Expenditure behavior and children's welfare: an analysis of female headed households in Jamaica

This paper presents an analysis on the expenditure behavior and children's welfare among female-headed households in Jamaica. Included in the examination of household composition are the demographic effects, endogeneity of total expenditure, the headship variable and the endogeneity of family structure. Using the 1989 Jamaican Survey of Living Conditions (SLC), expenditure estimation on over 100 goods for 3500 household was examined. This study utilized the Ordinary Least Square estimates, 2 SLC and endogeneity tests, and partnered and unpartnered household heads. Results for the demand for preventive health care were significant among older children in female-headed households, with a 4% increase in the probability of a check-up across all ages. This study presents a partial explanation of lower morbidity rates in female-headed households despite lower budget and total per capita expenditure levels. In conclusion, this study confirms the significant influence of sex and union status of the household head on household expenditure behaviors with implications for individual household members, with more positive outcomes among children despite differences in budget allocation and lower health expenditures.     

Social contracts,markets and efficiency: Groundwater irrigation in North India

This paper uses primary data to analyze the institutions and informal markets that govern groundwater allocation in a sugarcane-cultivating village in North India. We find that, in contrast to earlier literature, the observed water trades result in efficient water allocation across farms. We interpret this and other stylized facts in terms of a social contract using a simple bargaining model with limited inter-player transfers. Poor functioning of the power sector leads to reduced pumping and a water supply constraint. Simulations show that power supply reform can significantly increase farm yields, and be financed out of increased farm profits.     

DEPOSITOR DISCIPLINE, REGULATORY CONTROL, AND A BANKING CRISIS: A STUDY OF INDIAN URBAN COOPERATIVE BANKS

ABSTRACT ** :  Urban Cooperative banks in India (UCBs) play an important role in mobilizing resources from lower and middle-income groups and in providing direct finance to small entrepreneurs and traders. Motivated by previous empirical work on depositor disciplining behaviour, this paper examines whether depositors punish weak UCBs by withdrawing deposits during and after a banking crisis. In addition, the paper investigates the impact of tightened prudential standards imposed by the Indian central bank (RBI) on the ratio of investments to loan assets and on the rate of growth of loans. Our sample of 45 UCBs is partitioned into strong and weak banks and subjected to econometric testing. Our analysis reveals that a banking crisis is associated with a contraction in deposits across the sample. However, weak banks appear to be disciplined by depositors during election years. We also find weak support for the contention that banks reduced loans when faced with intensified regulatory scrutiny in the aftermath of a crisis.     

Evaluating Fluid Milk Advertising in Ontario: The Importance of Functional Form

Generic advertising and promotion of milk and milk products have assumed increasing importance in Canada over the past two decades. The present research evaluates the Ontario generic fluid milk advertising campaign and determines the functional form that best describes the response of sales to advertising. The research also investigates whether appropriate amounts are being spent on fluid milk advertising. Empirical results indicate the generic fluid milk advertising program has significantly increased milk consumption. Using the empirically preferred inverse functional form, we estimate Ontario fluid milk sales to have increased by 40 million litres during the last quarter of 1984 as a result of increased advertising. The associated increase in farm income is estimated at $16 million, or $24 per additional media dollar invested. Results indicate that the computed optimal spending levels are sensitive to functional form selection, and the empirically preferred inverse form suggests fluid milk advertising expenditures can profitably be increased to 1.7 times the current rate. La publicité et la promotion génériques du lait et des produits laitiers a gagné de plus en plus d'importance au Canada au cours des deux dernières décennies. On a tenté d'évaluer la campagne de publicité générique sur le lait de consommation lancée en Ontario et de trouver la fonction qui décrit le mieux la réaction des ventes à la publicité. On a également vérifié si le budget consacréà la publicitéétait suffisant. Les résultats empiriques indiquent que le programme de publicité générique a augmenté sensiblement la consommation de lait. Selon la méthode empirique de la fonction inverse prérérée, les ventes de lait frais en Ontario ont augmenté de 40 millions de litres au cours du dernier trimestre de 1984 à la suite d'une publicité plus intense. Les recettes agricoles ont donc progressé d'environ 16 $millions, soit de 24 S par dollar investi. Ces résultats montrent que le budget optimal dépend du type de publicité retenu et la fonction inverse préférée suggère qu'il serait rentable d'accroêtre le budget publicitaire actuel du lait de consommation de 1,7 fois.     

How effective is a fat subsidy? Evidence from edible oil consumption in India

Taxes on fats and sugar-sweetened beverages are deployed in the developed world to encourage healthier diets. How effective might such fiscal instruments be in emerging economies? We evaluate the impacts of a subsidy for palm oil, introduced as part of the public distribution system in three Indian states. Using variants of the difference-in-differences approach, we find that palm oil consumption increased, particularly in rural areas, as a result of the subsidy, and traditional oils were displaced by cheaper palm oil. However, the intervention did not significantly alter overall edible oil consumption. These results are robust to different specifications, alternative estimation samples, and the exclusion of households who may have been potential beneficiaries of other interventions. Impacts were higher in Tamil Nadu than in other states, and were higher for vegetarian households in rural areas. There was only weak evidence of spillover income effects on other food groups. Given India's dual burden of malnutrition, our analysis suggests that fiscal policy interventions have the potential to effectively nudge consumer choices towards healthier edible oil consumption.     

