Gender and locational dimensions of shocks on household welfare: empirical evidence from Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Many households in developing countries are exposed to numerous adverse events. The absence of a complete market for insurance and imperfect risk-sharing among households can lead to a significant effect on household welfare from shocks. This article examines the heterogeneous effects of income shocks on household welfare using two waves of the Nigerian General Household Survey Panel datasets from 2010/11 and 2012/13. The study adopted the household fixed effects approach, and the results show that households in the top quintile experienced an increased consumption expenditure compared to those in the bottom quintile in terms of rainfall distribution. There are also heterogeneous effects of income shocks on the gender and locational characteristics of the households.

KEYWORDS:

• Labour and livelihoods – Poverty reduction
• Gender and diversity
• Sub-Saharan Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Disclosure statement is correct.

Notes on contributor

Joseph Boniface Ajefu is a member of the Department of Economics, Federal University Lokoja, Nigeria, and a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Notes

1. An examination of the effectiveness of informal coping mechanisms is beyond the scope of this paper. Ajefu (2015) examines the effectiveness of various informal coping measures against adverse events in Nigeria.

2. Rainfall quintiles refers to two years’ rainfall distribution of the place of residence.