Household Poverty Dynamics in Malawi

Bokosi, Fanwell Kenala (2006): Household Poverty Dynamics in Malawi. Forthcoming in: Journal of Applied Sciences

Abstract

This paper’s goal is to identify the sources of expenditure and poverty dynamics among Malawian households between 1998 and 2002 and to model poverty transitions in Malawi using a bivariate probit model with endogenous selection to address the "initial conditions' problem. The exogeneity of the initial state is strongly rejected and could result in considerable overstatement of the effects of the explanatory factors. The results of the bivariate probit model do indicate that education of the household head, per capita acreage cultivated and changes in household size are significantly related to the probability of being poor in 2002 irrespective of the poverty status in 1998. For those households who were poor in 1998, the probability of being poor in 2002 was significantly influenced by household size, value of livestock owned and mean time to services, while residence in the Northern region was a significant variable in determining the probability of being poor in 2002 for households that were not poor in 1998.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Institution: Department of Economics, University of Kent
• Language: English
• Keywords: Poverty transitions; characteristics of the poor; poverty dynamics; determinants of poverty; Malawi
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare and Poverty > I32 - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C1 - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General > C14 - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods

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