IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v23y2010i35.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Income, health, and well-being in rural Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Brian Chin

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

This paper attempts to isolate the causal link of income on health status and subjective well-being for the rural population in Malawi using three waves of household panel data spanning the period 2004-2008 from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (MDICP) and the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH). Malawi is a low-income country with high background morbidity and mortality, as well as an AIDS epidemic, high fertility, and poor reproductive health. Instrumental variables and fixed effects strategies are used to try to address endogeneity of the income to health relationship. The analyses show that a 10% increase in income improves mean general health status of rural Malawians by 1.0% and mean subjective well-being by 1.2%.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian Chin, 2010. "Income, health, and well-being in rural Malawi," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 23(35), pages 997-1030.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:23:y:2010:i:35
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2010.23.35
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol23/35/23-35.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2010.23.35?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2006. "Long term consequences of early childhood malnutrition," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 450-474, July.
    2. Easterlin,Richard A., 2006. "The Reluctant Economist," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521685115, September.
    3. Ciccone, Antonio & Brückner, Markus, 2007. "Growth, Democracy, and Civil War," CEPR Discussion Papers 6568, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. World Bank, 2007. "Malawi Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment : Investing in Our Future, Synthesis Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 7557, The World Bank Group.
    5. Thomas, Duncan & Strauss, John, 1997. "Health and wages: Evidence on men and women in urban Brazil," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 159-185, March.
    6. World Bank, 2007. "Malawi : Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment, Investing in Our Future," World Bank Publications - Reports 7555, The World Bank Group.
    7. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    8. World Bank, 2007. "Malawi - Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment : Investing in Our Future," World Bank Publications - Reports 7909, The World Bank Group.
    9. Simona Bignami & Georges Reniers & Alexander A. Weinreb, 2003. "An Assessment of the KDICP and MDICP Data Quality," Demographic Research Special Collections, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 1(2), pages 31-76.
    10. World Bank, 2002. "Globalization, Growth, and Poverty : Building an Inclusive World Economy," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14051.
    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. Nicolas Barrantes & Jhonatan Clausen, 2022. "Does Multidimensional Poverty Affect Depression? Evidence from Peru," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 22(2), pages 107-129, April.
    2. David Brady & Michaela Curran & Richard Carpiano, 2023. "A test of the predictive validity of relative versus absolute income for self-reported health and well-being in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(26), pages 775-808.
    3. Abubakari Ahmed & Eric Dompreh & Alexandros Gasparatos, 2019. "Human wellbeing outcomes of involvement in industrial crop production: Evidence from sugarcane, oil palm and jatropha sites in Ghana," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-33, April.
    4. Asma Hyder & Jere R Behrman & Hans-Peter Kohler, 2015. "Negative economic shocks and child schooling: Evidence from rural Malawi," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 458-476, July.
    5. Priscilla Duboz & Gilles Boëtsch & Lamine Gueye & Enguerran Macia, 2017. "Self-rated health in Senegal: A comparison between urban and rural areas," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Feindouno, Sosso & Arcand, Jean-Louis & Guillaumont, Patrick, 2024. "COVID-19's death transfer to Sub-Saharan Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    7. Fu-Min Tseng & Dennis James Petrie, 2014. "The Implications for Health, Depression, and Life Satisfaction from a Permanent Increase in Income for the Disadvantaged Elderly: Evidence from Taiwan," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 311-336, September.
    8. Frijters, Paul & Lalji, Chitwan & Pakrashi, Debayan, 2020. "Daily weather only has small effects on wellbeing in the US," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 747-762.
    9. Hanandita, Wulung & Tampubolon, Gindo, 2014. "Does poverty reduce mental health? An instrumental variable analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 59-67.
    10. Sanni Yaya & Sharmistha Ghosh & Bishwajit Ghose, 2019. "Subjective Happiness, Health and Quality of Life and Their Sociocultural Correlates among Younger Population in Malawi," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-18, February.
    11. Qu, Yanbo & Li, Yan & Zhao, Weiying & Zhan, Lingyun, 2023. "Does the rural housing land system reform model meeting the needs of farmers improve the welfare of farmers?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    12. Smith, Lisa C. & Haddad, Lawrence, 2015. "Reducing Child Undernutrition: Past Drivers and Priorities for the Post-MDG Era," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 180-204.
    13. Kahouli, Sondès, 2020. "An economic approach to the study of the relationship between housing hazards and health: The case of residential fuel poverty in France," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    14. Olukorede Abiona, 2017. "Adverse Effects of Early Life Extreme Precipitation Shocks on Short-term Health and Adulthood Welfare Outcomes," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 1229-1254, November.

