Dissertations / Theses: 'Household welfare'

1

Matovu, John Mary. "Tax policy reforms and household welfare." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.365574.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

2

Enver, Ayesha. "Three Essays on Location and Household Welfare." The Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1249626740.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

3

You, Jing. "Household welfare and poverty in rural China." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2011. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/household-welfare-and-poverty-in-rural-china(4023def5-9369-49f7-baaa-d1408682d501).html.

Full text

Abstract:

The thesis examines three issues related to Chinese rural households’ well-being and poverty status over the period of 1989-2006. Each of them corresponds to a substantive chapter (Chapter 3-5). Chapter 1 introduces the stages of poverty reduction in rural China following the reforms that started in 1978 and discusses some problems related to further poverty reduction and increases in welfare. Chapter 2 provides a general description of the data set used in the substantive chapters. It includes a discussion of the construction of the panel and the justification of the construction and use of the key economic variables. It also uses this panel to provide some preliminary explorations on households’ poverty status and inequality. Chapter 3 examines the welfare loss brought about by the increasing uncertainty attached to households’ consumption flows. Along with significant economic growth over more than three decades, rural households’ livelihood has become more uncertain in terms of greater volatility and inequality in their consumption. Our estimate is that households’ welfare would have risen up by approximately one third if there were no such uncertainties. Farmers and the chronically poor appear to suffer most among all sub-groups from the welfare loss associated with this uncertainty. Chapter 4 extends the existing literature on poverty in rural China from a perspective of households’ agricultural asset holdings. The analysis finds multiple equilibria in asset dynamics. In the presence of limited insurance, households’ exposure to various shocks and risk forces them to engage in conservative livelihood strategies: they may prefer low-risk low-return production to more profitable but riskier investment in asset accumulation. As a result, some households may be trapped into lower incomes in the long-term. Based on the findings in Chapter 4, Chapter 5 empirically identifies the dynamic asset threshold. It categorises households into either the downward or upward mobility group in the long-term. Then, this chapter measures to what extent falling below this asset threshold may affect households’ probabilities of being poor. Both static and dynamic estimates suggest that insufficient asset holdings substantially increase the chances of falling into poverty. Chapter 6 summarises policy implications indicated by the empirical analyses in three substantive chapters. Overall, education, health insurance and off-farm employment appear to be the key factors if there is to be a further improvement in Chinese rural households’ welfare and reduction in poverty.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

4

ABOKYI, ERIC. "Remittances, financial inclusion, household consumption and welfare." Doctoral thesis, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11566/291109.

Full text

Abstract:

Questo studio è sostanzialmente suddiviso in due documenti di ricerca completamente sviluppati. Il primo capitolo ha esaminato l'impatto delle rimesse sulla disuguaglianza nell'accesso ai servizi finanziari nei paesi in via di sviluppo. Il set di dati per lo studio è stato costruito da diverse fonti, tra cui Global Findex, World Development Indicators, World Bank, FMI, The Worldwide Governance Indicators e il dataset delle Nazioni Unite sulla migrazione bilaterale. Pertanto, lo studio ha combinato fonti di dati di livello micro con informazioni di livello macro nell'analisi. Sulla base della disponibilità dei dati, lo studio ha coperto 102 paesi in via di sviluppo per tre anni, vale a dire 2011, 2014 e 2017. Lo studio ha utilizzato tecniche a effetti fissi con e senza variabili strumentali e, a scopo di robustezza, sono state utilizzate nell'analisi diverse definizioni di rimesse. Uno dei risultati chiave è che, sebbene non vi siano prove che le rimesse riducano la variazione complessiva nell'inclusione finanziaria nei paesi in via di sviluppo, riducono significativamente il divario di genere nell'inclusione finanziaria. Sulla base di tali risultati, lo studio ha formulato raccomandazioni politiche appropriate. Il secondo capitolo è uno studio specifico per paese incentrato sul Ghana. Il capitolo ha esaminato l'impatto dell'inclusione finanziaria sul benessere delle famiglie in Ghana, concentrandosi in particolare su come l'inclusione finanziaria influenzi il comportamento di spesa delle famiglie. Lo studio ha utilizzato il set di dati più recente del Ghana Living Standard Survey (ovvero GLSS 7), che è stato raccolto nel 2016/2017. L'analisi è suddivisa in due parti: in primo luogo, è stato studiato l'impatto dell'inclusione finanziaria sul livello di spesa delle famiglie utilizzando la tecnica del propensity score matching (PSM). In secondo luogo, è stato esaminato anche l'impatto dell'inclusione finanziaria sulle quote di bilancio della spesa delle famiglie impiegando un approccio variabile strumentale e PSM per la robustezza. Ognuna di queste due analisi è stata ulteriormente condotta suddividendo il campione complessivo in sottocampioni, in cui è stato esaminato l'effetto dell'inclusione finanziaria sulle famiglie con capofamiglia femminile e sui loro omologhi maschili, e anche l'effetto sulle famiglie rurali e sulle loro controparti urbane. Alcuni dei principali risultati dello studio includono: (1) sia le quote di budget che le analisi del livello di spesa mostrano una relazione inversa tra l'inclusione finanziaria e il consumo alimentare delle famiglie (2) i due risultati mostrano anche che l'effetto dell'inclusione finanziaria è più forte effetti positivi sugli investimenti nell'istruzione per le famiglie con capofamiglia maschile rispetto alle controparti femminili, mentre anche le controparti femminili spendono di più per investimenti in abitazioni e beni di consumo durevoli; (3) È stato anche riscontrato che le famiglie rurali incluse finanziariamente deviano risorse dal consumo di cibo, beni di tentazione e altre categorie di beni agli investimenti in istruzione, alloggio e beni di consumo durevoli in base al risultato delle quote di bilancio. Sulla base dei risultati emersi sono state fornite adeguate raccomandazioni politiche.
This study is broadly divided into two fully developed research papers. The first chapter examined the impact of remittances on inequality in access to financial services in developing countries. The dataset for the study was built from several sources, including Global Findex, World Development Indicators, World Bank, IMF, The Worldwide Governance Indicators and United Nations dataset on bilateral migration. Thus, the study combined micro-level data sources with macro-level information in the analysis. Based on data availability, the study covered 102 developing countries for three years, namely 2011, 2014 and 2017. The study employed fixed effects techniques with and without instrumental variables, and for robustness purpose different definitions of remittances were used in the analysis. One of the key findings is that while there is no evidence that remittances reduce overall variation in financial inclusion in developing countries, they significantly reduce the gender gap in financial inclusion. Based on such findings, the study made appropriate policy recommendations. The second chapter is a country specific study focused on Ghana. The chapter examined the impact of financial inclusion on household welfare in Ghana, by specifically focusing on how financial inclusion affects household expenditure behavior. The study used the most recent Ghana Living Standard Survey dataset (i.e. GLSS 7), which was collected in 2016/2017. The analysis is divided into two parts: first, the impact of financial inclusion on the level of household expenditure was investigated using propensity score matching (PSM) technique. Second, the impact of financial inclusion on household expenditure budget shares was also examined by employing an instrumental variable approach and PSM for robustness. Each of these two analyses were further performed by dividing the overall sample into subsamples, where the effect of financial inclusion on female-headed households and their male-counterparts was examined, and the effect on rural households and their urban counterparts was also investigated. Some of the major findings from the study include: (1) both the budget shares and the level of expenditure analyses show an inverse relationship between financial inclusion and household food consumption (2) the two results also show that the effect of financial inclusion yields stronger positive effects on investment in education for male-headed households compared to their female counterparts, while their female counterparts also spend more on investment in housing and consumer durables; (3) financially included rural households were also found to divert resources away from food consumption, temptation goods and the other goods category to investment in education, housing and consumer durables according to the budget shares result. Appropriate policy recommendations were provided based on the findings that emerged.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

5

Richter, Kaspar. "Household welfare and income shocks : the case of Russia." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2004. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2122/.

