Volume 4, Number 1
April 1998

Recent Gender Research from IFPRI

A number of discussion papers generated from IFPRI's research on gender and intrahousehold issues are now available from IFPRI. Summaries of the papers, all published in 1997, follow below. To receive copies of the papers, e-mail Nik Harvey (N.Harvey@cgiar.org), or Christina Abad (c.abad@cgnet.com).

Child Care Practices and Children's Nutritional Outcomes

A study of Bangladeshi children between 6 and 18 months of age classified them into positive deviants, negative deviants, or median growers, depending on their growth status, and holding age and income level constant. While gender differences in child nutrition were not found to be very significant in the entire sample, there was unmistakable evidence of differential treatment of children by gender. There were three times as many male children in the positive deviants group as compared with female children. Even though there was an equal number of male and female children in the negative deviant group, there is evidence of differential child mortality by gender. The two key factors affecting child nutrition of all groups were hygiene practices and mothers' access to knowledge. Early introduction of complementary food, and the absence of specially prepared food items in the child's diet contributed to negative deviance. Lastly, the well-being of the caregiver is important: a mother's expression of "satisfaction with her family life," an indicator of psychosocial care, significantly affected nutritional outcomes of children.

S. Kumar-Range, R. Navel, and S. Bhattarai. Child care practices associated with positive and negative nutritional outcomes for children in Bangladesh: A descriptive analysis. Food Consumption and Nutrition Division Discussion Paper 24, IFPRI.

Extrahousehold Influences On Bargaining Power

A person's bargaining strength within the family depends not only on asset ownership, but also access to employment, access to communal resources, traditional social support systems, support from the NGOs and the state, and social norms and perceptions. While bargaining models provide a much richer perspective on understanding intrahousehold dynamics, a number of issues are not adequately addressed. Among these are influences of social norms and social perceptions on bargaining power, which, although often treated as exogenous, can themselves be bargained over. Gender differences in the exercise of self-interest versus altruism may also affect bargaining power. Lastly, socioeconomic and legal institutions outside the household may have a profound effect on intrahousehold bargaining power.

B. Agarwal. "Bargaining" and gender relations: Within and beyond the household. Food Consumption and Nutrition Division Discussion Paper 27, IFPRI.

Gender, Property Rights, and Natural Resources

Attention to gender differences in property rights can improve the outcomes of natural resource management policies and projects in terms of efficiency, environmental sustainability, equity, and empowerment of resource users. Although it is impossible to generalize across cultures and resources, it is important to identify the nature of rights to land, trees, and water held by women and men, and how they are acquired and transmitted from one user to another. The shift from customary tenure systems to private property--in land, trees, and water--has affected women signifi-cantly. Gender differences in property rights have implications for collective action, policy formulation, and implementation.

R. Meinzen-Dick, L. R. Brown, H. Sims Feldstein, and A. R. Quisumbing. Gender, property rights, and natural resources. Food Consumption and Nutrition Division Discussion Paper 29, IFPRI.

Intrahousehold Impact of Public Transfers

A study of the impact of a school feeding program on child caloric intakes in the Philippines investigates whether public transfers targeted toward children are largely neutralized by the household, as the theory of altruism implies, or whether an intrahousehold "flypaper effect" exists, whereby such transfers "stick" to the child. Because children are interviewed on school days and nonschool days, and because some schools offer a feeding program and others do not, the dietary impact of the program is identified under mild restrictions. The empirical results confirm an intrahousehold flypaper effect; indeed, they indicate virtually no intrahousehold reallocation of calories in response to the feeding program. In poorer households, however, children's gains from the program appear to be "taxed" more heavily.

H. Jacoby. Is there an intrahousehold "flypaper effect"? Evidence from a school feeding program. Food Consumption and Nutrition Division Discussion Paper 31, IFPRI.

Intrahousehold Distribution of Nutrients

Vegetables are the key food group with respect to micronutrient consumption in Bangladesh, providing nearly 95 percent of vitamin A intake, 75 percent of vitamin C intake, and 25 percent of iron intake, and are the least expensive sources of all of these nutrients. There is clear evidence that adult males are given preference in the intrahousehold distribution of certain micro-nutrient-dense foods such as milk, eggs, and meat, while other micronutrient-dense foods such as fish and vegetables are more equitably distributed. Holding other factors constant, agricultural production programs aimed at more equitably distributed foods (for example, fish and vegetables) will have a greater impact on the nutrient intake of women and children who are at greatest risk for micronutrient deficiencies.

H. Bouis and M. J. G. Novenario-Reese. The determinants of demand for micronutrients: An analysis of rural households in Bangladesh. Food Consumption and Nutrition Division Discussion Paper 32, IFPRI.

Common Property Resources and Bargaining Power

In developing countries, common property resources (CPRs) can be an important source of income for certain individuals within households. This paper demonstrates that if a change in the management of CPRs imposes costs on these individuals, or causes a decline in the prices or productivities associated with goods produced from the CPRs, the intrahousehold allocation of resources may alter in a manner detrimental to those individuals. The paper also shows that the assumption of a unitary household model causes the detrimental effects of certain CPR policy interventions to be overlooked.

P. Maggs and J. Hoddinott. The impact of changes in com-mon property resource management on intrahousehold allo-cation. Food Consumption and Nutrition Division Discussion Paper 34, IFPRI.

Gender Differences in Remittance Motives

A study of the motivations of Dominican migrants to send remittances to their rural parents in the Sierra tests whether such transfers represent an investment in potential bequests or an insurance contract between parents and migrant children. Remit-tances from young migrants, males, and migrants who want to return to the Sierra follow a pattern consistent with investment. In contrast, female migrants with no intention of returning to the Sierra play the role of insurers. The gender composition of the migrant siblings affects this remittance task-sharing, since women with no remitting brothers show interest in inheritance, while men with no sisters offer insurance.

B. de la Brière, A. de Janvry, S. Lambert, and E. Sadoulet. Why do migrants remit? An analysis for the Dominican Sierra.