Markets and the health of indigenous people: A methodological contribution

Researchers disagree on whether markets and acculturation hurt, help, or pr oduce ambiguous effects on the health of indigenous people as they become p art of market economies. Past researchers have generally not measured the s eparate effects of markets and acculturation on health, nor have they contr olled for the effect of third variables. A multivariate probit model is use d to analyze the effects of integration to the market on morbidity among 10 6 Mojeno and 63 Yuracare Indian male heads of household in the Bolivian rai n forest. Regressions were run controlling for acculturation and for many p ersonal, household, and village variables. Irrespective of how one defines integration to the market, markets seemed to exert weak effects on health. The inclusion of third variables probably robs markets of some of their tra ditional explanatory power. Only the use of farm chemicals was associated w ith more self-reported illness, perhaps because its use allows people to ta ke time off when ill. Results cast doubt on the common notion that particip ation in the market hurts the health of indigenous people and highlights th e need for a multivariate approach in estimating the effect of explanatory variables.