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Intrahousehold Consumption Allocation and Demand for Agency: A Triple Experimental Investigation

Author

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  • Uzma Afzal
  • Giovanna d'Adda
  • Marcel Fafchamps
  • Farah Said

Abstract

We conduct lab experiments to investigate demand for consumption agency in married couples from Pakistan. Most subjects are no better at guessing their spouse's preferences than those of a stranger, suggesting that individual executive agency has instrumental value. We find significant evidence of demand for agency in all experiments, varying with the cost and anticipated instrumental benefit of agency. But subjects often make choices incompatible with purely instrumental motives—e.g., paying for agency when knowing their partner assigned them their preferred choice. Female subjects are willing to exert agency even when they have little executive agency within their household.

Suggested Citation

  • Uzma Afzal & Giovanna d'Adda & Marcel Fafchamps & Farah Said, 2022. "Intrahousehold Consumption Allocation and Demand for Agency: A Triple Experimental Investigation," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 400-444, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:400-444
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20200672
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    Cited by:

    1. Matthew Lowe & Madeline McKelway, 2021. "Coupling Labor Supply Decisions: An Experiment in India," CESifo Working Paper Series 9446, CESifo.
    2. Charlotte Ringdal & Ingrid Hoem Sjursen, 2021. "Household Bargaining and Spending on Children: Experimental Evidence from Tanzania," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(350), pages 430-455, April.
    3. Schütze, Tobias & Carlhoff, Henrik & Witschel, Helena, 2024. "Eliciting Paternalistic Preferences: An Incentivised Experiment," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 169, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    4. D’Exelle, Ben & Ringdal, Charlotte, 2022. "Women’s use of family planning services: An experiment on the husband’s involvement," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    5. Carlotta Nani, 2024. "Perceived abilities and gender stereotypes within the household: experimental evidence from Bangladesh," IHEID Working Papers 19-2024, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • 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
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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