Full text

Abstract:

The thesis investigates the impact of changes in household income on household welfare in Russia during 1994 to 1998. Part I introduces the main estimation techniques (Instrumental Variables, Difference-In-Differences and Matching), the data sources and the context of the Russian arrears crisis. Part II contains the empirical analysis. Chapter 5 simulates the effect of government cash transfers on poverty with Instrumental Variables estimation, taking into account consumption smoothing of households. Changes in cash transfer policy led unambiguously to a rise in poverty between 1994 and 1998. Chapter 6 explores the welfare effects of non-payments of pensions in 1996 using a Difference-In-Differences model. The loss of pension income doubled poverty rates and worsened nutrition among affected pensioners. Elderly men suffered from a decline in health and were more likely to die in the two years following the crisis. Households responded in ways that mitigated the impact of the crisis, replacing one-fifth of lost pension income through increased labour supply and asset sales. Chapter 7 analyses the impact of wage arrears on the elderly who were either working themselves or living together with workers. Matching techniques establish that wage arrears had a detrimental impact on old age welfare, including current and future health, over a wide range of control variables and sample restrictions. In line with the findings on pension arrears, the effect was larger on men than on women. Arrears households compensated about 10 to 14 percent of the wage loss from other income sources. Chapter 8 studies the link between wage arrears and child health. Wage arrears resulted in a decline of economic well-being, nutrition and growth status of affected children. Arrears households replaced up to one fifth of the wage reduction with other receipts. The final chapter summarizes the main findings.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

6

Hyde, Mark. "Household class : the state and public attitudes to welfare." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/1933.

Full text

Abstract:

Two specific shifts have occurred in the sectoral bases of welfare provision in the UK since the last war. The first involved in establishment of collective state provision whilst the second has involved a significant expansion of owner occupation. These developments have been interpreted at various times as signifying substantial changes in the nature of British society, particularly in the way that they are alleged to have attenuated class based social divisions and patterns of consciousness. In contemporary debates, owner occupation is alleged to have generated a conservative domestic oriented attitudinal disposition among manual households. Further, such households are held to be profoundly disaffected from state welfare as a result of their experiences as clients in this sector. The Plymouth study, which is reported below, was concerned with public attitudes to welfare. More specifically, its aim was to generate a data base which would enable the relative significance of sectoral patterns of welfare and household class as factors which influence the pattern of public attitudes to issues in social policy to be assessed. This aim was implemented by administering a structured questionnaire to a sample of 150 households in Plymouth. Subsequent empirical and conceptual analyses generated three conclusions. First, people are dissatisfied with the experience of state welfare but it is the distributive impact of welfare which is of the greatest significance in the calculations of the average household. Second, sectoral patterns of welfare do influence public perceptions of issues in social policy, but in a modest and specific way. Third, household class remains the most significant determinant of access to welfare, public or private, and because of this, the most significant influence on the pattern of public attitudes to welfare.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

7

Akotey, Oscar Joseph. "The impact of microinsurance on household welfare in Ghana." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/97070.

Full text

Abstract:

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Microinsurance services have been operating in Ghana for the last decade, but the question whether they have enhanced the welfare of low-income households, mostly in the informal sector, is largely unresearched. In particular the study asks: does microinsurance improve the welfare of households through asset retention, consumption smoothing and inequality reduction? This question has been examined through the use of the 2010 FINSCOPE survey which contains in-depth information on 3 642 households across the rural and urban settings of the country. In order to control for selection bias and endogeneity bias, Heckman sample selection, instrumental variable and treatment effect models were employed for the evaluation. The results of the assessment have been compiled into four empirical essays. The first essay investigates the impact of microinsurance on household asset accumulation. The findings show that microinsurance has a positive welfare impact in terms of household asset accumulation. This suggests that microinsurance prevents asset pawning and liquidation of essential household assets at ‘give away’ prices. By absorbing the risk of low-income households, insurance equips them to cope effectively with risk, empowers them to escape poverty and sustains the welfare gains achieved. The second essay examines the impact of microinsurance on consumption smoothing. It delves into the capacity of microinsurance to enable households to avoid costly risk-coping methods which are detrimental to health and well-being. The results reveal that insured households are less likely to reduce the daily intake of meals, which is an indication that microinsurance is a better option for managing consumption smoothing among low-income households. The third essay investigates the effect of microinsurance on households’ asset inequality. The findings indicate that the asset inequality of insured households is less than that of uninsured households. Insured female-headed households have much lower asset inequality than male-headed households, but uninsured female-headed households are worse off than both uninsured and insured male-headed households. The regional trend reveals that developmental gaps impede the capacity of microinsurance to bridge the asset inequality gap. The fourth essay asks: Does microcredit improve the well-being of low-income households in the absence of microinsurance? The findings show a weak influence of microcredit on household welfare. However households using microcredit in combination with microinsurance derive significant gains in terms of welfare improvement. Microcredit may be good, but its real benefits to the poor is best realised if the poverty trapping risks are covered with microinsurance. To this extent, combining microcredit with microinsurance will empower the poor to make a sustainable exit from poverty. The findings of this thesis have pertinent policy implications for the government, the development community and stakeholders in the insurance industry. Microinsurance is a good instrument for improving the welfare of households and thus this research recommends its integration into the poverty reduction strategy of Ghana and a greater insurance inclusion for the lower end of the market.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

8

Dawu, Sarah. "THE IMPACT OF TRADE ON HOUSEHOLD WELFARE IN GHANA." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Nationalekonomi, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-172492.

Full text

Abstract:

The distributional impacts of trade liberalisation across households’ groups vary in its degree. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of the Common External Tariff (CET) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on domestic price of agricultural goods in Ghana in the year 2017. Also, I analyse the effect of price change on the welfare of rural households from the perspective of households as both consumers and producers. The study analyses the impacts across the regions in Ghana. The findings indicate that in the year 2017, price of agricultural goods declined due to the reduction in the ECOWAS CET. However, the tariff pass-through rate was relatively low at 14 percent. When there has been an interaction between tariff and distance (trade cost), the findings suggest that the magnitude at which tariff reduction transmits to various regions or geographical zones in Ghana differs. The transmission rate declines the farther away a region is to the harbour. The findings indicate that households as producers have experienced a marginal decrease in income due to the reduction in the price of agricultural goods. On the other hand, households as consumers have benefitted as there have been an increase in their income through the reduction in the cost of their consumption basket.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

9

Sobukwe-Whyte, Akyere Andiswa. "The effect of housing micro-finance on household welfare." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25516.

Full text

Abstract:

The affordable housing crisis in South Africa has created a need for better quality and efficient housing alternatives. The aim of this research is to identify how housing microfinance contributes towards improved living conditions and welfare of low-income households through a case study analysis. Data was collected from employees and beneficiaries of Ikhayalami's loan finance programme using observations, pictures and semi structured individual interviews. Data was analysed for content with the aim of interpreting emerging trends and concepts. The findings reveal a significant positive effect via an increase in community status and housing conditions. If afforded sufficient infrastructure and support – housing microfinance has the potential to grow in scale and move developmental objectives forward.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

10

Dzanku, Fred Mawunyo. "The dynamics of rural livelihoods and household welfare in Ghana." Thesis, University of Reading, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.577984.

