The Distribution of Effort : Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting

The disutility of work, often summarily described as effort, is a primal component of economic models of worker and consumer behavior. However, empirical applications that measure effort, especially those that assess the distribution of effort acro...

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Main Authors: Friedman, Jed, Gaddis, Isis, Kilic, Talip, Martuscelli, Antonio, Palacios-Lopez, Amparo, Zezza, Alberto
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/109861618858646101/The-Distribution-of-Effort-Physical-Activity-Gender-Roles-and-Bargaining-Power-in-an-Agrarian-Setting
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35481
id okr-10986-35481
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-354812022-09-20T00:09:52Z The Distribution of Effort : Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting Friedman, Jed Gaddis, Isis Kilic, Talip Martuscelli, Antonio Palacios-Lopez, Amparo Zezza, Alberto GENDER ROLES AGRICULTURE ECONOMY TIME USE INTRA-HOUSEHOLD BARGAINING SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOR The disutility of work, often summarily described as effort, is a primal component of economic models of worker and consumer behavior. However, empirical applications that measure effort, especially those that assess the distribution of effort across known populations, are historically scarce. This paper explores intra-household differences in physical activity in a rural agrarian setting. Physical activity is captured via wearable accelerometers that provide a proxy for physical effort expended per unit of time. In the study setting of agricultural households in Malawi, men devote significantly more time to sedentary activities than women (38 minutes per day), but also spend more time on moderate-to-vigorous activities (16 minutes). Using standardized energy expenditure as a summary measure for physical effort, women exert marginally higher levels of physical effort than men. However, gender differences in effort among married partners are strongly associated with intra-household differences in bargaining power, with significantly larger husband-wife effort gaps alongside larger differences in age and individual land ownership as well as whether the couple lives as part of a polygamous union. Physical activity -- a proxy for physical effort, an understudied dimension of wellbeing -- exhibits an unequal distribution across gender in this population. 2021-04-22T14:31:05Z 2021-04-22T14:31:05Z 2021-04 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/109861618858646101/The-Distribution-of-Effort-Physical-Activity-Gender-Roles-and-Bargaining-Power-in-an-Agrarian-Setting http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35481 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9634 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE) Malawi
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic GENDER ROLES
AGRICULTURE ECONOMY
TIME USE
INTRA-HOUSEHOLD BARGAINING
SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOR
spellingShingle GENDER ROLES
AGRICULTURE ECONOMY
TIME USE
INTRA-HOUSEHOLD BARGAINING
SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOR
Friedman, Jed
Gaddis, Isis
Kilic, Talip
Martuscelli, Antonio
Palacios-Lopez, Amparo
Zezza, Alberto
The Distribution of Effort : Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting
geographic_facet Africa
Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE)
Malawi
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9634
description The disutility of work, often summarily described as effort, is a primal component of economic models of worker and consumer behavior. However, empirical applications that measure effort, especially those that assess the distribution of effort across known populations, are historically scarce. This paper explores intra-household differences in physical activity in a rural agrarian setting. Physical activity is captured via wearable accelerometers that provide a proxy for physical effort expended per unit of time. In the study setting of agricultural households in Malawi, men devote significantly more time to sedentary activities than women (38 minutes per day), but also spend more time on moderate-to-vigorous activities (16 minutes). Using standardized energy expenditure as a summary measure for physical effort, women exert marginally higher levels of physical effort than men. However, gender differences in effort among married partners are strongly associated with intra-household differences in bargaining power, with significantly larger husband-wife effort gaps alongside larger differences in age and individual land ownership as well as whether the couple lives as part of a polygamous union. Physical activity -- a proxy for physical effort, an understudied dimension of wellbeing -- exhibits an unequal distribution across gender in this population.
format Working Paper
author Friedman, Jed
Gaddis, Isis
Kilic, Talip
Martuscelli, Antonio
Palacios-Lopez, Amparo
Zezza, Alberto
author_facet Friedman, Jed
Gaddis, Isis
Kilic, Talip
Martuscelli, Antonio
Palacios-Lopez, Amparo
Zezza, Alberto
author_sort Friedman, Jed
title The Distribution of Effort : Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting
title_short The Distribution of Effort : Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting
title_full The Distribution of Effort : Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting
title_fullStr The Distribution of Effort : Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting
title_full_unstemmed The Distribution of Effort : Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting
title_sort distribution of effort : physical activity, gender roles, and bargaining power in an agrarian setting
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/109861618858646101/The-Distribution-of-Effort-Physical-Activity-Gender-Roles-and-Bargaining-Power-in-an-Agrarian-Setting
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35481
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