Samuel Kobina Annim

Wealth status and risky sexual behaviour in Ghana and Kenya.

BackgroundEmerging evidence seems to suggest that there is some association between individual socioeconomic status and sexual risk-taking behaviour in sub-Saharan Africa. A number of broad associations have emerged, among them, positive, neutral and negative relationships between wealth status and sexual risk-taking behaviour.Reduction in the number of sex partners as a behavioural change has been advocated as an important tool in HIV prevention, and affecting such a change requires an understanding of some of the factors that can influence social behaviour, interactions and activities of subpopulations.ObjectivesTo further explore the determinants of sexual risk-taking behaviour (individuals having multiple sex partners), especially the effects that variations in household wealth status, gender and different subpopulation groups have on this behaviour.MethodsThe relationship between wealth status and sexual risk-taking behaviour in the context of HIV/AIDS infection in Ghana and Kenya was assessed using raw data from the 2003 Demographic and Health Surveys of each country. Wealth quintiles were used as a proxy for economic status, while non-marital and non-cohabiting sexual partnerships were considered indicators for risky sexual behaviour.ResultsFor females, there appears to be an increasing probability of sexual risk taking by wealth status in Kenya, while, in Ghana, an inverted J-shaped relationship is shown between wealth status and sexual risk taking. When controlled for other variables, the relationship between wealth status and sexual risk-taking behaviour disappears for females in the two countries. For males, there is no clearly discernable pattern between wealth status and sexual risk-taking behaviour in Ghana, while there is a general trend towards increasing sexual risk-taking behaviour by wealth status in Kenya. For Ghana, the highest probabilities are among the highest and the middle wealth quintiles; in Kenya, high probabilities were found for the two highest wealth quintiles. Controlling for the effects of other factors, the pattern for Ghana is further blurred (not statistically significant), but the relationship continues to show in the case of Kenya, and is significant for the highest quintile. In general, for both Ghana and Kenya, men in the highest wealth quintile were found to be more likely to have multiple sexual partners than the other groups.ConclusionThe changing phases of HIV infection indicate that it is no longer poverty that drives the epidemic. Rather, it is wealth and a number of other sociodemographic factors that explain sexual risk-taking behaviour that puts people at risk. Understanding local specific factors that predispose individuals towards sexual risk taking could help to expand the range of information and services needed to combat the HIV pandemic.

Household Nucleation, Dependency and Child Health Outcomes in Ghana

This study uses three key anthropometric measures of nutritional status among children (stunting, wasting and underweight) to explore the dual effects of household composition and dependency on nutritional outcomes of under-five children in Ghana. The objective is to examine changes in household living arrangements of under-five children to explore the interaction of dependency and nucleation on child health outcomes. The concept of nucleation refers to the changing structure and composition of household living arrangements, from highly extended with its associated socioeconomic system of production and reproduction, social behaviour and values, towards single-family households - especially the nuclear family, containing a husband and wife and their children alone. A negative relationship between levels of dependency, as measured by the number of children in the household, and child health outcomes is premised on the grounds that high dependency depletes resources, both tangible and intangible, to the disadvantage of young children. Data were drawn from the last four rounds of the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHSs), from 1993 to 2008, for the first objective - to explore changes in household composition. For the second objective, the study used data from the 2008 GDHS. The results show that, over time, households in Ghana have been changing towards nucleation. The main finding is that in households with the same number of dependent children, in nucleated households children under age 5 have better health outcomes compared with children under age 5 in non-nucleated households. The results also indicate that the effect of dependency on child health outcomes is mediated by household nucleation and wealth status and that, as such, high levels of dependency do not necessarily translate into negative health outcomes for children under age 5, based on anthropometric measures.

The impact of microcredit on child education: quasi-experimental evidence from rural China

This paper assesses causal effects of formal microcredit on children’s educational outcomes by using household panel data (2000 and 2004) in a poor province of northwest rural China. The unobservables between borrowers and non-borrowers are controlled in static and dynamic regression-discontinuity designs. The static analysis reveals significant positive impact of microcredit on children’s schooling years (captured by late entry, failed grades and suspended schooling from time to time) in 2000 only, and no indication of influence on academic performance for both rounds of survey. The dynamic analysis shows progressive treatment effects of microcredit on both longer schooling years and higher average scores. Formal microcredit appears to improve education in the longer term compared to the short term, and hence may have potential in relaxing the grip of educational poverty traps.

