We consider a situation where the relatively ‘poor’ are concerned about their relative income status with respect to a relevant reference group. Such a concern is explicitly introduced in a utility function to study the consumption and saving behavior of the poor in terms of a static and...

The existing literature on poverty has discussed about the conflict between income-based measure and nutrition-based measure. However, the role of social inequality in influencing individual’s consumption and inducing greater consumption of the so called status good has been relatively...

The conflict between the income based and nutrition based estimates of poverty is a widely debated issue in economic literature. This paper, using a two commodity framework, attempts to show that in presence of inequality, a status driven utility function can reconcile the conflict between the...

Education is an important pillar in the national economic development. It contributes to economic growth in varied forms. The educational system in Eritrea shows all the symptoms of prolonged neglect under colonialism and war. But education plays a key role in the development after independence....

Gender disparities in education raise many questions for governments and civil societies. There are many factors that contribute to the gender gap in education. In Eritrea, gender disparities persist in the enrolment rates between boys and girls at all levels. Gender inequality has become a...

Research is an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge and it is a powerful tool for knowledge generation. A newly born nation Eritrea has been facing number of challenges in research and development particularly the challenge of applying knowledge to work in the economy....

The poverty problem is chronic in the Horn of Africa. Majority of the people in the region are suffering from this problem. There are numerous factors that cause poverty in the region. The challenge of poverty reduction in the Horn should therefore address the poverty reduction issues at...

The ongoing national reconstruction process of Eritrea is centered on educational reformation. The government of Eritrea placed educational policy on top priority for national development which demands the emergence of new class of trained youth blended with disciplined minds and skills instead...

In presence of inequality a status driven utility function reconciles the conflict between income based and nutrition based measures of poverty. Moreover, it can explain why the poor tend to save less, an established empirical fact in the developing countries. The result is independent of the...

In this paper we attempt to examine the role of social inequality and status effects in driving trade between two countries which differ systematically only in terms of income-distribution using a status-driven model of consumption involving a status and a non-status good. Our model illustrates...