Autonomy or Efficiency: An Experiment on Household Decisions in Two Regions of India

38 Pages Posted: 25 Apr 2011 Last revised: 27 Apr 2011

See all articles by Alistair Munro

Alistair Munro

National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)

Bereket Kebede

University of East Anglia - School of International Development and CBESS

Marcela Tarazona-Gómez

University of Toulouse 1

Arjan Verschoor

University of East Anglia (UEA)

Date Written: April 24, 2011

Abstract

Dyson and Moore (1983) posit that women in South India enjoy relatively more agency than in the North. Their conclusions have become part of the standard picture of Indian rural society. In this paper, we examine using experimental data the implications of this regional contrast in female autonomy for the efficiency of family decision-making. We take a sample of 1200 couples from two areas in the north of India (Uttar Pradesh) and one area in the south (Tamil Nadu) that are often taken to exemplify differences in the autonomy of women and the nature of marital relationships. Generally, we find large-scale and robust evidence of inefficiency and the hiding of assets when this is possible. Men invest more and are more generous to their partners. Women are more willing to invest in a common pool when their income is earned through working and when assets are publicly observable.

Regarding the focus of our paper, we find continuing significant differences between North and South and we find relatively little evidence that urban living is associated with changes in the nature of marital behaviour. There are some differences between response to treatment but the key and striking difference between the North and the South is that in both rural and urban sites in the former region household efficiency is considerably greater than in the latter, which does on the face of it suggest a trade-off between autonomy and efficiency.

Keywords: Economic experiments, married couples, female autonomy, efficiency, intra-household allocation, North and South India, Dyson and Moore

JEL Classification: D130, Z130

Suggested Citation

Munro, Alistair and Kebede, Bereket and Tarazona-Gómez, Marcela and Verschoor, Arjan, Autonomy or Efficiency: An Experiment on Household Decisions in Two Regions of India (April 24, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1821285 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1821285

Alistair Munro (Contact Author)

National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) ( email )

Tokyo
Japan

HOME PAGE: http://https://munroalistair.github.io/

Bereket Kebede

University of East Anglia - School of International Development and CBESS ( email )

Norwich Research Park
Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7TJ
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/view/bereket-kebede/

Marcela Tarazona-Gómez

University of Toulouse 1 ( email )

Place Anatole France
Toulouse Cedex, F-31042
France

Arjan Verschoor

University of East Anglia (UEA) ( email )

Norwich Research Park
Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7TJ
United Kingdom

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