Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia

Fatalism is considered pervasive, especially in many poor communities. In this paper, we explore whether fatalistic beliefs have implications for the attitudes and behavior of poor rural households toward investment in the future. To explore the idea of fatalism, we draw inspiration from theories in...

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Autores principales: Bernard, Tanguy, Dercon, Stefan, Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154071
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author Bernard, Tanguy
Dercon, Stefan
Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
author_browse Bernard, Tanguy
Dercon, Stefan
Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
author_facet Bernard, Tanguy
Dercon, Stefan
Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
author_sort Bernard, Tanguy
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Fatalism is considered pervasive, especially in many poor communities. In this paper, we explore whether fatalistic beliefs have implications for the attitudes and behavior of poor rural households toward investment in the future. To explore the idea of fatalism, we draw inspiration from theories in psychology focusing on the role of locus of control and self-efficacy and also from the theoretical framework of aspiration failure as developed in recent economic literature. Using survey data from rural Ethiopia, we find evidence of fatalistic beliefs among a substantial group of rural house-holds, as well as indicators consistent with narrow aspirations gap and low self-efficacy. We also find that such beliefs consistently correlate with lower demand for credit, in terms of loan size, repayment horizon, and productive purposes.
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spelling CGSpace1540712025-11-06T06:48:32Z Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia Bernard, Tanguy Dercon, Stefan Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum social welfare self-efficacy Fatalism is considered pervasive, especially in many poor communities. In this paper, we explore whether fatalistic beliefs have implications for the attitudes and behavior of poor rural households toward investment in the future. To explore the idea of fatalism, we draw inspiration from theories in psychology focusing on the role of locus of control and self-efficacy and also from the theoretical framework of aspiration failure as developed in recent economic literature. Using survey data from rural Ethiopia, we find evidence of fatalistic beliefs among a substantial group of rural house-holds, as well as indicators consistent with narrow aspirations gap and low self-efficacy. We also find that such beliefs consistently correlate with lower demand for credit, in terms of loan size, repayment horizon, and productive purposes. 2012 2024-10-01T13:59:18Z 2024-10-01T13:59:18Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154071 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Ethiopian Development Research Institute Bernard, Tanguy; Dercon, Stefan; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum 2012. Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154071
spellingShingle social welfare
self-efficacy
Bernard, Tanguy
Dercon, Stefan
Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia
title Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia
title_full Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia
title_fullStr Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia
title_short Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia
title_sort beyond fatalism an empirical exploration of self efficacy and aspirations failure in ethiopia
topic social welfare
self-efficacy
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154071
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AT derconstefan beyondfatalismanempiricalexplorationofselfefficacyandaspirationsfailureinethiopia
AT taffessealemayehuseyoum beyondfatalismanempiricalexplorationofselfefficacyandaspirationsfailureinethiopia