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The Wealth Paradox for Whom? Child Labor and the Identification of Households Excluded from the Land and the Labor Markets in Madagascar

Author

Listed:
  • Samia Badji

    (Univ Lyon, CNRS, GATE L-SE UMR 5824, F-69131 Ecully, France)

Abstract

The paper aims at identifying households who have their children work more because their access is constrained on the land and the labor markets. Data from the 2005 "Enquête auprès des Ménages" (EPM) collected in Madagascar provide information on the amount of hours worked by each household member along with measures for market imperfections. A simple theoretical model highlights that land should not influence the number of hours of child work when the household can fully access the land or the labor markets. When the access is limited in both markets, land may impact the amount of child work whereas the external wage should not. Using a switching regression model with unknown sample separation to classify households in the two regimes (constrained or not), this paper shows that not belonging to the largest ethnic group at the local level significantly decreases access to the market. The same result holds for religion, thereby highlighting the importance of the informal market.

Suggested Citation

  • Samia Badji, 2016. "The Wealth Paradox for Whom? Child Labor and the Identification of Households Excluded from the Land and the Labor Markets in Madagascar," Working Papers 1638, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    • Handle: RePEc:gat:wpaper:1638
    as

    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    child labor; market imperfections; wealth paradox; sub-Saharan Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J82 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Labor Force Composition

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