Investigating Disparities in Access and Returns to Endowments between Male and Female Headed Households in Cameroon

Abstract

This paper investigates disparities in access and returns to endowments between male and female headed households in Cameroon using the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition and the 2007 Cameroon Household Consumption Survey. In particular, synthetic variables for education and health constructed by the multiple correspondence analyses together with non-synthetic variables are used to explain household welfare and welfare-gaps along gender lines. The share of active household members, education, working in the formal sector and household size overwhelmingly account for disparities in access and returns to endowments between male and female headed households. Discrimination against female headed households is explained more by endowments such as education, health, share of active household members and working in the formal sector. The study concludes that public policy interventions which encourage education for all, employment, family planning and rural development in Cameroon might be potent for addressing gender-related disparities in Cameroon.