Periodic Reporting for period 1 - UNEQUALWITHIN (From Household Allocations to Global Inequality: New Methods, Facts and Policy Implications)
Reporting period: 2022-08-01 to 2025-01-31
To understand and mitigate economic inequalities, both locally and globally, we need to acknowledge inequalities within households. Yet, in most empirical studies, such intra-household inequalities are disregarded mainly because we lack appropriate measurement tools and data. Not only is this problematic for inequality measurement, this lack of understanding hampers the design of cost-effective poverty reduction and child development policies. The ERC-funded UNEQUALWITHIN project examines the allocation of resources and decision making within households in the form of a global outlook combined with an-in depth focus on households in Tanzania. The work of the project will lead to an integrated framework, new tools and data that will shape and improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind consumption inequalities among adults and child development.
The project UNEQUALWITHIN has five general objectives. First, the project’s research results will help to update known facts about inequalities through direct measurements of intra-household consumption allocations, and relate these to spousal income contributions. Second, the project team will develop and validate novel measures of parental resource-allocation preferences and use these to study whether children are likely to benefit more if mothers, rather than fathers, receive cash transfers. Third, the team will develop and validate novel measures of household decision-making and use these to investigate how targeted transfers shape women’s empowerment. Fourth, the project has the objective to study whether cash transfers or an educational parenting program is most cost-efficient for child development. Fifth, results are consolidated in an integrated framework using the new tools and data. This will refine our understanding of the mechanisms behind inequalities among adults and child development.
Concretely, the project will contribute to the knowledge base on intra-household decision making and child development in the following ways. We will carry out an extensive data collection on intra-household allocations, parental-allocation preferences, and women’s empowerment in a set of ten diverse countries, one from each decile of the world income distribution. We will engage in an early child development RCT in Tanzania that tests the effect of regular cash transfers and a parenting intervention. The RCT also involves extensive data collection on household consumption, time use, preferences and decision-making. Finally, we will conduct lab experiments to validate parental-allocation preferences and decision-making measures.
The project UNEQUALWITHIN has five general objectives. First, the project’s research results will help to update known facts about inequalities through direct measurements of intra-household consumption allocations, and relate these to spousal income contributions. Second, the project team will develop and validate novel measures of parental resource-allocation preferences and use these to study whether children are likely to benefit more if mothers, rather than fathers, receive cash transfers. Third, the team will develop and validate novel measures of household decision-making and use these to investigate how targeted transfers shape women’s empowerment. Fourth, the project has the objective to study whether cash transfers or an educational parenting program is most cost-efficient for child development. Fifth, results are consolidated in an integrated framework using the new tools and data. This will refine our understanding of the mechanisms behind inequalities among adults and child development.
Concretely, the project will contribute to the knowledge base on intra-household decision making and child development in the following ways. We will carry out an extensive data collection on intra-household allocations, parental-allocation preferences, and women’s empowerment in a set of ten diverse countries, one from each decile of the world income distribution. We will engage in an early child development RCT in Tanzania that tests the effect of regular cash transfers and a parenting intervention. The RCT also involves extensive data collection on household consumption, time use, preferences and decision-making. Finally, we will conduct lab experiments to validate parental-allocation preferences and decision-making measures.
The work in UNEQUALWITHIN is centered around three main components: (i) the development of novel measurement tools and survey instruments, (ii) the collection of data in a randomized controlled trial and a lab-in-the-field experiment, and (iii) a global study on establishing facts about local and global inequalities.
At the current stage of the project, the work performed and the main achievements are with respect to the first element of the project, i.e. the development of new measurements for intra-household decision making and parental resource allocation preferences. This has culminated in a publication in a high-ranking international journal titled “Economics and Measurement: New Measures to Model Decision Making” by Almås, Attanasio and Jervis (2024, Econometrica) which includes and discusses some of the work of UNEQUALWITHIN.