Gender as a moderator of the relationship between materialism and fashion clothing involvement among Indian youth

The research examines the role of gender in moderating the relationship between materialism and product involvement with fashion clothing among the Indian youth. The Richins materialism scale and the product involvement and purchase involvement scales developed by O'Cass were used to understand the behaviour of Indian youth towards fashion clothing. The sample (n = 254) comprised of university students from different parts of India. The findings indicate that Indian youth do not possess a high level of materialistic tendencies. Gender has a moderating influence on the relationship between materialism and involvement with fashion clothing. Young men and women differ with respect to their involvement with fashion clothing and even more with regard to their involvement with the purchase of fashion clothing, with women reporting a higher level of involvement in both cases.     

Eliciting Willingness‐to‐Pay through Multiple Experimental Procedures: Evidence from Lab‐in‐the‐Field in Rural Ghana

This paper has the objectives of (a) comparing estimated willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) across three elicitation mechanisms (a Becker‐DeGroot‐Marschak [BDM] auction, a kth price auction, and a choice experiment [CE]) and (b) examining how these vary by participation fee. The product under consideration is kenkey made with nutritious maize, biofortified with vitamin A, which gives it a distinct orange color, in contrast to the white and yellow varieties that are traditionally consumed. We use an experiment consisting of 14 treatment arms, conducted in rural Ghana. Our estimation strategy explicitly accounts for the censored (typically at the market price) nature of the bids in the auctions, and the apparently lexicographic choices of several individuals in the CE. We find no evidence of economically meaningful (defined by the minimum currency unit of five pesewas) differences in WTP (although they may be statistically significant) across elicitation mechanisms, or by participation fee, a result that is in contrast to that found in much of the literature. A secondary finding is that the provision of nutrition information positively and significantly affects the marginal WTP for the new maize.     

Taboo in consumption: Social structure,gender and sustainable menstrual products

Although consumption taboos are prevalent in everyday life, consumer research interest in the topic remains scant and focuses mostly on taboo products. This research moves by focusing on taboo persons and explores how barriers are presented in consumption choices for such individuals. A qualitative research design was used in the study and in‐depth interviews were conducted with 31 women from middle and upper income classes who showed an inclination to purchase sustainable menstrual products (SMPs). This study analyses how the intimate and private consumption of SMPs gets transformed into a complex socially embedded consumption choice. The study explores how and why a social structure steeped in symbolic violence towards menstruating women constrains the consumption of SMPs. Disillusioned by patriarchal subordination, the women preferred to respect boundaries and maintain stability in their life. Despite their socialization and engagement in several sustainable consumption decisions prior to the consideration of SMPs, these women exhibited a lack of agency as they could not transgress orthodox gender boundaries even as their choice reinforced prevailing social inequalities. They sought to conform to the gendered habitus instead of engaging in an act of defiance. This act of self‐restraint, however, results in tensions as the women try to legitimize a consumption choice which is inconsistent with their attitude towards sustainable consumption. The study discusses the consequences of the new restrictions faced by the women as they reframe concerns about the environment and justify their choice.     

MATERNAL EDUCATION AND CHILD ATTAINMENT IN JAMAICA: TESTING THE BARGAINING POWER HYPOTHESIS†

In a bargaining model of household decision-making, any variable reflecting the outside opportunities of household members will influence household demand patterns. Mother's education has been found to be an important determinant of children's education and health outcomes. This paper argues that within a bargaining framework, mother's education may influence children's health and education by shifting bargaining power within the household. An empirical strategy is developed and applied to data on teenage grade attainment and school enrolment in Jamaica. The results support the bargaining power hypothesis, and imply a broader role for mother's education than has previously been considered.     

External Debt and Capital Flight in the Indian Economy

This paper estimates Indian capital flight at US $88 billion (in 1997 dollars) over the 1971‐97 period, a sum that is roughly 20% of the US $448 billion real external debt disbursed to the country over the same time period. There is also evidence of a strong year-to-year correlation between debt inflows and flight-capital outflows. The paper explores the nature of this association between capital flight and external debt in the Indian economy. An analysis by Boyce (1992, World Development, 20, pp. 335‐349) for the Philippines revealed the presence of contemporaneous bi-directional causality, in other words, a financial revolving door relationship between external debt and capital flight in that economy. The research question addressed by this paper is whether such a financial revolving door relationship exists in India, given its higher level of external indebtedness and lower debt-to-GNP ratio as compared with the Philippines. Utilizing a simultaneous equation model to examine the association between capital flight and external debt in the Indian economy, the paper confirms the existence of a financial revolving door relationship between the two endogenous variables.