Incomes, Expenditures, and Health Outcomes: Evidence on Intrahousehold Resource Allocation
Author(s)
Thomas, Duncan
Abstract
The author of this article is particularly interested in whether development policies that increase income for families would have different impacts if targeted to male or female heads of households. Traditional economic theory holds that resources are distributed within households in such a way as to maximize the utility of the entire household. Critics of this theory suggest that different household members have different preferences, and they engage in various strategies to arrive at decisions about household resources. The article presents an empirical test of the traditional theory using data from large-scale, detailed survey of households in Brazil. If the allocation of the household budget is sensitive to whether the male or female head of household receives an increase in income, then the traditional model of unitary household decision making should be rejected.
