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Gender and Development in Africa

Paper Session

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Hyatt Regency Chicago, Wright
Hosted By: National Economic Association
  • Chair: Kaye Husbands Fealing, Georgia Institute of Technology

Share the Love: Parental Bias, Women Empowerment and Intergenerational Mobility

Theophile T. Azomahou
,
Maastricht University, UNU-MERIT, University of Clermont Auvergne and CERDI
Yoseph Y. Getachew
,
University of Pretoria
Eleni A. Yitbarek
,
Maastricht University and UNU-MERIT

Abstract

This paper introduces a collective household decision-making process into a gender-based overlapping generations model with heterogeneous agents. Gender bias is modeled as part of parents' psychic cost -- a reflection of their pessimism, which leads to different mobility thresholds for daughters and sons. In this setting, the degree of women's bargaining power is found to be crucial in defining the psychic cost and hence their children's mobility. The framework is applied to the Nigerian General Household Survey panel data. We estimate a multinomial logit model with unobserved heterogeneity, using simulated maximum likelihood, to determine intergenerational mobility across primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. We find that children whose parents work in the secondary and tertiary sectors are more likely to work in the same sector. Greater intra-household female bargaining power leads to greater upward mobility for boys more than girls. Parental gender bias could thus be a driving force behind gender-based intergenerational persistence.

Excess Male Infant Mortality: The Gene-Institution Interactions

Roland Pongou
,
University of Ottawa
Barthelemy Kuate Defo
,
University of Montreal
Zacharie Tsala Dimbuene
,
Statistics Canada

Abstract

Excess male mortality at early ages is an important source of child inequality in most societies. It mirrors a significant early-life human capital disadvantage that has long been regarded as a case of genetic fatality. Yet, an unresolved fundamental question is whether this problem can be minimized through appropriate policy interventions. Using data on twins in combination with a natural experiment on the development of African institutions, we quantify the distinct effects of biology and preconception environmental factors on the infant mortality sex gap, and examine how they respond to the quality of political institutions. We find that these effects are important only in poor institutions. The analysis implies that improved institutions constrain genetic expression and mitigate preconception influences on male excess infant mortality, which is an optimistic finding with pragmatic implications.

Disease and Gender Gaps in Human Capital Investment: Evidence from Niger's 1986 Meningitis Epidemic

Belinda Archibong
,
Barnard College

Abstract

Persistent gender gaps in educational attainment in developing countries have been examined in the context of differential parental costs of investment in the education of boys versus girls. Previous research has shown that where direct and opportunity costs of investment in girls are higher, girls' educational attainment tends to be lower than boys' with costs generated by fees, the need for child care provision, income generating activities, and early marriage for girls. Understudied is the effect of disease burdens in increasing costs and contributing to underinvestment in girls' schooling relative to their male counterparts. To estimate the magnitude of this effect, we examine the impact of exposure to the 1986 meningitis epidemic in Niger on girls' education. We assess whether girls' education relative to boys' decreases more in areas with higher meningitis exposure during epidemic years. We find that increases in meningitis cases during epidemic years significantly reduce years of education for primary school aged going girls in areas with higher meningitis exposure. There is no significant effect for boys in the same cohort, supporting the hypothesis that investment in girls' education is disproportionately reduced during epidemic years.

Smarter Teachers, Smarter Pupils? Some New Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Nadir Altinok
,
BETA and University of Lorraine
Manos Antonisis
,
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Phu Nguyen-Van
,
BETA, CNRS and University of Strasbourg

Abstract

We study the effect of teacher subject knowledge on student achievement in mathematics and reading by using a dataset from sub-Saharan Africa. This effect differs across countries and across groups within countries. For example, matching teachers and students by gender matters. However, more knowledgeable teachers improve student learning only if some conditions are met. For instance, high level of teacher absenteeism and low performance of teachers in a subset of items that are also administered to students can dampen the teacher subject knowledge effect on student learning.
Discussant(s)
Mwangi wa Githinji
,
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Juliet Elu
,
Morehouse College
Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere
,
Morehouse College
Linda Loubert
,
Morgan State University
JEL Classifications
  • J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor
  • O1 - Economic Development