Definition
From a recent Ethiopian representative household survey, concepts from the capability approach are operationalized to shed light on the relationship between conversion factors, capability inputs, and health functionings. The subjects are women in partnership. Ethiopian women’s health functionings are responsive to specific household bargaining power conversion factors and capability inputs. A capability model tests the extent to which women who take more decisions achieve better health functioning. The model offers evidence that decision-making and health functionings follow a complex pattern as women who took more decisions were not always better off.
Beginning with the ethically grounded concepts of the capability approach, the extent to which capability inputs and conversion factors explain objective health functioning indicators is tested. The main objective is to understand to what extent women with more capability and bargaining power are better off in terms of health....
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Abadian, S. (1996). Women’s autonomy & its impact on fertility. World Development, 24, 1793–1809.
Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, agency, achievements: Reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment. Development and Change, 30, 435–464.
Kuklys, W., & Robeyns, I. (2005). Sen’s capability approach to welfare economics. In W. Kuklys (Ed.), Amartya Sen’s capability approach. Theoretical insights & empirical application. New York: Springer.
Legovini, A. (2006). Measuring women’s empowerment in Ethiopia: The women’s development initiatives project. In R. Alsop, M. Bertelsen, & J. Holland (Eds.), Empowerment in practice: From analysis to implementation. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Mabsout, R., & Van Staveren, I. (2010). Disentangling bargaining power from individual & household level to institutions: Evidence on women’s position in Ethiopia. World Development, 38, 783–796.
Narayan, D. (2005). Conceptual framework and methodological challenges. In D. Narayan (Ed.), Measuring empowerment: Cross disciplinary perspectives. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Pankhurst, H. (1992). Gender, development, & identity. London: Zed Books.
Robeyns, I. (2004). Justice as fairness & the capability approach (Working paper).
Robeyns, I. (2005). The capability approach: A theoretical survey. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 6, 93–114.
Ruger, J. (2010). Health & social justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sahn, D., & Younger, S. (2009). Measuring intra-household health inequality: Explorations using the body mass index. Health Economics, 18, 13–19.
Strauss, J., & Thomas, D. (1998). Health, nutrition, & economic development. Journal of Economic Literature, 36, 766–817.
Webb, P., & von Braun, J. (1994). Famine & food security in Ethiopia: Lessons for Africa. London: John Wiley & Sons.
Wolffe, J., & De-Shalit, A. (2007). Disadvantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Mabsout, R. (2023). Capability and Health in Ethiopia. In: Maggino, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_3737
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_3737
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-17298-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-17299-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences