Intrahousehold Inequality, Economies of Scale, and Poverty: Evidence from Eight Harmonised Living Standard Measurement Surveys Data in West Africa

Relwendé A. Nikiema

Journal of Development Studies, 2025, vol. 61, issue 10, 1683-1708

Abstract: This study examines intrahousehold inequality, economies of scale, and their impact on individual-level poverty in WAEMU countries. It is built on the collective household model and utilises data from the ‘Enquête Harmonisée sur les Conditions de Vie des Menages’ (EHCVM 2018/19). First, except for Niger, the results suggest gender inequality in intrahousehold resource allocation, with men receiving 12 to 22 per cent more resources than women. The results further reveal that women and children are the most deprived members of households once intrahousehold inequality is considered. Furthermore, accounting for economies of scale into the analysis reduces poverty rates by up to 60 per cent for adults and 30 per cent for children, on average. Finally, the results show that the per capita expenditure poverty metric underestimates child poverty and overestimates adult poverty. On average, 15.1 to 24.5 per cent of poor children live in households where per capita expenditure is above the poverty line, while 34 to 53 per cent of non-poor men and 34 to 48 per cent of non-poor women reside in households where per capita expenditure falls below the poverty line. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for intra-household inequality and economies of scale to ensure accurate poverty assessments, thereby enabling the design of effective poverty reduction strategies.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2025.2487006

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