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Household decision making and the influence of spouses’ income, education, and communist party membership: A field experiment in rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Carlsson, Fredrik

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

  • Martinsson, Peter

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

  • Qin, Ping

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

  • Sutter, Matthias

    (Department of Public Finance, University of Innsbruck)

Abstract

We study household decision making in a high-stakes experiment with a random sample of households in rural China. Spouses have to choose between risky lotteries, first separately and then jointly. We find that spouses’ individual risk preferences are more similar the richer the household and the higher the wife’s relative income contribution. A couple’s joint decision is typically determined by the husband, but women who contribute relatively more to the household income, women in high-income households, women with more education than their husbands, and women with communist party membership have a stronger influence on the joint decision.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlsson, Fredrik & Martinsson, Peter & Qin, Ping & Sutter, Matthias, 2009. "Household decision making and the influence of spouses’ income, education, and communist party membership: A field experiment in rural China," Working Papers in Economics 356, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0356
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. He, Haoran & Martinsson, Peter & Sutter, Matthias, 2012. "Group decision making under risk: An experiment with student couples," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 691-693.
    2. Mohammed Abdellaoui & Olivier l’Haridon & Corina Paraschiv, 2013. "Individual vs. couple behavior: an experimental investigation of risk preferences," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 75(2), pages 175-191, August.
    3. Munro, Alistair & Kebede, Bereket & Tarazona-Gomez, Marcela & Verschoor, Arjan, 2014. "Autonomy and efficiency. An experiment on household decisions in two regions of India," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 114-133.
    4. Hélène Couprie & Miriam Beblo & Denis Beninger & François Cochard & Astrid Hopfensitz, 2012. "Equality-Efficiency Trade-off within French and German Couples – A Comparative Experimental Study," THEMA Working Papers 2012-44, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    5. Markussen, Thomas & Ngo, Quang-Thanh, 2019. "Economic and non-economic returns to communist party membership in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 370-384.
    6. Carlsson, Fredrik & He, Haoran & Martinsson, Peter & Qin, Ping & Sutter, Matthias, 2012. "Household decision making in rural China: Using experiments to estimate the influences of spouses," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 525-536.
    7. Bereket Kebede & Marcela Tarazona & Alistair Munro & Arjan Verschoor, 2014. "Intra-household Efficiency: An Experimental Study from Ethiopia," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), vol. 23(1), pages 105-150.
    8. Alistair Munro & Danail Popov, 2013. "A portmanteau experiment on the relevance of individual decision anomalies for households," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 16(3), pages 335-348, September.
    9. Paolo Crosetto & Antonio Filippin & Janna Heider, 2015. "A Study of Outcome Reporting Bias Using Gender Differences in Risk Attitudes," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 61(1), pages 239-262.
    10. Chad Meyerhoefer & C. Chen, 2011. "The effect of parental labor migration on children’s educational progress in rural china," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 379-396, September.
    11. Shuo Ding, 2023. "Vulnerability to Poverty in Chinese Households with Elderly Members: 2013–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-30, March.
    12. Zicheng Wang & Yun Lou & Yi Zhou, 2020. "Bargaining Power or Specialization? Determinants of Household Decision Making in Chinese Rural Migrant Families," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, December.
    13. Hongwei Xu & Yu Xie, 2017. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health in China: A Reassessment with Data from the 2010–2012 China Family Panel Studies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 219-239, May.
    14. Edoardo Marcucci & Amanda Stathopoulos & Lucia Rotaris & Romeo Danielis, 2011. "Comparing Single and Joint Preferences: A Choice Experiment on Residential Location in Three-Member Households," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(5), pages 1209-1225, May.
    15. Fafchamps, Marcel & Said, Farah & d Adda, Giovanna, 2016. "Gender and Agency within the Household: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan," CEPR Discussion Papers 11464, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Alistair Munro & Bereket Kebede & Marcela Tarazona-Gomez & Arjan Verschoor, 2011. "Autonomy or Efficiency. An experiment on household decisions in two regions of India," GRIPS Discussion Papers 10-33, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
    17. Bereket Kebede & Marcela Tarazona & Alistair Munro & Arjan Verschoor, 2014. "Intra-household Efficiency: An Experimental Study from Ethiopia," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), vol. 23(1), pages 105-150.
    18. Miriam Beblo & Denis Beninger, 2012. "Do husbands and wives pool their incomes? Experimental evidence," Working Papers of BETA 2012-10, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    19. Yang, Xiaojun & Carlsson, Fredrik, 2012. "Intra-household decisions making on intertemporal choices: An experimental study in rural China," Working Papers in Economics 537, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Household decision making; Risk; Field experiment; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General

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