Full text

Abstract:

Household welfare effects of changes in rural livelihoods and their diversity is the central theme of this argument. Inter- and intra-livelihood diversification dynamics and effects on choice and intensity of participation in farm and nonfarm activities have been analysed using a three-period panel dataset on 464 households located in 8 villages of two distinct geoeconomic and agroecological zones of Ghana. This research is situated within the debate of whether or not the agriculture-led rural poverty reductionrenaissance is pragmatic in terms of both analytical and policy thinking of rural economic development. Almost every conclusion reached depends on isolation or proximity to "national capital, anti agro-productive potential of study area under rain- fed conditions. First of all, the notion of a shift from farm to nonfarm oriented rural livelihoods is rather a hyperbole. Quality of human capital, access to other productive assets, price and income risk sensitivity are the most important determinants of choice of, and returns to rural livelihood activities. Second, in high agro-potential zones, both farm and nonfarm oriented livelihood strategies produce similar welfare outcomes. Third, concerning diversification within agriculture, resource allocation to high-value crops enhances household food security in high agro- productive potential zones. Fourth, farm productivity is decreasing in pluriactivity, suggesting that returns to nonfarm labour supply must more than offset the value of productivity loss from agriculture if a household is to maintain a given level of welfare. Finally, neither farm nor nonfarm productivity was responsible for rural poverty exit in the 2000s; spatial location of household, living in a female headed household, human capital quality and rural - urban linkages through urban social network capital were the drivers of poverty exit. So, 'livelihood-led poverty reduction policy thinking' appears more pragmatic than a sectoral view of rural development policy and practice.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

11

Palialol, Bruno Toni. "In-kind transfers in Brazil: household consumption and welfare effects." Universidade de São Paulo, 2016. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/12/12138/tde-05092016-161730/.

Full text

Abstract:

Today in Brazil, Programa de Alimentação dos Trabalhadores (PAT) creates incentives for firms to provide 20 million workers with in-kind transfers, typically in voucher form. This work uses a propensity score framework to test whether such benefits distort consumption decisions when compared to cash transfers, considering the latter are subject to payroll taxes. Results suggest poor households consume from 15.7% to 25.0% more food when receiving benefits instead of cash and that deadweight loss associated with distortions reach US$ 63.1 (R$ 150.1) million. Overconsumption, however, may not be increasing worker\'s health and productivity as desired. Although further analysis needs to be made in terms of nutrient intakes, this is a first evidence that PAT may not achieve its main objective
Atualmente, o Programa de Alimentação dos Trabalhadores (PAT) cria incentivos para que firmas brasileiras realizem transferências em produto, tipicamente na forma de vales ou tíquetes, para cerca de 20 milhões de trabalhadores. O presente trabalho utiliza uma metodologia baseada em escore de propensão para testar se tais benefícios distorcem as decisões de consumo das famílias quando comparadas a transferências em dinheiro, considerando que essas últimas estão sujeitas a deduções fiscais características do mercado de trabalho. Os resultados sugerem que domicílios de baixa renda que recebem o benefício consomem de 15,7% a 25,0% mais comida do que se recebessem dinheiro e que o peso morto associado às distorções atinge US$ 63,1 (R$ 150,1) milhões. Entretanto, não há evidências de que o excesso de consumo de alimentos esteja, como se desejaria, tornando os trabalhadores mais saudáveis e produtivos. Apesar da necessidade de uma análise mais detalhada em termos de nutrientes, esta é uma primeira evidência de que o PAT pode não estar atingindo seus principais objetivos

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

12

Phangaphanga, Martin. "Internal migration, remittances and household welfare: evidence from South Africa." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12866.

Full text

Abstract:

Includes bibliographical references.
In this thesis, I investigate the economic linkages between internal labour migration and the welfare of migrant-sending households and communities. The analysis is couched in the new economics of labour migration theory, which recognises the familial participation in migration decisions and therefore the potential role of economic linkages between migrants and their original households.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

13

Magazi, Noluyolo. "The impact of microinsurance on household welfare in South Africa." Master's thesis, Faculty of Commerce, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32333.

Full text

Abstract:

Despite recent economic growth over the last decade and high insurance penetration, the provision of insurance services to low-income households in South Africa is still neglected owing to pervasive information asymmetry. Even though households identify the importance of insurance, this has not translated into changed behaviour. According to KPMG, while 74% of households recognise their need for insurance, an overwhelming 34% lack any plans to address their perceived risk. Furthermore, there exists an incongruity between the perceived risks (such as job loss or loss of income) and the dominant insurance product in the market – which continues to be funeral cover. The study assessed the impact of microinsurance on the household welfare measured as household income per capita. The analysis draws on the nationally representative 2015 FINSCOPE survey, which contains in-depth data on the financial inclusion of 5000 households. Descriptive statistics were assessed to determine the nature of the identified variables and the relationship between them. The study performed multiple linear regression analysis using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation. The empirical results provide evidence that microinsurance has a positive and significant effect on household welfare. Specifically, the results reveal that health and life insurance contribute favourably to household welfare, whilst credit life and funeral cover depict an inverse correlation. This suggests that health and life insurance better enable households to effectively manage risk and cope with adverse shocks. Furthermore, using household income per capita as a proxy for welfare, we observe that household size, dependency ratio, geographical location, gender of the household head, and marital status are statistically significant determinants of household welfare. Consistent with previous studies, where the educational attainment of the household head is at secondary and post-secondary level, households are empowered to utilise financial services to improve welfare and reduce incidence of poverty. Conventional insurance products do not appropriately serve the needs of lower income groups as often it is either too expensive or mismatched as coverage is possibly excessive, therefore we advocate for the creation of uniquely designed products and distribution systems that promote greater insurance inclusion for this segment of the market.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

14

Brüssow, Kathleen [Verfasser]. "Climate change and household welfare in rural Tanzania / Kathleen Brüssow." Hannover : Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1204459509/34.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

15

Sienaert, Alex. "Labour Supply, Public Transfers and Household Welfare : Essays on South Africa." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.504032.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

16

Fuenet, Meraz Alejandro de la. "Vulnerability in rural Mexico : Welfare outcomes and household response to risk." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.527291.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

17

Chibuye, Miniva. "The impact of rising food prices on household welfare in Zambia." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2015. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/56908/.

Full text

Abstract:

Given the global food price spike experienced in 2007/8, the core question of this research is, ‘what was the impact of the rising food prices on household welfare in Zambia'? Taking an empirical approach and using micro-economic methods, four welfare outcomes are assessed: consumption, equality of income distribution, poverty and nutrition. The 2006 and 2010 cross-section household surveys - Living Conditions Monitoring Surveys (LCMS) - are primarily used to answer the question. The thesis first assesses the changes in consumption patterns across time, geographical locations and quintiles. The short-term distribution of income from the rise in prices is then analysed using non-parametric methods to show the likely winners and losers from the price spike and the subsequent impact on poverty. These results are supplemented by a supply response as an attempt to understand longer-term poverty effects. The final empirical exercise focuses on nutrition outcomes. The thesis confirms the hypothesis that on average, urban households may suffer a welfare loss but rural households may gain. In the case of maize grain, the results suggest that the highest gain may accrue to rural households clustered around the poverty line. Furthermore, the findings suggest that, while overall poverty may increase in the short-run, the long-run impacts of rising food prices (once supply response are accounted for) may lead to a marginal decline in poverty. Finally, we observe that the slight increase in income, from selling maize, among some rural households may not necessarily lead to an improvement in nutrition outcomes. In particular, while rural households exhibit a small net rise in income from an increase in maize prices, the impact on stunting levels among children below five years appears to be regressive in both urban and rural areas. The overall results of this research strengthen the case for contextual impact analysis of covariate shocks and also highlight the policy challenges arising from such conflicting results.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

18

Wibowo, Sigit Sulistiyo. "Credit constraints, risk sharing, and household welfare : the case of Indonesia." Thesis, Durham University, 2015. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11100/.

