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Despite the concerted efforts being made at the global, regional, and national levels to reduce child poverty, children in resource-poor countries continue to experience deprivations in multidimensional forms. This study examines the link between parental financial inclusion and multidimensional child poverty using a nationally representative living standards data from Ghana—a nation with documentative evidence of high incidence of multidimensional child poverty. Employing different variants of the propensity score matching technique and multidimensional constructs of financial inclusion and child poverty, our overall finding indicates that financial inclusion decreases multidimensional child poverty. This outcome is consistent across different cut-offs used in measuring multidimensional child poverty and alternative propensity score matching methods. We also find that financial inclusion reduces child poverty more for male and rural-located children. Relatively, financial inclusion has the biggest effect in reducing children's deprivations in living conditions, followed by their health- and education-related deprivations respectively. Household income per capita and durable asset accumulation serve as potential pathways through which financial inclusion transmits to multidimensional child poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing scholarly attention on child deprivation to understand its drivers and potential policies needed for its alleviation, the discouraged borrower syndrome has received little attention despite its potential role in stifling household resources needed to cater for the needs of children. Using the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey data, this study examines the effect of borrower discouragement on multidimensional child deprivation. Endogeneity associated with borrower discouragement is instrumented with the number of neighbours that are discouraged. We found that the share of children who are multidimensionally deprived in Ghana is 40.8 percent. Our endogeneity-corrected estimates show that borrower discouragement is associated with 4.0 percentage point increase in multidimensional child deprivation. This outcome is consistent across different quasi-experimental methods, and alternative cut-offs used in identifying the multidimensionally deprived child. The results also suggest that the effect of borrower discouragement on child deprivation is more pronounced among rural-located children (in general) and girls (in particular). We identify inability of non-farm business start-ups and reduction in household per-capita income as potential channels through which borrower discouragement affects multidimensional child deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries with less advanced financial systems, the accumulation of durable assets remains key to enhancing household welfare. Despite this, studies that explore the link between asset accumulation and health outcomes have largely focused on financial assets. We contribute to the literature by examining the effect of durable asset accumulation on healthcare utilisation and spending using data from a comprehensive and nationally representative survey data in Ghana. Our preferred endogeneity-corrected estimates indicate that a standard deviation increase in asset accumulation is associated with 1.741 and 0.598 standard deviations improvement in healthcare utilisation and spending, respectively. These findings are robust to alternative approaches to addressing endogeneity and different ways of conceptualising asset accumulation. Heterogeneities in findings for gender, location, and for decomposed health expenditures are also explored. We identify education and entrepreneurship as important channels through which asset accumulation influences healthcare utilisation and spending, respectively, and recognise the need for flexible policies that enhance households' accumulation of durable assets, especially in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of financial literacy training on household asset accumulation using data collected from a randomised controlled trial implemented in Ghana. Financial assets are measured using account holdings and savings while durable assets and their decomposed components are captured using their total values. After testing for baseline balance, impact is estimated using treatment effect models. We find that financial literacy training plays a significant role in accumulation of both financial and durable assets, but the impact is more evident in the accumulation of productive durable assets. Our overall findings on productive and non-productive assets are robust to alternative conceptualisations of what constitutes productive and non-productive assets. Our results also show that financial literacy training has an impact on the accumulation of both total and productive assets in female-beneficiary households, as well as enhancing account holdings for females, although this effect was larger for males. The analyses for different age cohorts also revealed that financial literacy training results in higher asset accumulation among younger household heads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses comprehensive household data from Ghana to examine the link between financial inclusion and children's learning outcomes and late school enrolment. After resolving endogeneity, we find that a standard deviation increase in financial inclusion is associated with 0.7882 to 0.9504 standard deviations increase in children's learning outcomes. It also reduces late school enrolment by 0.9493 standard deviation. Financial inclusion enhances learning and schooling outcomes more for girls and urban children. These findings are robust to different indicators of learning outcomes and alternative approaches to addressing endogeneity. Parents' ability to spend on extra classes and on books and other school-related supplies serve as possible channels through which financial inclusion affects children's educational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the worsening levels of food insecurity globally, studies exploring the link between financial inclusion and food insecurity have become imperative. