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The Risk of Polygamy and Wives’ Saving Behavior

Author

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  • Marie Boltz
  • Isabelle Chort

Abstract

In a polygamous society, all monogamous women are potentially at risk of polygamy. However, both the anthropological and economic literatures are silent on the potential impact of the risk of polygamy on economic decisions of monogamous wives. We explore this issue for Senegal using individual panel data. We first estimate a Cox model for the probability of transition to polygamy. Second, we estimate the impact of the predicted risk of polygamy on monogamous wives’ savings. We find a positive impact of the risk of polygamy on female savings entrusted to formal or informal institutions suggestive of self-protective strategies. This increase in savings comes at the cost of reduced consumption, both in terms of household food expenditures and wives’ private nonfood expenses.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie Boltz & Isabelle Chort, 2019. "The Risk of Polygamy and Wives’ Saving Behavior," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 209-230.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbecrv:v:33:y:2019:i:1:p:209-230.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/wber/lhw054
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Elisabeth Cudeville & Charlotte Guénard & Anne-Sophie Robilliard, 2017. "Polygamy and female labour supply in Senegal," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-127, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Deschênes, Sarah & Dumas, Christelle & Lambert, Sylvie, 2020. "Household resources and individual strategies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Mostafa Zahirinia & Yaser Rastegar & Malihe Rahmanian, 2024. "From revenge to compromise: women’s strategies in the face of polygamy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 3905-3919, August.
    5. Jean-Marie Baland & Roberta Ziparo, 2017. "Intra-household bargaining in poor countries," WIDER Working Paper Series 108, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Pauline Rossi, 2019. "Strategic Choices in Polygamous Households: Theory and Evidence from Senegal," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(3), pages 1332-1370.
    7. Jean-Marie Baland & Roberta Ziparo, 2017. "Intra-household bargaining in poor countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-108, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Elisabeth Cudeville & Charlotte Guénard & Anne-Sophie Robilliard, 2017. "Polygamy and female labour supply in Senegal," WIDER Working Paper Series 127, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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