DOES FEMALE INCOME SHARE INFLUENCE HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES - EVIDENCE FROM COTE-DIVOIRE

This paper uses a non-cooperative bargaining model to motivate an empirical analysis of the determinants of household expenditures. Drawing on a national household survey from the Cote d'Ivoire, we find that raising women's share of cash income increases the budget share of food, and reduces the budget shares of alcohol and cigarettes. These effects are robust to changes in functional form, are reflected in reduced form estimates and concur with results obtained by examining single sex households.