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Household resilience during climate shocks in rural Benin: The role of matrilocality on girls' school dropout

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  • Dedehouanou, Sènakpon Fidèle Ange
  • Kougblenou Menou, Vihoutou Marthe

Abstract

Withdrawing girls from school as a resilience strategy can have serious long-term consequences for socioeconomic development, undermining personal autonomy and financial independence. This paper examines how traditional cultural practices, specifically matrilocal customs, affect school dropout behavior in response to drought conditions in rural Benin. Using panel data on children aged 6–18, in conjunction with the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index data and ancestral information on marital residence rules from Murdock's Ethnographic Atlas, this study identifies a significant mechanism for female protection inherent in matrilocal structures. Drought decreases the school dropout rate by 2.0 to 4.3 percentage points for girls relative to boys, predominantly in secondary education, within matrilocal households. This result is likely due to a context that reduces gender-based inequalities and alleviates the financial burden associated with educational expenses. Policy interventions that exclude social norm considerations may be insufficient to help rural households adopt transformative resilience strategies. Achieving equitable resilience outcomes may require approaches that leverage social networks and address cultural foundations of resource allocation.

Suggested Citation

  • Dedehouanou, Sènakpon Fidèle Ange & Kougblenou Menou, Vihoutou Marthe, 2026. "Household resilience during climate shocks in rural Benin: The role of matrilocality on girls' school dropout," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:122:y:2026:i:c:s2214804326000522
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2026.102561
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • G50 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - General
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development

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