ABSTRACT

Using the 2009/10 Botswana Core Welfare Indicator Survey (BCWIS) and 2015/16 Botswana Multi-Topic Household Survey (BMTHS) datasets, this article discusses inequality in food and non-food expenses in Botswana using the Lerman & Yitzhaki [1984. A note in the calculation and interpretation of the Gini Index. Economics Letters 15, 363–8] inequality decomposition method. The main aim is to investigate how aggregate consumption inequality translates into inequality within each spending component, in order to better understand the distribution of resources held, as well as the population's living standards, and to make recommendations on redistributive government policies. The means, standard errors, and confidence intervals for the component Gini coefficients estimates are also calculated using a simple bootstrap method. The average Gini coefficient of consumption expenditure within the groups increased from 0.498 to 0.533 between 2009/10 and 2015/16, according to the findings. This increase in total expenditure inequality may be due to the increased burden of non-food spending in the household budget, which is more unequal than food spending. Food and clothes & footwear have lower Gini coefficients than other goods since they are considered necessities. Finally, this article suggests several policy options for reducing consumption expenditure inequality.

摘要

本文使用2009/10博茨瓦纳核心福利指标调查（BCWIS）和2015/16博茨瓦纳多主题家庭调查（BMTHS）数据集，使用Lerman＆Yitzhaki [1984。基尼系数的计算和解释中的注释。经济学快报15，363-8]不等式分解方法。主要目的是调查总消费不平等如何在每个支出组成部分内转化为不平等，以便更好地了解所拥有资源的分布以及人口的生活水平，并就重新分配的政府政策提出建议。分量基尼系数估计的均值，标准误差和置信区间也可以使用简单的自举方法来计算。调查结果显示，2009/10和2015/16年间，各组消费支出的平均基尼系数从0.498上升至0.533。总支出不平等的增加可能是由于家庭预算中非食品支出的负担增加，这比食品支出更为不平等。食品，衣服和鞋类的吉尼系数比其他商品低，因为它们被认为是必需品。最后，本文提出了减少消费支出不平等的几种政策选择。食品，衣服和鞋类的吉尼系数比其他商品低，因为它们被认为是必需品。最后，本文提出了减少消费支出不平等的几种政策选择。食品，衣服和鞋类的吉尼系数比其他商品低，因为它们被认为是必需品。最后，本文提出了减少消费支出不平等的几种政策选择。