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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2020‒08‒24
four papers chosen by |
| By: | Lima, Everton; Vilela, Estevão; Peralta, Andrés; Rocha, Marília Gabriela; Queiroz, Bernardo L (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil); Gonzaga, Marcos Roberto; Freire, Flávio; Piscoya, Mario |
| Abstract: | BACKGROUND The covid-19 pandemic has considerably affected the mortality numbers of many countries in the world, and Latin America is now the epicenter of the diseases. There is a great demand on analyzing the impact of this new disease in the amount of deaths, but available information of deaths by cause is still lacking in most of the countries in the region. OBJECTIVE We aimed to measure the effects of the disease on mortality, using excess mortality, in two Latin America countries that were most affected by the covid-19 pandemic in the region: Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. METHODS We measured the effects of the pandemic by looking at the excess mortality, and comparing estimates of differences in the average number of deaths, variation coefficients and percentages of deaths between the months of March to May for 2019 and 2020. RESULTS Our findings indicated an excess of deaths initially in major cities, but then is spreading towards the least urbanized areas. In the next phase, pandemic will probably affect countries’ cities in worse socioeconomic and sanitary conditions. In Ecuador, we saw that the most affected locations were the less socioeconomic areas of the country. CONCLUSION Despite the lack of information on causes of death, the excess of deaths is a good indicator for measuring the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the context Latin America countries. We find strong evidence of the pandemic’s impact and interiorization, especially in Brazilian cases. CONTRIBUTION This study provides an initial discussion of the effects of pandemic in small and less urbanized areas of Brazil and Ecuador. |
| Date: | 2020–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:xhkp4&r=all |
| By: | Bogliacino, Francesco (Universidad Nacional de Colombia); Gómez, Camilo Ernesto (Centro de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo); Grimalda, Gianluca |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of psychological trauma and negative economic shocks on pro-social behavior in victims of violence in Colombia’s capital. Trauma positively affects pro-sociality in a first experiment, with a (randomly administered) recall of fearful situations having differential effects on people highly or lowly exposed to violence. This effect replicates in a second experiment, where both trauma and economic shock are found to induce pro-social behavior. Participants significantly favor same-district residents in the first experiment but not in the second. We fail to find significant support for various mechanisms posited to mediate the effect of trauma on pro-sociality. |
| Date: | 2020–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:wqst7&r=all |
| By: | Ana Maria Diaz (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana); Luz Magdalena Salas (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana); Ana María Tribín-Uribe (Banco de la República de Colombia) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect on sexual violence of Colombia’s recent peace negotiation between the government and the FARC insurgency. Using a matcheddifference-in-differences identification strategy, we find a significant reduction in sexual violence, measured as the count of sexual assaults per 100 thousand inhabitants, two years after the peace process was signed. During conflict, the rate of sexual violence was higher in municipalities with former FARC activity in contrast with municipalities in peace and remained higher immediately after the peace process was signed. However, two years after the signing of the agreement, the incidence of sexual assaults reduced significantly in the former FARC municipalities. **** RESUMEN: Este artículo estudia el efecto sobre la violencia sexual de la reciente negociación de paz de Colombia entre el gobierno y la insurgencia de las FARC. Usamos el método de diferencia en diferencias emparejadas como estrategia de identificación y encontramos una reducción significativa en la violencia sexual, medida como recuento de agresiones sexuales por cada 100 mil habitantes, dos años después de la firma del proceso de paz. Durante el conflicto, la tasa de violencia sexual fue mayor en los municipios que solían tener actividad armada de las FARC en contraste con los municipios sin presencia de este grupo y se mantuvo alta inmediatamente después de que se firmó el proceso de paz. Sin embargo, dos años después de la firma del acuerdo, La incidencia de agresiones sexuales se redujo significativamente en los antiguos municipios de las FARC. |
| Keywords: | Sexual assaults, demobilization, FARC, Colombia, Peace Process, postconflict, violencia sexual, desmovilización, FARC, Colombia, proceso de paz, post-conflicto. |
| JEL: | D72 D74 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:1124&r=all |
| By: | Sascha O. Becker; Jared Rubin; Ludger Woessmann |
| Abstract: | This paper surveys the recent social science literature on religion in economic history, covering both socioeconomic causes and consequences of religion. Following the rapidly growing literature, it focuses on the three main monotheisms—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—and on the period up to WWII. Works on Judaism address Jewish occupational specialization, human capital, emancipation, and the causes and consequences of Jewish persecution. One set of papers on Christianity studies the role of the Catholic Church in European economic history since the medieval period. Taking advantage of newly digitized data and advanced econometric techniques, the voluminous literature on the Protestant Reformation studies its socioeconomic causes as well as its consequences for human capital, secularization, political change, technology diffusion, and social outcomes. Works on missionaries show that early access to Christian missions still has political, educational, and economic consequences in present-day Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Much of the economics of Islam focuses on the role that Islam and Islamic institutions played in political-economy outcomes and in the “long divergence” between the Middle East and Western Europe. Finally, cross-country analyses seek to understand the broader determinants of religious practice and its various effects across the world. We highlight three general insights that emerge from this literature. First, the monotheistic character of the Abrahamic religions facilitated a close historical interconnection of religion with political power and conflict. Second, human capital often played a leading role in the interconnection between religion and economic history. Third, many socioeconomic factors matter in the historical development of religions. |
| Keywords: | religion, economic history, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, economic development, education, persecution, political economy, finance, specialization, trade |
| JEL: | Z12 N00 J15 I25 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8365&r=all |