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The Impact of Household Structure on Female Autonomy in Developing Countries

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  • Sisir Debnath

Abstract

Joint household structures in which several generations co-reside in a single house are common across developing countries. Such households may confer benefits on all the family members through household public goods w ith the patriarch exercising greater control over resources. Therefore, the household structure may affect the bargaining power of its members. This paper estimates the effect of joint versus nuclear household structure in India on the autonomy of women and their labour force participation and the heterogeneity in the effects by income, caste, and region. I use an instrumental variable approach and find that women living in nuclear households have greater decision-making power.

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  • Sisir Debnath, 2015. "The Impact of Household Structure on Female Autonomy in Developing Countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(5), pages 485-502, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:51:y:2015:i:5:p:485-502
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2014.983909
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    5. Dhanaraj, Sowmya & Mahambare, Vidya, 2019. "Family structure, education and women’s employment in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 17-29.
    6. Rajshri Jayaraman & Bisma Khan, 2023. "Does Co-Residence with Parents-In-Law Reduce Women’s Employment in India?," CESifo Working Paper Series 10238, CESifo.
    7. Megan Reed, 2020. "The labor force participation of Indian women before and after widowhood," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(24), pages 673-706.
    8. Dhanaraj, Sowmya & Mahambare, Vidya, 2019. "Family structure, education and women’s employment in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 17-29.
    9. Gupta, Tanu & Negi, Digvijay, 2021. "Daughter Vs. Daughter-in-Law: Kinship Roles and Women’s Time Use in India," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315021, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Deininger,Klaus W. & Jin,Songqing & Nagarajan,Hari Krishnan & Singh,Sudhir K., 2020. "Political Reservation and Female Labor Force Participation in Rural India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9350, The World Bank.
    11. Bargain, Olivier & Boutin, Delphine & Champeaux, Hugues, 2019. "Women's political participation and intrahousehold empowerment: Evidence from the Egyptian Arab Spring," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    12. Chakravorty, Swastika & Goli, Srinivas, 2021. "Family Structure, Economic Outcomes and Perceived Change in Economic Well-being in India," OSF Preprints 23kvs, Center for Open Science.
    13. Rajshri Jayaraman & Bisma Khan, 2023. "Does co-residence with parents-in-law reduce women's employment in India?," Working Papers tecipa-747, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    14. Balhasan Ali & Preeti Dhillon & Sivakami Muthusamy & Udaya Shankar Mishra, 2023. "Understanding Female Labour Force Participation and Domestic Work in India: The Role of Co-residence and Household Composition," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 8(2), pages 162-193, July.
    15. Gram, Lu & Skordis-Worrall, Jolene & Mannell, Jenevieve & Manandhar, Dharma S. & Saville, Naomi & Morrison, Joanna, 2018. "Revisiting the patriarchal bargain: The intergenerational power dynamics of household money management in rural Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 193-204.
    16. Rajshri Jayaraman & Bisma Khan, 2023. "Does Co-Residence with Parents-In-Law Reduce Women’s Employment in India?," Working Papers 2023-004, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    17. S Anukriti & Catalina Herrera-Almanza & Mahesh Karra & Praveen Kumar Pathak, 2020. "Curse of the Mummy-ji: The Influence of Mothers-in-Law on Women in India," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-337, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    18. Clémentine Sadania, 2016. "Working and Women’s Empowerment in the Egyptian Household: The Type of Work and Location Matter," Working Papers halshs-01525220, HAL.
    19. Rajkumar, Vidya Bharathi, 2021. "Male Migration and the Emergence of Female Farm Management in India," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315329, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Bhattacharya, Leena, 2023. "Time allocation of daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law in India: The role of education as bargaining power," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1343, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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