Major depression disorder (MDD) is the second leading cause of disease burden worldwide.  MDD implies multiple consequences including but not limited to reduced human longevity and an economic cost of billions of Euros and Dollars.  The goal of this presentation is to understand MDD through the lens of economics.  It will also be to provide a simplified economic model that generates the core symptoms of depression through changes in economic primitives like beliefs.

This presentation is based on the AMA Innovation Lab projects for the Conference on the Economics of Asset Dynamics and Poverty Traps. The goal of this workshop was to bring together empirical researchers with modelers working in the area of economic growth and poverty reduction.

This presentation took place in Washington DC, United States on June 28, 2016 and was done by Jonathan de Quidt, Princeton University.