ABSTRACT
It has been shown that living in risky environments, as well as having a risky occupation, can moderate risk-tolerance. Despite the involvement of dopamine in the expectation of reward described by neurobiologists, a GWAS study was not able to demonstrate a genetic contribution of genes involved in the dopaminergic pathway in risk attitudes and gene candidate studies gave contrasting results. We test the possibility that a genetic effect of the DRD4-7R allele in risk-taking behavior could be modulated by environmental factors. We show that the increase in risk-tolerance due to the 7R allele is independent of the environmental risk in two populations in Northern Senegal, one of which is exposed to a very high risk due to dangerous fishing.
Subject(s)
Dopamine , Receptors, Dopamine D4 , Alleles , Genotype , Receptors, Dopamine D4/genetics , Senegal , HumansABSTRACT
We test for a causal role of social capital, as measured by self-reported trust, in determining access to basic health facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa. To skirt the reverse-causality problems between social capital and basic health, we rely on instrumental-variable (IV) estimates. A one standard-deviation increase in trust is predicted to lead to a 0.22 standard-deviation fall in doctor absenteeism, a 0.31 standard-deviation fall in waiting time and a 0.30 standard-deviation fall in bribes. As a robustness check, we also use a different database regarding a different health issue, access to clean water. We find that a one standard-deviation rise in trust leads to a 0.33 standard-deviation rise in access to clean water. The variety of public goods considered provides insights about the possible channels through which social capital is converted into health improvements.