The overlapping of activities is an important dimension of time use that has previously received little attention in economic analysis. Most time-use studies have looked only at primary activities, ignoring the fact that individuals often perform two or more activities simultaneously. This...

The paper theoretically and empirically explores the relationship between work intensity and well-being. It first develops a well-being composite index that takes into account not only money based income, but also those aspects of individual capabilities and functioning that are not necessarily...

This study investigates the effects of gender on aggregate saving. We test the hypothesis that shifts in women's relative income, which can affect their bargaining power within the household, have a discernible impact on household saving and, by extension, gross domestic saving, due to differing...

The paper investigates vertical linkages between formal and informal financial institutions. Specifically, it studies a policy that expands formal credit to informal lenders, in the hope that this will improve loan terms for borrowers who are shut out of the formal sector. Special attention is...

High work intensity, as a result of doing two tasks at a time, is an important dimension of well-being. For many poor, working women, it represents a necessary means of coping when real wages fall, prices rise and basic services are cut. And yet existing standard-of-living measurements and...

Utilizing time use data for exploring the issue of employment (or lack thereof) – a critical pathway for increased incomes for the poor - has received little attention in economic analysis. Using data from the 2000 South African national time use survey, this paper examines the value of time...

The effect of a development strategy on women can be attributed to a host of factors that leads either to their integration or marginalization in the development process. Some of these factors relate to the persistent gender inequalities in society while others are generated by a pattern of...

This paper examines an adaptive strategy using occupational choice that can be undertaken by household members in urban poor areas to help ensure their access to food. Our investigation focuses on self-employed women and men in 14 predominantly slum communities in Bolivia, Ecuador, Philippines,...