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On the Heterogeneity of Dowry Motives

Author

Listed:
  • Raj Arunachalam
  • Trevon D. Logan
Abstract
Dowries have been modeled as pre-mortem bequests to daughters or as groom-prices paid to in-laws. These two classes of models yield mutually exclusive predictions, but empirical tests of these predictions have been mixed. We argue that the heterogeneity of findings can be explained by a heterogeneous world--some households use dowries as a bequest and others use dowries as a price. We estimate a model with heterogeneous dowry motives and use the predictions from the competing theories in an exogenous switching regression to place households in the price or bequest regime. Our empirical strategy generates multiple, independent checks on the validity of regime assignment. Using retrospective marriage data from rural Bangladesh, we find robust evidence of heterogeneity in dowry motives in the population; that bequest dowries have declined in prevalence and amount over time; and that bequest households are better off compared to price households on a variety of welfare measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Raj Arunachalam & Trevon D. Logan, 2006. "On the Heterogeneity of Dowry Motives," NBER Working Papers 12630, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12630
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    Cited by:

    1. Shyamal Chowdhury & Debdulal Mallick & Prabal Roy Chowdhury, 2017. "Natural Shock and Marriage Markets: Evolution of Mehr and Dowry in Muslim Marriages," Discussion Papers 17-02, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.
    2. Tomas Lichard & Jan Hanousek & Randall K. Filer, 2012. "Measuring the Shadow Economy: Endogenous Switching Regression with Unobserved Separation," Economics Working Paper Archive at Hunter College 438, Hunter College Department of Economics.
    3. Momoe Makino, 2019. "Marriage, dowry, and women’s status in rural Punjab, Pakistan," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 769-797, July.
    4. Calvi, Rossella & Keskar, Ajinkya, 2021. "'Til Dowry Do Us Part: Bargaining and Violence in Indian Families," CEPR Discussion Papers 15696, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Siwan Anderson, 2007. "The Economics of Dowry and Brideprice," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 151-174, Fall.
    6. Anukriti, S & Dasgupta, Shatanjaya, 2017. "Marriage Markets in Developing Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 10556, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Chowdhury, Shyamal & Mallick, Debdulal & Roy Chowdhury, Prabal, 2020. "Natural shocks and marriage markets: Fluctuations in mehr and dowry in Muslim marriages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    8. Maertens, Annemie & Chari, A.V., 2020. "What’s Your Child Worth? An Analysis of Expected Dowry Payments in Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    9. Villar, Paola, 2021. "Paternal mortality, early marriages, and marital trajectories in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    10. Trevon D. Logan & Raj Arunachalam, 2014. "Is There Dowry Inflation in South Asia?," Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 81-94, June.
    11. Self, Sharmistha & Grabowski, Richard, 2009. "Modernization, inter-caste marriage, and dowry: An analytical perspective," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 69-76, January.
    12. Menon, Seetha, 2014. "Unfinished lives: the effect of domestic violence on neonatal & infant mortality," ISER Working Paper Series 2014-27, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    13. Momoe Makino, 2019. "Dowry in the absence of the legal protection of women’s inheritance rights," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 287-321, March.
    14. Jane Lankes & Mary K. Shenk & Mary C. Towner & Nurul Alam, 2022. "Dowry Inflation: Perception or Reality?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(4), pages 1641-1672, August.
    15. Bishai, David & Grossbard, Shoshana, 2007. "Far Above Rubies: The Association Between Bride Price and Extramarital Sexual Relations in Uganda," IZA Discussion Papers 2982, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Maitra Sudeshna, 2018. "Population dynamics and marriage payments: an analysis of the long run equilibrium in India," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 18(2), pages 1-26, June.
    17. Momoe Makino, 2021. "Female labour force participation and dowries in Pakistan," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 569-593, April.
    18. Tomáš Lichard & Jan Hanousek & Randall K. Filer, 2021. "Hidden in plain sight: using household data to measure the shadow economy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1449-1476, March.
    19. Menon, Seetha, 2020. "The effect of marital endowments on domestic violence in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    20. repec:ags:aaea22:335954 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Geetika Dang & Vani S. Kulkarni & Raghav Gaiha, 2018. "Why Dowry Deaths Have Risen in India?," ASARC Working Papers 2018-03, The Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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