Full text

Abstract:

This thesis studies household welfare and financial markets and in particular empirically examines access to finance, human capital, saving and risk sharing group formation using Indonesian households as a case study. Inefficient financial markets in developing countries lead to inefficient resource allocation, economic inequality, and high transaction costs. Households who are marginalised from financial systems find themselves unable to access financial services and smooth their consumption. The first thing to consider is how credit constraint exists and how to identify it. Credit constraints may arise from market mechanisms: demand for loans and loan supply. In order to assess credit constraints, I use Direct Elicitation Methodology (DEM) and then examine the gathered information and other household characteristics using multinomial logit model. Using Access to Finance (A2F) survey, I find that Indonesian households are likely to experience supply-side rather than demand-side constraints. I also find that financial literacy plays vital role in accessing services from formal financial institution. Moreover by elaborating several types of constraints, the welfare loss is estimated: the constrained households due to risk-related reasons experience loss in terms of annual income between Rp. 16 millions and Rp. 19 millions. In the second empirical study, I investigate the impacts of earnings risk on schooling and saving. I borrow Basu and Ghosh's model (2001) to develop a theoretical framework of two-period model, which depicts the relationship between earnings risk, schooling and saving. Using the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) data set, the decision to enter schooling is motivated by earnings risk which is measured by occupational earnings risk and earnings range or the variability between maximum and minimum earnings level across the IFLS wave. This study finds that education decrease variability over future income. Given the results that the pure risk effect is more dominant than utility smoothing effect, it can be said that to some extent saving is inadequate to anticipate the declining of household income due to earnings risk. The results also show that earnings range is close to Basu and Ghosh’s predictions. Another issue related to financial markets is the barrier to insurance for households, which also limits their capability to manage life risk. As a result, alternative risk coping mechanisms emerge to provide these households with different ways of securing insurance arrangements and in particular as risk sharing groups. In this third empirical research, I investigate the risk sharing group formation where the group is characterised by barriers to insurance. I use several tests to examine full risk sharing hypothesis, borrowing-saving hypothesis, limited commitment, moral hazard, and hidden income. Using the IFLS data set, this study provides evidence of the failure of the full risk sharing hypothesis, which is mainly due to limited commitment and moral hazard problem. Furthermore, I show that the endogenous group formation emerges within IFLS households.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

19

Snipes, Michael. "Three essays on spousal matching, intra-household allocation, and family welfare." Connect to online resource, 2008. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3315796.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

20

Lin, Xirong. "Essays on Household Economics:." Thesis, Boston College, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:108725.

Full text

Abstract:

Thesis advisor: Arthur Lewbel
The dissertation consists of three essays on different aspects of the collective household models in the household economics literature. The first essay estimates a collective household model for evaluating the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) among older households. I use longitudinal Homescan data to identify SNAP-eligible food. I find that husbands have relatively stronger preferences for food than wives, and that household demand is affected by bargaining power (i.e., control over resources) within households. Failure to account for this difference in preferences and control leads to underestimates of older couples' total food demand, and of their implied response (at both intensive and extensive margins) to a counterfactual experiment of replacing SNAP with a cash transfer program. I find that most eligible older households spend more on SNAP-eligible food than would be allowed by their SNAP benefits. Their spending patterns suggest that their poor diet is mainly due to low income rather than tastes. Overall these findings imply that a SNAP comparable cash transfer can be an effective tool to achieve the goals of the SNAP program. The second essay is joint work with my advisor Arthur Lewbel. We first prove identification of coefficients in a class of semiparametric models. We then apply these results to identify collective household consumption models. We extend the existing literature by proving point identification, rather than the weaker generic identification, of all the features of a collective household (including price effects). Moreover, we do so in a model where goods can be partly shared, and allowing children to have their own preferences, without observing child specific goods. We estimate the model using Japanese consumption data, where we find new results regarding the sharing and division of goods among husbands, wives, and children. The third essay is a joint paper with Tomoki Fujii. We study the intra-household inequality in resource allocation and bargaining within Japanese couples without children. We exploit a unique Japanese dataset in which individual private expenditures, savings, and time use information are available. From the data, we find that on average, the husband enjoys 1.5 times more purely private expenditures than the wife. However, the data only provides resource allocation on purely private expenditures, while 68 percent of household expenditures are devoted to the family, i.e., joint expenditures. We refer to the collective household literature in order to recover the unobserved sharing of total household expenditures, including both private and public goods. We find that the model-predicted sharing pattern is moderately consistent with the individual expenditure data. However, the intra-household inequality would be underestimated if we only use the sharing in purely private expenditures from the data. We find that Japanese wives are relatively disadvantaged to their husbands, no matter in purely private expenditures, total household expenditures, or gains from marriage. The findings in this paper provides certain external validity in terms of the collective household model of consumption, which we argue should be widely adopted in analyzing individual welfare in multi-person households
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Economics

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

21

Jarbi, Christiane el [Verfasser]. "Income diversification and household welfare : empirical evidence for Ghana / Christiane El Jarbi." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2010. http://d-nb.info/1019982748/34.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

22

Krieg, Anthony Robert. "The welfare implications of China's reform process : an agricultural household model approach /." Title page and abstract only, 1993. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09EC/09eck9258.pdf.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

23

Triyana, Margaret M. "The effects of household and community-based interventions| Evidence from Indonesia." Thesis, The University of Chicago, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3568431.

Full text

Abstract:

Low birth weight is a global health problem, especially in developing countries. Approximately 16% of all new-borns in developing countries were born with low birth weight. Motivated by this troublesome fact, this research evaluates policies that target maternal and children's health in low-resource settings. The following three essays analyze community-based and household-based health interventions. Program evaluation is important to inform future policy, and more importantly, to compare policies in order to determine the most effective strategies to improve birth outcomes in developing countries. Indonesia has implemented both community-based and household-based interventions. The three essays in this research evaluate the following three programs. The first two essays evaluate two recent programs: a household-based program, Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH), and a community-based program, PNPM Generasi Sehat dan Cerdas (Generasi ). The third essay evaluates the 'Midwife in the Village' ( Bidan di Desa) program. The 'Midwife in the Village' program is a community-based program that was implemented in the 1980s to provide each village with a trained midwife to provide prenatal care and delivery assistance. The other two programs, PKH and Generasi, were piloted in 2007. PKH is a household Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) program, while Generasi, functions a community CCT program; the community CCT program provides villages with block grants to fund activities that promote health and education.

The first essay analyzes the effects of Indonesia's household CCT program on the price and quality of health care services, and how these changes affect poor households. In this paper, I focus on price changes in the health care market because it is directly affected by the program and health care providers may increase prices in response to increased demand. The program is associated with higher utilization of health care, driven by increased utilization among the poor, who also experience higher quality of care. The quality improvement in the target population is driven by increased utilization, and not an improvement in quality at the local health care market. In response to the demand shock from the CCT program, I find a price increase in sub-districts that are randomized into treatment, which suggests the importance of supply response in demand-side interventions.

The second essay compares the relative effectiveness of household CCT and community CCT programs in improving birth outcomes in similar communities. Both programs have been shown to improve health-seeking behavior, but it has not been established whether these indicators translate into improved birth outcomes. To select comparable communities, the sample is restricted to areas with similar characteristics using propensity score matching. Under matching, both programs increase health seeking behavior, but there is no significant change in low birth weight. However, the household CCT program reduces preterm birth. The matching estimates suggest that the targeted household CCT program is more effective in improving birth outcomes than the broad community-based program, even though both programs improve health-seeking behavior.

The third essay analyzes the impact of the 'Midwife in the Village' program in rural Indonesia. In this essay, I extend earlier research by Frankenberg and Thomas (FT, 2001) on the effect of gaining a midwife in the village. FT find improvements in women's health status and birth weight. Using additional data, this essay estimates the longer term effect of midwife presence and the effect of losing the village midwife after the 1998 financial crisis. The effects of gaining a midwife are qualitatively similar to FT's estimates, but they are not statistically significant, which suggests that the program effects diminish over time. I find that losing a midwife has no statistically significant effect on women's health status or low birth weight. These results suggest that the program was effective in maintaining the health status of rural communities.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

24

Tipoe, Eileen Liong. "Revealed preference and welfare analysis." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2017. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:54568d73-df3b-454d-a002-519af53f4e34.

