Survey-based tools to measure assets and control of income
Agnes R. Quisumbing
IFPRI/A4NH
Content
I. Defining asset-related indicatorsII. Collecting sex-disaggregated data on
assets III. Measuring control of income
I. Defining Asset-related Indicators
• Need to specify what we mean by
– Assets
– “Women’s” assets (assets belonging to women and/or men)
– Asset disparities
– Changes in assets and asset disparities
– Incomes (often difficult to measure), so consumption expenditures often used as proxy
– Decisionmaking over assets and incomes
Page 5
From capitals to assets
Broad definition of assets to include:
• Natural capital
• Physical capital
• Financial capital
• Human capital
• Social capital
• Political capital
Natural capital
Physical capital
Same asset, many capitals
Implications
• Can’t possibly cover all assets so need to think carefully about which ones really matter, given the context
What does it mean to “own” an asset?
Use rights
Types of ownership
Decision rights
Use rights
• Access
• Extraction
• Commercial exploitation
Decision rights
• Management
• Exclusion
• Alienation
• Claims to rights come from multiple sources, and can overlap and change
Sources and security of rights
Implications
• Easy to focus on (and measure) “decision” rights but in some cases “access” rights can be important
• For certain kinds of assets (eg land) may need to include type and security of rights along with quantity and value of asset as part of the indicator
• Contextual information on sources of rights and what can strengthen and weaken them is important for evaluating projects (implementing them!)
Types of owners
• Individuals
• Partners (joint)
• Groups (collective)
Implications
• Need to include joint ownership option in surveys but we need to understand what “joint ownership” means in specific contexts (does it mean name on document only? Does it mean joint decisionmaking on use of asset?)
• Some collectively-owned assets can be “individualized” but others not
How to measure assets & asset changes
• Quantity/quality of specific asset(s)
• Assets index
• Value of assets
• Type or security of rights
Asset disparities• Disparity is the ratio of women’s assets to men’s
assets
• How can the disparity be reduced?– Increase women’s assets– Decrease men’s assets– Increase both, but women’s more
• But remember, changes in rights is not always zero-sum, particularly because of the joint asset category
II. Collecting sex-disaggregated data on assets
• Multiple methods, data sources and sequencing
• Baseline surveys
• Field implementation issues
Page 23
Data collection: national and community level
– Use of existing national-level data (DHS, national statistics), administrative data, existing studies
– Focus groups at community level, for example to get at local norms
Page 24
Quantitative methods: household level
• Household and individual surveys, particularly panel surveys
• Take advantage of existing sex-disaggregated data sets and build a panel
Page 25
Qualitative methods
• Ethnography, case studies, life histories
Page 26
Q-squared: Integrated qual and quant
• Sequenced and integrated qualitative and quantitative data analysis
– For example, quantitative surveys can be used to draw up the sampling frame for the life histories work or FGDs
How can questionnaire modules can be designed to look at asset accumulation from a gender
perspective?
• In what topics can data collection can be sex-disaggregated?
• How can the same basic question (say, control of land and assets) be adapted to specific contexts, using survey modules on the same topic, but administered in different settings?
• What issues of survey implementation are important?
What does a baseline questionnaire look like?Where can we insert/modify modules to look at gender
issues in a standard household survey?
• Basic baseline information: in RED
• Typical module with sex-disaggregated info ALWAYS collected: purple cells
• Sex-disaggregated info SOMETIMES collected: orange cells
• Specialized module with sex-disaggregated info ALWAYS collected: green cells
Basic and Extended Questionnaire Design of Socio-economic modules
Module Basic? Sex-
disaggregated
information?
About which hh member?
A Roster—very important, since all
Ids in subsequent modules will
come from here
Yes Yes All!
B Education of head and
household members
Yes Yes All
C Nonfood consumption Depends
on focus of
survey, but
ideal
Partly (clothing,
footwear)
All (typically collected at hh
level)
D Food consumption No (but see
section on
nutrition
modules)
All (typically collected at hh
level)
Contents of a household roster
ID Name Sex Age Reln to
head
Marital
Status
Education Main
occupat
ion
1
2
3
4
5
You can also add columns on literacy, migration status, etc.
Socio-economic modules (cont’d)
Module Basic? Sex-
disaggregated
information?
Which hh member?
E Land area and crops grown Yes Yes ID of person who manages the plot
ID of plot owner, if different from
manager
F Major Crop Production Yes, if
ag
survey
Yes ID of plot manager (household
member)
G Agricultural Wage Labor Possibl
y
Yes ID of laborer
H Other Income Possibl
y
Yes ID of people with other incomes,
businesses, ID of people sending
and receiving remittances
Socio-economic modules (cont’d)
Module Baseline? Sex-
disaggregated?
