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Women's political participation and intrahousehold empowerment: Evidence from the Egyptian Arab Spring

Author

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  • Olivier Bargain

    (UB - Université de Bordeaux)

  • Delphine Boutin

    (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - UCA [2017-2020] - Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Hugues Champeaux

    (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - UCA [2017-2020] - Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Egyptian women have played an unprecedented role in the Arab Spring democratic movement, possibly changing women's perception about their own rights and role. We question whether these events have translated into better outcomes within Egyptian households. We conjecture that potential changes must have been heterogeneous and depended on the local intensity of protests and women's participation over 2011-13. We exploit the geographical heterogeneity along these two margins to conduct a double difference analysis using data surrounding the period. We find a significant improvement in women's final say regarding decisions on health, socialization and household expenditure, as well as a decline in the acceptation of domestic violence and girls' circumcision, in the regions most affected by the protests. This effect is not due to particular regional patterns or pre-existing trends in empowerment. It is also robust to alternative treatment definitions and confirmed by triple difference estimations. We confront our main interpretation to alternative mechanisms that could have explained this effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Bargain & Delphine Boutin & Hugues Champeaux, 2018. "Women's political participation and intrahousehold empowerment: Evidence from the Egyptian Arab Spring," CERDI Working papers halshs-01804380, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:cdiwps:halshs-01804380
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01804380
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    2. Yvonne Giesing & Reem Hassan, 2021. "Between Hope and Despair: Egypt's Revolution and Migration Intentions," CESifo Working Paper Series 9237, CESifo.
    3. Lecoutere, Els & Spielman, David J. & Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2023. "Empowering women through targeting information or role models: Evidence from an experiment in agricultural extension in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    4. Maleeha Mohammed Zaaf Al-Qahtani & Tarek Tawfik Yousef Alkhateeb & Haider Mahmood & Manal Abdalla Zahed Abdalla & Thikkryat Jebril Obaid Talalah Qaralleh, 2020. "The Role of the Academic and Political Empowerment of Women in Economic, Social and Managerial Empowerment: The Case of Saudi Arabia," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-19, June.
    5. Pascal L. Ghazalian, 2022. "The effects of the Arab Spring on female labour force participation in the MENA region," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 869-900, October.
    6. Andréa Renk & Clarice Manuel, 2023. "Patriarchy on the map: Women’s empowerment trajectories in Nepal’s changing social context," DeFiPP Working Papers 2304, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    7. Samia Ferhat & Rozenn Hotte & Philip Verwimp, 2022. "Entry into Marriage, Motherhood and the Arab Spring: Evidence from Egypt," Working Papers ECARES 2022-16, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Thibault Lemaire, 2020. "Phillips in A Revolution: Unemployment and Prices in Early 21st Century Egypt," Working Papers hal-03948605, HAL.
    9. Davis, Lewis & Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Weber, Clas, 2022. "Gendered Language and Gendered Violence," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1127, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Felipe González & Magdalena Larreboure, 2021. "The Impact of the Women’s March on the U.S. House Election," Documentos de Trabajo 560, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    11. Rudolf, Robert & Wang, Shun & Wu, Fengyu, 2023. "The Arab Spring, a setback for gender equality? Evidence from the Gallup World Poll," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    12. Astghik Mavisakalyan & Anu Rammohan, 2021. "Female autonomy in household decision-making and intimate partner violence: evidence from Pakistan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 255-280, March.
    13. Konte, Maty & Osei Kwadwo, Victor & Zinyemba, Tatenda, 2019. "Women's political and reproductive health empowerment in Africa: A literature review," MERIT Working Papers 2019-044, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Arab Spring; Revolutions; Gender; Empowerment; Egypt.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

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