Cynthia J. Brown

Acculturation and healthy lifestyle habits among Hispanics in United States-Mexico border communities.

OBJECTIVE To explore the relationship between acculturation and healthy lifestyle habits in the largely Hispanic populations living in underserved communities in the United States of America along the U.S.-Mexico border. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2006 to June 2008 using survey data from the Alliance for a Healthy Border, a program designed to reduce health disparities in the U.S.-Mexico border region by funding nutrition and physical activity education programs at 12 federally qualified community health centers in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. The survey included questions on acculturation, diet, exercise, and demographic factors and was completed by 2,381 Alliance program participants, of whom 95.3% were Hispanic and 45.4% were under the U.S. poverty level for 2007. Chi-square (χ2) and Students t tests were used for bivariate comparisons between acculturation and dietary and physical activity measures. Linear regression and binary logistic regression were used to control for factors associated with nutrition and exercise. RESULTS Based on univariate tests and confirmed by regression analysis controlling for sociodemographic and health variables, less acculturated survey respondents reported a significantly higher frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption and healthier dietary habits than those who were more acculturated. Adjusted binary logistic regression confirmed that individuals with low language acculturation were less likely to engage in physical activity than those with moderate to high acculturation (odds ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.59-0.95). CONCLUSIONS Findings confirmed an association between acculturation and healthy lifestyle habits and supported the hypothesis that acculturation in border community populations tends to decrease the practice of some healthy dietary habits while increasing exposure to and awareness of the importance of other healthy behaviors.

Occupational Attainment and Gender Earnings Differentials in Mexico

Women earned about 20.8% less than men in Mexico in 1987, a difference that increased to 22.0% by 1993. Using 1987–93 data from Mexicos National Urban Employment Survey, the authors study the role of occupational attainment in this wage differential. Most of the 1987–93 increase in the gender log monthly earnings gap, they find, can be explained by relative chnges in human capital endowments; wage coefficient changes would have slightly reduced the gap, all else equal. The increasing male-female earnings differential was tempered by a substantial decline in gender differences in occupational attainment from 1987 to 1993. Most of the male-female differences in earnings in both 1987 and 1993 can be explained by differences in rewards to individual endowments rather than gender differences in endowments.

Lack of Community Insurance and Mammography Screening Rates Among Insured and Uninsured Women

PURPOSE To evaluate whether the proportion of the local population without health insurance coverage is related to whether women undergo mammography screening. METHODS Survey data on 12,595 women 40 to 69 years of age from the 2000 to 2001 Community Tracking Study Household Survey were used to analyze the relation between community lack of insurance and whether the respondent had a mammogram within the past year. RESULTS Women age 40 to 69 were less likely to report that they had a mammogram within the last year if they resided in communities with a relatively high uninsurance rate, even after adjusting for other factors. After adjusting for individual insurance and other factors, a 10-percentage-point decrease in the proportion of the local insured population is associated with a 17% (95% CI, 13% to 21%) decrease in the odds that a woman age 40 to 69 years will undergo mammography screening within a year. CONCLUSION Women living in communities with high uninsurance are substantially less likely to undergo mammography screening. These results are consistent with the view that the negative impact of uninsurance extends to everyone in the community regardless of individual health insurance status.

Changes in employment status across demographic groups during the 1990-1991 recession

This study analyses the relative impact of the 1990-91 recession on the employment status of Mexican-American, other Hispanic, and non-Hispanic black and white workers in the US. Recession-induced job losses and changes in shares of parttime and fulltime employment significantly varied across demographic groups and gender. From 1989 to 1991 males experienced a larger decline than females in the relative shares of fulltime employment with Mexican-American and other Hispanic females actually increasing their shares. Utilizing 1990 and 1992 CPS data, we estimate bivariate probit models of employment and fulltime/parttime employment status for each group. These employment and work status probabilities are then decomposed to analyse the factors that led to the changes. Our study suggests that the 1990-91 recession-induced labour market changes had the most detrimental impact on black male and non-Hispanic white female workers. As such, public policies implemented to mitigate the impact of economic downturns should take into account the differential impact of economic recessions on demographic groups.

Mexican Peso Futures and Exchange Rate Volatility

Abstract The reintroduction of Mexican peso futures contracts in April 1995 resulted from a refocus of governmental policy to the use of market-based mechanisms to stabilize the exchange rate. Interest in the Mexican peso future contracts has been high as investors look to manage their exposure from transactions and investments denominated in pesos. This study utilizes a VAR framework to analyze the relationship between the volatility in the Mexican peso spot market and futures contracts trading activity. Shocks to the exchange rate volatility lead to increased hedg-ing-type activity. Furthermore, an increase in futures contracts trading activity (reflecting additional speculation-type activity) results in a short-run increase in volatility. A Granger Causality test also indicates a statistically significant link between spot price volatility and futures trading activity in the Mexican peso exchange market. RESUMEN La reintroducción de los contratos futuros del peso mexicano en abril de 1995, resultó del nuevo enfoque de la política gubernamental de usar los mecanismos de mercado para estabilizar la tasa cambiaria. Ha habido mucho interés en los contratos futuros del peso mexicano, ya que los inversores buscan administrar su exposición a las transacciones e inversiones denominadas en pesos. Este estudio utiliza el marco del VAR para analizar la relación existente entre la volatilidad del peso mexicano en el mercado spot y la actividad de negociación de los contratos futuros. Los choques sufridos por la volatilidad de la tasa cambiaria resultan en un aumento de las actividades del tipo hedging. Además, un aumento en la actividad de negociación de los contratos futuros (que refleja otras actividades de naturaleza especulativa) provoca, a corto plazo, un aumento en la volatilidad. Una prueba Granger Causality también indica un vínculo estadísticamente significativo entre la volatilidad del precio spot y la actividad de negociación del mercado futuro en el mercado cambiario del peso mexicano. RESUMO A reintrodução dos contratos futuros em peso mexicano, em abril de 1995, foi o resultado de uma revisão da política governamental, em relação ao uso dos mecanismos baseados no mercado para estabilizar a taxa de câmbio. Os juros dos contratos futuros, em peso mexicano, foram altos, devido ao cuidado dos investidores em administrar o risco das transações e dos investimentos efetuados em pesos. Este estudo utiliza a estrutura VAR, para analisar o relacionamento entre a volatilidade do mercado local, em peso mexicano, e a atividade comercial de contratos futuros. Choques aplicados à volatilidade da taxa de câmbio contribuíram para o aumento das atividades típicas de hedging. Além disso, um crescimento da atividade comercial de contratos futuros (refletindo uma atividade basicamente especulativa) ocasiona um rápido aumento na volatilidade. O teste Granger Causality indica, também, um vínculo estatístico significativo entre a volatilidade do preço local e a atividade comercial de futuros no mercado cambial do peso mexicano.

BRAZILIAN REAL FUTURES TRADING AND VOLATILITY IN THE BRAZILIAN EQUITY MARKET

In 1995 the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) introduced a Brazilian Real futures contract. This study explores whether the level of futures contract hedging activity has affected the volatility in Brazil’s equity market. As a proxy for volatility, a threshold autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (TARCH) model is employed to obtain the conditional variance of the log-daily returns in the BOVESPA, the Brazilian stock market index. Impulse response functions from a vector autoregressive (VAR) model are utilized to analyze the relationship between volatility and futures trading activity. The empirical results indicate that increased hedging activity has increased return volatility in Brazil’s equity markets.