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Household expenditure patterns and resource pooling: evidence of changes in post-apartheid South Africa

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  • Pushkar Maitra
  • Ranjan Ray

Abstract

The primary aim of this paper is to examine whether resources accruing to different members of the household and from different sources have differential impacts on household expenditure patterns. The issue is of considerable policy interest for, if the identity of the income recipient does matter in the household’s expenditure decisions, then it indicates the usefulness of targeting income assistance at particular members of the household. The South African evidence is generally supportive of the hypothesis of resource pooling by the income earners in their spending decisions on food, clothing and energy. The results of this paper have been placed in the wider context of social, political and economic developments following the end of apartheid that have caused significant changes in the nature of resource inflow and in the balance of power in decision making within the South African household. The results are indicative of improvements in the standard of living of the majority of South Africans following the end of apartheid. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2006

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  • Pushkar Maitra & Ranjan Ray, 2006. "Household expenditure patterns and resource pooling: evidence of changes in post-apartheid South Africa," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 325-347, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:4:y:2006:i:4:p:325-347
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-006-0011-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Sevias Guvuriro & Frederik Booysen, 2021. "Family‐type public goods and intra‐household decision‐making by co‐resident South African couples," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1629-1647, August.
    2. Xu, Zeyu, 2007. "A survey on intra-household models and evidence," MPRA Paper 3763, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Maitra, Pushkar, 2004. "Parental bargaining, health inputs and child mortality in India," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 259-291, March.
    4. Frederik Booysen & Sevias Guvuriro, 2021. "Gender Differences in Intra-Household Financial Decision-Making: An Application of Coarsened Exact Matching," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-11, October.
    5. Kabeya Clement Mulamba, 2022. "Relationship between households’ share of food expenditure and income across South African districts: a multilevel regression analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Hamid Beladi & Saibal Kar, 2014. "Unemployment Benefits and Entrepreneurship," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 65(1), pages 122-128, March.
    7. Hou, Xiaohui, 2011. "Women's decision making power and human development : evidence from Pakistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5830, The World Bank.
    8. Martin Beznoska, 2024. "Testing the Income Pooling Hypothesis and its Link to the Taxation of Couple Households: Evidence from Demand System Estimation for Germany," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 687-719, September.
    9. Martin Wittenberg, 2009. "Lazy Rotten Sons? Relatedness, gender and the intra-household allocation of work and leisure in South Africa," SALDRU Working Papers 28, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    10. Giuseppe Arcangelis & Majlinda Joxhe, 2021. "Intra-household allocation with shared expenditure choices: experimental evidence from Filipino migrants," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1245-1274, December.
    11. Giuseppe Arcangelis & Majlinda Joxhe, 0. "Intra-household allocation with shared expenditure choices: experimental evidence from Filipino migrants," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-30.
    12. Frederik Booysen & Sevias Guvuriro, 2018. "Family-type Public Goods and Intra-Household Decision-Making by Co-Resident South African Couples," Working Papers 735, Economic Research Southern Africa.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Household resources; Expenditure shares; Resource pooling; South Africa; I32; I38; D12; C32;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models

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