    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. Richard Mussa, 2015. "Do the Poor Pay More for Maize in Malawi?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 546-563, 05-27.
    2. Wood, Benjamin & Nelson, Carl H. & Kilic, Talip & Murray, Siobhan, 2012. "Up in Smoke?: Agricultural Commercialization,Rising Food Prices and Stunting in Malawi," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 131261, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Cook, Aaron M. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob E. & Sesmero, Juan P., 2013. "How do African households adapt to climate change? Evidence from Malawi," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150507, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Houssou, Nazaire & Zeller, Manfred, 2010. "Targeting the Poor and Smallholder Farmers Empirical Evidence from Malawi," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 49(4), pages 1-18.
    5. Chilemba, Joanna & Ragasa, Catherine, 2018. "The impact of a farmer business school program on incomes of smallholder farmers: Insights from central Malawi," MaSSP working papers 23, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Richard Anker & Martha Anker, 2014. "Living Wage Benchmark Report: Rural Southern Malawi (January 2014)," Global Living Wage Coalition (GLWC) 14-01-01, Universidad Privada Boliviana.
    7. Peterman, Amber & Behrman, Julia & Quisumbing, Agnes, 2010. "A review of empirical evidence on gender differences in nonland agricultural inputs, technology, and services in developing countries," IFPRI discussion papers 975, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Peterman, A., 2010. "A review of empirical evidence on gender differences in nonland agricultural inputs, technology, and services in developing countries," IWMI Working Papers H043605, International Water Management Institute.
    9. Ragasa, Catherine, 2012. "Gender and Institutional Dimensions of Agricultural Technology Adoption: A Review of Literature and Synthesis of 35 Case Studies," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126747, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Ecker, Olivier & Qaim, Matin, 2011. "Analyzing Nutritional Impacts of Policies: An Empirical Study for Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 412-428, March.
    11. Meinzen-Dick, R., 2012. "Putting gender on the map: methods for mapping gendered farm management systems in Sub-Saharan Africa," IWMI Working Papers H045510, International Water Management Institute.
    12. R. Wendy Karamba & Paul C. Winters, 2015. "Gender and agricultural productivity: implications of the Farm Input Subsidy Program in Malawi," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(3), pages 357-374, May.
    13. Mussa, Richard, 2014. "Food Price Heterogeneity and Income Inequality in Malawi: Is Inequality Underestimated?," MPRA Paper 56080, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Behrman, Julia & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes, 2011. "The gender implications of large-scale land deals:," IFPRI discussion papers 1056, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Behrman, Julia & Biermayr-Jenzano, Patricia & Wilde, Vicki & Noordeloos, Marco & Ragasa, Catherine & Beintema, Nienke, 2011. "Engendering agricultural research, development, and extension:," Research reports ruthmeinzen-dick, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    16. Maria Sassi, 2020. "Evidence of Between- and Within-Household Child Nutrition Inequality in Malawi: Does the Gender of the Household Head Matter?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(1), pages 28-50, January.
    17. Michael E Herce & Shekinah N Elmore & Noel Kalanga & James W Keck & Emily B Wroe & Atupere Phiri & Alishya Mayfield & Felix Chingoli & Jason A Beste & Listern Tengatenga & Junior Bazile & Eric L Kraka, 2014. "Assessing and Responding to Palliative Care Needs in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa: Results from a Model Intervention and Situation Analysis in Malawi," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    18. Ferreira, Francisco H. G. & Schady, Norbert, 2008. "Aggregate economic shocks, child schooling and child health," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4701, The World Bank.
    19. Lefore, Nicole & Weight, Elizabeth & Mukhamedova, Nozilakhon, 2017. "Improving gender equity in irrigation: application of a tool to promote learning and performance in Malawi and Uzbekistan," IWMI Books, International Water Management Institute, number 265663.
    20. Houssou, Nazaire & Zeller, Manfred, 2009. "Operational Models for Improving the Targeting Efficiency of Agricultural and Development Policies: A systematic comparison of different estimation methods using out-of-sample tests," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51454, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    HIV/AIDS; income; Malawi; self-reported health; subjective well-being;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:dem:demres:v:23:y:2010:i:35. 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: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    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.