著者

TAKYI Paul Owusu LEON-GONZALEZ Roberto

出版者

GRIPS Policy Research Center

雑誌

GRIPS Discussion Papers

巻号頁・発行日

vol.19-31, 2020-01

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This study explores the role of financial inclusion in the mitigation of the effects of a health shock at the household level. To that end, we examine empirically the effect of financial inclusion on household working hours and health care utilization, using round six of the Ghana Living Standard Survey data. We find that a health shock does decrease household working hours and increase the likelihood of health care utilization. This suggests that households in Ghana are not able to fully insure themselves against a health shock. However, we find that, faced with a health shock, households who are financially excluded see their working hours reduce more than those who enjoy full financial inclusion. Also, financial inclusion increases the likelihood of health care utilization when households experience a health shock. We find evidence that loan acquisition (borrowing) is one of the main mechanisms by which households can insure themselves against a health shock. Generally, our findings support the financial inclusion agenda of policymakers in Ghana and many other countries. Thus, efforts to ensure full financial inclusion will increase the probability of households using the financial sector as a means of insulating themselves against the effects of health shocks.

著者

TAKYI Paul Owusu LEON-GONZALEZ Roberto

出版者

GRIPS Policy Research Center

雑誌

GRIPS Discussion Papers

巻号頁・発行日

vol.19-15, 2019-09

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This study develops and estimates a standard New-Keynesian DSGE model for the Ghanaian economy, for the analysis of the impacts of government spending, consumption tax, and labor income tax shocks on household consumption and working hours. It also applies the model to examination of the effects of fiscal policy shocks on key macroeconomic variables in the Ghanaian economy. The model features heterogeneous households of two types, financially excluded and financially included, and considers two labor markets: perfectly and monopolistically competitive labor markets. We use quarterly time series data from 1985Q1-2017Q4 to estimate the model’s parameters using a Bayesian approach. The results show that a positive government spending shock has an expansionary effect on the consumption of financially excluded households but has a decreased effect on that of fully financially included ones. We find that positive consumption and labor income tax shocks decrease the consumption of financially excluded households more than that of financially included ones. From a policy perspective, government spending is effective for increasing output, employment, and the consumption of financially excluded households, although it reduces that of financially included ones.