Alberto Hurtado University

About: Alberto Hurtado University is a education organization based out in Santiago, Chile. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Population. The organization has 973 authors who have published 1796 publications receiving 11229 citations.

The cost of diabetes in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract: OBJETIVE: To measure the economic burden associated with diabetes mellitus in Latin America and the Caribbean. METHODS: Prevalence estimates of diabetes for the year 2000 were used to calculated direct and indirect costs of diabetes mellitus. Direct costs included costs due to drugs, hospitalizations, consultations and management of complications. The human capital approach was used to calculate indirect costs and included calculations of forgone earnings due to premature mortality and disability attributed to diabetes mellitus. Mortality and disability attributed to causes other than diabetes were subtracted from estimates to consider only the excess burden due to diabetes. A 3% discount rate was used to convert future earnings to current value. FINDINGS: The annual number of deaths in 2000 caused by diabetes mellitus was estimated at 339 035. This represented a loss of 757 096 discounted years of productive life among persons younger than 65 years (US$ 3 billion). Permanent disability caused a loss of 12 699 087 years and over US$ 50 billion, and temporary disability caused a loss of 136 701 years in the working population and over US$ 763 million. Costs associated with insulin and oral medications were US$ 4720 million, hospitalizations US$ 1012 million, consultations US$ 2508 million and care for complications US$ 2 480 million. The total annual cost associated with diabetes was estimated as US$ 65 216 million (direct US$ 10 721; indirect US$ 54 496). CONCLUSION: Despite limitations of the data, diabetes imposes a high economic burden to individuals and society in all countries and to Latin American and the Caribbean as whole.

The effects of labour market policies in an economy with an informal sector

Abstract: In this article, we build an equilibrium search and matching model of an economy with an informal sector. Our model extends Mortensen and Pissarides (1994) by allowing for ex ante worker heterogeneity with respect to formal-sector productivity. We use the model to analyse the effects of labour market policy on informal-sector and formal-sector output, on the division of the workforce into unemployment, informal-sector employment and formal-sector employment, and on wages. Finally, we examine the distributional implications of labour market policy; specifically, we analyse how labour market policy affects the distributions of wages and productivities across formal-sector matches. In this article we construct a search and matching model that we use to analyse the effects of labour market policies in an economy with a significant informal sector. What we mean by an informal sector is a sector that is unregulated and hence not directly affected by labour market policies such as severance or payroll taxes. We find that labour market policies that apply only to the formal sector nonetheless affect the size and the composition of employment in the informal sector. This is important since there is substantial economic activity in the informal sector in many economies, particularly in developing countries. Estimates for some Latin American countries put the informal sector at more than 50% of the urban work force.1 The informal sector is also important in many transition countries as well as in some developed economies.2 Although much of the literature treats the informal sector as a disadvantaged sector in a segmented labour market framework, this interpretation is not consistent with recent empirical evidence from Latin America. Under a segmented or dual labour market interpretation, one would expect jobs to be rationed in the primary sector and workers to be in the secondary or informal sector involuntarily and to be queuing for formal-sector jobs. Maloney (2004) presents evidence for several Latin American countries that challenges this view and instead interprets the informal sector as an unregulated micro-entrepreneurial sector. Similarly, using data from the Argentinian household survey, Pratap and Quintin (2006) reject the notion that labour markets are segmented in the greater Buenos Aires area, concluding that there is no evidence of a formal-sector wage premium after controlling for individual and establishment * We thank Mauricio Santamaria for stimulating conversations that inspired our interest in this topic. We also thank Bob Hussey and Fabien Postel-Vinay as well as our editor, Steve Pischke, and two anonymous

Who bullies whom? Social status asymmetries by victim gender.

Abstract: This study asks whether bullies have higher social status than their victims. Social status was measured by social preference, popularity, and physical competence as perceived by children and teach...