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Impact of social transfers on depressive symptoms: Evidence from the South African Old age Pension

Author

Listed:
  • Adeola Oyenubi

    (University of the Witwatersrand)

  • Joseph Ajefu

    (Northumbria University)

Abstract

We study the effect of income receipt in form of Old age pension (OAP) on the prevalence of depressive symptoms using the Centre of Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale (CES-D 10). We exploit the exogeneous age eligibility criteria in a regression discontinuity (RD) design to estimate the impact of OAP on depressive symptoms. Using the randomized inference approach, we find a statistically significant evidence that the OAP reduces depressive symptoms among the beneficiaries. We find this effect vary by gender and employment status. Our result also suggests that the impact of OAP tends to increase with depression scores, that is, those with high depression score tend to benefit more. We note that since the CES-D 10 is a screening tool, this result only provides an indication that the expected positive relationship between income and health holds in this context.

Suggested Citation

  • Adeola Oyenubi & Joseph Ajefu, 2024. "Impact of social transfers on depressive symptoms: Evidence from the South African Old age Pension," ERSA Working Paper Series 89, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    • Handle: RePEc:rza:ersawp:89
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    File URL: https://ersawps.org/index.php/working-paper-series/article/view/89/66
    File Function: First version, 2024
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Blessing Magocha & Mokgadi Molope & Martin Palamuleni & Munyaradzi Saruchera, 2023. "The Interface between the State and NGOs in Delivering Health Services in Zimbabwe—A Case of the MSF ART Programme," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(23), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Liao, Hongwei & Chi, Yedi & Zhang, Jiarui, 2020. "Impact of international development aid on FDI along the Belt and Road," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    4. Kunofiwa Tsaurai, 2025. "Foreign Aid–Human Capital–Foreign Direct Investment in Upper-Middle-Income Economies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-15, May.
    5. Jeunghan Lee & Keuntae Cho, 2023. "Effects of Science, Technology, and Innovation Official Development Assistance on Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-13, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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