Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/57321 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
IAI Discussion Papers No. 173
Publisher: 
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research (IAI), Göttingen
Abstract: 
The literature shows that regional disparities in growth and poverty are often relatively high, that these regional disparities do not necessarily disappear as the economies grow and develop and that these disparities are itself in many cases an important driver of the overall performance of an economy. In this paper we make use of the advantage of a multilevel random coefficient model to explain spatial disparities in incomes among Burkinab`e households. Our findings show that it is not a geographical concentration of people with poor endowments that make areas poor in Burkina Faso. Household income disparities are largely driven by differences in neighborhood endowments and to a smaller extent by provincial or regional characteristics. We conclude that the policy should target small scale geographical units, such as villages. Providing infrastructure, enhancing the functioning of labor markets and fostering demand for education can compensate for climatical disadvantages.
Subjects: 
spatial inequality
poverty
multilevel modeling
decomposition
Sub-Saharan Africa
JEL: 
C21
I32
O12
R12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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