No description available.

Studying household finance and behavior is important not only for understanding the micro level behavior, but also to have a better understanding of the whole economy. The study of household behavior become even more important after the 2007 housing crises, and the giant effect it had (and is still having) on Wall Street and the whole US and global economy. This dissertation is an attempt to understand some of the household behavior: how does the new internet era affect the demand for credit cards, which attitudes influence the household's decision to file bankruptcy, and whether expenditure habits encouraged overspending. The study will use the micro level data provides by Survey of Consumer Finance SCF2007. In the first chapter, the study focuses on the effect of having internet access on household demand for credit cards, controlling for standard price, income effects and other financial and demographic variables. The internet changed the way consumer shops, with more information about the product, the market and the price. E-Commerce retail sales grew on average of 22% a year over the past decade; in the second quarter of 2009 it reached $32.4 billion. The study found that households who have access to the internet, carry around $862 more on their credit card balance, in average, than households who have no access to the internet. The second chapter investigates the effects of borrowing and saving attitudes on household decision to file for personal bankruptcy. The total non-commercial bankruptcy filings increased from 560,682 cases in 2006 to 784,079 in 2007. This increase continued through 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, with 1,031,443 cases filed in 2008 and 304,228 in the first three months of 2009. The study results suggest that borrowing and saving attitudes have no effect of household decision to file for bankruptcy except for paying credit card balance in full every month. The third chapter studies the relationship between eating out "Food-Away-From-Home" and overspending. Since 19% of household in the US are spending more than their income. The average for the past nine years (2000-2008) was 1.6%. Compared to other industrialized countries, the US had one of the worst personal saving rates during the past twenty years . The study found that eating out does not encourage overspending. On the contrary, the higher the ratio of FAFH to total food expenditures the less likely household will overspend.

Tell Halif gives us an example of the pillared house from the Iron Age II period. Based on this house, what we can address is whether there is a typical set of activities undertaken in this house. Do the “de facto” assemblages of artifacts reflect a typical everyday use of space or a different use of space because of military activity associated with the siege and destruction of the settlement? It can be demonstrated from Tell Halif’s archaeological data that, once the specific activities are identified, their organization also can be identified. These remains are compared with other Iron Age houses from the same site and other sites in the Negev and the southern Shephelah. The purpose of this research is to examine and add to our understanding of the Iron Age household and how it is reflected in the patterning of artifacts in the buildings occupied by the household.

