International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

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Effect of Health Status on the Choice of the Volume of Working Hours in Cameroon

Received: 11 June 2020    Accepted: 28 June 2020    Published: 13 July 2020
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Abstract

This article highlights the influence of health status on the choice of the volume of working hours in Cameroon based on data from the fourth Cameroonian Household Survey (ECAM IV) conducted by the National Institute of Cameroon Statistics during 2014. Health is measured by a subjective indicator of self-assessment of health status. The structure of the distribution of working hours by sector of employment led to the choice of a Tobit model. The results suggest that individuals in poor health (relative to those who are healthy) lose an average of 10.87 hours of work. The fact that health status is not a relevant variable in explaining the working hour’s choices of Cameroonians contrasts with the results of other studies which consider health status as an exogenous variable. This article shows that the higher the income from activities, the less time people spend in the labour market. This observation is more noticeable in paid employment, where we observe that the degree of negative influence of income generated by the activity is more significant, at the 1% threshold against a 10% threshold in self-employment. This result reflects the superiority of the substitution effect over the income effect.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijebo.20200803.12
Published in International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (Volume 8, Issue 3, September 2020)
Page(s) 57-63
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Health Status, Volume of Working Hours, Cameroon, Tobit

References
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Author Information
  • Human Resource Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Yaounde II- Soa, Yaounde, Cameroon

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    Tchoffo Yemeli Jonathan. (2020). Effect of Health Status on the Choice of the Volume of Working Hours in Cameroon. International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 8(3), 57-63. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20200803.12

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    Tchoffo Yemeli Jonathan. Effect of Health Status on the Choice of the Volume of Working Hours in Cameroon. Int. J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 2020, 8(3), 57-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijebo.20200803.12

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    AMA Style

    Tchoffo Yemeli Jonathan. Effect of Health Status on the Choice of the Volume of Working Hours in Cameroon. Int J Econ Behav Organ. 2020;8(3):57-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijebo.20200803.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijebo.20200803.12,
      author = {Tchoffo Yemeli Jonathan},
      title = {Effect of Health Status on the Choice of the Volume of Working Hours in Cameroon},
      journal = {International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization},
      volume = {8},
      number = {3},
      pages = {57-63},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijebo.20200803.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20200803.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijebo.20200803.12},
      abstract = {This article highlights the influence of health status on the choice of the volume of working hours in Cameroon based on data from the fourth Cameroonian Household Survey (ECAM IV) conducted by the National Institute of Cameroon Statistics during 2014. Health is measured by a subjective indicator of self-assessment of health status. The structure of the distribution of working hours by sector of employment led to the choice of a Tobit model. The results suggest that individuals in poor health (relative to those who are healthy) lose an average of 10.87 hours of work. The fact that health status is not a relevant variable in explaining the working hour’s choices of Cameroonians contrasts with the results of other studies which consider health status as an exogenous variable. This article shows that the higher the income from activities, the less time people spend in the labour market. This observation is more noticeable in paid employment, where we observe that the degree of negative influence of income generated by the activity is more significant, at the 1% threshold against a 10% threshold in self-employment. This result reflects the superiority of the substitution effect over the income effect.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    JO  - International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
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    AB  - This article highlights the influence of health status on the choice of the volume of working hours in Cameroon based on data from the fourth Cameroonian Household Survey (ECAM IV) conducted by the National Institute of Cameroon Statistics during 2014. Health is measured by a subjective indicator of self-assessment of health status. The structure of the distribution of working hours by sector of employment led to the choice of a Tobit model. The results suggest that individuals in poor health (relative to those who are healthy) lose an average of 10.87 hours of work. The fact that health status is not a relevant variable in explaining the working hour’s choices of Cameroonians contrasts with the results of other studies which consider health status as an exogenous variable. This article shows that the higher the income from activities, the less time people spend in the labour market. This observation is more noticeable in paid employment, where we observe that the degree of negative influence of income generated by the activity is more significant, at the 1% threshold against a 10% threshold in self-employment. This result reflects the superiority of the substitution effect over the income effect.
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