TABLE OF CONTENTS 

LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................... vi 

LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii 

Chapter ONE

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON MALIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOMES AND MOTIVATION FOR THIS STUDY............................................................................................................................................................. 1 

1.1 Purpose of Study and Research Questions.........................................................-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------................... 4 

1.2 Previous Studies on Household Incomes in Mali .................................................................................. 5 

1.3 Limitations of the Previous Studies on Malian Household Incomes........................................................ 7 

1.4 Structure of Thesis.................................................................................................................................. 10 

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................ 11 

2.1 Household Income Portfolios and Livelihood Diversification ................................................................. 11 

 2.1 Common Income Sources..................................................................................................................... 11 

2.1.1.2 Non-farm Income ............................................................................................................................. 12 

2.1.1.3 Migration Remittance Income ......................................................................................................... 13 

2.1.2 Relationship between Farm and Nonfarm Activities............................................................................ 13 

2.1.3 Reasons for Livelihood Diversification ................................................................................................ 16

 2.1.3.1 Risk Reduction................................................................................................................................ 16 

2.1.3.2 Coping after a Shock....................................................................................................................... 17 

2.1.3.3 Seasonality ..................................................................................................................................... 17 

2.1.3.4 Credit Market Failures...................................................................................................................... 17 

2.1.3.5 Asset Strategies.............................................................................................................................. 18 

2.1.3.6 Returns from Income Activities....................................................................................................... 18

 2.1.4 Determinants of Household Income .................................................................................................. 19 

2.2 Income Inequality ..................................................................................................................................... 21 

2.2.1 National-Level Income Inequality ............................................................................................................ 21

 2.2.2 Community-Level Income Inequality in Rural Areas ......................................................................... 23 

2.2.3 The Relationship between Income Sources and Community-Level Inequality.............................. 23 

2.2.3.1 Crop Income.............................................................................................................................. 23 

2.2.3.2 Nonfarm Income .................................................................................................. 25 

2.2.3.3 Livestock Income................................................................................................. 26 

2.2.3.4 Migration Remittance Income ............................................................................. 27 

Chapter THREE

3. DATA AND INCOME DEFINITIONS ................................................................................... 28 

3.1 Definition of Household .................................................................................................... 37 

3.2 Definitions of Income and Income Categories .................................................................. 37 

3.3 Basic Characteristics of the Surveyed Households............................................................ 39

 3.4 External Events in the Koutiala and Tominian Zones that may have Impacted Household Income Portfolios...................................................................................................................... 42

Chapter FOUR

 4. HOUSEHOLD INCOME PROFILES FOR TOMINIAN AND KOUTIALA........................ 43 

 4.1 Methodology...................................................................................................................... 43 

4.2 Average Total per Capital Income Levels .......................................................................... 44 

4.3 Household Income by Source ............................................................................................. 46 

4.4 Distribution of Income Across Household Types.............................................................. 53 

4.4.1 Distribution of Income Across Income Quartiles........................................................ 53 

4.4.2 Distribution of Income Across Landholding Quartiles................................................ 56 

4.4.3 Distribution of Income between Households Above and Below the $1/Day/Capital Poverty Line.......................................................................................................................... 59 

4.5 Discussion of the Descriptive Statistics Analysis of Household Income Portfolios in the Tominian and Koutiala Zones................................................................................................... 61 

Chapter FIVE

5. DETERMINANTS OF HOUSEHOLD INCOME.................................................................. 63

 5.1 Methodology...................................................................................................................... 63 

5.2 Factors Correlated with a Higher Probability of Participation and Higher Income Levels Earned from Livestock, Nonfarm, and Cropping Income Activities........................................ 72 

5.2.1 Livestock Income......................................................................................................... 73 

5.2.2 Nonfarm Income .......................................................................................................... 77 

5.2.3 Crop Income................................................................................................................. 81 

5.3 Discussion of the Results from the Econometric Analysis of Household Income Determinants in the Tominian and Koutiala Zones.................................................................. 83 

CHAPTER SIX

6. COMMUNITY INCOME INEQUALITY AND INCOME SOURCES................................. 86 

6.1 Methodology...................................................................................................................... 86 

6.2 Results................................................................................................................................ 90 

6.3 Discussion of the Gini Decomposition Results ................................................................. 96 

CHAPTER SEVEN

7. CONCLUSIONS...................................................................................................................... 98 

7.1 Limitations of this Study.................................................................................................. 101 

7.2 Future Research ................................................................................................................ 102 

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 103

 Appendix A: Method for Calculating Households Living Above and Below the $1/day Poverty Line ......................................................................................................................................... 104

 Appendix B: Real per Capital Income from Various Sources, Including F-Tests to Determine Statistical Significance of the Income Differences found between Survey Years (in 2010 Franc CFA) ....................................................................................................................................... 106

 Appendix C: Real per Capital Income from Various Sources, Including T-Tests to Determine Statistical Significance of the Income Differences found between Zones (in 2010 Franc CFA) ................................................................................................................................................. 107 

Appendix D: Average Share of Household Income from Various Sources, Including F-Tests to Determine Statistical Significance of the Income Differences Found Between Survey Years ................................................................................................................................................. 108

Appendix E: Average Share of Household Income from Various Sources, Including T- Tests to Determine Statistical Significance of the Income Differences found between Zones ....... 109 

BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 110