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Marketable Wealth in a Poor African Country

Author

Listed:
  • Burger, Ronelle
  • Booysen, Frikkie
  • Berg, Servaas van der
  • Maltitz, Michael von

Abstract

The study uses an asset index of consumer durables to track changes in household wealth in Ghana during the recent period of strong growth. Using the Ghana Living Standards Survey of 1998 that contains both wealth data and consumer durable data, the authors demonstrate that the asset index approximate marketable wealth adequately. Although asset index estimates of wealth cannot match the precision of wealth surveys,this approach can provide useful information on marketable wealth in countries where more appropriate sources are not available. The asset index analysis with the three demographic and health surveys for 1993, 1998 and 2003 suggests that the solid economic growth seen over this period has been accompanied by a strong rise in the average asset index scores.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:9063
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/9063/1/MPRA_paper_9063.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    10. Frikkie Booysen & Ronelle Burger & Gideon Du Rand & Michael von Maltitz & Servaas Van der Berg, 2007. "Trends in Poverty and Inequality in Seven African Countries," Working Papers PMMA 2007-06, PEP-PMMA.
    11. Edward N. Wolff, 1981. "The Accumulation Of Household Wealth Over The Life‐Cycle: A Microdata Analysis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 27(1), pages 75-96, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Carlos Guerrero-de-Lizardi, 2015. "An Imperfect Approach for Looking at the Distribution of Financial and Non-Financial Wealth in Mexico 1984-2012," Remef - The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance, Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas. Remef, September.
    2. 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).
    3. Carlos Guerrero de Lizardi, 2015. "An Imperfect Approach for Looking at the Distribution of Financial and Non-Financial Wealth in Mexico 1984-2012," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 10(2), pages 145-158, Julio-Dic.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wealth; Ghana; asset index;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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