Full text

Abstract:

This thesis uses nonparametric revealed preference methods to derive new tests for consistency with models of consumer behaviour, and discuss the implications for welfare analysis. Chapter 1 demonstrates how to conduct revealed preference analysis when prices, and hence budget constraints, are only partially observed. This chapter extends the revealed preference results of Crawford and Polisson (2015), derived for the static case, to dynamic settings, allowing for storability of goods. Necessary and sufficient conditions for consistency with intertemporal models are derived, which do not require the researcher to distinguish between corner solutions and unavailability of the good, or to impute prices. Chapter 2 discusses the validity of using reported happiness measures as proxies of utility or social welfare, by testing for consistency between revealed and reported preference orderings in Japanese household survey data. Although the expenditure behaviour of most households is consistent with standard models of utility maximisation, it is generally inconsistent with the preference ordering given by their reported happiness. This inconsistency is likely due to reporting error in the happiness measure, and suggests that happiness and utility are empirically distinct and noninterchangeable. Chapter 3 investigates the effect of price inattention on inflation misperceptions and cost-of-living indices, by developing a behavioural model in which consumers only notice price changes above a certain threshold. A data application, using supermarket scanner data, demonstrates that this model generates plausible results; in particular, consumers have more accurate perceptions of inflation during periods of high or volatile inflation, but may substantially misperceive inflation when it is low. These results have important implications for conducting welfare analysis when consumers are not fully attentive to price changes.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

25

Kousar, Rakhshanda [Verfasser]. "Gender based Labor Supply, Income Diversification and Household Welfare in Pakistan / Rakhshanda Kousar." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2014. http://d-nb.info/1049687094/34.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

26

Niimi, Yoko. "Household welfare and price changes in Vietnam in an era of trade liberalisation." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.436384.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

27

Mullan, Katrina Lynn. "Impacts of land-use reforms on household behaviour and welfare in rural China." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.611201.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

28

Himaz, Fathima Rozana. "Aspects of child welfare in Sri Lanka : an analysis using household survey data." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.612872.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

29

Makhdum, Muhammad Sohail Amjad [Verfasser]. "Microfinance and Rural Household Welfare in Pakistan : an Empirical Investigation / Muhammad Sohail Amjad Makhdum." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1096220911/34.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

30

Saaka, Sarah. "Women's intra-household bargaining power and child welfare outcomes : evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2018. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/80652/.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

31

Bradbury, Bruce William Economics Australian School of Business UNSW. "Family Size and Relative Need." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. Economics, 1997. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/17174.

Full text

Abstract:

This thesis examines three questions concerned with the relative income needs of families of different sizes - often summarised by indices known as ???equivalence scales???. The first is the extent to which researchers and policy makers should offset the costs of family composition (eg the expenditure costs of children) with the benefits associated with demographic choice (eg the ???joys of parenthood???). Chapter 2 concludes that there are demographic and financial market constraints that will often make a narrow focus on expenditure costs appropriate for distributional research and tax/transfer policies. However, this will not always be the case. One implication of this result is that it may be reasonable for distributional research to use different equivalence scales for adults and children in the same household. Part 2 of the thesis introduces a new method for the estimation of the within-household income distribution and expenditure costs of different family types. This is based upon the household welfare model of Samuelson together with Lau???s method for modelling the joint consumption of household goods. In Chapter 4, this method is applied to the estimation of equivalence scales for older singles and married couples. The estimation is based upon a detailed set of assumptions about the extent of joint consumption for 17 different commodity groups. The main conclusions are that: the theoretical model fits the observed behaviour well (with the exception of some home production effects); that aged couples share their income relatively evenly; and that the relative rate of pension for aged singles in Australia is probably too low. In Part 3, the thesis examines how changes in poverty can be estimated when there is uncertainty about the equivalence scale. The thesis proposes a new method which permits a set of upper and lower bounds for the equivalence scale to be assumed, which in turn determine upper and lower bounds for the increase in poverty. This method is applied to measure the change in poverty in Australia during the 1980s. Equivalence scales can be found that imply either an increase or a decrease in poverty.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

32

Fernandez, Antonia. "The impact of women's agency on subjective wellbeing and household welfare : the case of Indonesia." Thesis, University of Reading, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.627940.

Full text

Abstract:

The overall aim of my research is to understand the impact of women's agency on their own subjective wellbeing and the welfare of their households. To do this, I analyse secondary data in the form of the Indonesia Family Life Surveys. The questions I ask are: How does women's agency affect their subjective wellbeing? How does women's agency affect their household and their family? This research posits that agency, which enables a person to make choices and to pursue goals that he or she views as important, has both intrinsic and instrumental value. Agency in my research is measured through household decision-making, focusing on a range of household decisions and the extent to which women participate in type of decision. Social and gender norms can act as constraints on the extent to which women can exercise their agency so agency should not be assumed to have the same meaning for men and women. But why does empowering women and increasing women's agency matter? Agency is argued to have a direct, intrinsic value because having agency gives a person the freedom to self-determine. While this does increase subjective wellbeing, my results show that this is not a simple relationship as there is also a 'burden of responsibility' effect. This can offset the benefits to subjective wellbeing from agency under certain circumstances as not all decisions in a household carry the same weight. My results indicate that for decisions seen as more important (such savings), cooperation and shared responsibility is better for men's and women's subjective wellbeing. Women's agency is also hypothesised to have an impact on the welfare of their families. In this thesis, household welfare is captured using the proxy of household expenditure on education. My results show that women's agency can have a positive impact on education expenditure but also that cooperation between spouses is very important. When ethnicity is disaggregated I find that women's sole control over particular decisions can reduce household education expenditure. This emphasizes the importance of considering the intersection of gender and ethnicity. The on-going debate on women's empowerment and economic development has so far been focused on the instrumental value of women's agency but this can be a tenuous link. My research moves this debate forward by showing that agency has intrinsic value and a direct impact on women's wellbeing thereby providing an alternative justification for policy actions aimed at empowering women.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

33

Oldiges, Christian [Verfasser], and Stefan [Akademischer Betreuer] Klonner. "Essays on Household Welfare and Anti-Poverty Programs in India / Christian Oldiges ; Betreuer: Stefan Klonner." Heidelberg : Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, 2016. http://d-nb.info/118073761X/34.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

34

Jeddi, Haron. "The incentive effects of the Ontario Child Care Supplement for working families on household labour supply decisions /." Burnaby B.C. : Simon Fraser University, 2005. http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/2363.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

35

Abdulai, Abdul Nafeo [Verfasser]. "The Contribution of Conservation Agriculture to Production Efficiency and Household Welfare in Zambia / Abdul Nafeo Abdulai." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1107010772/34.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

36

Thondhlana, Gladman, and Edwin Muchapondwa. "Dependence on environmental resources and implications for household welfare: evidence from the Kalahari drylands, South Africa." Elsevier B.V, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67810.

