The determinants of female headship in Jamaica: Results from a structural model

Economic Development and Cultural Change

Volumn 44, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 793-815

  Handa, Sudhanshu ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES   (Jamaica)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS; ECONOMIC BEHAVIOUR; FEMALE HEADED HOUSEHOLD; STRUCTURAL MODEL;

JAMAICA;

EID: 0029906694     PISSN: 00130079     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/452245     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. M. Manser and M. Brown, "Marriage and Household Decision-Making: A Bargaining Analysis," International Economic Review 21 (1980): 31-44; M. B. McElroy and M. J. Homey, "Nash-Bargained Household Decisions: Towards a Generalization of the Theory of Demand," International Economic Review 22, no. 2 (1981): 333-49.
2. M. Manser and M. Brown, "Marriage and Household Decision-Making: A Bargaining Analysis," International Economic Review 21 (1980): 31-44; M. B. McElroy and M. J. Homey, "Nash-Bargained Household Decisions: Towards a Generalization of the Theory of Demand," International Economic Review 22, no. 2 (1981): 333-49.
3. M. J. Horney and M. B. McElroy, "The Household Allocation Problem: Empirical Results from a Bargaining Model," Research in Population Economics 6 (1988): 15-38; T. P. Schultz, "Testing the Neoclassical Model of Family Labor Supply and Fertility," Journal of Human Resources 25, no. 4 (1990): 599-634; D. Thomas, "Intra Household Resource Allocation: An Inferential Approach," Journal of Human Resources 25, no. 4 (1990): 635-64.
4. M. J. Horney and M. B. McElroy, "The Household Allocation Problem: Empirical Results from a Bargaining Model," Research in Population Economics 6 (1988): 15-38; T. P. Schultz, "Testing the Neoclassical Model of Family Labor Supply and Fertility," Journal of Human Resources 25, no. 4 (1990): 599-634; D. Thomas, "Intra Household Resource Allocation: An Inferential Approach," Journal of Human Resources 25, no. 4 (1990): 635-64.
5. M. J. Horney and M. B. McElroy, "The Household Allocation Problem: Empirical Results from a Bargaining Model," Research in Population Economics 6 (1988): 15-38; T. P. Schultz, "Testing the Neoclassical Model of Family Labor Supply and Fertility," Journal of Human Resources 25, no. 4 (1990): 599-634; D. Thomas, "Intra Household Resource Allocation: An Inferential Approach," Journal of Human Resources 25, no. 4 (1990): 635-64.
6. M. B. McElroy, "The Joint Determination of Household Membership and Market Work: The Case of Young Men," Journal of Labour Economics 3, no. 3 (1985): 293-316.
7. AH subsequent references to the Caribbean pertain to the English-speaking part of the region.
8. F. Henriques, Family and Colour in Jamaica (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1953); T. Simey, Welfare and Planning in the West Indies (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946); P. Mohammed and C. Shepherd, eds., Gender in Caribbean Development (Mona, Jamaica: Institute for Social and Economic Studies, 1988).
9. F. Henriques, Family and Colour in Jamaica (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1953); T. Simey, Welfare and Planning in the West Indies (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946); P. Mohammed and C. Shepherd, eds., Gender in Caribbean Development (Mona, Jamaica: Institute for Social and Economic Studies, 1988).
10. F. Henriques, Family and Colour in Jamaica (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1953); T. Simey, Welfare and Planning in the West Indies (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946); P. Mohammed and C. Shepherd, eds., Gender in Caribbean Development (Mona, Jamaica: Institute for Social and Economic Studies, 1988).
11. A visiting relationship implies neither legal sanction nor coresidency. Such unions can sometimes last for several years and even produce children, but this still does not imply any long-term commitment. See, e.g., C. Barrow, "Finding the Support: A Study of Strategies for Survival," Social and Economic Studies 35, no. 2 (1986): 131-76; D. Powell, "Caribbean Women and Their Response to Familial Experiences," Social and Economic Studies 35, no. 2 (1986): 83-130.
