The allocation of time and welfare within rural households: Evidence from Tanzania

Type Conference Paper - Bolivian Conference on Development Economics
Title The allocation of time and welfare within rural households: Evidence from Tanzania
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2010
City La Paz
URL http://www.inesad.edu.bo/bcde2010/contributed/a21_19.pdf
Abstract
Using data on individual consumption and time use from Tanzania, this paper analyses the distribution of well-being within rural couples using Browning & Gørtz’s (2007) collective household model. We find that the relative wage has a positive impact on relative private consumption and a negative impact on leisure. The results also suggest that women are better off in richer households and that inter-generational influences, such as parental education, impact on the female position within the household. While these findings are consistent with non-unitary household behaviour, we find little evidence in support of the collective model. Only restricting the sample to couples with individual incomes for both partners allows recovering structural parameters of the model and provides partial support of collective behaviour.

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