Resource information
Institutional features of the African
setting -- large extended families and imperfect credit and
land markets -- matter to the equity and efficiency roles
played by intergenerational linkages. Using original survey
data on Senegal that include an individualized measure of
consumption, this paper studies the role played by land
inheritance, other bequests and parental background as
influences on an adult's economic welfare and economic
activities. Although intergenerational linkages are evident,
the analysis finds a seemingly high degree of mobility
across generations, associated with the shift from farm to
non-farm sectors and the greater economic activity of women.
Male-dominated bequests of land and housing bring little
gain to mean consumption and play little role in explaining
inequality, although they have effects on the sector of
activity. Inheritance of non-land assets and the education
and occupation of parents (especially the mother) and their
choices about children's schooling are more important
to adult welfare than property inheritance. Significant
gender inequality in consumption is evident, although it is
almost entirely explicable in terms of factors such as
education and (non-land) inheritance. There are a number of
other pronounced gender differences, with intergenerational
linkages coming through the mother rather than the father.
