IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wpa/wuwpdc/0303002.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Are Investments in Daughters Lower When Daughters Move Away?

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Kevane

    (Department of Economics, Santa Clara University)

  • David I. Levine

    (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley)

Abstract

In much of the developing world daughters receive lower education and other investments than do their brothers, and may even be so devalued as to suffer differential mortality. Daughter disadvantage may be due in part to social norms that prescribe that daughters move away from their natal family upon marriage, a practice known as virilocality. We evaluate the effects of virilocality on female disadvantage using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey. We find little support for the hypothesis. There is no evidence that the overall pattern of rough equality in the treatment of boys and girls in Indonesia masks differences according to post-marital residential practice. Virilocal groups do not have "missing daughters." Nor is there other evidence of son preference, such as in relatively low height for- age or education for girls and women in virilocal areas. Explanations of daughter disadvantage as due to virilocality should be subject to further scrutiny and contextualization.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Kevane & David I. Levine, 2003. "Are Investments in Daughters Lower When Daughters Move Away?," Development and Comp Systems 0303002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpdc:0303002
    Note: 31 pages, Acrobat .pdf
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://econwpa.ub.uni-muenchen.de/econ-wp/dev/papers/0303/0303002.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kevane, Michael & Levine, David I., 2000. "The Changing Status of Daughters in Indonesia," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt09m817c0, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    2. Anderson, K.S., 2000. "The Economics of Dowry Payments in Pakistan," Other publications TiSEM 61a6a8f7-c0a4-4dc1-8ca0-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Anderson, K.S., 2000. "The Economics of Dowry Payments in Pakistan," Discussion Paper 2000-82, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    4. Thomas, Duncan & Contreras, Dante & Frankerberg, Elizabeth, 2002. "Distribution of power within the household and child health," MPRA Paper 80075, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Mar 2002.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nava Ashraf & Natalie Bau & Nathan Nunn & Alessandra Voena, 2020. "Bride Price and Female Education," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(2), pages 591-641.
    2. Zimmermann, Laura, 2018. "It’s a boy! Women and decision-making benefits from a son in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 326-335.
    3. Olivier Bargain & Jordan Loper & Roberta Ziparo, 2020. "Traditional Norms, Access to Divorce and Women’s Empowerment: Evidence from Indonesia," Working Papers hal-03258226, HAL.
    4. Daniel Suryadarma, 2015. "Gender differences in numeracy in Indonesia: evidence from a longitudinal dataset," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 180-198, April.
    5. Ferry Prasetyia, 2019. "The role of local government policy on secondary school enrolment decision in Indonesia," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(2), pages 139-172, June.
    6. Ahmed Elsayed & Olivier Marie, 2020. "Less School (Costs), More (Female) Education? Lessons from Egypt Reducing Years of Compulsory Schooling," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-037/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    7. Kenayathulla, Husaina Banu, 2016. "Gender differences in intra-household educational expenditures in Malaysia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 59-73.
    8. Chen, Cheng & Chou, Shin-Yi & Gimenez, Lea & Liu, Jin-Tan, 2020. "The quantity of education and preference for sons: Evidence from Taiwan's compulsory education reform," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Firman Witoelar, 2013. "Risk Sharing within the Extended Family: Evidence from the Indonesia Family Life Survey," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(1), pages 65-94.
    10. Bazarkulova, Dana & Compton, Janice, 2021. "Marriage traditions and investment in education: The case of bride kidnapping," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 147-163.
    11. Chakrabarti, Averi, 2021. "Deforestation and infant mortality: Evidence from Indonesia," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    12. Florencia Torche, 2019. "Educational mobility in developing countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-88, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Abel Brodeur & Marie Christelle Mabeu & Roland Pongou, 2020. "Ancestral Norms, Legal Origins, and Female Empowerment," Working Papers 2002E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    14. Giuliano, Paola, 2020. "Gender and Culture," CEPR Discussion Papers 15185, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Ray, Rita & Datta, Rajlakshmi, 2017. "Do separate female toilets in primary and upper primary schools improve female enrollment? A case study from India," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 263-273.
    16. Witoelar, Firman, 2005. "Inter-household Allocations within Extended Family: Evidence from the Indonesia Family Life Survey," Center Discussion Papers 28472, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    17. Asadullah, M. Niaz & Maliki,, 2018. "Madrasah for girls and private school for boys? The determinants of school type choice in rural and urban Indonesia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 96-111.
    18. Bargain, Olivier & Loper, Jordan & Ziparo, Roberta, 2022. "Traditional Norms, Access to Divorce and Women's Empowerment," IZA Discussion Papers 15374, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Bau, Natalie, 2019. "Can Policy Change Culture? Government Pension Plans and Traditional Kinship Practices," CEPR Discussion Papers 13486, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Collins, Matthew, 2022. "Sibling Gender, Inheritance Customs and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Matrilineal and Patrilineal Societies," Working Papers 2022:5, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    21. Huisman, Janine & Smits, Jeroen, 2009. "Effects of Household- and District-Level Factors on Primary School Enrollment in 30 Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 179-193, January.
    22. Daniel Suryadarma, 2010. "Labor Market Returns, Marriage Opportunities, or the Education System? Explaining Gender Differences in Numeracy in Indonesia," CEPR Discussion Papers 644, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    23. Priebe, Jan, 2011. "Child Costs and the Causal Effect of Fertility on Female Labor Supply: An investigation for Indonesia 1993-2008," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 67, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Levine, David & Kevane, Michael, 2003. "Are Investments in Daughters Lower when Daughters Move Away? Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1065-1084, June.
    2. Lídia Farré, 2013. "The Role of Men in the Economic and Social Development of Women: Implications for Gender Equality," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 22-51, February.
    3. Christoph Engel & Klaus Heine & Shaheen Naseer, 2021. "Religion and Tradition in Conflict Experimentally Testing the Power of Social Norms to Invalidate Religious Law," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2021_13, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    4. 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.
    5. Subhani, Muhammad Imtiaz & Afza, Sarwat, 2009. "To estimate an equation explaining the determinants of Dowry," MPRA Paper 21365, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2009.
    6. Christina Peters, 2011. "Effects of family planning and health services on women’s welfare: evidence on dowries and intra-household bargaining in Bangladesh," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 327-348, September.
    7. Afzal, Sarwat, 2009. "To Estimate An Equation Explaining The Determinants Of Dowry," MPRA Paper 16046, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Shareen Joshi, 2004. "Female Household-Headship in Rural Bangladesh: Incidence, Determinants and Impact on Children's Schooling Shareen Joshi," Working Papers 894, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    9. Reggio, Iliana, 2011. "The influence of the mother's power on her child's labor in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 95-105, September.
    10. Mardiana Dwi Puspitasari & Maria Gayatri, 2020. "Indonesia Infant and Young Child Feeding Practice: The Role of Women’s Empowerment in Household Domain," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(9), pages 129-129, August.
    11. LaFave, Daniel & Thomas, Duncan, 2017. "Extended families and child well-being," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 52-65.
    12. Gordon B. Dahl & Enrico Moretti, 2004. "The Demand for Sons: Evidence from Divorce, Fertility, and Shotgun Marriage," NBER Working Papers 10281, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Subha Mani, 2012. "Is there Complete, Partial, or No Recovery from Childhood Malnutrition? – Empirical Evidence from Indonesia," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 74(5), pages 691-715, October.
    14. Sophie Hedges & David W. Lawson & Jim Todd & Mark Urassa & Rebecca Sear, 2019. "Sharing the Load: How Do Coresident Children Influence the Allocation of Work and Schooling in Northwestern Tanzania?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(5), pages 1931-1956, October.
    15. Denni Tommasi, 2016. "Household Responses to cash Transfers," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2016-20, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    16. Ahsan,Md Nazmul & Banerjee,Rakesh & Maharaj,Riddhi, 2020. "Early-Life Access to a Basic Health Care Program and Adult Outcomes in Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9243, The World Bank.
    17. Annan, Jeannie & Donald, Aletheia & Goldstein, Markus & Gonzalez Martinez, Paula & Koolwal, Gayatri, 2021. "Taking power: Women’s empowerment and household Well-being in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    18. Agnes R. Quisumbing & John A. Maluccio, 2003. "Resources at Marriage and Intrahousehold Allocation: Evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 65(3), pages 283-327, July.
    19. Cheolsung Park, 2007. "Marriage Market, Parents’ Bargaining Powers, and Children's Nutrition and Education," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(6), pages 773-793, December.
    20. Ngo, Thi Minh-Phuong & Wahhaj, Zaki, 2012. "Microfinance and gender empowerment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 1-12.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpdc:0303002. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: EconWPA (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://econwpa.ub.uni-muenchen.de .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.