Household Well-Being, Environment and Health in the Peripheries of the Metropolitan Area of Oaxaca City

Abstract

Objective: The economy of poor urban households is analyzed using a well-being function that also considers incomes, sociodemographic characteristics (CS), housing and the environment. Theoretical structure: The dependent variable is household well-being (BF) and the explanatory variables are all incomes obtained from the market economy, as well as government transfers (TG). The CS represent resources that facilitate obtaining income; housing provides income indicators; and the environment are the physical conditions that determine the state of health. Methodology: A probabilistic survey was applied to a sample of households in four poor peripheral neighborhoods. The equations were constructed using ordinary least squares regression and the beta coefficients measure the contribution of the variables from the four categories above to the BF. The effects of these variables on health expenditure (GS) are also measured. Discoveries: The main incomes that contribute to the BF were determined and these make a contribution equivalent to that of the set of variables of the CS, housing and family businesses. Likewise, the environment and diseases increase GS. Practical and social implications: Research shows that poor peripheral urban households participate in the market economy and that an increase in average age contracts their level of BF. Originality/value: The tested model turned out to be versatile and accurate in analyzing the economies of poor urban households and has greater explanatory power than the agricultural household models and the applied general equilibrium model.