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the effect of financial inclusion on food insecurity using a multidimensional index of financial inclusion and a food insecurity construct obtained from the Food Insecurity Experience Scale. Based on data extracted from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, our preferred endogeneity‐corrected results indicate that improvements in financial inclusion is associated with a reduction in food insecurity. This finding is consistent across different conceptualisations of food insecurity, alternative weighting schemes and cut‐offs for the financial inclusion index and different quasi‐experimental methods. Financial inclusion is mainly effective in reducing food insecurity in male‐headed and rural‐located households. Our findings reveal that entrepreneurship is an important pathway through which financial inclusion influences food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the link between ethnic diversity and food insecurity. Using data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey, we measure food insecurity using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale and measure ethnic diversity at the district level using information from the Ghana Population and Housing Census. After addressing endogeneity, we find that an increase in ethnic diversity is associated with an increase in food insecurity. This result is robust to different approaches to addressing endogeneity, different measures of ethnic diversity and alternative ways of conceptualising food insecurity. Our findings further show that trust, threat of criminal violence and threat of war/conflict are important channels through which ethnic diversity influences food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Does financial inclusion matter for productivity among smallholder farmers? The authors answer this question by using the sixth and seventh rounds of the Ghana Living Standard Survey to examine the extent to which financial inclusion affects productivity among smallholder farmers in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a pooled data of the 6th and 7th rounds of the Ghana Living Standard Survey which are national representative data. The authors model an Instrumental Variable (IV) to correct for endogeneity in financial inclusion and a dominance analysis to examine the effects of access to credit, ownership of savings account and insurance product on farmers' productivity. Findings: Results from the study indicate that financial inclusion significantly enhances productivity. Moreover, credit, savings and insurance products influence productivity at various degrees. Thus, expanding the scope of financial services (access to credit, savings and insurance) among smallholder farmers is crucial for inclusive finance and sustainable agricultural production. Practical implications: The findings of the study have implications for financial institutions in the design of financial products that the meet the needs of smallholder farmers. Originality/value: Several studies have looked at how access to credit influences agricultural productivity in Africa. However, in recent times financial inclusion has been advocated for because it goes beyond mere access to credit. This paper to the best of our knowledge is the first of its kind to examine how financial inclusion could affect agricultural productivity in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of a joint financial literacy and women's empowerment training programme on household consumption as a welfare indicator. Using data collected from a randomized controlled trial implemented in Ghana, we tested for baseline balance and applied ordinary least squares to estimate endline impact. Our findings revealed that the impact of financial literacy on household consumption is influenced by the design and delivery of the programme. A weaker impact is achieved when financial literacy training is offered alone. The ensuing stronger short-term impact of financial literacy training on household consumption is achieved through the inclusion of a women's empowerment module. The joint delivery of the programme significantly improved household consumption for female-beneficiary and younger households. We advocate the inclusion of women's empowerment training in financial literacy training programmes to accelerate its impact on household welfare through increased household consumption [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of financial inclusion on poverty and vulnerability to poverty of Ghanaian households. Using data extracted from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey in 2016/17, a multiple correspondence analysis is employed to generate a financial inclusion index, and three-stage feasible least squares is used to estimate households' vulnerability to poverty. Endogeneity associated with financial inclusion is resolved using distance to the nearest bank as an instrument in an instrumental variables probit technique. Results showed that while 23.4% of Ghanaians are considered poor, about 51% are vulnerable to poverty. We found that an increase in financial inclusion has two effects on household poverty. First, it is associated with a decline in a household's likelihood of being poor by 27%. Second, it prevents a household's exposure to future poverty by 28%. Female-headed households have a greater chance of experiencing a larger reduction in poverty and vulnerability to poverty through enhanced financial inclusion than do male-headed households. Furthermore, financial inclusion reduces poverty and vulnerability to poverty more in rural than in urban areas. Governments are encouraged to design or enhance policies that provide an enabling environment for the private sector to innovate and expand financial services to more distant places. Government investment in, and regulation of, the mobile money industry will be a necessary step to enhancing financial inclusion in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of employment security on moonlighting in Ghana as a means to inform policy on enforcing issues of employment security.Design/methodology/approach The paper followed the work of Shishko and Rostker (1976) by applying their approach to the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey data. The paper created an employment index from four variables and used the ordered logit as the main estimation technique.Findings The findings indicated that, as a person with a single job becomes more secured in