Production-based indicators show that Sweden has lower emissions per capita than other high-income countries. Nevertheless, scientific evidence points to a significant overshoot of some of the planetary boundaries, especially regarding climate change, if Swedish consumption-related emissions abroad are considered. Households are one of the key drivers behind the increasing environmental deconstruction. Studies estimate that household consumption, directly and indirectly, contributes to 51-81% of these environmental footprints. Better consumption-based indicators are therefore required to directpolicy interventions if Sweden wants to achieve its Generational Goal. The Generational Goalstates that the major environmental problems in Sweden should be solved, without increasing environmental and health problems outside Sweden’s borders. This project aimed to estimate the consumption-based environmental impacts of Sweden with the most recent available data. Furthermore, it gave valuable insights into the consumption-behaviour of Swedish households. The consumption-based calculations, based on EXIOBASE 3, estimated a carbon footprint of 94 Mt CO2-eq. for Sweden in 2011, whereas the production-based GHG-emissions were 30% lower than the actual emissions caused by Swedish consumption. The Land footprint was estimated at 333 000 km2. The material footprint showed that Sweden imported twice as much material as it exported to other countries, which led to a consumption-based material footprint of 279 000 kt. The total of 2 000 Mm3 of blue water was to 94% embodied in imported products. The results proved the importance of looking at the consumption-based environmental footprints to gain an accurate picture of the national environmental impact. Data on the Swedish household expenditure were combined with environmentally extended multiregional input-output tables to estimate the environmental footprint of Swedish households — the study identified food, housing and transportation as the expenditure categories with the highest environmental impact. According to the results, the total carbon footprint for one Swedish household in 2011 was 14 t CO2-eq., the land use amounted to 32 200 m2, the extracted materials to 431 m2, and the blue water consumption to 431 m3. The combination of household expenditures and environmentally extended input-output tables create a comprehensive picture of the consumption-based emissions and give a detailed insight into the consumption behaviour of Swedish households. These insights can further be used to design more accurate policies promoting a zero-carbon society within Sweden. / Produktionsbaserade indikatorer visar att Sverige har lägre utsläpp per capita än andra höginkomstländer. Vetenskapliga bevis tyder dock på en tydlig överskridning av några av de planetära gränserna, särskilt den gällande klimatförändringar, om svenska konsumtionsrelaterade utsläpp utomlands beaktas. Hushållen är en av de viktigaste drivkrafterna bakom ökningen av hållbarhetsrelaterade problem. Studier uppskattar att hushållens konsumtion direkt och indirekt bidrar till 51–81% av deras miljöpåverkan. Bättre konsumtionsbaserade indikatorer är därför nödvändiga för att styra politiska insatser om Sverige vill uppnå sitt generationslöfte att lösa de stora miljöproblemen i Sverige utan att öka miljö- och hälsoproblemen utanför Sveriges gränser. Detta projekt syftar till att uppskatta Sveriges konsumtionsbaserade miljöpåverkan med senast tillgängliga data. Dessutom ger uppsatsen värdefull insikt i de svenska hushållens konsumtionsbeteende. De konsumtionsbaserade beräkningarna, baserade på EXIOBASE 3, uppskattade ett koldioxidavtryck på 94 Mt CO2-ekv. under 2011 för Sverige, där deproduktionsbaserade växthusgasutsläppen var 30% lägre än de faktiska utsläppen som skapades genom svensk konsumtion. Det landmässiga fotavtrycket uppskattades till 333 000 km2. Det materiella fotavtrycket visade att Sverige importerade dubbelt så mycket material som de exporterade till andra länder, vilket ledde till ett konsumtionsbaserat materialavtryck på 279 000 kt. Det mesta av det blåa vatten som är inkorporerat i produkter importerades, hela 94% av den svenska totalen på2 000 Mm3. Resultaten visar vikten av att titta på konsumtionsbaserad miljöpåverkan för att få en exakt bild av den nationella miljöpåverkan. Data gällande svenska hushållsutgifter kombinerades med miljömässigt utökade multiregionala input-output-värden för att beräkna de svenska hushållens miljöpåverkan. Studien identifierade mat, boende och transport som utgiftskategorier med högst miljöpåverkan. Enligt resultaten så var det totala koldioxidavtrycket för ett svenskt hushåll under2011 14 t CO2-eq, markanvändningen uppgick till 32 200 m2, materialutvinningen till 29 t och den blå vattenförbrukningen till 431 m3. Kombinationen av hushållsutgifter och miljömässigt utökade input-output-tabeller ger en omfattande bild av de konsumtionsbaserade utsläppen och ger en detaljerad inblick i konsumtionsbeteendet hos svenska hushåll. Dessa insikter kan vidare användas för att utforma mer exakta policyer som främjar ett noll-kol-samhälle i Sverige.

Previous research has established the influence of the division of household labor between spouses on marital satisfaction, as well as the mental health of each spouse. Less is known about how the division of labor changes during the course of marriage. The family development perspective suggests that division of labor will change in response to different stages and circumstances, while the homeostasis perspective suggests that the division of labor will remain stable throughout the life course. This study used data from a 35 year longitudinal study of married women to examine changes of household division of labor over the life course. Participants in this study were wives of medical trainees at an East Coast medical school. Data collection at Time-1 included 175 wives in 1969-1970. The wives were also contacted in 1980 (Time-2), 1990 (Time-3), and 2005 (Time-4). All the participants were white. The average age of the women at Time-1 was 25.5 years. Participation in household labor was measured using five questions reflecting how much the husband helped in traditionally female stereotyped tasks. The five tasks were: does the family wash, sets table for dinner, clears table after meals, washes the dishes, and prepares meals. Other variables were included to help explain the change in husband participation in household labor over the course of the marriage, including number of children, the number of hours worked by the wife, and the wife's level of education. Multi-level growth curve modeling was used to examine stability and change in husband participation in household tasks over time. The fixed effects in the baseline model showed a significant positive linear slope indicating more husband participation over time. The random effect for time was also significant, suggesting variability in slopes across the sample. Results from the quadratic effect for time indicated a downward linear slope, attenuated by a positive quadratic slope. Thus, the results indicate that husbands participate less in household tasks early in marriage, but their level of participation increases in midlife. No predictor variables accounted for significant variability in the initial value or rate of change in the husband's participation in household tasks.

