Changes in well-being in Zimbabwe, 1990-6: Evidence using semi-parametric density estimates

Semi-parametric density reweighting techniques are used to examine sources of change in well-being in Zimbabwe during the first-half of the 1990s. Changes in urban well-being are decomposed into changes in employment propensities, changes in human capital attainment and changes in the structure of urban employment choice. Declines in national well-being are decomposed into changes resulting from urban-rural residence choice and changes in the structure of residential location. Finally, worsening rural conditions are decomposed into that part due to drought and that due to improved educational attainment. Results show that despite improvements in human capital attainment during the 1990s, well-being has worsened in all employment states. Investments in human capital only partially offset the general worsening of the economy. Likewise, decisions to migrate to urban areas from rural Zimbabwe helped offset worsening rural conditions. Drought explains a small amount of the general rural decline, but the bigger part of the worsening was due to general equilibrium effects associated with a deteriorating economy.