The effect of adaptive capacity to climate-sensitive health conditions on subjective well-being: a case of malaria in Ghana

Aaron K. Christian, University of Ghana
Wisdom Akpalu, UNU-WIDER and University of Ghana
Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe, University of Ghana

The climatic conditions experienced in recent times have significantly heightened the incidence of tropical diseases like malaria, which has negative impact on well-being. Thus understanding the adaptive capacity of people exposed to such diseases and their well-being is critical in designing social welfare policies. By employing a utilitarian model developed by van Praag (1968) to a household survey data on Ghana, we found that individuals from households with low adaptive capacity to malaria require higher monetary income to reach the same level of subjective well-being as their counterparts with high adaptive capacity. Moreover, low adaptive capacity, formal education and individual’s income heightens people's aspirations while receiving social support did the reverse. Findings give credence to considering well-being and adaptive capacity as overarching frameworks intended to bridge the gap between individuals with low adaptive capacity and those with high adaptive capacity.