The distribution of power and household behavior: Evidence from Niger
Niger is a landlocked Sahelian country, two-thirds of which is in the Sahara desert. Although only one-eighth of the land considered arable, more than 90 percent of Niger’s labor force is employed in agriculture, which is predominantly subsistence oriented. Food security remains a major challenge in...
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| Format: | Artículo preliminar |
| Language: | Inglés |
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International Food Policy Research Institute
2016
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148399 |
| _version_ | 1855523936990658560 |
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| author | Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie |
| author_browse | Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie |
| author_facet | Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie |
| author_sort | Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Niger is a landlocked Sahelian country, two-thirds of which is in the Sahara desert. Although only one-eighth of the land considered arable, more than 90 percent of Niger’s labor force is employed in agriculture, which is predominantly subsistence oriented. Food security remains a major challenge in rural areas of Niger, and gender is a significant basis for the inequality among household members with respect to access to land. Access to land, which is a measure of the income-earning potential of an individual, is an important determinant of the distribution of bargaining power within the household. Because households may not act in a unitary manner when making decisions, the power of individuals within the household to exert their own preferences may determine welfare outcomes, such as spending on nutritious foods or healthcare. In this paper, we use new data for Niger and regression analyses to assess the importance of the intrahousehold distribution of power for the behavior of rural households. Our results reveal that men are significantly more empowered than women in rural households in Niger and that social protection programs such as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and food-for-training contribute significantly to the empowerment of women. Our findings also point to the validity of the collective approach to modeling household behavior, as the distribution of power was shown to affect household behavior. In particular, we found that an increase in power in favor of the adult female significantly increases expenditures on healthcare and reduces spending on vices (cigarettes and alcohol). |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace148399 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1483992025-11-06T06:05:38Z The distribution of power and household behavior: Evidence from Niger Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie gender sociology household expenditure households welfare social protection smallholders assets family structure decision making Niger is a landlocked Sahelian country, two-thirds of which is in the Sahara desert. Although only one-eighth of the land considered arable, more than 90 percent of Niger’s labor force is employed in agriculture, which is predominantly subsistence oriented. Food security remains a major challenge in rural areas of Niger, and gender is a significant basis for the inequality among household members with respect to access to land. Access to land, which is a measure of the income-earning potential of an individual, is an important determinant of the distribution of bargaining power within the household. Because households may not act in a unitary manner when making decisions, the power of individuals within the household to exert their own preferences may determine welfare outcomes, such as spending on nutritious foods or healthcare. In this paper, we use new data for Niger and regression analyses to assess the importance of the intrahousehold distribution of power for the behavior of rural households. Our results reveal that men are significantly more empowered than women in rural households in Niger and that social protection programs such as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and food-for-training contribute significantly to the empowerment of women. Our findings also point to the validity of the collective approach to modeling household behavior, as the distribution of power was shown to affect household behavior. In particular, we found that an increase in power in favor of the adult female significantly increases expenditures on healthcare and reduces spending on vices (cigarettes and alcohol). 2016-08-12 2024-06-21T09:24:35Z 2024-06-21T09:24:35Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148399 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147545 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150365 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie. 2016. The distribution of power and household behavior: Evidence from Niger. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1548. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148399 |
| spellingShingle | gender sociology household expenditure households welfare social protection smallholders assets family structure decision making Wouterse, Fleur Stephanie The distribution of power and household behavior: Evidence from Niger |
| title | The distribution of power and household behavior: Evidence from Niger |
| title_full | The distribution of power and household behavior: Evidence from Niger |
| title_fullStr | The distribution of power and household behavior: Evidence from Niger |
| title_full_unstemmed | The distribution of power and household behavior: Evidence from Niger |
| title_short | The distribution of power and household behavior: Evidence from Niger |
| title_sort | distribution of power and household behavior evidence from niger |
| topic | gender sociology household expenditure households welfare social protection smallholders assets family structure decision making |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148399 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT woutersefleurstephanie thedistributionofpowerandhouseholdbehaviorevidencefromniger AT woutersefleurstephanie distributionofpowerandhouseholdbehaviorevidencefromniger |