Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Mses and Cooperatives and Strategic Recovery in New Normal Era

The purpose of this study is to examine the economic impact of Covid-19 on the performance of micro, and small enterprises (MSEs) and cooperative institutions; how the strategies and formulate a recovery strategy in the new normal era. The main data used are primary data collected through interviews to MSE and microfinance institutions. The analytical method used is descriptive statistics and econometric models. The before and after analysis shows the significantly different costs and benefits of MSEs before and after the pandemic. The analysis shows that in the pandemic Covid-19 period, all MSEs decreased performance, most experienced a decrease in business turnover (6 percent) and similarly with cooperative institutions, their turnover decreased to 55%. The strategy of the cooperatives to maintaining its performance is to provide relaxation, improve efficiency by reducing employees, and ask for a reduction in profit-sharing payments to creditors; while the MSE strategy if the cooperatives does not provide loans for a while is 60 percent of MSEs seeking loans from relatives, 25 percent borrowing from other microfinance despite high-interest rates and 15 percent selling their household assets.

Avoiding material hardship: The buffer function of wealth

We assess how a variety of disruptive life-course events impact the economic wellbeing of US households and trace the importance of household wealth in helping families who experience these events avoid entering a spell of material hardship. Using longitudinal data from two panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), we draw on direct measures of material hardship, disruptive events and household assets. Our analyses reveal that the relationship between disruptive events and the likelihood of experiencing a new spell of material hardship strongly varies across the wealth distribution, suggesting that high household wealth provides an effective private safety net. By distinguishing different types of disruptive events, we demonstrate that divorce, disability and income loss entail a risk of material hardship but also that this risk is effectively buffered by substantial wealth. Different types of hardship – namely, financial, food and medical hardship – respond in similar ways. Like public insurance schemes, wealth insurance helps buffer the effects of disruptive events on material hardship, but unlike public insurance schemes, reliance on private wealth further stratifies the economic wellbeing of households. Policy options for addressing this highly stratified private insurance scheme include disposing of the need for it by funding more robust public insurance, for instance through wealth taxation.

Disparities of Well-being Between the Female-headed ST and Non-ST Households: A State-wise Overview in India

Indian society is still dominated by the patriarchal system where women get less importance. A majority of households in India are headed by the male member of the family. According to Census 2011, only 10.78% of households are headed by a female member, and they are marginalized compared to the households headed by the male counterpart. Indian society is stratified into several groups based on language, religion, castes and tribes. Scheduled Tribes (ST) are the most marginalized among these social groups. From this perspective, the study focuses mainly on two marginalized sections, i.e. female-headed households (FHHs) of ST and their counterpart of non-ST families. This comparative study mainly describes the well-being disparity between the ST and non-ST FHHs based on the housing condition, presence of basic amenities and household assets possession. The study also emphasizes the regional disparity of economic well-being in the FHHs between ST and non-ST community in India. It is a secondary database work based on Census of India 2011. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, paired sample t-test and disparity index have been used to obtain empirical outcome. The results indicate that though the proportion share of FHHs is higher in ST community, in all the fields they are lagging behind the non-ST FHHs at the national level. In most of the states, non-ST FHHs are well off in terms of economic well-being compared to the ST FHHs, and it creates well-being disparity between two groups. Further, the study found that the magnitude of well-being also differs within its own community.

The Impact of Household Assets on Child Well-being: Evidence from China

This study examined the impact of household assets on multiple dimensions of child well-being using data on 2,583 children aged 10–15 years and their families from the cross-sectional 2016 China Family Panel Studies survey. Household assets were measured as the value of housing assets, cash deposits and household durable goods. Child well-being was measured with 10 indicators in five dimensions: health, education, economic well-being, subjective well-being and family relationships. Multiple linear regression was applied to investigate whether household assets were predictive of child well-being. The results suggest that children living in households with relatively low levels of household assets have lower overall well-being than those living in families with higher levels of assets. The impacts of diverse household asset types on various aspects of children’s well-being are different. Additionally, the relationship between household assets and various dimensions of child well-being is different and unequal between rural and urban areas, as well as among the eastern, central, and western regions.

