Working Paper: NBER ID: w10498
Authors: Esther Duflo; Christopher Udry
Abstract: We study resource allocation within households in Côte d'Ivoire. In Côte d'Ivoire, as in much of Africa, husbands and wives farm separate plots, and there is some specialization by gender in the crops that are grown. These different crops are differentially sensitive to particular kinds of rainfall shocks. We find that conditional on overall levels of expenditure, the composition of household expenditure is sensitive to the gender of the recipient of a rainfall shock. For example, rainfall shocks associated with high yields of women's crops shift expenditure towards food. Strong social norms constrain the use of profits from yam cultivation, which is carried out almost exclusively by men. In line with these norms, we find that rainfall-induced fluctuations in income from yams are transmitted to expenditures on education and food, not to expenditures on private goods (like alcohol and tobacco). We reject the hypothesis of complete insurance within households, even with respect to publicly observable weather shocks. Different sources of income are allocated to different uses depending upon both the identity of the income earner and upon the origin of the income.
Keywords: Intrahousehold resource allocation; Côte d'Ivoire; Social norms; Consumption choices
JEL Codes: O12; D13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| rainfall variation (Q54) | income from various sources (E25) |
| rainfall-induced income fluctuations (yams) (Q54) | expenditures on education and food (H52) |
| income source (gender-specific crops) (J43) | expenditure patterns (H50) |
| different income sources (E25) | different uses of income (E25) |
| rainfall variation (Q54) | allocation of resources within the household (D13) |
| rainfall shocks (Q54) | expenditure on food (D12) |
| rainfall shocks (Q54) | expenditure on education (H52) |
| rainfall shocks (Q54) | different expenditure patterns based on gender (H75) |