Effect of universal health coverage on marriage, cohabitation and labor force participation

This paper examines the impact of universal health coverage on cohabitation, marriage, and labor force participation. Economic gains from marriage when non-labor income increases among partners. I use the expansion of non-contributory health insurance in Mexico to test this. This insurance scheme, called Seguro Popular (SP), provides a minimum set of health benefits to the population not covered by formal social security. The rollout of SP started in 2002 across municipalities. This variation makes possible examine the effect of health insurance on marital status among workers. The analysis of this paper shows that non-contributory health insurance coverage has a significant negative effect on the probability of marriage among poor and low educated males and females, and a positive effect on the probability of cohabitation. SP, however, has no effect on labor force participation.Marriage; cohabitation; health insurance; Seguro Popular; Oportunidades; Mexico

The density-magnetic field relation in the atomic ISM

We present numerical experiments aimed to study the correlation between the magnetic field strength, B, and the density, n, in the cold atomic interstellar medium (CNM). We analyse 24 magnetohydrodynamic models with different initial magnetic field intensities (B 0 = 0.4, 2.1, 4.2, and 8.3 μG) and/or mean densities (2, 3, and 4 cm -3 ), in the presence of driven and decaying turbulence, with and without self-gravity, in a cubic computational domain with 100 pc by side. Our main findings are as follows: (i) For forced simulations that reproduce the main observed physical conditions of the CNM in the solar neighbourhood, a positive correlation between B and n develops for all the B 0 values. (ii) The density at which this correlation becomes significant (≲30 cm -3 ) depends onB 0 but is not sensitive to the presence of self-gravity. (iii) The effect of self-gravity, when noticeable, consists of producing a shallower correlation at high densities, suggesting that, in the studied regime, self-gravity induces motions along the field lines. (iv) Self-gravitating decaying modelswhere theCNMis subsonic and sub- Alfvénic with β ≲ 1 develop a high-density positive correlation whose slopes are consistent with a constant β(n). (v) Decaying models where the low-density CNM is subsonic and sub- Alfvénic with β > 1 show a negative correlation at intermediate densities, followed by a high-density positive correlation.Fil: Gazol, A.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Villagran Azuara, Marco Adrian. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; Argentin

The Mexican Defined Contribution Pension System: Perspective for Low Income Workers

This paper analyzes the structure and perspectives of the current pension system, introduced in 1997 as part of Mexico’s structural changes. In particular, it focuses on the effects of the system on poverty after retirement and emphasizes the redistributive component of its design. In addition, there is an analysis of alternative forms for financing pensions at the end of the working lives of affiliates. Finally, there are some recommendations to improve the functioning and financing of the system.pensions; afores; mexico

Does Poverty Alleviation Increase Migration? Evidence from Mexico

What is the long term effect of cash transfers (CT) on rural migration? CT programs have demonstrated to increase human capital investments of poor families by increasing nutrition, health and schooling levels. How- ever, there is little evidence on the long term effects of CT programs particularly on migration decisions. Progresa-Oportunidades, the pioneer Mexican CT program that started in 1997, would give some evidence for this open question. I examine the sudden drop in the population size and gender composition of Mexican rural villages where this program was implemented between 1998 and 2005. I use a regression discontinuity design to identify the effects of the program on villages located on the margin of the poverty distribution and close to the cutoff point of the eligibility criteria. The average population in a fully covered village decreased by 70 people in 2005 compared to 1995 (almost 10 percent of the average population of 1995). Sixty five percent of this reduction corresponds to adults who left their villages and forty percent of this reduction can be attributed to Progresa-Oportunidades. The reduction of adult population of males is 6 times higher than for females, a clear sign of a significant increase in the migration patterns of this population.Progresa; Oportunidades; Mexico; CCT; Migration

Transitions for the Delta Economy

Details threats to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, policy proposals to improve environmental management and water supply reliability, how these changes will affect land and water conditions, and implications for the area's and regional economies

Climate Change, Markets, and Technology

Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q15, Q25, Q38,

Evolving supernova remnants in multiphase interstellar media

We performed three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations to study the evolution of a supernova remnant (SNR) in a turbulent neutral atomic interstellar medium. The media used as background shares characteristics with the Solar neighbourhood and the SNR has mass and energy similar to those of a Type Ia object. Our initial conditions consist of dense clouds in a diluted medium, with the main difference between simulations being the average magnitude of the magnetic field. We measured amplifications of the magnetic energy of up to 34 per cent, and we generated synthetic maps that illustrate how the same object can show different apparent geometries and physical properties when observed through different lines of sight.Fil: Villagran Azuara, Marco Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Velazquez, Paula Florencia. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Gomez, Daniel Osvaldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; ArgentinaFil: Giacani, Elsa Beatriz. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; Argentin

The Accuracy of Accredited Glaucoma Optometrists in the Diagnosis and Treatment Recommendation for Glaucoma

Background/aims: To compare the diagnostic performance of accredited glaucoma optometrists (AGO) for both the diagnosis of, and decision to treat glaucoma with that of routine hospital eye care against a reference standard of expert opinion, i.e. consultant ophthalmologist with a special interest in glaucoma. Methods: A directly comparative, masked, performance study was performed in Grampian, Scotland. 165 people were invited to participate and, of those, 100 (61%) were examined. People suspected of having glaucoma underwent a full ophthalmic assessment both in a newly established, community optometry led, glaucoma management scheme and in a consultant led hospital eye service within a month. Results: The agreement between the AGO and the consultant ophthalmologist in the diagnosis of glaucoma was substantial (89%, kappa = 0.703, SE=0.083). The agreement regarding the need for treatment was also substantial (88%, kappa = 0.716, SE =0.076). The agreement between the trainee ophthalmologists and the consultant ophthalmologist in the diagnosis of glaucoma and treatment recommendation were moderate (83%, kappa = 0.541, SE = 0.098, SE = 0.98; and 81%, kappa = 0.553, SE = 0.90, respectively). The diagnostic accuracy of the optometrists in detecting glaucoma in this population was high for specificity (0.93 [95% CI 0.85 to 0.97]) but lower for sensitivity at 0.76 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.89). The performance was similar when accuracy was assessed for treatment recommendation (sensitivity, 0.73[95% CI 0.57 to 0.85]; specificity 0.96[95% CI 0.88 to 0.99]). The differences in sensitivity and specificity between AGO and junior ophthalmologist was not statistically significant.Conclusions: Community optometrists trained in glaucoma provided satisfactory decisions regarding diagnosis and initiation of treatment for glaucoma. With such additional training in glaucoma optometrists are at least as accurate as junior ophthalmologists but some cases of glaucoma missed.Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Executive Health Departmen

Policies to Promote Growth and Economic Efficiency in Mexico

This paper discusses the problems facing the Mexican economy. It operates under a heavy burden of monopoly and regulation. We focus on two issues that should receive more attention in discussions of Mexican policy. (1) The family is under stress in Mexico and this retards the growth of skills of workforce. (2) The informal sector is large, mostly due to the heavy burden of monopoly and regulation. We find little evidence that the introduction of social protection programs for workers outside the formal sector have promoted the growth of the informal sector.Mexico, family policy, informality, regulation

Developing the Intervention and Outcome Components of a Proposed Randomised Controlled trial (RCT) of a National Screening Programme for Open Angle Glaucoma (OAG) : Medical Research Council funded trial platform study (G0701759): Study protocol

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