Several activities are being undertaken to improve the livelihood of poor households by governments and NGOs in developing countries including Ethiopia. As women constitute about half of the total population in Ethiopia, it is important to see their role in improving household’s food security. This study provides an assessment of the role of women’s participation in ensuring food security at household level in Ebinat district, Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Many economic decisions are made jointly within households. Running an experiment on intertemporal choice, we investigate the relative influence of spouses on joint household decisions. We let each spouse first decide individually and then jointly with the other spouse.

This is a chapter in a book entitled "The Emergence of Land Markets in Africa Impacts on Poverty, Equity, and Efficiency" edited by Stein Holden, Keijiro Otsuka and Frank Place, 2009.

We study behavior in a search experiment where sellers receive randomized bids from a computer. At any time, sellers can accept the highest standing bid or ask for another bid at positive costs. We find that sellers stop searching earlier than theoretically optimal. Inducing a mild form of time pressure strengthens this finding in the early periods. We find no significant differences in search behavior between individuals and groups of two participants. However, there are marked gender differences.