| Summary: | This paper evaluates the welfare outcomes of implementing the ECOWAS common
external tariff in Togo, with a specific focus on gender issue. Using the survey data QUIBB
2015, we perform an induced price analysis and a non-parametric regression. We find that
the share of household expenditure allocated for food declines as the income level increases,
in both urban and rural areas and for both male- and female-headed households. The results
also denote that ECOWAS-CET has reduced the welfare of consumer households in Togo,
especially for self-employed farmers. As supported by the theory, consumer households
living closer to the port city observe a smaller loss in the welfare. Our analysis shows that
households in Lomé (where the distance from the port city is zero) experienced the lowest
loss in the welfare while households in the Savanes region (at 617.7 kilometers from the
port) have the biggest loss score. In Togo, government social transfer is pro-poor because it
leaves the poor better off, but it benefits more to male-headed households.
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