Which hh
member?
J Assets Ideally Yes ID of asset owner
K Group Membership Ideally Yes ID of group
member
L Savings Possible Yes ID of account
owner
M Credit and Lending Ideally Yes ID of borrower
Additional consumption, health, and nutrition-related modules
Module Baseline? Sex-disaggregated? Which hh member?
N 24-hour individual food
recall
Depends
on purpose
of survey
Yes all
O Dietary diversity Ideally Yes all
P Reproductive health Depends
on purpose
of survey
Yes Women
Q Anthropometry and
morbidity
Ideally Yes all
Some of these indicators are more expensive to collect (e.g. 24-hour individual food recall) and will require highly trained enumerators.Sometimes a good dietary diversity survey will do the trick.
Additional gender-related modules
Module Baseline? Sex-disaggregated? Which hh member?
R Labor use and time use by
sex
Yes Yes Main male and female,
could also include children
depending on focus
S Domains of decisionmaking
authority, especially about
assets
Yes Yes Main male and female
T Control of cash income and
use of income
Yes Yes Main male and female
U Level of gender-related
conflict and violence
Ideally Typically only woman is
asked
Main woman
Caveat in fielding questions about domestic violence: Need to have trained enumerators with knowledge about services availableNeed to protect privacy of respondents and not subject them to greater risk
Engendering the asset module (simple)
• ID of owner
• ID of decisionmakeron sales
Asset (g)Number
ownedID of owner
ID of
decisionmaker for
sale
Animal
Cattle
Horses
Sheep/goats
Poultry
Pigs
Domestic assets
Cooker
Kitchen cupboard
Refrigerator
Radio
Television
DVD player
Cell phone
Chairs
Mosquito nets
Gas stove
Spades/shovels
Ploughs
Ownership of Assets (from WEAI)
Productive Capital Does anyone in your household currently have any [ITEM]?Yes 1No 2 >> next item
How many of [ITEM] does your household currently have?
Who would you say owns most of the [ITEM]?
Who would you say can decide whether to sell [ITEM] most of the time?
Who would you say can decide whether to give away [ITEM] most of the time?
Who would you say can decide to mortgage or rent out [ITEM] most of the time?
Who contributes most to decisions regarding a new purchase of [ITEM]?
Productive Capital G3.01a G3.01b G3.02 G3.03 G3.04 G3.05 G3.06
AAgricultural land
(pieces/plots)
B Large livestock (oxen, cattle)
CSmall livestock (goats, pigs,
sheep)
DChickens, Ducks, Turkeys, Pigeons
EFish pond or fishing
equipment
FFarm equipment (non-
mechanized)
GFarm equipment
(mechanized)
HNonfarm business
equipment G3.02-G3.06: Decision-making and control over productive capital
Self…………………………………………………………………………..1Partner/Spouse ……………………………………………………….2Self and partner/spouse jointly…………………………………3Other household member …………….. ………………………..4Self and other household member(s)…………………………5Partner/Spouse and other household member(s)……….6Someone (or group of people) outside the household...7Self and other outside people…………………………………....8Partner/Spouse and other outside people………………….9Self, partner/spouse and other outside people.............10
I House (and other structures)
JLarge consumer durables
(fridge, TV, sofa)
KSmall consumer durables
(radio, cookware)
L Cell phone
M
Other land not used for
agricultural purposes
(pieces, residential or
commercial land)
NMeans of transportation
(bicycle, motorcycle, car)
MODULE G3: ACCESS TO PRODUCTIVE CAPITAL – page 3
.
Purchase, sale, or transfer of assets (from WEAI)MODULE G3: ACCESS TO PRODUCTIVE CAPITAL – page 3
.Productive Capital Does anyone in
your household currently have any [ITEM]?Yes 1No 2 >> next item
How many of [ITEM] does your household currently have?
Who would you say owns most of the [ITEM]?
Who would you say can decide whether to sell [ITEM] most of the time?
Who would you say can decide whether to give away [ITEM] most of the time?
Who would you say can decide to mortgage or rent out [ITEM] most of the time?
Who contributes most to decisions regarding a new purchase of [ITEM]?
