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Individual Wealth Inequality : Measurement and Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income Countries

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  • Hasanbasri,Ardina Roosiany
  • Kilic,Talip
  • Koolwal,Gayatri B.
  • Moylan,Heather G.

Abstract

The accumulation of personal wealth, stemming from ownership and control of assets, plays acritical role in advancing women’s and men’s economic opportunities. Yet, it is an understudied dimension ofinequality across the developing world. To study individual-level wealth inequality and gender differences inwealth, this paper leverages unique data from nationally representative, multi-topic household surveys that wereconducted in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Tanzania and that interviewed men and women in private regarding theirpersonal ownership and valuation of physical and financial assets. The analysis documents substantial genderinequalities in asset ownership and wealth, overall and for specific asset classes. Individual-level wealth inequalitymeasures are substantially higher vis-à-vis comparators based on per capita household consumption expenditures andper capita household wealth, and intrahousehold wealth inequality has a substantial role in explaining overallwealth inequality. While land is a key contributor to wealth inequality across countries, there is cross-countryheterogeneity in the relative contributions of asset classes. Self-reporting on asset ownership and valuation,the internationally-recommended best practice, is also shown to lead to higher inequality estimates compared to thebusiness-as-usual survey practice of interviewing a single, most-knowledgeable household member to identifyintrahousehold asset owners and values. The discussion expands on the implications of the findings for futuresurveys and methodological research.

Suggested Citation

  • Hasanbasri,Ardina Roosiany & Kilic,Talip & Koolwal,Gayatri B. & Moylan,Heather G., 2022. "Individual Wealth Inequality : Measurement and Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9987, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9987
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kilic, Talip & Moylan, Heather & Koolwal, Gayatri, 2021. "Getting the (Gender-Disaggregated) lay of the land: Impact of survey respondent selection on measuring land ownership and rights," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Cheryl Doss, 2013. "Intrahousehold Bargaining and Resource Allocation in Developing Countries-super-1," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 52-78, February.
    3. Philippe De Vreyer & Sylvie Lambert, 2021. "Inequality, Poverty, and the Intra-Household Allocation of Consumption in Senegal," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(2), pages 414-435.
    4. Boyer, Marcel, 2020. "Inequalities: Income, Wealth and consumption," TSE Working Papers 20-1105, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
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    6. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Estudillo, Jonna P. & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2004. "Land and schooling: transferring wealth across generations," Food policy statements 41, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Bose-Duker,Theophiline & Gaddis,Isis & Kilic,Talip & Lechene,Valérie & Pendakur,Krishna, 2021. "Diamonds in the Rough? : Repurposing Multi-Topic Surveys to Estimate Individual-Level Consumption Poverty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9661, The World Bank.
    8. Haddad, Lawrence & Kanbur, Ravi, 1990. "How Serious Is the Neglect of Intra-Household Inequality?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(402), pages 866-881, September.
    9. Cheryl Doss & Caitlin Kieran & Talip Kilic, 2020. "Measuring Ownership, Control, and Use of Assets," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 144-168, July.
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