Banking the unbanked: the Mzansi intervention in South Africa

Purpose - – This paper aims to understand household’s latent behaviour decision-making in accessing financial services. In this analysis, the determinants of the choice of the pre-entry Mzansi account by consumers in South Africa is looked at. Design/methodology/approach - – In this study, 102 variables, grouped in the following categories: basic literacy, understanding financial terms, targets for financial advice, desired financial education and financial perception. Using a computationally efficient variable selection algorithm, variables that can satisfactorily explain the choice of a Mzansi account were studied. Findings - – The Mzansi intervention is appealing to individuals with basic but insufficient financial education. Aspirations seem to be very influential in revealing the choice of financial services, and, to this end, Mzansi is perceived as a pre-entry account not meeting the aspirations of individuals aiming to climb up the financial services ladder. It was found that Mzansi holders view the account mainly as a vehicle for receiving payments, but, on the other hand, are debt-averse and inclined to save. Hence, although there is at present no concrete evidence that the Mzansi intervention increases access to finance via diversification (i.e. by recruiting customers into higher-level accounts and services), this analysis shows that this is very likely to be the case. Originality/value - – The issue of demand-side constraints on access to finance have been largely been ignored in the theoretical and empirical literature. This paper undertakes some preliminary steps in addressing this gap.

An econometric analysis of internal travel patterns in Ghana and the implications for domestic tourism.

This paper examines the general travel patterns of Ghanaians and, based on these, explores the implications for domestic tourism. Employing discrete choice models, data from the Ghana Statistical Service (specifically, the fifth round of the Ghana Living Standard Survey) are used for the analysis. In addition to providing a quantitative analysis of the determinants of travel propensity, which had not previously been examined for Ghana, the authors test two hypotheses. First, they assert a three-way (positive–negative–positive) relationship between age and travel propensity. Second, they argue that the mothers education is more likely to influence the decision to travel than the fathers education. The travel patterns of Ghanaians were found to bear the inherent hallmarks of domestic tourism. The authors also observe that, although the degree of travel is low, the frequency of repeat visits is high. Social imperatives dominated the motives for travel, while key socio-demographic variables (especially the respondents age) were found to influence travel propensities significantly.

Dietary diversity and child malnutrition in Ghana

The health of children in Ghana has improved in recent years. However, the current prevalence rates of malnutrition remain above internationally acceptable levels. This study, therefore, revisits the determinants of child health by using Ghana’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey to investigate the effect of infant feeding practices on child health. We used the World Health Organization’s Infant and Young Children Feeding guidelines to measure dietary quality. The econometric analyses show that dietary diversity may cause improvement in children’s health in Ghana. This suggests that educational campaigns on proper infant feeding and complementary dieting could be an effective means of improving the health of children in Ghana.

Crop Returns, Prices, Credit and Poverty in Lao-PDR

Abstract With Lao PDR’s macroeconomic performance currently booming, we investigate the country’s poverty situation by examining the drivers of household poverty. This paper tests four major hypotheses: (1) Whether higher returns on all crops harvested per capita reduce consumption expenditure, food expenditure and the World Bank’s US

Outreach and the poverty-reducing effect of microfinance in Ghana

1.25/day (PPP, 2005) poverty cut-offs? (2) Whether higher returns on glutinous rice harvested per capita also reduce poverty? (3) Whether higher crop prices lower poverty? (4) Whether easier access to credit contributes to poverty reduction? Data on 5,031 households from the fourth round of the Laos Expenditure and Consumption Survey (LECS IV) are used to estimate Probit and instrumental variable Probit equations. Potential endogeneity of some of these variables (e.g. returns to crops harvested) is addressed through appropriate instrument variables. Briefly, returns on crops harvested reduce different measures of poverty (e.g. food poverty, dollar poverty), as do higher producer prices and easier access to credit. An important policy conclusion in light of Millennium Development Goal 1 is the imperative of higher returns on rice and glutinous rice, more remunerative prices for farmers and easier access to credit. These areas of policy concern assume greater importance as Laos prepares for its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). An accelerated market-orientation of agriculture may induce not just greater efficiency but also more equitable outcomes.

Do All Networks ‘Work’? The Mediating Role of Social Networks on Consumption Expenditure in India

This study is premised on two sequential objectives: examination of the outreach dimensions of microfinance institutions (MFIs), and an investigation of the poverty-reducing effect of access to MFIs and the amount loaned to MFI clients. Using a nationally representative sample of 2,884 respondents comprising MFI client and non-client households from Ghana, descriptive statistics and two variants of microeconometric estimation technique are employed. Outreach dimensions varied across MFIs, with targeting of MFIs remaining about the same in 2004 and 2015. Microfinance intervention was observed to have had poverty-reducing effects at the household level. The findings establish that clients of MFIs in the rural areas are more sensitive to larger loan amounts compared to their counterparts in the urban areas. These findings seem to uphold the promise of poverty reduction, but with consideration of the differential effects in terms of outreach, location of the MFI, and loan amount.

Microfinance and Household Poverty Reduction: New evidence from India

The article sheds light on the mediating role of social networks on consumption behaviour, a significant facet of social mobility and well-being. Based on the Indian Human Development Survey, the article explores to what extent households across India participating in social networks have increased their consumption levels. While participation in formal social networks does result in improved household consumption levels, the type and number of networks are pivotal to this change. Nevertheless, not all networks lead to similar effects, although the number of social networks per se has a positive effect on consumption. Furthermore, the networks based on homogeneous groups, such as women’s self-help groups, have a negative or lesser effect on smoothing consumption, while those affiliated with heterogeneous networks have a positive effect on increasing consumption.