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Male wages and female welfare: private markets, public goods, and intrahousehold inequality

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  • Suman Ghosh
  • Ravi Kanbur

Abstract

We show how an apparently welfare improving phenomenon like an increase in the wage of the male member of a family can result in a seemingly paradoxical result where the entire family is worse off. There is male and female specialization in activities such that the female member is involved in a community level public good. A rise in the male wage leads to adjustment of household time allocation with the male working more in the market and less on household activities. In turn, the female works more on household activities and less on the community public good, failing to internalize the negative externality imposed on other members of the community. Under quite general conditions the implied negative effect can more than offset the positive effect of the male wage raise, and the entire family is worse off. The theoretical results are consistent with empirical findings in the literature. Copyright 2008 , Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Suman Ghosh & Ravi Kanbur, 2008. "Male wages and female welfare: private markets, public goods, and intrahousehold inequality," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 60(1), pages 42-56, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:60:y:2008:i:1:p:42-56
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oep/gpm039
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    Cited by:

    1. Samantha Watson, 2012. "Formalizing the Informal Economy: Women’s Autonomous Self-Employment in Rural South India," Working Papers id:4784, eSocialSciences.
    2. Marenya, Paswel & Kassie, Menale & Tostao, Emilio, 2015. "Fertilizer use on individually and jointly managed crop plots in Mozambique," Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender), Africa Centre for Gender, Social Research and Impact Assessment, vol. 1(02).
    3. Xincheng Zhu & Yulin Liu & Xin Fang, 2022. "Revisiting the Sustainable Economic Welfare Growth in China: Provincial Assessment Based on the ISEW," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 279-306, July.
    4. Machina, Henry & Ngoma, Hambulo & Kuteya, Aukland, 2017. "Gendered impacts of agricultural subsidies in Zambia," MPRA Paper 87099, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Kanbur, Ravi, 2002. "Education, Empowerment, and Gender Inequalities," Working Papers 127300, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    6. Kanbur, Ravi, 2009. "Poverty and Distribution: Twenty Years Ago and Now," Working Papers 48918, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.

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