In an international comparative study of self-help transformations (alterations and extensions) to government-built housing in developing countries, sponsored by the Department for International Development, data were collected on the household and housing characteristics of about 400 households in each of 4 case studies (in Dhaka, Bangladesh; Cairo, Egypt; Kumasi, Ghana; and Harare, Zimbabwe). The data for each country have been used in a two-step econometric analysis of the decision to transform. The first step examines the factors which influenced the decision to make an extension in the period 1991-93 (the 3 years before our survey) and the second step examines how much was spent on the extension. In general, it seems that the characteristics of the house were very influential in the decision to transform and in the decision on how much to spend once the transformation had been undertaken. Thus, its frequency could have been influenced by housing design and physical planning policy.
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