This thesis focuses on the intersection of gender, households, and the non-timber forest product market. Based around the concept of commodity chain analysis, this research examines each stage in two non-timber forest products', straw brooms and coco baskets, life cycles from extraction to final sale. The first objective of this research is to contribute to the literature on NTFPs, and in general gender roles in Latin America, by examining the gendered division of labor within and among the stages of two specific NTFP commodity chains, and the ways in which this division influences how important these products are to household income and conservation. The second objective is look at how commodity chain analysis can be used to examine the above issues, thereby contributing to both NTFP and commodity chain analysis literature. The research shows that the construction of gender in Nicaragua underlies the different roles that men and women perform throughout the two non-timber forest product chains. The two chains represent varying degrees of participation by women and men, and this difference is explained by the prevalence of certain tasks. In the basket commodity chain there were more tasks that are labeled feminine, and in the broom commodity chain there are more tasks labeled male. In addition, the varying participation of men and women influence how income from these products are viewed within the households as well as where men and women stand as conservation stakeholders. Commodity chain analysis served as a useful tool to examine more closely the relationship of gender and households in non-timber forest products, and could be of great assistance to the various development projects using these products as a tool for sustainable development. / Master of Science

In the face of high population growth and declining natural resource base, tackling rural poverty necessitates an increase in overall factor productivity or a rise in the market rate of return of assets possessed by the poor. Towards achieving these objectives, the role of spatial integration of markets and the efficiency with which these markets operate are considerably important, as these factors shape the structure of incentives and the level of opportunities open to the rural poor. As a result, factors that hinder the spatial integration of markets and their efficient operation will have significant impact on rural poverty. In Ethiopia markets are often segmented mainly due to high transport cost associated with poor road infrastructure. The existing poor quality and low road density are expected to contribute to rural poverty through limiting the size of the market, increasing market risk (price volatility), widening the spatial prices gaps, reducing the market return to land and labour, inflating the profitability of new technologies and reducing the incentive to produce for market. This research endeavours to empirically substantiate if there is a robust link between farm income and the quality of road infrastructure farm households have access to as well as the pathways through which the effects of road on rural income are felt. The empirical result consistently showed that improving rural road access will have significant impact on rural income in general and the income of the poor in particular. The mechanisms by which road boosts rural income and reduce poverty are also found to work through narrowing down spatial price gaps, promoting technology adoption, boosting resource allocation efficiency and raising the market return to land and labour. The result also showed that the rural poor benefits from road induced income growth.

The activity-based approach to the study of travel behavior implies a shift in focus from discrete trips to activities. A fundamental tenet of this approach is that individuals, when making their own activity-travel decisions, tend to interact with other members within a household. However, most activity-based research to date has been conducted at the individual level, but not at the household level. It is now well recognized that incorporating intra-household interactions is crucial to the development of improved activity-based models, which allow for more accurate travel demand forecasts and policy evaluations. In this context, the studies described in this dissertation have been conducted to explore several critical issues that have remained largely neglected in past studies. One such issue is the identification of joint participation in activity and travel episodes, due to the fact that most activity-travel surveys have failed to collect information on involved persons. In this dissertation, an integrated spatio-temporal GIS toolkit is initially developed to automatically identify and visualize (3D) joint activity/travel episodes. Such identification makes it possible to uniquely and directly incorporate intra-household interactions into studies of activity/travel behavior. The research described in this dissertation utilizes the 2003 CHASE (Computerized Household Activity Scheduling Elicitor) survey collected in the Greater Toronto Area. Several aspects of activity/travel behavior are investigated.. First, quantitative models are developed and estimated for investigating household activity time use patterns while capturing intra-household interactions. Second, the dynamics of household time use patterns are explored through descriptive analysis and structural equations models. Finally, the household activity decision-making process is further delved into with a focus on the planning priority of joint activities. Overall, the research presented in this dissertation makes important contributions to activity-based time use and travel behavior research: (1) technically, the developed GIS toolkit is helpful to reduce costs of processing large activity-travel datasets; and (2) theoretically, the empirical results presented will form the basis toward the development and implementation of an improved activity-based model. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Promoting population health is an essential task for sustainable development. This study explores the association between socioeconomic status and perceived health in the United States, with special attention on the influence of living arrangements. It also improves the existing explanations of causal mechanisms underlying the impact of SES on health among Americans over 50. Using the first and seventh waves of Health and Retirement Study to run ordered logistic regression, this research addresses the importance of living arrangements and social capital on self-reported health. Income and education are both important predictors of self-reported health. In addition, living arrangements and household social capital also affects self-reported health after controlling individuals’ characteristics and SES indicators. These effects do not appear to mediate the socioeconomic effects on self-reported health. Future research should highlight better measures of living arrangements and social capital, as well as explore longitudinal analyses.

No description available.