Determinants of household fuel choices among Nigerian family heads: are there gender-differentiated impacts?
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Determinants of household fuel choices among Nigerian family heads: are there gender-differentiated impacts? Ikechukwu D. Nwaka 1
&
Kalu E. Uma 2 & George Nwokike Ike 3
Received: 20 March 2020 / Accepted: 1 June 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The consensus in the literature holds that female-headed households (FHHs) are more vulnerable to social and economic exclusion than male-headed households (MHHs). This paper investigates the socioeconomic determinants of household cooking fuel choices across MHHs and FHHs, using the rich Nigerian Demographic Health Survey data. Using the exogenous switching treatment effect regression (ESTER) technique, the study is able to unravel differences in socioeconomic effects of gender inequality on cooking fuel choices in Nigeria. The results validate the energy ladder hypothesis in the Nigerian case and show that the choices of dirty fuel (biomass) is more prevalent among the de-jure FHH when compared with the de-facto FHH and MHHs. Also, the probability of biomass-use among MHHs would have fallen by 1.3% if MHHs had similar socioeconomic attributes as the FHHs. In the same vain for FHHs, the probability of kerosene-use would have increased by 2%. The study observed no gender gap in kerosene-use. Thus, the established gender gap in biomass- and kerosene-use would have reduced to 6.7% and 2.8%, respectively, if the de-facto FHHs had same socioeconomic attributes as the de-jures. Considering the traditional gendered household division of labor within the households, de-jure FHHs’ energy choices may be due to limited economic opportunities that guarantees cleaner energy options. Keywords Cooking fuel . Gender inequality . Exogenous switching treatment effect regression . Nigeria
Introduction Just as pointed out by Clancy et al. (2003), energy is a highly required resource for living and sustaining life and thus, its absence would greatly diminish the quality of modern life. Prevalent in the literature is the view that female-headed households (FHHs) are poorer and more vulnerable to social and economic exclusion than male-headed households (MHHs) (Mallick and Rafi 2010; Fuwa 2000; Aryal et al.
Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues * Ikechukwu D. Nwaka [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Department of Economics, Girne American University, Girne, North Cyprus, via Mersin 10, Turkey
2
Department of Economics and Development Studies, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
3
Department of Economics, Eastern Mediterranean University, Gazimagusa, North Cyprus, via Mersin 10, Turkey
2019a). Left to be verified is whether these observed inequalities pertaining to gender in the social and economic space also holds in gender-differentiated energy choices. Policy formulation in the energy sector has often taken a gender-neutral stance by assuming that men and women share equally in the benefit. This paper studies the socioeconomic determinants of cooking fuel choices
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