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Asset Portfolios in Africa: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia

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  • Christian Rogg

Abstract

This paper considers asset holdings in rural Ethiopia. It shows that households own mostly non-financial assets and that the composition of asset portfolios varies significantly with the household's overall wealth and its exposure to uncertainty. As regards the distribution of assets, inequality is lowest for land holdings and much higher for all other assets. More generally, asset inequality is higher than consumption inequality but, somewhat surprisingly, lower than income inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Rogg, 2006. "Asset Portfolios in Africa: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-145, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2006-145
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/rp2006-145.pdf
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    1. Burger, Ronelle & Booysen, Frikkie & Berg, Servaas van der & Maltitz, Michael von, 2006. "Marketable Wealth in a Poor African Country," MPRA Paper 9063, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Ronelle Burger & Frikkie Booysen & Servaas van der Berg & Michael von Maltitz, 2006. "Marketable Wealth in a Poor African Country: Using an index of consumer durables to investigate wealth accumulation by households in Ghana," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-138, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Nathan Morrow & Luca Salvati & Andrea Colantoni & Nancy Mock, 2018. "Rooting the Future; On-Farm Trees’ Contribution to Household Energy Security and Asset Creation as a Resilient Development Pathway—Evidence from a 20-Year Panel in Rural Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-24, December.

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