|
on Central and South America |
|
Issue of 2007‒09‒24
four papers chosen by |
| By: | Jorge A. Paz; ; |
| Date: | 2007–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cem:doctra:355&r=lam |
| By: | Andrés Vecino Ortiz |
| Abstract: | Even though antenatal care is universally regarded as important, determinants of demand for antenatal care have not been widely studied. Evidence concerning which and how socioeconomic conditions influence whether a pregnant woman attends or not at least one antenatal consultation or how these factors affect the absences to antenatal consultations is very limited. In order to generate this evidence, a two-stage analysis was performed with data from the Demographic and Health Survey carried out by Profamilia in Colombia during 2005. The first stage was run as a logit model showing the marginal effects on the probability of attending the first visit and an ordinary least squares model was performed for the second stage. It was found that mothers living in the pacific region as well as young mothers seem to have a lower probability of attending the first visit but these factors are not related to the number of absences to antenatal consultation once the first visit has been achieved. The effect of health insurance was surprising because of the differing effects that the health insurers showed. Some familiar and personal conditions such as willingness to have the last children and number of previous children, demonstrated to be important in the determination of demand. The effect of mother’s educational attainment was proved as important whereas the father’s educational achievement was not. This paper provides some elements for policy making in order to increase the demand inducement of antenatal care, as well as stimulating research on demand for specific issues on health. |
| Date: | 2007–09–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:003979&r=lam |
| By: | Ricardo Paes de Barros; Mirela de Carvalho; Samuel Franco; Rosane Mendonça |
| Abstract: | Between 2001 e 2005, the degree of income inequality in Brazil declined sharply and continuously, reaching in 2005 the lowest level in the last 30 years. The Gini coefficient declined by almost 5%, and the ratio between the richest 20% and the poorest 20% declined more than 20%. This reduction on income inequality contributed to substantially reduce poverty and to improve the life?s conditions of the poorest, even in a period of relative per capita income stagnation. In spite of this decline, the degree of inequality in the country is steel extremely high. Therefore, it is essential that steps which are favorable to inequality reduction may be continued. In this way, it is essential to investigate the determinants of this recent decline in order to formulate more effective policies and interventions. In this paper, based on a series of counter factual simulations, we identify and quantify the contribution of proximately determinants responsible for this recent decline on inequality in Brazil. Between the findings we must highlight that around 50% of the decline on inequality resulted from the evolution of non labor income, although it represents less than 1/4 of the total income. Changes in the labor income explain around 1/3 of the observed decline on inequality, although it represents more than 3/4 of the total income. Finally, the reduction on the degree of association of these two sources of income also has an important role in the inequality decline. |
| Date: | 2007–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1253&r=lam |
| By: | Ricardo Paes de Barros; Mirela de Carvalho; Samuel Franco; Rosane Mendonça |
| Abstract: | In this study we document the contribution of the recent decline on income inequality to the income?s growth of the poorest and consequently to the reduction of poverty and extreme poverty in the country. First, we investigate the income growth of the poorest. We demonstrated that, between 2001 and 2005, the national income grew 0,9% a year, but the richest lost. The annual income growth rate of the richest 10% and 20% was negative (?0,3 and ?0,1, respectively). Then, once the national income grew, the poorest necessarily have perceived some gain. In fact, the income growth rate of the poorest 10% reached 8% a.a. Therefore, the 2001?2005 period register two desirable transformations in the Brazilian income distribution: there was growth (although very modest) and the degree of inequality reduced significantly (the Gini coefficient, for example, decline 4,6%). Next, we analyze the huge decline on poverty in this period. We demonstrated that, on the contrary to the history of the country, the recent decline on poverty essentially resulted from the decline of inequality. The percentage of poor and also the extremely poor fell down 4,5 percentage points each. The novelty is that in this period the main determinant was the inequality decline and not the income growth. Finally, we investigate the degree of substitution and complementation between growth and inequality reductions to fight against poverty. We demonstrated that to reach the same decline on poverty, just counting with growth, it would be necessary to increase the income of all families in 14,5%, and to reach the same decline on extreme poverty it would be necessary to increase the income of all families in 22%. |
| Date: | 2007–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1256&r=lam |