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Three Essays on Gender and Development Economics: pathways to close gender-related economic gaps in developing agrarian economies in areas of asset, risk, and credit constraints.

Mishra, Khushbu
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1499095625448078

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics.
In this dissertation, I present three essays in which I explore how disparity in access to assets influences intra-household decisions and how risk and financial constraints influence differential gender decisions in agricultural investments, with an aim to formulate evidence-based policy solutions. In essay 1, I empirically examine the role of women’s land ownership, either alone or jointly, as a means of improving their intra-household bargaining power in the areas of own healthcare, major household purchases, and visiting family or relatives. Using the 2001 and 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys, I find two important results. First, accounting for the endogeneity of land ownership with inverse probability weighting and instrumental variable methods makes its impact on empowerment higher. Previous research in this area had largely ignored the potential endogeneity of land ownership. Second, the impact is generally stronger in 2011 than in 2001. As evidenced in a number of empirical studies, the increase in women’s bargaining power can in turn translate into a redirection of resources towards women’s preferences, including higher investment in human capital of the household such as education, health, and nutrition. Therefore, this study indicates that in places where agriculture is the main source of economy for women, policies enhancing land rights equity have the potential to increase women’s empowerment and associated beneficial welfare effects. In Essay 2, I investigate whether coupling agricultural loans with micro-level and meso-level drought index insurance can stimulate the demand and supply of credit and increase technology adoption. To this end, in partnership with 14 rural banks and the Ghana Agricultural Insurance Pool, we implemented a randomized control trial in northern Ghana that targeted maize farmers organized in credit groups. The empirical analysis indicates that on the demand side, coupling loans with micro-insurance increases the likelihood of loan application for female farmers, potentially because of the payouts being directly made to them and a lack of trust in the bank. In contrast, coupling loans with meso-insurance increases the likelihood of loan application for those farmers who place the highest trust in the bank. On the supply side, coupling loans with meso-insurance increases the likelihood of loan approval, but with a larger impact for males. Overall, our results indicate that insured loans hold significant promise for expanding credit access and technology adoption among smallholder farmers. In essay 3, I investigate the willingness to pay (WTP) for index-based drought-insurance coupled with agricultural loans by product design and gender, using a contingent valuation method. The empirical estimations reveal several important findings. First, females have lower WTP estimates and a lower proportion of them is willing to pay the market price for insurance compared to males. Second, the WTP estimates are not statistically different among the various insured-product designs for females, but different for males. Third, farmers with a lower level of trust in their banks have a higher WTP estimate for micro-insured loan with individual payouts compared to meso-insured loan and micro-insured loan with group payouts. Moreover, the WTP estimates for farmers with lower trust in their banks are lower than those who prefer meso-insured loans to micro-insured loans. Fourth, basis risk significantly reduces WTP for the insured loans, especially for male farmers. Lastly, lower proportions of both females and males demand insured loans relative to the uninsured loan.
Abdoul Sam (Advisor)
Mario Miranda (Advisor)
177 p.
Agricultural Economics; Economics
gender, development economics, Nepal, Ghana, agricultural households, credit, risk, insurance, technology adoption

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Citations

  • Mishra, K. (2017). Three Essays on Gender and Development Economics: pathways to close gender-related economic gaps in developing agrarian economies in areas of asset, risk, and credit constraints. [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1499095625448078

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Mishra, Khushbu. Three Essays on Gender and Development Economics: pathways to close gender-related economic gaps in developing agrarian economies in areas of asset, risk, and credit constraints. 2017. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1499095625448078.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Mishra, Khushbu. "Three Essays on Gender and Development Economics: pathways to close gender-related economic gaps in developing agrarian economies in areas of asset, risk, and credit constraints." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1499095625448078

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1499095625448078
703
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.