Strengthening women’s land rights is crucial for improving their bargaining power within the household. This study examines the impact of land ownership on intra-household resource allocation using panel data from three rounds of the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) in Ethiopia. We focus on the dynamics of resource sharing within the household as a measure of bargaining power and find that female-headed households allocate more resources to clothing and education. Moreover, the wife’s level of education positively affects her bargaining power, whereas her age negatively affects it. Using fixed effects estimation and instrumental variables, our analysis shows that joint land certification significantly strengthens women’s bargaining power in the allocation of household resources. However, land certification issued only to household heads shows no significant effect. Furthermore, we construct an empowerment index based on women’s participation in key agricultural decision-making domains, including input selection, land use, and control over earnings. Consistent with the above findings, the results reveal a significant positive impact of joint land certification on women’s empowerment.


The early-life period of a child is a critical time when the blueprint for adult development is established. Weather shocks during this crucial period significantly influence long-term health and educational attainment in adulthood. We utilized the Young Lives data from Ethiopia to evaluate the impact of early-life drought shocks on child health and schooling. The drought shocks around the time of childbirth were identified using the Standardized Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) derived from precipitation and temperature data. The results indicated that in utero drought shocks have a negative and persistent impact on child height. Furthermore, drought shocks during the preconception year and postnatal years negatively affect child growth, as measured by standardized height (HAZ). Exposure to drought shocks in early life leads to fewer years of schooling, greater delays in school entry, and a higher probability of long-term chronic health problems. Household participation in the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) shows a positive effect on child health and educational attainment. However, the interaction between early-life drought exposure and PSNP benefits suggests that later-life support mechanisms are incapable of fully mitigating the impacts of early-life drought exposure.



Ethiopia has recently endured a devastating internal armed conflict, leaving the country in disorder and causing a widespread humanitarian crisis. Using two rounds of Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) data and conflict event records from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), we analyze the effect of armed conflict on household dietary diversity. The fixed-effects estimation results show a significant negative effect of armed conflict, with a 0.64-unit decrease in the household dietary diversity score for households exposed to conflict within a 10 km radius of their location. Moreover, the negative effect increases with conflict intensity, as measured by the number of fatalities. Exposure to armed conflict also changes the composition of household food consumption sources, reducing consumption from own food production and increasing consumption from market purchases. Results from an alternative estimation method, propensity score matching, are consistent with the above results, indicating the negative impact of conflict exposure on household dietary diversity. One transmission mechanism through which armed conflict affects household dietary diversity is food price shocks.