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Your Conscience You Must Keep, or it Must be Kept for You

Author

Listed:
  • Birendra K. Rai

    (Max Planck Institute of Economics)

Abstract

Parents in several cultures 'discipline' their daughters to inculcate the supposedly feminine virtues. The measures taken by parents range from the benign to the brutal across societies. The paper formalizes the idea that this process can be understood as an equilibrium outcome of a signaling game between parents of girls and prospective suitors. We identify the conditions that make a society-wide norm feasible, and those that determine the extent of restrictions faced by girls in equilibrium. The predictions of the model can help understand the persistence of extreme practices like foot-binding and genital mutilation of young girls.

Suggested Citation

  • Birendra K. Rai, 2007. "Your Conscience You Must Keep, or it Must be Kept for You," Jena Economics Research Papers 2007-083, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    • Handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2007-083
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    File URL: https://oweb.b67.uni-jena.de/Papers/jerp2007/wp_2007_083.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marriage; Signaling; Virginity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C7 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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