflammation, assessed through alterations in C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations, among Brazilian adolescents. This is a cross-sectional study involving a sub-sample of 6316 adolescents aged 12–17 years, participants in the Study of Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents (ERICA), from seven capitals in Brazil. Dietary intake was assessed using a 24-hour recall, and foods were categorised based on their degree of processing according to the NOVA classification. UPF consumption was then divided into quartiles. For CRP evaluation, blood samples were collected after a 12-hour fasting period and categorised as > 3 mg/l, indicating low-grade inflammation. Poisson regression models with robust variance were employed to assess the association between UPF consumption and high CRP concentrations. High UPF consumption (highest quartile, ≥ 44·9 % kcal/d) was slightly associated with a higher prevalence of CRP after adjusting for potential confounders (prevalence ratio = 1·039; 95 % CI: 1·006, 1·073), compared with those in the lowest quartile of UPF consumption. However, when evaluating different groups of UPF separately (such as sugary beverages, processed meats and sweets), the previous association was no longer observed. These findings suggest a modest association between overall UPF consumption and early indicators of unhealthy low-grade inflammation in adolescents. Further experimental and cohort studies are necessary to clarify the role of UPF in inflammatory processes.

People with severe mental illness (SMI) are at greater risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes than the general population, due to a higher prevalence of health risk behaviours. Research is needed to inform tailored interventions to improve the health behaviours (diet, physical activity and sleep) of people with SMI in South Asia as these behaviours are closely linked to obesity. The study aimed to explore the barriers and facilitators to healthy diet, physical activity and good sleep among individuals with SMI. A qualitative design was employed using photovoice, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Participants included 16 people with SMI, 16 caregivers and 17 health professionals in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Data were analysed thematically, informed by the socio-ecological framework. A complex interplay of individual, familial and societal factors influenced these health behaviours. Individual factors include knowledge, beliefs and mental health limitations. Caregivers play a crucial role in influencing behaviour. At the societal level, gender expectations, financial constraints and religious influences significantly impact these behaviours. The insights from this research can inform tailored interventions for this vulnerable group and highlight the need for integrated services, financial support and improved urban planning.

This study examines the heterogeneous effects of economic freedom on human capital accumulation across 83 developing countries between 2000 and 2018. Employing a range of econometric techniques including quantiles via moments regression, the analysis explores both average and distributional impacts of economic freedom on human capital, disaggregated by gender and employment status. The findings reveal that economic freedom positively influences human capital development, with stronger effects in countries with lower human capital levels. Among the five dimensions of economic freedom, freedom to trade internationally, legal systems, and property rights are most strongly associated with human capital accumulation. The results also indicate that women and employed individuals benefit more from economic freedom, highlighting its potential to reduce gender disparities and enhance labour productivity. These findings underscore the importance of institutional reforms promoting economic freedom as a pathway to human capital development in developing economies.

Youth depression is a critical target for early intervention due to its strong links with adult depression and long-term functional impairment. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like the Philippines, limited epidemiological data hampers mental health service planning for youth. This study analyzed nationally representative survey data from 2013 (n = 19,178) and 2021 (n = 10,949) to estimate the prevalence of moderate to severe depressive symptoms (MSDS) among Filipinos aged 15–24 years, using the 11-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Survey-weighted analyses revealed that MSDS prevalence more than doubled from 9.6% in 2013 to 20.9% in 2021. The rise was most pronounced among females (10.8% to 24.3%), non-cisgender or homonormative individuals (9.7% to 32.3%), youth with primary education or less (10.8% to 26.5%), youth from economically disadvantaged households (10.6% to 25.1%) and youth who were separated, widowed or divorced (18.3% to 41.3%). Disparities in MSDS also widened over time, with some groups bearing a disproportionate burden. These findings underscore the need to expand accessible, high-quality mental health services for youth in LMICs, such as the Philippines. Continued monitoring and targeted interventions are essential to address the rising burden of depression, particularly among underserved and disproportionately affected groups.