12. A visiting relationship implies neither legal sanction nor coresidency. Such unions can sometimes last for several years and even produce children, but this still does not imply any long-term commitment. See, e.g., C. Barrow, "Finding the Support: A Study of Strategies for Survival," Social and Economic Studies 35, no. 2 (1986): 131-76; D. Powell, "Caribbean Women and Their Response to Familial Experiences," Social and Economic Studies 35, no. 2 (1986): 83-130.
13. See Powell, p. 88; H. I. Safa, "Economic Autonomy and Sexual Equality in Caribbean Society," Social and Economic Studies 35, no. 3 (1986): 12; T. Whitehead, "Residence, Kinship, and Mating as Survival Strategies: A West Indian Example," Journal of Marriage and the Family 40, no. 4 (1978): 817-28.
14. See Powell, p. 88; H. I. Safa, "Economic Autonomy and Sexual Equality in Caribbean Society," Social and Economic Studies 35, no. 3 (1986): 12; T. Whitehead, "Residence, Kinship, and Mating as Survival Strategies: A West Indian Example," Journal of Marriage and the Family 40, no. 4 (1978): 817-28.
15. N. Gonzalez, "Toward a Definition of Matrifocality," in AfroAmerican Anthropology: Contemporary Perspectives, ed. Norman Whitten and J. F. Szwed, (New York: Free Press, 1970); Whitehead.
16. Whitehead, p. 818. The presence of an adult male restricts a woman from receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits in those states in the United States that do not have AFDC-UP.
17. F. Louat, M. E. Grosh, and J. van der Gaag, "Welfare Implications of Female-Headship in Jamaican Households," World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study Working Paper 96 (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1993), p. 13; Whitehead, p. 820.
18. Sudhanshu Handa, "Family Structure, Female Headship, and Children's Welfare in Jamaica" (Ph.D. diss., University of Toronto, 1993).
19. Powell, p. 116.
20. Safa.
21. Powell.
22. "Fostering" means sending a child to live in another household (with friends or relatives) either temporarily or permanently.
23. Whitehead, p. 824.
24. K. Scott, "Female Labour Force Participation and Earnings: The Case of Jamaica," in Women's Employment and Pay in Latin America, ed. G. Psacharopoulos and Z. Tzannatos (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1991).
25. A more complex model could include other residence choices such as living with other relatives or staying at home with one's parents.
26. i can also be thought of as an indirect utility function, i.e., the level of (maximized) utility obtainable in state i.
27. Barrow (n. 6 above); H. Rodman, Lower Class Families: The Culture of Poverty (London: Oxford University Press, 1971).
28. G. Becker, "A Theory of Marriage, Parts I, II," Journal of Political Economy 81 (1973): 813-46; 82, pt. 2 (1974): S11-S26.
29. G. Becker, "A Theory of Marriage, Parts I, II," Journal of Political Economy 81 (1973): 813-46; 82, pt. 2 (1974): S11-S26.
30. M. E. Grosh, "The Household Survey as a Tool for Policy Change: Lessons from the Jamaican Survey of Living Conditions," World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study Working Paper 80 (World Bank, Washington, B.C., 1991).
31. Widows were excluded, as headship in this case was considered to be the result of an exogenous shock.
32. M. Browning, "Children and Household Economic Behavior," Journal of Economic Literature 30, no. 3 (1992): 1434-75; A. Deaton, "Looking for Boy-Girl Discrimination in Household Expenditure Data," World Bank Economic Review 3, no. 1 (1989): 1-15; E. P. Lazear and R. T. Michael, Allocation of Income within the Household (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988); A. Deaton and J. Muellbauer, "On Measuring Child Costs: With Application to Poor Countries," Journal of Political Economy 94, no. 4 (1986): 720-44.
33. M. Browning, "Children and Household Economic Behavior," Journal of Economic Literature 30, no. 3 (1992): 1434-75; A. Deaton, "Looking for Boy-Girl Discrimination in Household Expenditure Data," World Bank Economic Review 3, no. 1 (1989): 1-15; E. P. Lazear and R. T. Michael, Allocation of Income within the Household (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988); A. Deaton and J. Muellbauer, "On Measuring Child Costs: With Application to Poor Countries," Journal of Political Economy 94, no. 4 (1986): 720-44.