Productive Capital G3.01a G3.01b G3.02 G3.03 G3.04 G3.05 G3.06
AAgricultural land
(pieces/plots)
B Large livestock (oxen, cattle)
CSmall livestock (goats, pigs,
sheep)
DChickens, Ducks, Turkeys, Pigeons
EFish pond or fishing
equipment
FFarm equipment (non-
mechanized)
GFarm equipment
(mechanized)
HNonfarm business
equipmentG3.02-G3.06: Decision-making and control over productive capital
Self…………………………………………………………………………..1Partner/Spouse ……………………………………………………….2Self and partner/spouse jointly…………………………………3Other household member …………….. ………………………..4Self and other household member(s)…………………………5Partner/Spouse and other household member(s)……….6Someone (or group of people) outside the household...7Self and other outside people…………………………………....8Partner/Spouse and other outside people………………….9Self, partner/spouse and other outside people.............10
I House (and other structures)
JLarge consumer durables
(fridge, TV, sofa)
KSmall consumer durables
(radio, cookware)
L Cell phone
M
Other land not used for
agricultural purposes
(pieces, residential or
commercial land)
NMeans of transportation
(bicycle, motorcycle, car)
G3.02-G3.06: Decision-making and control over productive capital
III. Measuring control of income
Control over Use of Income (1 of 2)
Activity Did you (singular) participate in [ACTIVITY] in the past 12 months (that is during the last [one/two] cropping seasons)?Yes 1No 2 >> next activity
How much input did you have in making decisions about [ACTIVITY]?
How much input did you have in decisions on the use of income generated from [ACTIVITY]
ActivityCode
Activity Description G2.01 G2.02 G2.03
AFood crop farming: crops that are grown primarily for household food consumption
B Cash crop farming: crops that are grown primary for sale in the market
C Livestock raising
D Non-farm economic activities: Small business, self-employment, buy-and-sell
E Wage and salary employment: in-kind or monetary work both agriculture and other wage work
F Fishing or fishpond culture
G2.02/G2.03: Input into decision making
No input…….. …….. …….. …….. ……..1
Input into very few decisions ……..2
Input into some decisions…….. ……3
Input into most decisions ….. ….. ..4
Input into all decisions….. ….. ….. ..5
No decision made……………………….6
MODULE G2: ROLE IN HOUSEHOLD DECISION-MAKING AROUND PRODUCTION
AND INCOME GENERATION – page 2
Control over use of Income (2 of 2)
ENUMERATOR: Ask G5.01 for all categories of activities before asking G5.02. Do not ask G5.02 if G5.01 response is 1 and respondent is male OR G5.01 response is 2 and respondent is female.
If household does not engage in that particular activity, enter 98 and proceed to next activity.
When decisions are made regarding the following aspects of household life, who is it that normally takes the decision?
To what extent do you feel you can make your own personal decisions regarding these aspects of household life if you want(ed) to?
Ask only if G5.01 is 1 and respondent is female, G5.01 is 2 and respondent is male, or G5.01 is 3-7.
G5.01 G5.02
AGetting inputs for agricultural
production
BThe types of crops to grow for
agricultural production
C Taking crops to the market (or not)
D Livestock raising
EYour own (singular) wage or salary
employment
F
Major household expenditures (such as a large appliance for the house like refrigerator)
G
Minor household expenditures (such as food for daily consumption or other household needs)
G5.01: Who makes decision
Main male or husband………………………………1 (if MALE)
Main female or wife ………………....2 (if FEMALE)
Husband and wife jointly…………………3
Someone else in the household…………………4
Jointly with someone else inside the
household…………………5
Jointly with someone else outside the
household…………………6
Someone outside the household/other…………………7
G5.02: Extent of participation in decision making
Not at all …………………………1
Small extent……………………..2
Medium extent…………………..3
To a high extent…………………4
MODULE G5: DECISION MAKING -- page 7
Field implementation issues
• Who should be interviewed? “head of household?”
• Should the head of household answer for all household members?
• Different people will report different things—need to reconcile
Field implementation issues, cont’d
• Privacy important, but especially important for asset issues (hidden assets)
• Should field teams employ men and women? • Examples:
– Pakistan and Bangladesh surveys have teams of men and women– Surveys in the Philippines almost always employ women (trust and
safety issues)– Surveys in Guatemala City employ women to interviewer (safety
issues)– Most interviewers in our other surveys are men (small cadre of
women to draw on)
• Need to train and employ skilled qualitative field personnel
Concluding remarks
• Context, context, context
• Identify focus of study to avoid getting lost in details
• Mixed methods: hh survey should ideally be informed by qualitative work; quantitative and qualitative work can be iterative
• Learn from experience of others in the field, especially in the same country
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