Saving for Dowry: Evidence from Rural India

S Anukriti, Sungoh Kwon and Nishith Prakash

No 9453, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: The ancient custom of dowry, that is, bride-to-groom marriage payments, remains ubiquitous in manycontemporary societies. This paper examines whether dowry impacted household decision making and resource allocationin rural India during 1986-2007. Utilizing variation in firstborn gender and dowry amounts across marriage markets,the paper finds that the prospect of higher dowry payments at the time of a daughter~^!!^s marriage leads parents tosave more in advance. The higher savings are primarily financed through increased paternal labor supply. Thisimplies that people are farsighted; they work and save more today with payoff in the distant future.

Keywords: Labor Markets; Gender and Development; Inequality; International Trade and Trade Rules; Health Care Services Industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-10-26
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Journal Article: Saving for dowry: Evidence from rural India (2022)
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