Full text

Abstract:

Publisher version
This paper examines dependence on environmental resources and impacts on household welfare among the indigenous San and Mier rural communities neighbouring Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa. Data on the various household income types, including environmental income, were collected through a structured survey of 200 households. Environmental income constituted 20% of the total income. The poorest income quintile showed the highest relative dependence on environmental income (31%), though absolute environmental income increased with total income. Poverty analyses showed that poverty incidence and poverty gap would increase by 13 and 7 percentage points respectively without environmental income. Gini-coefficient analyses revealed that income inequality would increase by 6 percentage points for all households if environmental income was excluded. The results generally suggest that environmental income is important for both the poor and the well-off, and wealth accumulation might be tied to resource use. There is a case for promoting sound environmental management, and sustainable and fair resource use in the Kalahari drylands in order to help pull more households out of poverty. Our findings also point to issues of heterogeneity in resource access even among indigenous communities previously thought to be homogenous. These should be key considerations for conservation interventions.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

37

Chattopadhyay, Jacqueline. "Representation and Household Risk Exposure: Attention to Access and Quality in Domestic Policy." Thesis, Harvard University, 2012. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10196.

Full text

Abstract:

This project defines a concept, “attention to quality,” and proposes that legislative attention to quality is a dependent variable that political science can use to evaluate the content of representation the political system offers, specifically to trace a means by which politics may influence household exposure to financial risk and possibly income inequality. Upstream of regulation or other formal policy solutions, attention to quality is observable consideration of the possibility that a good poses risk, or fails to shield consumers from risk, due to features of its own design. The project studies congressional attention to quality for three privately-vended, middle-class goods with the capacity to impact household risk exposure: health insurance, home loans, and prescription drugs. It also examines attention to quality in risk-modulating pieces of the welfare-state, taking Medicare as an example. The project explicitly contrasts attention to quality with attention to access for each good. Second, based on original datasets, this project reports robust evidence that legislative attention to access exceeds legislative attention to quality for the privately vended goods, particularly insurance and loans. It finds the reverse true of welfare-state goods. In doing so, the project contributes new quantitative evidence to the emergent body of research in American politics on how political processes, as opposed to strictly the macro-economy, may influence household financial insecurity. Third, the project makes progress in uncovering the underpinnings of quality attention. It finds senator attention to quality linked to partisan considerations—particularly the other political party’s degree of dominance in quality talk—in ways that appear to depress quality attention for privately-vended goods but buoy it for welfare-state goods. Quality’s visibility to the public appears to heighten the degree to which legislators consider the other party’s degree of dominance in quality talk when deciding whether to give quality attention. These patterns occur against a backdrop of what appears to be electorally-minded access attention: incumbents attend to the access facet of privately-vended goods as reelection dates approach, while not exhibiting such behavior around the quality facet. These findings have implications for research on congressional agenda setting and representation.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

38

Heath, Rodgers Theresa. "Work, household economy, and social welfare : the transition from traditional to modern lifestyles in Bonavista, 1930-1960 /." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ54919.pdf.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

39

Dehkordi, Feridoon Koohi-Kamali. "Welfare and consumption rationing : a study in behaviour based on a war-time Iranian household expenditure survey." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.422457.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

40

Guilbert, Nathalie. "Investigating children welfare inequalities in Western Africa : natural shocks, family structure and unequal access to household ressources." Thesis, Paris 9, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013PA090062.

Full text

Abstract:

Cette thèse traite du bien-être des enfants dans le contexte des sociétés de l'Afrique de l'ouest marqué par une forte instabilité économique et par un mode d'organisation familiale susceptible d'entretenir de forts niveaux d'inégalités entre les membres d'un même ménage. La forte exposition des ménages au risque de chocs engendre des mécanismes susceptibles d’enfermer les individus les plus vulnérables dans des trappes à pauvreté intergénérationnelles. L’intensité des chocs endurés mais aussi la période de la vie auxquels ils ont lieu et les stratégies mises en place ex post et ex ante pour gérer ces risques sont autant de canaux de transmission possibles de la vulnérabilité. Le premier chapitre de cette thèse exploite le choc naturel que représente les invasions de criquets pour analyser l’impact d’un choc de revenu sur le bien être à long terme des enfants, estimé par des indicateurs de réussite scolaire. Le deuxième chapitre examine les conséquences du mariage précoce, pratique encore très largement répandue en Afrique de l’ouest sur la mortalité des enfants au Sénégal. Le troisième chapitre investit les conséquences des naissances hors mariage, phénomène en très forte croissance en Afrique de l’ouest alors que les niveaux de fécondité globale tendent à diminuer, sur le bien être des femmes et des enfants
This doctoral thesis analyzes children welfare in Western African where societies are characterized by a large economic instability and an unequal access to resources among members of a same household. Exposure to high downside risk to income and livelihoods generates inter-generational poverty traps mechanisms for the most exposed individuals. Shocks intensity, life periods and the strategies implemented both ex ante and ex post to cope with risk are many potential channels for enhanced vulnerability. The first essay exploits a natural shock i.e. locust plague, to investigate the long-term impact of income shocks on the well-being of children, estimated by educational outcomes. The second essay focus on the consequences of early marriage, a marital practice still very widespread in West Africa, on child mortality in Senegal. Finally, the third essay studies the consequences of out-of-wedlock births, a rising phenomenon contrasting with the overall fertility decline observed in the region, on women and children’s welfare

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

41

Tagro, Patrice. "Welfare measures in a modified household production model : assessment of an improved cooking stove project in southern India /." The Ohio State University, 1993. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487848531365111.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

42

Okonkwo, Jennifer Uju [Verfasser], Martin [Akademischer Betreuer] Quaas, and Katrin [Gutachter] Rehdanz. "Welfare Effects of Environmental Policies and Household Energy Choice / Jennifer Uju Okonkwo ; Gutachter: Katrin Rehdanz ; Betreuer: Martin Quaas." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1218075619/34.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

43

Mostafavi, Dehzooei Mohammad Hadi. "Essays in Labor and Development Economics." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/82718.

Full text

Abstract:

This dissertation provides program evaluation and policy analysis evidence from USA and Iran. The first chapter studies the impact of paid leave legislation on women employment. We employ California’s first-in-the-nation Paid Family Leave program to draw inference using difference-in-differences and triple differences methods. The change in the employment outcomes for women before and after this program is compared to the change in similar outcomes for a set of control groups. We find that women’s employment increased in the intensive margin but not extensive margin. We also find that wages increased for married prime-age and decreased for highly educated young women. The second chapter provides evidence on the impact of a nation-wide unconditional cash transfer program in Iran on labor supply. As compensation for the removal of bread and energy subsidies in 2011, the government of Iran started monthly deposits of cash into individual family accounts amounting to 29% of the median household income. A popular outcry against the subsidy reform program has focused on the negative labor supply effects of the cash transfers on the poor. We use panel data to study the impact of these transfers on the labor supply of poor households and individuals during the first two years of the program, before inflation reduced their value. We use the exogenous variation in the value of the cash transfers relative to household income to estimate the impact of the transfers on labor supply of individuals using fixed effects method. We also use a difference-in-differences methodology using the variation in the time households first started receiving transfers. Although everyone was eligible to receive cash transfers starting January 2011, about 20 percent of the households who for one reason or another did not submit their application in time, started receiving it three months later. Neither set of results support the hypothesis that cash transfers reduced labor supply as measured by hours of work or probability of employment. The third chapter analyses what happens to the welfare of households and the budget of the government if it implements further price reforms in Iran. Five years into the reform, energy prices in Iran were still well below international levels. The impacts of a gradualist approach to price increase versus a one-off approach are simulated in this chapter. Under the gradualist approach government savings (reduction in foregone earnings) from selling subsidized items will increase by 20.2 trillion Rials or 0.18 percent of GDP in 2014. Half of these savings is needed as transfers to households to keep the poverty rate constant by paying each person 17,059 Rials per month. A one-off price increase would have a large effect on poverty and would require transfers equivalent to 203,775 Rials per person per month. Government savings after transfers would equal 96.4 trillion Rials or 0.87 percent of GDP.
Ph. D.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

44

Muronda, Yeukai. "Social security and the national orphan care policy in Zimbabwe: challenges from the child headed household." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/564.

