OBJECTIVE: To analyze whether the relationship between income inequality and human health is mediated through social capital, and whether political regime determines differences in income inequality and social capital among countries. METHODS: Path analysis of cross sectional ecological data from 110 countries. Life expectancy at birth was the outcome variable, and income inequality (measured by the Gini coefficient), social capital (measured by the Corruption Perceptions Index or generalized trust), and political regime (measured by the Index of Freedom) were the predictor variables. Corruption Perceptions Index (an indirect indicator of social capital) was used to include more developing countries in the analysis. The correlation between Gini coefficient and predictor variables was calculated using Spearman's coefficients. The path analysis was designed to assess the effect of income inequality, social capital proxies and political regime on life expectancy. RESULTS: The path coefficients suggest that income inequality has a greater direct effect on life expectancy at birth than through social capital. Political regime acts on life expectancy at birth through income inequality. CONCLUSIONS: Income inequality and social capital have direct effects on life expectancy at birth. The "class/welfare regime model" can be useful for understanding social and health inequalities between countries, whereas the "income inequality hypothesis" which is only a partial approach is especially useful for analyzing differences within countries.
En nuestro medio son escasos los estudios de seguimiento académico que permiten relacionar el grado de conocimientos de los estudiantes, al inicio de la licenciatura y mediante los resultados obtenidos en un examen diagnóstico, con el desempeño escolar a lo largo del grado y la eficiencia terminal. Mediante los resultados obtenidos en el examen diagnóstico de ingreso a la licenciatura y el seguimiento del desempeño escolar de los estudiantes de la generación 2010 en la UNAM, se desarrolló un modelo predictivo. Los resultados revelan que a mayor puntuación obtenida en el examen diagnóstico de conocimientos al ingreso a la licenciatura, mejor desempeño escolar durante la misma y mayor eficiencia terminal.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.