Influence of Cooperative Societies on the Wellbeing of Staff Among Universities in Ekiti State, Nigeria

The study examined the effect of cooperative societies on the well-being of staff among Universities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to access the effects of educational loans on the well-being of the staff, investigate the effect of land acquisition on the well-being of the staff and determine the effect of commodity purchase (household Asset) on the well-being of staff among Universities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The total population of this study is three thousand two hundred and five (3,205) comprising the entire cooperators in the three Universities in Ekiti State, namely Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti and Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti. The study employed a stratified random sampling technique for selecting a sample size of 355 respondents which are further divided among cooperators in the three Universities in Ekiti State. Data gathered were analysed using frequency tables and multiple regression analysis to achieve the objectives of the study. The results showed that cooperative societies significantly affect the well-being of staff among Universities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Specifically, the sub-variables of the cooperative societies were considered significant in the order of educational loan (p= 0.000), land acquisition (p= 0.000) and commodity purchase (household asset) (p= 0.000). This implies that cooperative societies have an effect on the well-being of staff among Universities in Ekiti State. The study concluded that access to educational loans, land acquisition and commodity purchases (household assets) have a significant positive relationship with the well-being of staff among Universities in Ekiti State, Nigeria at a 5% level of significance.

Youth Participation in Agriculture and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

With data from 683 systematically selected households, the study employed the Heckman two-stage model and the propensity score matching method (PSM) to examine the impact of youth participation in agriculture as a primary occupation on income and poverty in Nigeria. The results indicate that the gender of the youth and their determination to stay in agriculture significantly increases the probability that youth will participate in agriculture as a primary occupation. In addition, youth participation in agriculture as a main occupation contributes significantly to per capita household income and has the likelihood to reduce poverty by 17%. The daily wage rate of hired labor and the total farmland owned are the variables that positively explained the per capita income. Poverty was reduced by market access, having agriculture as a primary occupation, income from agricultural production, the total monetary value of all the household assets, determination to remain in agriculture, and the square of the respondents’ age. These results imply that creating employment for youth by engaging them in agriculture as a full-time occupation can increase their income and reduce poverty. However, the promotion of other secondary occupations, land, and market access is also vital.

Adoption of Improved Mungbean Production Technologies in Selected East African Countries

This study analyzes the factors that influence the probability and extent of the adoption of mungbean production technologies in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, using multivariate probit and Poisson regression models. The results show that the probability and extent of the adoption of mungbean production technologies are influenced by gender of the household, household size, farm size, livestock size, household assets, access to extension services and access to credit. The study suggests that policy interventions that aimed at targeting women farmers, increasing household asset and information dissemination, such as field demonstrations and training programs, are crucial in enhancing technology adoption among smallholder farmers.

CHANGING ROLE OF PENSION FUNDS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES AS SOURCES OF HOUSEHOLD WELL-BEING IN THE LONG TERM: THE EXAMPLE OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

Purpose – the main objective of this study is to assess the impact of investments in pension and insurance schemes on household well-being, based on an analysis of data from the countries of the former Soviet Union in the long term. Research methodology – using empirical analysis, the assets and liabilities of households are examined, divided into the main financial market instruments in the selected countries. Findings – the calculations confirmed the relationship between total household assets and assets held in life insurance reserves and pension schemes. Research limitations – the choice of the countries is determined by the similarity of the economies and the political and social systems. Also, the choice of countries is due to the lack of data, so the number of countries studied was reduced to 6. Practical implications – the results of this study will be useful for national governments and major institutional investors. Originality/Value – although similar studies were conducted on the basis of data from OECD countries, a comparable cross-country analysis was not conducted on the data of the countries of the former Soviet Union. Further, on the basis of the obtained data, it is planned to conduct a correlation and regression analysis to identify the statistical relationship.