Impact of Shocks on Gender Differentiated Asset Dynamics in

Bangladesh

Muntaha Rakib, Julia Anna MatzJune 18, 2014

Corresponding author: muntaha_rakib@yahoo.com

Outline

• Background

• Objectives

• Data and sampling

• Results

• Conclusions

• Policy suggestions

• Some preliminary results from ongoing paper

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• To analyze economic well-being of a household or a community, asset analysis is necessary– converted into cash for consumption– collateral in the credit market– buffer stock against shocks

• Goal of gender responsive development– not necessarily to ensure equal control over assets– but that both have control over important assets

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Background

Why asset and gender analysis?

Why assets and shocks are gender differentiated

• Types of asset differ by different types of ownership• husband • wife• joint

• Men and women experience shocks differently due to• different roles and responsibilities • different ability to withstand shocks• some shocks only affect women (divorce, death of

husband etc.)

(White 1992, Antonopoulos and Floro 2005. Quisumbing et al. 2011, Frankenberg et al. 2003; Quisumbing 2009, Goldstein 1999; Dercon and Krishnan 2000; Duflo and Udry 2003).

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Background cont.

How assets and shocks are interlinked

• Control over assets • increases income• reduces vulnerability to shocks • helps in moving out of poverty

• Shocks affect assets force selling tangible assets foregoing future investment in non-tangible assets trapped in poverty

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Background cont.

Which assets and shocks?

Assets

• Natural capital– Land

• Physical capital– Consumer durables– Agricultural tools– Vehicles– Jewelry

• Livestock– Poultry– Cattle

• Financial capital– Outstanding credit

Shocks

• Climatic shocks – Flood– Cyclone– Drought

• Other negative shocks– Dowry/wedding expenses– Death/illness

• Positive shocks– Dowry receipt/inheritance – Remittances

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Context

Objectives

• To explore the impact of shocks on intrahousehold asset dynamics and gender differentiated ownership and to look at which assets husbands and wives try to keep intact within their asset portfolio

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Data and Sampling

• Two waves of panel data

• Bangladesh Climate Change Adaptation Survey 2010 is used as a baseline

• 800 agricultural households in 40 unions (administrative units) were surveyed in 2010

• Resurvey was conducted on the same from June to October 2012 to construct a panel

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Asset ownership and prevalence of shocks• Households were able to accumulate land, livestock, and nonland physical

assets between the two survey rounds • Women held fewer livestock and physical assets than their husbands• Husbands own 96 percent of the households’ total land area

Type of shock Mean

Share of households affected by weather shocks according to household/community reports

Flood 0.38/0.32

Drought 0.45/0.52

Cyclone/tornado 0.31/0.29

Share of households affected by other negative shocks  

Death or illness of a household member 0.26

Dowry or wedding expenses 0.05

Share of households affected by positive shocks  

Receipt of a remittance 0.20Receipt of a dowry or inheritance 0.04

• Reported household and community-level shocks, between 2010 and 2012

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Impact of shocks on intrahousehold asset dynamics

Impact of shocks on the comprehensive asset index (fixed effects estimates)

Results

*, **, *** Significant at 10%; 5% and 1% respectivelyNote: Standard errors are clustered at the household level and are given in parentheses

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Impact of shocks on intra household asset dynamics

Results

*, **, *** Significant at 10%; 5% and 1% respectively. Note: Standard errors are clustered at the household level and are given in parentheses

  Land Physical Livestock

  Husband Wife  Joint  Husband Wife Joint Husband Wife Joint  (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)

Flood -0.025(0.343)

-0.096(0.074)

0.266(0.170)

-0.013(0.010)

-0.001(0.004)

-0.003(0.006)

-0.089(0.067)

-0.142*(0.085)

-0.043(0.042)

Drought 0.229(0.297)

-0.039(0.081)

0.154(0.187)

-0.012(0.010)

-0.005(0.004)

-0.012**(0.005)

-0.086(0.072)

0.079(0.067)

0.045(0.035)

Cyclone 0.598**(0.278)

-0.132(0.089)

0.352*(0.183)

-0.021**(0.009)

-0.001(0.004)

0.003(0.005)

0.065(0.069)

0.010(0.072)

-0.040(0.040)

Death/ illness -0.019(0.239)

0.058(0.075)

0.054(0.100)

-0.001(0.005) 

0.009***(0.003)

0.005(0.003)

-0.003(0.042)

-0.011(0.041)

-0.006(0.023)

Dowry payment -0.403(0.592)

-0.007(0.042)

-0.005(0.183)

-0.005(0.013)

0.008(0.007)

0.003(0.008)

-0.166(0.110)

-0.053(0.125)

-0.121**(0.057)

Remittance -0.918***(0.278)

0.013(0.083)

-0.283**(0.126)

0.009(0.008)

0.006*(0.004)

0.003(0.004)

0.052(0.061)

0.141**(0.067) 

0.024(0.025)

Inheritance/ dowry receipts 1.121**(0.524)

-0.174(0.218)

0.018(0.182)

-0.023*(0.013)

-0.002(0.006)

0.012*(0.007)

0.122(0.104)

0.004(0.113)

0.023(0.023)

R-squared 0.031 0.011 0.026 0.033 0.021 0.020 0.023 0.030 0.018

N 1,356 1,356 1,356 1,356 1,356 1,356 1,356 1,356 1,356

Impact of shocks on the natural, physical and livestock assets (fixed effects estimates)

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Financial assets

• Flood and cyclone reduce credit– covariate– less collateral

• Droughts increase credit– area specific– seasonal in nature

• Remittances are associated with more credit– more collateral available

Results

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Impact of shocks on disaggregated physical capital by type of ownership

Husbands– remittances increase stock of agricultural tools and consumer

durables instead of jewelry and poultry – flood and cyclone negatively affect cattle and consumer

durables

Wives– remittance receipts increase jewelry and poultry rather than

consumer durables and agricultural tools– flood and cyclone reduce stock of poultry – drought and dowry negatively affect consumer durables and

vehicles

Joint – husbands and wives jointly diversify asset portfolio towards

jewelry and cattle from agriculture tools and vehicles– dowry payment reduces joint poultry

Results

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Conclusions

• Cyclone negatively affect husbands in general• Negative non-weather shocks adversely affect

both husbands’ and wives’ assets• Sale of livestock is commonly used as a coping

mechanism• Jointly owned assets are protected, other than

for coping with dowry and drought, which are anticipated in terms of time but not in terms of severity

• Husbands’ Income generating tools such as land, vehicles and agricultural assets are generally protected

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Policy suggestions• Initiating programs to protect women’s assets

– those are generally found to be beneficial to children’s well-being (health, education, and nutrition)

• Encouraging women’s ownership of assets that are not readily sold to cope with shocks– assets increase female bargaining power which is associated with more social and

human capital of women

• Reforming and enforcing inheritance laws to protect female inheritance– land ownership enables women to be more active in financial markets

• Laws prohibiting dowry practice should be strictly implemented– awareness on this issue together with the provision of credit could enhance the

asset holdings of both spouses

• Policy design needs to incorporate the protection of gendered ownership of assets in the event of shocks– Social protection programs for instance

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Acknowledgments