IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v38y2010i4p567-580.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Credit Program Participation and Child Schooling in Rural Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Shimamura, Yasuharu
  • Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susana

Abstract

Summary We evaluate the impact of agricultural credit program participation on children's school attendance in rural Malawi. Our paired-site sampling survey reveals that credit uptake decreased school attendance by young girl children. This finding raises concerns that young girl children are exploited as child labor, either at home or in the field, when working adults become more involved in income-generating activities financed by credit. The data, however, do not show clear evidence for young girls staying at home to do household chores or working in the fields in households that obtained credit, but instead find simultaneous occurrence between attending school and taking responsibilities for domestic chores by young children. It would appear, therefore, that credit uptake delays the realization of this concurrence among young girl children and leads to delayed school enrollment.

Suggested Citation

  • Shimamura, Yasuharu & Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susana, 2010. "Credit Program Participation and Child Schooling in Rural Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 567-580, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:4:p:567-580
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-750X(09)00196-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edmonds, Eric V., 2008. "Child Labor," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 57, pages 3607-3709, Elsevier.
    2. Ranjan, Priya, 2001. "Credit constraints and the phenomenon of child labor," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 81-102, February.
    3. Hazarika, Gautam & Sarangi, Sudipta, 2008. "Household Access to Microcredit and Child Work in Rural Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 843-859, May.
    4. Jean-Marie Baland & James A. Robinson, 2000. "Is Child Labor Inefficient?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(4), pages 663-679, August.
    5. Kydd, Jonathan & Christiansen, Robert, 1982. "Structural change in Malawi since independence: Consequences of a development strategy based on large-scale agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 355-375, May.
    6. Pauline Peters, 2006. "Rural income and poverty in a time of radical change in Malawi," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 322-345.
    7. Jonathan Morduch, 1999. "The Microfinance Promise," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1569-1614, December.
    8. Yamano, Takashi & Shimamura, Yasuharu & Sserunkuuma, Dick, 2006. "Living Arrangements and Schooling of Orphaned Children and Adolescents in Uganda," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 833-856, July.
    9. Mark M. Pitt & Shahidur R. Khandker, 1998. "The Impact of Group-Based Credit Programs on Poor Households in Bangladesh: Does the Gender of Participants Matter?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(5), pages 958-996, October.
    10. Ersado, Lire, 2005. "Child Labor and Schooling Decisions in Urban and Rural Areas: Comparative Evidence from Nepal, Peru, and Zimbabwe," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 455-480, March.
    11. Wydick, Bruce, 1999. "The Effect of Microenterprise Lending on Child Schooling in Guatemala," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(4), pages 853-869, July.
    12. Ranjan, Priya, 1999. "An economic analysis of child labor," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 99-105, July.
    13. Amin, Shahina & Quayes, Shakil & Rives, Janet M., 2006. "Market work and household work as deterrents to schooling in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1271-1286, July.
    14. Jacoby, Hanan G, 1994. "Borrowing Constraints and Progress through School: Evidence from Peru," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 151-160, February.
    15. Otañez, M G & Muggli, M E & Hurt, R D & Glantz, S A, 2006. "Eliminating child labour in Malawi: a British American Tobacco corporate responsibility project to sidestep tobacco labour exploitation," University of California at San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education qt89c5f18n, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, UC San Francisco.
    16. Binder, Melissa & Scrogin, David, 1999. "Labor Force Participation and Household Work of Urban Schoolchildren in Mexico: Characteristics and Consequences," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(1), pages 123-154, October.
    17. Diagne, Aliou & Zeller, Manfred, 2001. "Access to credit and its impact on welfare in Malawi:," Research reports 116, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    18. Dehejia, Rajeev H & Gatti, Roberta, 2005. "Child Labor: The Role of Financial Development and Income Variability across Countries," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(4), pages 913-932, July.
    19. Orr, Alastair & Mwale, Blessings, 2001. "Adapting to Adjustment: Smallholder Livelihood Strategies in Southern Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 1325-1343, August.
