The Power to Protect: Household Bargaining and Female Condom Use

Rachel Cassidy, Marije Groot Bruinderink, Wendy Janssens and Karlijn Morsink

No 2018-08, CSAE Working Paper Series from Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford

Abstract: Use of technologies such as condoms must be agreed upon by both partners. In contexts where women have low bargaining power, many women may struggle to convince their partners to adopt. Introducing a version of the technology that is second-best from a social planner’s perspective, but more acceptable to men, may therefore improve adoption and welfare. We evaluate a field experiment introducing female condoms in the slums of Maputo, Mozambique. Female condoms offer marginally lower protection and higher unit cost than male condoms — which are already widely available — but lower discomfort and stigma to men. As predicted by our model, we find strongest adoption among women with low household bargaining power. The main margin of adoption is therefore from women previously having unprotected sex, rather than women substituting away from male condoms. We also observe an increase in the number of sex acts. A cost-benefit analysis shows how free provision of female condoms could be cost-effective. The findings highlight how policy should take into account the distribution of the costs and benefits of technology adoption, and of bargaining power, within the household.

JEL-codes: C78 I12 J16 O15 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The power to protect: Household bargaining and female condom use (2021)
Working Paper: The Power to Protect: Household Bargaining and Female Condom Use (2020)
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