Furthermore, the development of new measurement tools provides the project with the necessary foundation to proceed with the various data collection that will ultimately inform the formulation of an integrated framework to improve the understanding of the mechanisms behind intra-household consumption inequalities and child development. Much of these data collection efforts are either ongoing or in preparation. First, the project team has contributed to an RCT that implements two interventions to improve early child development outcomes but may also have effects on intra-household inequalities with respect to parental preferences for resource allocation and decision-making: (i) a regular cash transfers, and (ii) a parenting program. The successful implementation of the RCT baseline and midline data collection with more than 3,000 households is another achievement of the project so far. Second, the project team has conceptualized, prepared, and is about to implement a lab-in-the-field experiment with the related RCT sample, in which the survey instruments will be validated for the Tanzanian context. By utilizing a novel approach towards a revealed preference measurement of intra-household allocation preferences, the lab experiment aims to validate the instruments in their non-incentivized hypothetical form. Thereby, the lab experiment in Tanzania is a stepping stone towards testing these measures also in other contexts and ultimately developing new research tools that can significantly advance the research discipline beyond the state of the art. Congruently, the interplay of RCT, lab experiment allows us to study behavioral preferences not in the isolation of the laboratory environment but in front of a backdrop of rich contextual data. This marks the first step towards an integrated and universal framework.
At the current stage of the project, the work performed and the main achievements are with respect to the first element of the project, i.e. the development of new measurements for intra-household decision making and parental resource allocation preferences. This has culminated in a publication in a high-ranking international journal titled “Economics and Measurement: New Measures to Model Decision Making” by Almås, Attanasio and Jervis (2024, Econometrica) which includes and discusses some of the work of UNEQUALWITHIN.
Furthermore, the development of new measurement tools provides the project with the necessary foundation to proceed with the various data collection that will ultimately inform the formulation of an integrated framework to improve the understanding of the mechanisms behind intra-household consumption inequalities and child development. Much of these data collection efforts are either ongoing or in preparation. First, the project team has contributed to an RCT that implements two interventions to improve early child development outcomes but may also have effects on intra-household inequalities with respect to parental preferences for resource allocation and decision-making: (i) a regular cash transfers, and (ii) a parenting program. The successful implementation of the RCT baseline and midline data collection with more than 3,000 households is another achievement of the project so far. Second, the project team has conceptualized, prepared, and is about to implement a lab-in-the-field experiment with the related RCT sample, in which the survey instruments will be validated for the Tanzanian context. By utilizing a novel approach towards a revealed preference measurement of intra-household allocation preferences, the lab experiment aims to validate the instruments in their non-incentivized hypothetical form. Thereby, the lab experiment in Tanzania is a stepping stone towards testing these measures also in other contexts and ultimately developing new research tools that can significantly advance the research discipline beyond the state of the art. Congruently, the interplay of RCT, lab experiment allows us to study behavioral preferences not in the isolation of the laboratory environment but in front of a backdrop of rich contextual data. This marks the first step towards an integrated and universal framework.
Early work in the UNEQUALWITHIN project has focused on the conceptualization and development of novel survey instrument for the measurement of (i) intra-household decision making power and (ii) parental preferences for household resource allocation between oneself, the spouse, and a child.
With these instruments in hand, the UNEQUALWITHIN research team is now preparing and implementing data collections around the world to validate the measurement tools and ultimately inform a novel integrated framework of household decision making, parental consumption preferences, and child development. These results are expected to lead to breakthroughs that can significantly advance the research field beyond the status quo in which intra-household inequalities are still often disregarded due to a lack of comprehensive data and adequate measurement tools.
With these instruments in hand, the UNEQUALWITHIN research team is now preparing and implementing data collections around the world to validate the measurement tools and ultimately inform a novel integrated framework of household decision making, parental consumption preferences, and child development. These results are expected to lead to breakthroughs that can significantly advance the research field beyond the status quo in which intra-household inequalities are still often disregarded due to a lack of comprehensive data and adequate measurement tools.