employment, the likelihood of moonlighting is decreased by 0.03, while for those with two and three or more jobs, the likelihood of moonlighting increased by 0.0297 and 0.0008, respectively, with increasing employment security. This implies that, workers can be made to stick to single jobs by providing them with higher levels of employment security, but once they take on two or more jobs, providing them with employment security will engender the tendency to increase their moonlighting behavior the more.Originality/value With the current harsh economic conditions in the country and the urgent need for multiple jobs (moonlighting) as a risk coping mechanism, little has been done on the role employment security plays as a catalyst or otherwise. This paper fills the gap by employing a comprehensive index on employment security in the case of Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many households in developing economies seek to address poor learning outcomes by investing in private supplementary tutoring (PST). We examined the effects of PST expenditures on learning outcomes and possible heterogeneous effects related to the child's gender and locality. We use instrumental variable, propensity score matching, and the Lewbel procedures, and a sample of 2095 households from the 7th Ghana Living Standard Survey. We establish that when families invested in PST at the basic school level, their children's ability to read, write, and do written calculations improved significantly. PST expenditures benefitted boys and children residing in rural areas more than girls and those living in urban areas. PST may be useful for improving learning outcomes, especially for children struggling academically, but any policy integration should be done tactfully to avoid exacerbating existing economically-induced educational inequalities. • This study examines the effects of private supplementary tutoring expenditures on learning. • Instrumental variable, propensity score matching, and the Lewbel procedures are used to test causation. • Findings reveal significant effects on reading, writing, and math abilities. • Private supplementary tutoring expenditures benefit boys more than girls. • Children in rural areas benefit more than those in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' impact on learning outcomes is well supported, but more robust evidence is needed on the complex indirect pathways through which teacher support impacts performance in low-versus high-stakes examinations. This study sought to understand the divergent mechanisms through which teachers' support for students affects their performance on low- and high-stakes assessments. Bayesian structural equation modeling with the Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm and data from Ghana were used to test mediated, unmediated, and moderated-mediated relationships. The results show that a typical student's high-stakes exam performance increases by approximately 13 % for each one-unit increase in teacher support. A chain mediation effect also exists through student homework behavior and low-stakes everyday performance. Student gender is also a moderator. These results could aid in identifying the malleable leverage points associated with low- and high-stakes assessments. Such empirical clarity would help education administrators to develop appropriate professional development programs that enhance teachers' support roles, enabling them to respond better to learning disparities and related challenges. • Teacher support significantly predicts low and high-stakes academic performance. • Teacher support predicts end-of-year academic performance directly and daily schoolwork performance indirectly. • Homework behavior mediates the relationship between teacher support and student academic performance. • Teacher support contributes to improvement in girls' homework behavior more than boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the devastating effects of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures on households' financial outlays, which potentially stifle household resources needed for food consumption, the health financing program-food insecurity nexus is yet to receive much needed attention in the literature. This study makes a significant contribution by investigating the effect of health financing program, conceptualised as membership of a National Health Insurance Scheme, on household food insecurity using the food insecurity experience scale (FIES) and several quasi-experimental methods. Using data from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, our endogeneity-corrected results indicate that membership of a health financing program can contribute to reduction in household food insecurity. The results are robust to alternative conceptualisations of food insecurity and different quasi-experimental methods. The effect of health financing programme membership on food insecurity is more pronounced among urban and female-headed households. Our findings further point to household savings as an important channel through which membership of health financing program reduces food insecurity., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Empirical evidence on the link between financial inclusion and out-of-pocket health expenditure remains sparse while existing studies have mainly not used a multidimensional financial inclusion index. This study examines the link between financial inclusion and out-of-pocket health expenditure in Ghana using data from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey. To ensure robustness in findings, the standard instrumental variable (with external instruments) and Lewbel's heteroskedasticity-based instrumental variable approaches are both applied. Our findings indicate that a standard deviation increase in financial inclusion is associated with an increase in households' out-of-pocket health expenditure between 0.1367 and 1.7608 standard deviations. This finding is more pronounced for female-headed and urban-located households. Financial inclusion has a bigger association with expenses on medical products/appliances than on outpatient services. Policymakers are encouraged to design and implement programs to scale up the level of financial inclusion which has the potential of facilitating demand for health, thereby leading to better health outcomes., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)