Group-Based Funeral Insurance in Ethiopia and Tanzania.
A funeral is a costly occasion. This paper studies indigenous insurance institutions developed to cope with the high costs of funerals, based on evidence from rural areas in Tanzania and Ethiopia. These institutions were found to be highly prevalent in the study areas. They are based on well-defined...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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2006
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| _version_ | 1826258907096416256 |
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| author | Dercon, S Weerdt, J Bold, T Pankhurst, A |
| author_facet | Dercon, S Weerdt, J Bold, T Pankhurst, A |
| author_sort | Dercon, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | A funeral is a costly occasion. This paper studies indigenous insurance institutions developed to cope with the high costs of funerals, based on evidence from rural areas in Tanzania and Ethiopia. These institutions were found to be highly prevalent in the study areas. They are based on well-defined rules and regulations, often offering premium-based insurance for funeral expenses. Increasingly, they are also offering other forms of insurance and credit to cope with hardship. The paper argues that the characteristics and inclusiveness of these institutions make them potentially well placed as models to broaden insurance provision and other developmental activities in these communities. The history of these institutions is characterized by a resistance to attempts of political capture, and helps to understand their apparent opposition to engage more broadly with NGOs and government agencies. As a result, any attempt to expand their activities will have to be done cautiously. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:41:27Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:0cfe35a8-7838-43b0-995c-f29e07ee6425 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:41:27Z |
| publishDate | 2006 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:0cfe35a8-7838-43b0-995c-f29e07ee64252022-03-26T09:38:09ZGroup-Based Funeral Insurance in Ethiopia and Tanzania.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:0cfe35a8-7838-43b0-995c-f29e07ee6425EnglishDepartment of Economics - ePrints2006Dercon, SWeerdt, JBold, TPankhurst, AA funeral is a costly occasion. This paper studies indigenous insurance institutions developed to cope with the high costs of funerals, based on evidence from rural areas in Tanzania and Ethiopia. These institutions were found to be highly prevalent in the study areas. They are based on well-defined rules and regulations, often offering premium-based insurance for funeral expenses. Increasingly, they are also offering other forms of insurance and credit to cope with hardship. The paper argues that the characteristics and inclusiveness of these institutions make them potentially well placed as models to broaden insurance provision and other developmental activities in these communities. The history of these institutions is characterized by a resistance to attempts of political capture, and helps to understand their apparent opposition to engage more broadly with NGOs and government agencies. As a result, any attempt to expand their activities will have to be done cautiously. |
| spellingShingle | Dercon, S Weerdt, J Bold, T Pankhurst, A Group-Based Funeral Insurance in Ethiopia and Tanzania. |
| title | Group-Based Funeral Insurance in Ethiopia and Tanzania. |
| title_full | Group-Based Funeral Insurance in Ethiopia and Tanzania. |
| title_fullStr | Group-Based Funeral Insurance in Ethiopia and Tanzania. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Group-Based Funeral Insurance in Ethiopia and Tanzania. |
| title_short | Group-Based Funeral Insurance in Ethiopia and Tanzania. |
| title_sort | group based funeral insurance in ethiopia and tanzania |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dercons groupbasedfuneralinsuranceinethiopiaandtanzania AT weerdtj groupbasedfuneralinsuranceinethiopiaandtanzania AT boldt groupbasedfuneralinsuranceinethiopiaandtanzania AT pankhursta groupbasedfuneralinsuranceinethiopiaandtanzania |