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Published on: February 22, 2018
Is trade a blessing or a curse? A panel data analysis of the determinants of depressive disorders
Yu-Chun Lin1, Yu-Hung Chang2, Huang-Ting Yan3
1Department of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan.
Objectives:
Given the speculation of the market economy causing an epidemic of depression, this study aimed to examine the influence of international trade on the prevalence of depressive disorders.
Methods:
We used panel data from 1993 to 2015 covering 170 countries (n = 3787) and applied fixed effects regression models. We modeled the prevalence of depressive disorders as a function of international trade, adjusting for economic development, economic growth, and population size. Regime types, media freedom, and capital-labor ratio were included as moderators.
Results:
A 100% point increase in the value of international trade indicated a 0.09% point decrease in the prevalence of depressive disorders (- 0.09, confidence interval [CI] - 0.01 to - 0.18). However, this effect existed only for democratic countries (- 0.15, CI - 0.03 to - 0.28). The effect was more prevalent when the governments allowed the media more freedom (score of 100, - 0.31, CI - 0.17 to - 0.45) or when a country's capital-labor ratio of endowments was high (50,000, - 0.22, CI - 0.08 to - 0.35).
Conclusions:
Trade brings about positive mental health outcomes in democracies, countries having free media, or capital-abundant economies.
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