Labour and health in colonial Nigeria
We examine the determinants of time allocation and child labour in a year-long panel of time-use data from colonial Nigeria. Using quantitative and ethnographic approaches, we show that health shocks imposed time costs on individuals. Whether individuals could recruit substitutes depended on social...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working paper |
| Language: | English |
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University of Oxford
2014
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| _version_ | 1797109555064209408 |
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| author | Arthi, V Fenske, J |
| author_facet | Arthi, V Fenske, J |
| author_sort | Arthi, V |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | We examine the determinants of time allocation and child labour in a year-long panel of time-use data from colonial Nigeria. Using quantitative and ethnographic approaches, we show that health shocks imposed time costs on individuals. Whether individuals could recruit substitutes depended on social standing, urgency of work, and type of illness. Child labour did not systematically respond to temporary parental illness, but could replace a permanently disabled adult. Child labour was coordinated with parental work, aided childcare, and allowed children to build skills and resources. These decisions can be understood within an endogenous bargaining power framework with labour complementarities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:43:21Z |
| format | Working paper |
| id | oxford-uuid:0ebddc48-6cff-4b70-b273-025982a3979a |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:43:21Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | University of Oxford |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:0ebddc48-6cff-4b70-b273-025982a3979a2023-05-22T12:42:45ZLabour and health in colonial NigeriaWorking paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:0ebddc48-6cff-4b70-b273-025982a3979aEnglishSymplectic ElementsUniversity of Oxford2014Arthi, VFenske, JWe examine the determinants of time allocation and child labour in a year-long panel of time-use data from colonial Nigeria. Using quantitative and ethnographic approaches, we show that health shocks imposed time costs on individuals. Whether individuals could recruit substitutes depended on social standing, urgency of work, and type of illness. Child labour did not systematically respond to temporary parental illness, but could replace a permanently disabled adult. Child labour was coordinated with parental work, aided childcare, and allowed children to build skills and resources. These decisions can be understood within an endogenous bargaining power framework with labour complementarities. |
| spellingShingle | Arthi, V Fenske, J Labour and health in colonial Nigeria |
| title | Labour and health in colonial Nigeria |
| title_full | Labour and health in colonial Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | Labour and health in colonial Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Labour and health in colonial Nigeria |
| title_short | Labour and health in colonial Nigeria |
| title_sort | labour and health in colonial nigeria |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT arthiv labourandhealthincolonialnigeria AT fenskej labourandhealthincolonialnigeria |