Marcelo Justus dos Santos

Uma investigação dos determinantes socioeconômicos da depressão mental no Brasil com ênfase nos efeitos da educação

This study investigates the relationship between socioeconomic factors and mental depression emphasizing the educational effect. Analyses for men and women were performed separately, using a 2003 Brazilian Household Survey (PNAD). It was verified that socioeconomic conditions can interfere in the probability of both men and women to develop depressive symptoms. However, the effect of these conditions is larger for women. Finally we concluded that higher education can reduce the risk of depression.

ExistE Explicação Econômica para o sub-rEgistro dE crimEs contra a propriEdadE?*

In this paper we intend to analyze the influence of socioeconomic factors on the under-recorded crimes against property. The victims decision to record a crime or not to the competent authorities, is based on the hypothesis of the victims economic rationality. Using individual data from a victimization survey undertaken in four capitals of Brazil and a probit model, we found evidences in favor of the hypothesis that the victims of crimes act rationally, evaluating the costs and expected benefits of recording or not the crime to the authorities. It was observed that the some of the victims personal characteristics, the losses, law enforcement and the fear of reprisals are factors that affect his or her decision.

A cointegration analysis of crime, economic activity, and police performance in Sao Paulo city

The main objective of this paper is to investigate possible causes for the significant reduction observed in crime rates in São Paulo city. By applying a cointegration analysis, we observed long-run relationships between crime, economic activity, and police performance. The results indicate that the lethal crime rate is positively related to unemployment and negatively related to real wages and to the results of law-enforcement activities, specifically arrests and seizure of firearms. Moreover, the hypothesis that the Disarmament Statute led to a reduction in the lethal crime rate is not rejected.

Socioeconomic Conditions and Risk of Mental Depression: An Empirical Analysis for Brazilian Citizens

The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is any relationship between socioeconomic factors and mental depression, specifically in connection with family income and education. Our empirical model was estimated using the database of three National Household Sampling Surveys (1998, 2003, and 2008) and their special supplements on the health status of the Brazilian population. Analyses for men and women were conducted separately. Family income proved to be a protective factor against depression for both men and women. With regard to the effects of education, the estimates indicate that the maximum risk of depression occurs when women have approximately four years of schooling and men have about eight. Above these levels, the risk decreases as schooling years increase.

Trabalho infantil no meio rural brasileiro: evidências sobre o "paradoxo da riqueza"

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of the family wealth - using the agricultural land size as a proxy - on the probability that a child works in rural areas of Brazil. The data are from the 2006 Brazilian Household Survey (PNAD). The results indicated that, after controlling for individual and family characteristics (age, gender, education and race) , and demographic and regional effects, child labor is affected by family wealth. It is possible to observe that the childs probability to work as a function of the land size follow a parabolic curve, showing that as the land size increases, increases the probability that a child works up to a maximum of 76 hectares, after which child labor decreases.