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HIV/AIDS and time allocation in rural Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Simona Bignami

    (Université de Montréal)

  • Ari Van Assche

    (HEC Montréal)

  • Phil Anglewicz

    (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)

  • Peter Fleming

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Catherine van de Ruit

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

AIDS morbidity and mortality are expected to have a large impact on households’ labor supply in rural Malawi since they reduce the time that adults can spend on production for subsistence and on income generating activities. However, the data demands for estimating this impact are high, limiting the amount of empirical evidence. In this paper, we utilize a unique combination of quantitative and qualitative data, including biomarkers for HIV, collected by the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project, to analyze the impact of AIDS-related morbidity and mortality on time allocation decisions for rural Malawians. We evaluate both the direct effect of HIV/AIDS on the time allocation of affected individuals as well as its indirect effect on the time allocation of surviving household members. We find that the latter is the most important effect of AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, especially on women’s time. Specifically, AIDS induces diversification of income sources, with women reallocating their time from work-intensive (typically farming and heavy chores) to cash-generating tasks (such as casual labor).

Suggested Citation

  • Simona Bignami & Ari Van Assche & Phil Anglewicz & Peter Fleming & Catherine van de Ruit, 2011. "HIV/AIDS and time allocation in rural Malawi," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 24(27), pages 671-708.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:24:y:2011:i:27
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2011.24.27
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Selma Walther, 2017. "Moral hazard in marriage: the use of domestic labor as an incentive device," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 357-382, June.
    2. Laurens Cherchye & Bram De Rock & Frederic Vermeulen & Selma Walther, 2021. "Where did it go wrong? Marriage and divorce in Malawi," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(2), pages 505-545, May.
    3. Adane Tufa & Arega Alene & Hambulo Ngoma & Paswel Marenya & Julius Manda & Md Abdul Matin & Christian Thierfelder & David Chikoye, 2024. "Willingness to pay for agricultural mechanization services by smallholder farmers in Malawi," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 248-276, January.
    4. Telalagic, S., 2012. "Domestic Production as a Source of Marital Power: Theory and Evidence from Malawi," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1243, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    HIV/AIDS; Africa; Malawi; time allocation; economic impact;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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