Full text

Abstract:

This study focused on the policy responses formulated by the government of Zimbabwe and their implementation to meet the social needs of the people with special emphasis on the Zimbabwe National Orphan Care Policy (ZNOCP) of 1999. The challenges this policy is facing from the newly evolving structure of the child headed households was the centre of this study. At independence, the government adopted the incremental approach to policy making and extended formal social policy to the previously marginalized black majority. The ZNOCP was introduced in 1999 during the second phase of ESAP. The same period saw the spread of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. HIV and AIDS led to an increase in the number of orphans some of whom ended up in CHH without adult supervision. The day to day challenges of this group of orphans was investigated in Masvingo rural district. For this study both the qualitative and quantitative methodology paradigms were used. Secondary sources such as journal articles, published books and computer databases helped in complementing the field work. Four sets of questionnaires were administered to four groups of people which were the heads of CHH, extended families, community leadership and government officials. The analysis of this study led to the following conclusions about social policy and the plight of children in CHH. Firstly, that social policy has failed in Zimbabwe due to the incremental approach to policy making which was taken by the government because of its nature of being reformist as opposed to being transformative. Secondly, that the xiii ZNOCP is not being properly implemented therefore it does not have any impact on the lives of children in CHH. These children are struggling for basic social services like food and nutrition, clothing, education health, shelter and birth registration. Thirdly, the extended families and the community have been weakened by HIV and AIDS and impoverished by ESAP such that they cannot take care of their own families, let alone their deceased relatives‟ orphaned children as stipulated by the ZNOCP. Finally, the passive role being taken by the government in the care and protection of the children in CHH is detrimental to their welfare. The comparative case study of the Slangspruit informal settlement in South Africa shows that challenges faced by orphans are common. This study therefore recommends that there is need for the review of the ZNOCP. The new policy should come up with child care strategies which take into cognizance the evolutionary nature of the community. A human rights based approach ought to be the basis of child protection interventions in Zimbabwe. The study recommends that all stakeholders from the government down to the community need to fully participate in their various capacities in child care and protection. Resources in terms of finance and human resources should be made available and channeled to the intended beneficiaries. There is also need for capacity building in the communities and to intensify HIV and AIDS prevention, mitigation, care and treatment interventions to reduce the prevalence of orphans.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

45

Clavijo, Muñoz Irene. "Essays on Households’ Long-term Trajectories in Welfare and Human Capital." Thesis, Paris, EHESS, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019EHES0189.

Full text

Abstract:

Mes travaux de recherche menés durant mon doctorat au sein de l’Ecole d’Economie de Paris et de l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales ont pour thème commun l’étude de l’évolution au cours du temps des ménages ruraux pauvres. J’analyse l'évolution d’une part, du niveau de bien-être de ces ménages au sein d’une génération (mobilité intragénérationnelle) et d’autre part, de leur capital humain d’une génération à l’autre (transmission intergénérationnelle). Le premier chapitre examine si la durée d’exposition à un programme d’aides financières (cash transfer program) a une incidence sur la trajectoire de bien-être à long terme du ménage. Les résultats suggèrent qu’une faible différence d'exposition à un tel programme augmente la probabilité que le ménage reste pauvre à long terme pour ceux moins longtemps exposés. Le deuxième chapitre étudie la transmission intergénérationnelle, notamment comment les compétences non-cognitives des parents influencent les caractéristiques anthropométriques et capacités cognitives de leurs enfants. Je montre que les effets sont significatifs et perdurent dans le temps. Le troisième chapitre étudie les facteurs de risques, notamment la santé mentale des mères qui peuvent survenir proche de la naissance et leurs effets sur les trajectoires des enfants. Les résultats montrent que les écarts de développement entre les enfants dont les mères sont stables ou instables mentalement se creusent avec le temps, ce qui suggère l'importance de la santé mentale maternelle comme facteur de risque dans les premiers stades du développement de l'enfant. Dans l'ensemble, cette thèse apporte différents éclairages sur ce que nous apprend l’analyse longitudinale des ménages, en suivant les trajectoires des ménages ou des individus à long terme en mettant l'accent sur des périodes spécifiquement identifiées comme essentielles au développement
This dissertation comprises the research I conducted over the course of my doctoral studies at the Paris School of Economics. The underlying common theme between the chapters is the microeconomic study of poor rural households over the course of time. I focus on changes in these households’ welfare level (intragenerational mobility) and the development of their human capital (intergenerational transmission). The first essay examines whether the timing of a cash transfer program could have an impact on the household’s long-term welfare trajectory. The results suggest that a short time differential in exposure to the program had an impact on the household’s likelihood of remaining stuck in poverty in the long run. The second essay investigates the intergenerational relationship between parental non-cognitive skills and subsequent child outcomes, finding an association that is still detectable after several years. The third essay investigates the risk factors (near birth) associated to children’s developmental trajectories into youth, with a focus on maternal mental health. The results show the development gaps, between poor and stable mental health mothers, widen with time, suggesting the importance of maternal mental health as a risk factor in the early stages of a child’s development. Overall, the ensemble of studies highlights the research insight which may be gained from following households’ or individuals’ trajectories over the longer term with a focus on specific periods identified as critical for development

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

46

Lauber, Kirsten Bartlett. "Trends in the Effect of Economic Insecurity on the Allocation of Household Expenditures in the U.S., 1980-2005." Thesis, State University of New York at Albany, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3681855.

Full text

Abstract:

The transition to late-capitalism in the U.S. has generated extensive societal change. This paper examines the intersection of three of these changes: the transition to a consumer-oriented economic and societal model, the increase of economic insecurity experienced by individuals and households and the heightened emphasis on a short-term orientation in individual decision-making. A review of literature from the fields of Sociology, Economics and Psychology describes differing understandings of how individuals react to the heightened economic insecurity that households experience under late-capitalism. Within mainstream Economics', theoretical and empirical work suggests that individuals respond to insecurity by reducing spending and maximizing long-term financial well-being. However, recent work by theorists such as Zygmunt Bauman and Richard Sennett suggest that the proliferation of risk that occurs under late-capitalism weakens individuals' ability to anticipate future risks and leaves them vulnerable to society's emphasis on short-term thinking.

In response to these two interpretations, I analyze differences in the effect of household employment insecurity on consumer behavior over time. Part one of the analysis is a descriptive evaluation using six years (1980-2005) of General Social Survey data and compares levels of perceived job insecurity across demographic and occupational groups, while controlling for occupation-specific unemployment levels. Results show that perceived insecurity increased during this time period, regardless of individual characteristics however, members of traditionally 'secure' groups had lower initial levels of perceived insecurity and sharper growth such that, by 2005, levels of job insecurity are not well predicted by demographic or occupational characteristics.

The second part of this study analyzes data from BLS' Consumer Expenditure Survey. A two-level regression model for repeated cross-sectional data decomposes the effect of occupational characteristics, the unemployment rate and time on households' spending in nine expenditure categories. Models include interaction effects to assess changes in the effect of occupational characteristics over time. Results suggest that occupational characteristics weakened as predictors of spending behavior during this time series, especially in 'long-term oriented' categories (e.g. housing, education). However, the presence of an earner in a high insecurity occupation is significantly associated with increased spending on 'short-term oriented' good and services.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

47

Baiyegunhi, Lloyd-James Segun. "Access to credit and the effect of credit constraints on household welfare in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1000977.

