A Cross-Country Analysis of the Risk Factors for Depression at the Micro and Macro Level

Past research has provided evidence of the role of some personal characteristics as risk factors for depression. However, few studies have examined jointly their specific impact and whether country characteristics change the probability of being depressed. In general, this is due to the use of single-country databases. The aim of this paper is to extend previous findings by employing a much larger dataset and including the country effects mentioned above. The paper estimates probit models with country effects and explores linkages between specific environmental factors and depression using data from the 2007 Gallup Public Opinion Poll. Findings indicate that depression is positively related to being a woman, adulthood, divorce, widowhood, unemployment and low income. Moreover, there is evidence of the significant positive association between inequality and depression, especially for those living in urban areas. Finally, some population’s characteristics facilitate depression (age distribution and religious affiliation).Depression, Health, Well-being, Cross-country research

Religion

The present paper is a first attempt to measure and explain, from an economic perspective, the religious behavior of uruguayans (women in this stage), and compare the results with those obtained for some Latin American and developed countries. In this first stage, the efforts were concentrated in the interpretation of the religious behavior from an microeconomic perspective, considering the individual decision about church attendance and its frequency. With this aim, we analyze the relation between the religious degree of the individuals (measured through a variable created combining two questions of the used surveys: Are you religious? How often do you go to the temple?) and diverse personal characteristics such as age, education, marital status, among others (solely for women from 25 to 54 years old in the case of Uruguay). We confirmed that uruguayans are less religious than the people of the other countries considered (Chile, Spain, Mexico and the United States), that the religious activity is more intense for women and older people, and that the education level have an ambiguous effect on the intensity of the religious activity. In addition, in the case of Uruguay, greater levels of deprivation imply greater levels of religious activity.church attendance, religion, religious activity, religion and socioeconomic variables.

Privación y pobreza en Uruguay (1989-97)

The purpose of this paper will be to study the evolution of inequality and poverty in Uruguay between 1989 and 1997. We found that from 1991 there was an increase wage inequality in Uruguay and poverty changed little, decreased until 1993 and then increased and deprivation increased. Near a half of poor people in Uruguay are children and old people contribute very little to poverty.poverty, deprivation

Individual s religiosity enhances trust: Latin American evidence for the puzzle

This paper explores the effect of religious observance and affiliation to the dominant religion (Catholicism) on trust in institutions, towards others and market attitudes. The analysis is performed using a Latin American database of twenty thousand respondents from 2004 by means of ordered probit models. The most interesting results are: i) Trust toward others is positively correlated with religious observance and with Catholic affiliation. ii) There is a positive correlation between trust in the government, in the police, in the armed forces, in the judiciary and in the banking system and religious practice in general. Identical positive results are obtained for Catholic affiliation. iii) Correlations with attitudes toward the market, in general, are heterogeneous but never negative. In sum, individual s level of religiosity crucially affects trust in institutions and toward peers. We also found that Catholicism encourages both trust in institutions and towards others. Thus, we found a positive effect of religiosity on social capital. In fact, we never found any negative (and significant) effect on the variables considered.trust in institutions, economic behavior, religious practise, Catholics.

Trust and Confidence in Institutions: Religious Beliefs and Educational Attainment

The main objective of the paper is the analysis of intergenerational or cultural transmission of religious values during adolescence in order to explain interpersonal trust and confidence in institutions in adulthood. Trust and confidence in institutions outcomes are examined using the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) 2008 Religion III survey. Overall, the results are in line with previous literature: religious intensity and educational attainment are significantly and positively correlated with trust and confidence in institutions. When instrumental variables are used, the results suggest that religious engagement does not significantly explain interpersonal trust though it is significantly related to confidence in institutions

A Cross-Country Analysis of the Risk Factors for Depression at the Micro and Macro Level

Past research has provided evidence of the role of some personal characteristics as risk factors for depression. However, few studies have examined jointly their specific impact and whether country characteristics change the probability of being depressed. In general, this is due to the use of single-country databases. The aim of this paper is to extend previous findings by employing a much larger dataset and including the country effects mentioned above. The paper estimates probit models with country effects and explores linkages between specific environmental factors and depression using data from the 2007 Gallup Public Opinion Poll. Findings indicate that depression is positively related to being a woman, adulthood, divorce, widowhood, unemployment and low income. Moreover, there is evidence of the significant positive association between inequality and depression, especially for those living in urban areas. Finally, some populations characteristics facilitate depression (age distribution and religious affiliation)

El arte y el éxito: un matrimonio incómodo

In this paper we analyze the correlation between measures of success (number of recordings, artistic income) over a sample of performing musicians. We obtain that women tend to record more than men but earn less artistic income; measures of success are correlated positively with broad measures of general and specific human capital; outcomes also display significant variation explained by artistic genre and occupation.

The level of satisfaction with life: evidence gathered among women from Greater Montevideo

This work constitutes a first exploration on the information about people s satisfaction levels in Uruguay. In particular, it intends to analyse the relationship between the level of satisfaction with life and other variables in a sample of women from 25 to 54 years old in Greater Montevideo. Many of the results obtained, such as the positive relationship between educational level and the variable analysed, are consistent with those found in other countries.women, happiness

Participación femenina en el mercado de trabajo: efectos sobre la distribución del ingreso en el Uruguay

En este trabajo se analiza como ha impactado la mayor articipación femenina en el mercado de trabajo uruguayo sobre la equidad durante el período comprendido entre 1986 y 1997. El estudio se realiza para Montevideo y para el Resto del País Urbano. Los resultados, obtenidos a partir de la Encuesta Continua de Hogares (ECH) del Instituto Nacional de Estadística, indican que todas las fuentes contribuyen en forma positiva a la desigualdad total por hogar, lo cual es debido a que todas tienen una correlación positiva con el ingreso del hogar. Pero al analizar como han evolucionado las ontribuciones de las distintas fuentes a lo largo del período se encuentran resultados diferentes para Montevideo e Interior.

Evolución de las diferencias salariales entre el sector público y el sector privado en Uruguay

Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo: i) el estudio de la evolución del diferencial de salarios entre el sector público y privado y, ii) analizar el impacto en la distribución del ingreso de dicha evolución. Las principales conclusiones del trabajo son: -El salario promedio por hora es mayor en el sector público que en el privado. -El salario base es sustancialmente mayor en el sector público que en el privado, no obstante los retornos al capital humano son mayores en el sector privado. Se observa una variación importante de las diferencias en el salario base a partir de 1996. -La descomposición de las diferencias salariales entre públicos y privados muestran una ventaja total para los públicos a partir de 1996. -La desigualdad salarial es siempre mayor en el sector privado que en el sector público. En el período considerado se encuentra un cambio importante en cuanto a la contribución de cada sector a la desigualdad total. Aumenta de manera notoria la explicación de la desigualdad total por parte de los salarios públicos.wages, differentials, labor market, public