Why Do Spouses Hide Income

This paper is forthcoming at the Journal of Socio-Economics.This paper proposes a simplified model of intrahousehold decision making where cooperative and noncooperative behavior are not mutually exclusive. Individuals choose the optimal share of income they wish to devote towards cooperation, where income is pooled and allocated collectively, and towards noncooperation, where income is allocated independently. Using the example of joint saving as an area of household cooperation, this model shows how limited autonomy and bargaining power can interact to create incentives for individuals to hide income. This result provides theoretical support for the call to collect survey data separately from individuals rather than from household representatives.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90857/1/Malapit_Why_do_spouses_hide_income_JSE_Forthcoming.pd

Gender, Household Structure and Financial Participation in the United States

Despite considerable work on gender and access to financial services in the developing world, there have been few studies on this issue in the United States. In this paper, 2007 and 2010 US Survey of Consumer Finance data are used to study the differential impact of children on the likelihood of being unbanked and underbanked for couples, male-headed households and female-headed households. After controlling for various aspects of socio-economic status, logistic regressions indicate that an additional child increased female-headed households’ likelihood of being unbanked and underbanked. This child penalty is stronger for female-headed households than for couples or male-headed households. This result cannot be explained solely on the basis of demand side factors, including income, and calls for further research into the supply-side dynamics of access to financial services in the US

Does violent conflict make chronic poverty more likely? the Mindanao experience

This paper investigates whether provinces with violent conflict are more likely to experience higher rates of chronic poverty. Following the findings that education and health outcomes are key determinants of chronic poverty, the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Quality of Life Index (QLI) are used as proxy variables for chronic poverty. T-tests of means for HDI and QLI are performed, comparing provinces with conflict and provinces without conflict. Results show that provinces experiencing conflict have significantly lower HDI outcomes relative to provinces that did not experience conflict. Pooled results for the QLI also show a statistically significant difference between the means of provinces with and without conflict.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64264/1/2003-40-2_02-Malapit-etal.pd

Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Production Diversity, and Nutrition: Evidence from Nepal

It is increasingly recognised that agricultural growth and development do not necessarily translate into improved nutrition outcomes. Policymakers are increasingly grappling with how to design and implement agricultural policies and programmes that can also achieve nutritional objectives. Agriculture has direct links to nutrition in that it provides a source of food and nutrients and a broad-based source of income, as well as directly influencing food prices. Gender roles mediate these linkages, particularly in relation to increased food availability and increased income. Thus, one possible pathway through which agricultural development could improve health and nutrition outcomes is by considering gender roles and gender equity in agriculture. Using household survey data from Nepal, the author of this paper investigates the impact of women’s empowerment in agriculture and production diversity on dietary diversity and anthropometric outcomes of mothers and children. Production diversity is positively associated with mothers’ dietary diversity and body mass index. Production diversity is positively associated with dietary diversity for children under two and predicts weight-for-age (WAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ), and height-for-age (HAZ) z-scores of children over two years of age. Indicators of empowerment are significantly associated with maternal outcomes but have a variable effect on child outcomes. Women’s autonomy in production and hours worked improve maternal and children’s dietary diversity and child HAZ.UK AidDepartment for International Development (DFID

Labor supply responses to adverse shocks under credit constraints: evidence from Bukidnon, Philippines

The ability of households to insure consumption from adverse shocks is an important aspect of vulnerability to poverty. How is consumption insurance achieved in a low-income setting where formal credit and insurance markets have been observed to be imperfect or missing? Using 2003 data from the Philippine province of Bukidnon, we investigate how labor supply is used to buffer transitory income shocks in light of credit constraints. We find that the most vulnerable households are those with little education and with few or no able-bodied male members. Appropriate policy responses include countercyclical workfare programs directed at households with high female-to-male ratios, households with high dependency ratios, and households with little or no education, as well as the provision of universal education and health care. These programs are likely to be effective in strengthening the labor endowments of households and improving their ability to cope with adverse shocks in the future.BASIS-CRSP through the International Food Policy Research Network (IFPRI)Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP) Research Network, financed by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Government of Canada through the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64265/1/PRE2008-45-2_02-Malapit-etal.pd

Women’s Empowerment Mitigates the Negative Effects of Low Production Diversity on Maternal and Child Nutrition in Nepal

We use household survey data from Nepal to investigate relationships between women’s empowerment in agriculture and production diversity on maternal and child dietary diversity and anthropometric outcomes. Production diversity is positively associated with maternal and child dietary diversity, and weight-for-height z-scores. Women’s group membership, control over income, reduced workload, and overall empowerment are positively associated with better maternal nutrition. Control over income is positively associated with height-for-age z-scores (HAZ), and a lower gender parity gap improves children’s diets and HAZ. Women’s empowerment mitigates the negative effect of low production diversity on maternal and child dietary diversity and HAZ

Are women more likely to be credit constrained? Evidence from low-income households in the Philippines

This paper is forthcoming in Feminist Economics.This paper investigates the determinants of credit constraints among women and men in urban slum communities in the Philippines. Results show that women are more likely to be credit constrained than men. Rather than wealth, informal lenders seem to rely more on reputation and credit history to screen prospective borrowers, although the consequences of repayment delays or defaults are much more severe for women. These findings provide empirical support for women-targeted credit interventions in urban poor contexts, particularly those that enable women to build and capitalize on good credit histories.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91310/1/Malapit_Are_women_more_credit_constrained_FemEcon_Forthcoming.pdf-

Women’s empowerment in agriculture, production diversity, and nutrition: Evidence from Nepal

With the increasing recognition that agricultural growth and development do not necessarily translate into improved nutrition outcomes, policymakers are increasingly grappling with how to design and implement agricultural policies and programs that can also achieve nutritional objectives. Agriculture has direct links to nutrition in that it provides a source of food and nutrients and a broad-based source of income, as well as directly influencing food prices.Non-PRIFPRI1; Theme 8; CRP4PHND; A4NH; NDOCGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH

Using cognitive interviewing to improve the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index survey instruments: Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda

PRIFPRI3; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index; CRP2; Capacity Strengthening; G Cross-cutting gender themePHND; PIM22 pagesCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Using cognitive interviewing to improve the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index survey instruments: Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda

The purpose of cognitive interviewing is to systematically identify and analyze sources of response error in surveys, and to use that information to improve the quality and accuracy of survey instruments. This paper describes the cognitive interviews undertaken in Bangladesh and Uganda in 2014 as part of the second round of pilots intended to refine the original version of the Women’s Empowerment in Agricultural Index (WEAI). The WEAI is a survey-based tool that assesses gendered empowerment in agriculture. Baseline data were collected in 19 countries, but implementers reported some problems, such as confusion among both respondents and enumerators regarding the meaning of abstract concepts in the autonomy sub-module and difficulties recalling the sequence and duration of activities in the time-use sub-module. The results revealed potential problems with the survey questions and informed the revision of the WEAI, called the Abbreviated WEAI (or A-WEAI), which has less potential for response errors