The consumption, income, and wealth of the poorest: An empirical analysis of economic inequality in rural and urban Sub-Saharan Africa for macroeconomists

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Development Economics
Year: 2018
Volume: 134
Issue: C
Pages: 350-371

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We provide new empirical insights on the joint distribution of consumption, income, and wealth using cross-sectional and panel household-survey data from three of the poorest countries in the world—Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda—all located in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Our main contribution is to establish the co-existence of two phenomena in SSA: (i) a low transmission from income inequality to wealth inequality (i.e., low accumulation); and (ii) a low transmission from income inequality to consumption inequality (i.e., high consumption insurance). The variation between rural and urban areas in SSA—and between SSA and the United States of America—reveals a negative relationship, and potentially, a trade-off between accumulation and consumption insurance.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:deveco:v:134:y:2018:i:c:p:350-371
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-26