34. M. Browning, "Children and Household Economic Behavior," Journal of Economic Literature 30, no. 3 (1992): 1434-75; A. Deaton, "Looking for Boy-Girl Discrimination in Household Expenditure Data," World Bank Economic Review 3, no. 1 (1989): 1-15; E. P. Lazear and R. T. Michael, Allocation of Income within the Household (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988); A. Deaton and J. Muellbauer, "On Measuring Child Costs: With Application to Poor Countries," Journal of Political Economy 94, no. 4 (1986): 720-44.
35. M. Browning, "Children and Household Economic Behavior," Journal of Economic Literature 30, no. 3 (1992): 1434-75; A. Deaton, "Looking for Boy-Girl Discrimination in Household Expenditure Data," World Bank Economic Review 3, no. 1 (1989): 1-15; E. P. Lazear and R. T. Michael, Allocation of Income within the Household (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988); A. Deaton and J. Muellbauer, "On Measuring Child Costs: With Application to Poor Countries," Journal of Political Economy 94, no. 4 (1986): 720-44.
36. Browning.
37. Sudhanshu Handa, "Expenditure Behavior and Children's Welfare: An Analysis of Female Headed Households in Jamaica," Journal of Development Economics, vol. 49 (1996); Louat, Grosh, and van der Gaag (n. 10 above).
38. Total household expenditure is not necessarily a good proxy for individual consumption because the allocation of consumption in the household may not be equal. However, data on individual consumption are extremely rare. S. Danziger, G. Jakubson, S. Schwartz, and E. Smolensky, "Work and Welfare as Determinants of Female Poverty and Household Headship," Quarterly Journal of Economics (1982), pp. 519-34, use total household income as an indicator of a woman's individual welfare, also because of data limitations.
39. J. Heckman, "Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error," Econometrica 47 (1979): 153-61. For an example very similar to the one in this article, see R. Willis and S. Rosen, "Education and Self-selection," Journal of Political Economy 87, no. 5, pt. 2 (1979): 507-36.
40. J. Heckman, "Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error," Econometrica 47 (1979): 153-61. For an example very similar to the one in this article, see R. Willis and S. Rosen, "Education and Self-selection," Journal of Political Economy 87, no. 5, pt. 2 (1979): 507-36.
41. Tobit and OLS estimates using midpoints of the cells did not provide any additional explanatory power.
42. The program benefit is so small (US$7.50 per individual every 2 months) that it is highly improbable that, for example, households would alter their fertility behavior in order to receive benefits.
43. Higher-order age terms (age squared and age cubed) of the woman were also used as exclusion restrictions in all three runs, because they were found to be an empirically important determinant of headship but were not significant in the structural equations.
44. Thomas (n. 2 above); J. Dey, "Gambian Women: Unequal Partners in Rice Development Projects," Journal of Development Studies 17 (1983): 109-22; J. Hoddinott and L. Haddad, "Household Expenditures, Child Anthropometric Status and the Intra-household Division of Income: Evidence from the Côte d'Ivoire" (International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C., 1991, mimeographed).
45. Thomas (n. 2 above); J. Dey, "Gambian Women: Unequal Partners in Rice Development Projects," Journal of Development Studies 17 (1983): 109-22; J. Hoddinott and L. Haddad, "Household Expenditures, Child Anthropometric Status and the Intra-household Division of Income: Evidence from the Côte d'Ivoire" (International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C., 1991, mimeographed).
46. J. Massiah, "Work in the Lives of Caribbean Women," Social and Economic Studies 35, no. 2 (1986): 177-240.
47. Ibid.
48. N. L. Johnson and S. Kotz, Distributions in Statistics: Continuous Multivariate Distributions (New York: Wiley, 1972).