Fertility, income and poverty of households in Ghana

Type Journal Article
Title Fertility, income and poverty of households in Ghana
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2009
URL http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/conferences/2009-EdiA/papers/505-Bhasin.pdf
Abstract
The study has used the Ghana Living Standards Survey data for 1998-1999 and control function approach to identify the significant determinants of fertility (captured by number of children alive in a household) and incomes of households by specifying fertility consumption expenditure model and income-fertility model, and by using household level data. The determinants of fertility that are considered in the first model are the use of contraceptives by the mother and father, hours spent by the mother in taking care of children and personal characteristics of household members, such as the age of the mother, age square of the mother and education of the mother; age of the father, age square of the father and education of the father; consumption expenditure per adult, and the variables that correct for endogeneity and heteroscedasticity such as the fitted residuals for the logarithm of consumption expenditure per adult, and the interaction term between the fitted residuals and the logarithm of consumption per adult. In addition to these determinants, the study also looks at five categories of households, e.g. Agricultural Households, Public sector employees, Private sector employees, Non-farm self employed and Non-working that are included as control variables in the first model. The determinants of incomes of households that are considered in the second model are the personal characteristics of household members, such as the age of the mother, age square of the mother and education of the mother; age of the father, age square of the father and education of the father; fertility, and the variables that correct for endogeneity and heteroscedasticity such as the fitted residuals for fertility, and the interaction term between the fitted residuals and fertility. The study has also examined the relationship among fertility, income and poverty of households by considering the ObservedPredicted Income method and FGT poverty measures method.

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