School of Economics and Finance (Journal Articles)

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Browsing School of Economics and Finance (Journal Articles) by Author "Ajefu, Joseph Boniface"

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    Does having children affect women’s entrepreneurship decision? Evidence from Nigeria
    (2019-05-16) Ajefu, Joseph Boniface
    This paper investigates the impact of fertility on women’s entrepreneurship decision in Nigeria, using the 2008 and 2013 cross-sectional Demographic Health Surveys data. In order to mitigate the potential endogeneity associated with fertility decision, the study explores an exogenous variation in family size using twin births in an instrumental variable (IV) analysis. Both the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) estimate show that having children is positively associated with women’s entrepreneurship decision, and there are heterogeneous effects across the subsamples by women’s age. The results of this study are robust to using the number of children younger than age five in the home as an alternative definition of fertility.
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    Measuring the causal effect of women’s schooling on contraceptive use in Nigeria
    (Routledge, 2019-09-03) Ajefu, Joseph Boniface
    This paper uses the 2008 Nigerian Demographic Health Survey to investigate the effect of women’s schooling on contraceptive use. In order to control for endogeneity of women’s schooling, this paper uses an instrumental variable approach, with the free primary education programme in Nigeria introduced from 1976 to 1981, as an instrument for women’s schooling. The paper finds that the education of women increases the probability of using contraceptives. Disaggregating the results between traditional and modern contraceptive use, the results show a positive and significant impact of women’s education on both modern and traditional contraceptive use. The findings of the study lend credence to the evidence that birth control measures can lead to better timing and spacing of births that allow women to significantly expand their economic opportunities and life prospects. These have implications for women’s economic empowerment and gender equality, which are vital for any sustainable development policy.