    20. Ravallion, Martin & Wodon, Quentin, 2000. "Does Child Labour Displace Schooling? Evidence on Behavioural Responses to an Enrollment Subsidy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(462), pages 158-175, March.
    21. Nankhuni, Flora J. & Findeis, Jill L., 2004. "Natural resource-collection work and children's schooling in Malawi," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 123-134, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elikplimi K. Agbloyor & Simplice A. Asongu & Peter Muriu, 2021. "Sustainability, Growth and Impact of MFIs in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 21/083, African Governance and Development Institute..
    2. Maconachie, Roy & Hilson, Gavin, 2016. "Re-Thinking the Child Labor “Problem” in Rural sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Sierra Leone’s Half Shovels," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 136-147.
    3. Shahriar Kabir & Bindu Prashad Kairy & Mirza Kainath Ashrafi Khusbu, 2024. "Microcredit versus Child Schooling Nexus: Exploring Child Schooling Decisions in Rural Bangladesh (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 63(2), pages 185-202.
    4. Bandara, Amarakoon & Dehejia, Rajeev & Lavie-Rouse, Shaheen, 2015. "The Impact of Income and Non-Income Shocks on Child Labor: Evidence from a Panel Survey of Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 218-237.
    5. van den Bold, Mara & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Gillespie, Stuart, 2013. "Women’s empowerment and nutrition: An evidence review:," IFPRI discussion papers 1294, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Mazumder, Mohummed Shofi Ullah & Lu, Wencong, 2015. "What Impact Does Microfinance Have on Rural Livelihood? A Comparison of Governmental and Non-Governmental Microfinance Programs in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 336-354.
    7. Williams, Eunice Mueni & Padmadas, Sabu S. & Väisänen, Heini, 2024. "Falling behind in school: Mother’s economic empowerment and its association with children’s grade progression in Malawi," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    8. Vimefall, Elin, 2015. "Income diversification and working children," Working Papers 2015:8, Örebro University, School of Business.
    9. Martin Mwale & Dieter von Fintel & Anja Smith, 2022. "School drop out and farm input subsidies: gender and kinship heterogeneity in Malawi," Working Papers 01/2022, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    10. Jean-Marie Baland & Timothée Demont & Rohini Somanathan, 2020. "Child Labor and Schooling Decisions among Self-Help Group Members in Rural India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(1), pages 73-105.
    11. Bibiana K. Batinge & Hatice Jenkins, 2021. "Gender and Poverty Reduction in Ghana: The Role of Microfinance Institutions," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(8), pages 1-71, August.
    12. Jinnat Ara & Dipanwita Sarkar & Jayanta Sarkar, 2021. "Like mother like daughter? Occupational mobility among children under asset transfer program in Bangladesh," QuBE Working Papers 061, QUT Business School.
    13. van Rooyen, C. & Stewart, R. & de Wet, T., 2012. "The Impact of Microfinance in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review of the Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 2249-2262.
    14. Hazal Colak Oz & Çiçek Güven & Gonzalo Nápoles, 2023. "School dropout prediction and feature importance exploration in Malawi using household panel data: machine learning approach," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 245-287, April.
    15. Abbas Ali Chandio & Yuansheng Jiang & Abdul Rehman, 2018. "Credit margin of investment in the agricultural sector and credit fungibility: the case of smallholders of district Shikarpur, Sindh, Pakistan," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 4(1), pages 1-10, December.
    16. Porter, Gina & Hampshire, Kate & Abane, Albert & Munthali, Alister & Robson, Elsbeth & Mashiri, Mac & Tanle, Augustine & Maponya, Goodhope & Dube, Sipho, 2012. "Child Porterage and Africa’s Transport Gap: Evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 2136-2154.
    17. Hilson, Gavin & Ackah-Baidoo, Abigail, 2011. "Can Microcredit Services Alleviate Hardship in African Small-scale Mining Communities?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1191-1203, July.
    18. Mwale, Martin Limbikani, 2022. "Unintended consequences of farm input subsidies: women’s contraceptive usage and knock-on effects on children," MPRA Paper 112689, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Bhuiya, Mohammad Monzur Morshed & Khanam, Rasheda & Rahman, Mohammad Mafizur & Nghiem, Son, 2019. "Microcredit participation and child schooling in rural Bangladesh: Evidence from a cross-sectional survey," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 293-301.