Full text

Abstract:

In recent years, concern about food safety linked to health issues has seen a rise in private food safety standards in addition to the regulations set by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO). These have presented challenges to producers and exporters of agricultural food products especially the producers of fresh fruits and vegetables. In spite of the food safety-linked challenges from the demand side, the vast range of business-environment forces pose equally formidable challenges that negatively impact on the exporting industries’ ability to maintain or improve their market shares and their ability to compete in world markets. The objective of this study was therefore to establish the competitiveness of the South African citrus industry in the international markets within this prevailing scenario. Due to the diversity of the definitions of competitiveness as a concept, this study formulated the following working definition: “the ability to create, deliver and maintain value and constant market share through strategic management of the industrial environment or competitiveness drivers”. This was based on the understanding that the international market shares of an industry are a function of forces in the business environment which range from intra-industry, external and national as well as the international elements. The unit of analysis were the citrus producers engaged in export of their products and the study made use of 151 responses by producers. The study adopted a five-step approach to the analysis of the performance of the South African citrus industry in the global markets, starting with the analysis of the Constant Market Share (CMS) of the South African citrus industry in various world markets, establishing the impact of the business environmental factors upon competitiveness, establishing the costs of compliance with private food safety standards, determining the non-price benefits of compliance with the standards, as well as highlighting the strategies for enhancing long-term competitiveness of the industry in the international markets. South Africa is one of the top three countries dominating the citrus fruit export market. Since its entry into the citrus fruit exports market in the 1900s, the industry has sustained its activity in the international market. The Constant Market Share Analysis shows that, amidst the challenges on the international market side, and the changes in the business environment, over much of which the industry has limited control and influence, the industry has maintained its competitive advantage in several markets. The CMS shows that South Africa’s lemons are competitive in America. Despite a negative trend, the South African grapefruit has been competitive in France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. Oranges have been competitive in the Greece, Italy, Portugal, UK, Asian and Northern Europe markets. Competitiveness in these markets has been due to the inherent competitiveness of the industry. Competitiveness in such markets as the Middle East has been attributed to the relatively rapid growth of these markets. The South African citrus industry has similarly undergone many major processes of transformation. The business environmental factors influencing its performance have ranged reform to the challenges beyond the country’s borders. These factors directly and indirectly affect the performance of the industry in the export market. They have influenced the flow of fruits into different international destinations. Of major concern are the food safety and private standards. Challenges in traditional markets as well as opportunities presented by demand from newly emerging citrus consuming nations have seen a diversification in the marketing of the South African citrus. The intensity of competition in the global market is reflected by the fluctuations in the market shares in different markets as well as the increase and fluctuations of fruit rejection rates in some lucrative markets such as America. A combination of challenging national environmental forces and stringent demand conditions negatively impact on revenues especially from markets characterised by price competitiveness. This study identified cost of production, foreign market support systems, adaptability, worker skills, challenges of management in an international environment and government policies such as labour and trade policies as some of the most influential obstacles to competitiveness. Some of the most competiveness-enhancing factors were market availability, market size, market information, market growth and the availability of research institutions. However, compliance with private standards still poses a challenge to the exporters. The different performance levels of the industry in various markets prove the dissimilarity of the demand conditions in the global market. These are supported by the negative influence associated with the foreign market support regimes as well as the challenges associated with compliance with private food safety standards. While market availability, market growth, market information and size were identified as enhancing competitiveness, the fluctuations and inconsistencies in the competitiveness of the industry in different foreign markets require more than finding markets. Resource allocation by both the government and the industry may need to take into account the off-setting of the national challenges and support of farmers faced with distorted and unfair international playing fields. Otherwise, market availability is not a challenge for the industry save meeting the specifications therewith as well as price competitiveness which is unattainable for the South African citrus producers faced with high production costs. For the purposes of further study, it is recommended that account should be taken of all the products marketed by the industry (including processed products such as fruit juices) in order to have a whole picture of the competitiveness of the industry in the international market. This study also proffers a new theoretical framework for the analysis of the business environment for the citrus industry and other agro-businesses. This framework takes into account the indispensability of the food safety standards and measures as well as the diversity of the global consumer and the non-negotiability of food trade for the sustenance of the growing population.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

48

Murendo, Conrad [Verfasser], Meike [Akademischer Betreuer] Wollni, Matin [Akademischer Betreuer] Qaim, and Stephan von [Akademischer Betreuer] Cramon-Taubadel. "Mobile money adoption and household welfare in Uganda / Conrad Murendo. Betreuer: Meike Wollni. Gutachter: Matin Qaim ; Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel." Göttingen : Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1080361588/34.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

49

Garbero, Alessandra. "Evaluation of the impact of HIV-related mortality on household welfare from panel data, in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa." Thesis, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (University of London), 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.549758.

Full text

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

50

Irlam, James. "A household survey of maternal and child health in the Mount Frere Health District, Eastern Cape." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26987.

Full text

Abstract:

A cross-sectional household survey of maternal and child health was conducted in the Mount Frere health district of the Eastern Cape in August / September 1997. The aim was to describe key aspects of maternal and child health to inform the planning activities of the District Health Management Team (DHMT). A participatory process was followed, in order to develop research capacity within the district, and to facilitate interaction between health workers and the community. Methods: Structured questionnaires were used by local research trainees to gather data from each household on: • household demographics; • deaths in household since April 1994; • household access to water and sanitation; • children under five years; • children aged 5 to 15 years; • deliveries in the past 12 months; • knowledge of prevention and transmission of HIV/AIDS. Focus group discussions around the key findings were conducted with community members and clinic nurses to provide a qualitative component. Results: A high proportion of children under the age of 16, high household density, high unemployment, migrant labour, and absent mothers, are some of the defining demographic characteristics which affect the status of maternal and child health in the district. Access to health services is constrained by distance, lack of transport, and poor roads. Registration of births and deaths is poor, and the crude birth and death rates were found to be significantly higher than the " official" provincial rates. Tuberculosis, diarrhoea, trauma and homicide are notable features of the overall mortality profile, although the majority of deaths were classified "ill-defined / unknown". Diarrhoea and pneumonia accounted for half of all infant deaths. Eight out of ten deaths due to diarrhoea in under-fives occurred at home, but knowledge and use of oral rehydration solution is poor. Access to clean drinking water and sanitation is a major concern, with almost three quarters of homes using unprotected sources, a third more than 30 minutes' walk from the nearest source, and a half having no toilet. Areas of the district with particularly poor environmental health indicators were identified. Immunisation coverage among children 1-4 years is poor. Coverage for all vaccines except BCG falls well short of the national target of 90%, and fewer than 1 in 3 children was fully immunised with valid doses at the age of one year. Long intervals between doses and a high "dropout" rate between subsequent doses was observed. The road to health card (RTHC) could be produced for just over a half of under-five children. The proportion of home deliveries is high (45%), and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) therefore play an important role in this community. Nine out of ten mothers had attended antenatal clinic at least once, but almost half reported receiving no tetanus toxoid and no WR test for syphilis during their antenatal visits. More than a half of all mothers was using no family planning method at the time of the survey. Almost all 15-49 year-olds had heard about HIV/AIDS, but one in five did not know how HIV is transmitted, and a third did not know how it could be prevented. Recommendations: A detailed set of recommendations with action points for the DHMT was developed in a district workshop around the following key issues: 1. Improving access to health care, including road access, mobile clinic coverage, and waiting facilities for expectant mothers. 2. Promoting health in the community, by means of integration of health promotion into all health programmes, and more involvement of communities. 3. Improving the quality of care in the existing health facilities and services, including minimising missed opportunities for immunisation, and promoting home-made oral rehydration (sugar-salt) solution. 4. Improving the district health information system, especially the registration of vital events, and the provision of feedback to district health managers. 5. Identifying areas of further research, including the reasons for home deliveries, management of diarrhoea at home, and the use of traditional healers. Conclusion: The participatory research process that was used has helped to build research capacity in the district, to provide a deeper insight into community health problems, to highlight the value of health workers listening to the people they serve, to further collaboration between the disciplines, and to develop specific action plans. This is a process that should be followed in all research conducted in health districts.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Household welfare'

Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles