Premium
Poverty in Ghana from an Assets‐based Perspective: An Application of Probit Technique *
Author(s) -
Sackey Harry A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
african development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.654
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1467-8268
pISSN - 1017-6772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1017-6772.2005.00106.x
Subject(s) - poverty , human capital , economics , distribution (mathematics) , physical capital , probit model , development economics , labour economics , economic growth , econometrics , mathematical analysis , mathematics
This paper extends the existing literature on poverty in developing economies by examining the effects of human capital, financial capital and physical assets on the incidence of poverty in both urban and rural Ghana. The following is found: low stocks of assets appear to be a more prevalent problem associated with poverty; the returns to human capital are positive and rise with higher educational attainment, irrespective of gender; the correlation between income distribution and incidence of poverty is positive; and ownership of human, physical and financial assets reduces the probability of being poor. Against the backdrop of growth‐oriented policies, the paper calls for investments in schooling, provision of institutional credit and an enabling environment for labour market activities as strategies for the reduction of poverty.