    20. Fumagalli, Laura & Martin, Thomas, 2023. "Child labor among farm households in Mozambique and the role of reciprocal adult labor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    21. Meishan Jiang & Krishna P. Paudel & Fan Zou, 2020. "Do Microcredit Loans Do What They Are Intended To Do? A Case Study of the Credit Village Microcredit Programme in China," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 763-792, July.
    22. Roxana Elena Manea, 2020. "School Feeding Programmes, Education and Food Security in Rural Malawi," CIES Research Paper series 63-2020, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hazarika, Gautam & Sarangi, Sudipta, 2008. "Household Access to Microcredit and Child Work in Rural Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 843-859, May.
    2. Edmonds, Eric V., 2008. "Child Labor," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 57, pages 3607-3709, Elsevier.
    3. Asadul Islam & Chongwoo Choe, 2013. "Child Labor And Schooling Responses To Access To Microcredit In Rural Bangladesh," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(1), pages 46-61, January.
    4. Alvi, Eskander & Dendir, Seife, 2011. "Weathering the Storms: Credit Receipt and Child Labor in the Aftermath of the Great Floods (1998) in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1398-1409, August.
    5. Shafiq, M. Najeeb, 2007. "Household schooling and child labor decisions in rural Bangladesh," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 946-966, December.
    6. Jinnat Ara & Dipanwita Sarkar & Jayanta Sarkar, 2021. "Like mother like daughter? Occupational mobility among children under asset transfer program in Bangladesh," QuBE Working Papers 061, QUT Business School.
    7. Sylvain E. Dessy & Flaubert Mbiekop & Stéphane Pallage, 2005. "The Economics of Child Trafficking (Part II)," Cahiers de recherche 0509, CIRPEE.
    8. Drusilla K. Brown & Alan V. Deardorff & Robert M. Stern, 2009. "The Effects of Multinational Production on Wages and Working Conditions in Developing Countries," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization And International Trade Policies, chapter 17, pages 623-687, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Eric V. Edmonds & Norbert Schady, 2012. "Poverty Alleviation and Child Labor," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 100-124, November.
    10. Jean-Marie Baland & Timothée Demont & Rohini Somanathan, 2020. "Child Labor and Schooling Decisions among Self-Help Group Members in Rural India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(1), pages 73-105.
    11. Aïssata COULIBALY, 2016. "Revisiting the Relationship between Financial Development and Child Labor in Developing Countries: Do Inequality and Institutions Matter?," Working Papers 201619, CERDI.
    12. Luis García, 2004. "Oferta de trabajo infantil y el trabajo en los quehaceres del hogar," Investigaciones, Consorcio de Investigación Económica y Social.
    13. Del Carpio, Ximena V. & Loayza, Norman V. & Wada, Tomoko, 2016. "The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on the Amount and Type of Child Labor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 33-47.
    14. Fabre, Alice & Pallage, Stéphane, 2015. "Child labor, idiosyncratic shocks, and social policy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 394-411.
    15. Ebeke, Christian Hubert, 2012. "The power of remittances on the international prevalence of child labor," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 452-462.
    16. Mukherjee , Conan & Pal , Rama, 2016. "Role of Parental Expectations in Determining Child Labour and Schooling," Working Papers 2016:6, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    17. Valerie Mueller & Abusaleh Shariff, 2011. "Preliminary Evidence On Internal Migration, Remittances, And Teen Schooling In India," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 29(2), pages 207-217, April.
    18. Beegle, Kathleen & Dehejia, Rajeev H. & Gatti, Roberta, 2006. "Child labor and agricultural shocks," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 80-96, October.
    19. Sonia Bhalotra, 2007. "Is Child Work Necessary?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(1), pages 29-55, February.
    20. Mazzutti, Caio Cícero Toledo Piza da Costa, 2016. "Three essays on the causal impacts of child labour laws in Brazil," Economics PhD Theses 0616, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:4:p:567-580. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.