Poverty cannot be accurately measured using a single indicator because of its multidimensional nature. In recent years, considerable research has been conducted internationally on multidimensional poverty measurement. However, most research on poverty in Taiwan has focused primarily on unidimensional poverty measurement related to economic indicators. Therefore, this study explored multidimensional poverty in Taiwan by applying the Alkire Foster method. We also used the multidimensional poverty index (MPI), a composite measure of education, medical resources, environment, health, and standard of living. We found that the MPI was not overestimated when the incidence and intensity of multidimensional poverty were accounted for. The MPI substantially varied across different cities and counties and was high in South-Central Taiwan. Regarding decomposition, the contributions of deprivation in each dimension to overall poverty varied by region. The subgroup decompositions allowed us to identify each subgroup’s multidimensional poverty and compute the contribution of each subgroup to overall poverty.

Despite being home to 25% of the global burden of disease, sub- Saharan Africa only has 3% of the global health workforce. A major contributory factor to this lack of human resources for the health workforce includes the migration of health professionals to rich countries. Using nominal, ordinal and scale items, this paper investigates the migration intentions of West African health professionals, and the factors that are likely to predict their decision to emigrate. An online survey of 118 health professionals who participated in the Young Professional Internship Program (YPIP) of the West African Health Organization (WAHO) from 2005-2013 was undertaken. The response rate was 84.7% (100/118), of which 74% were public health officers and 26% were medical doctors. The results of the descriptive analysis show that health professionals intending to emigrate will generally do so for career development related factors. These include opportunities for career development, suitable job match, job promotion, and independent control of practice. Multiple regression analysis shows that variables such as gender, marital status, working hours, previous job tenure and country of previous job tenure, and source of job information are all significant predictors in their decisions to migrate (p ＜ 0.05). The migration intentions expressed in this study suggest high emigration potential among these West African health professionals, and calls for the development of effective interventions to reduce their brain drain from the West African health sector.

The booming metal craft industry in Tainan dates back to the period when Taiwan was under the Qing dynasty's rule. Back then, trading activities of gold and silver mainly congregated in contemporary Tainan City's central region. This study is based on the household registration book data, as generated from the first population census in the early Japanese occupation period between October 1905 and 1914. Historical methods are employed as auxiliary methods to explore the booming metal craft industry, the demographic composition of goldsmiths, settlements of goldsmiths, relationships between goldsmiths, and the ancestry of craftsmanship in Tainan’s most populous commercial district ＂Cross Avenue＂ (the current Tainan City's central region). Based on the research results, analysis was performed to determine the impacts of the then thriving commercial ports, the economy, people's habits, and migrants in the metal craft industry. As revealed by the research results, in the early Japanese occupation period, local Taiwanese goldsmiths were the major goldsmith group in Tainan City's central region, accounting for 93.7% of the entire goldsmith population. In particular, the largest percentage (85%) of goldsmiths resided in the modern-day Tainan City, as for the goldsmith in Japan and Mainland China, there was only 6.3%. In the early Japanese occupation period, several settlements of goldsmiths were formed in Tainan City's central region. In particular, Bamboo Street, which was neighboring ＂Cross Avenue,＂ was the highly concentrated zone for goldsmiths, followed by the region with a plethora of temple establishments. Most goldsmiths in Taiwan were either people from lineal or collateral relatives, landlord and tenant, or owner and apprentice, and the relationship of ＂coexisting＂ between Taiwanese and Chinese goldsmiths emerged owing to this occupation. Apparently, inheritance of the goldsmith skill was based on the bond between master and apprentice, relatives or clans. Other than Taiwanese predecessors' habits in everyday life, why the expensive metal craft industry has continued for over a century can be attributed to flourishing commercial ports, thriving economic development, and an extravagant and affluent atmosphere among residents, all of which were important sources of momentum for the metal craft industry's century-long foundations in Tainan.

Drawing on the observation of the spatial scale of community affected by studentification, this article tried to explain a contradiction stemming from a dominant doctrine that “developing a university town will inspire local developments through state regulation.” Recently, this doctrine was supported by the expansion of higher education institutes in Taiwan, which provided a reasonable excuse to develop new university towns in many cities. Following the suggestions of empirical studies on social division emerging due to studentification, this paper found that social segregation was a condition of the country landscape in southern Taiwan, resulting from the different identity between students at the new-build universities and inhabitants of communities near the universities. This paper argues that, those conditions, including the dualistic landscape formed by real estate investment, the students’ disregard for safety in public spaces, the stirring night economy triggered by students, and the student’s failure to cultivate a sense of community identity, established a two-sided situation between university students and others in the community, and exacerbated the lack of mutual concern between the two groups in the same community. This article concludes that the social segregation in studentified areas resulted from the personal character of university students, who deeply lacked the sense of belonging to the local community. The Key findings are that the immature way of life of incoming students, and their temporary stay as migratory birds acted as negative influences, which indeed denied the weak doctrine in studentified communities.

No abstract available.