Education and polygamy: Evidence from Cameroon

Pierre André and Yannick Dupraz
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Pierre André: THEMA - Théorie économique, modélisation et applications - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CY - CY Cergy Paris Université

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Abstract: Has secular education contributed to the decline of polygamy in Africa? To answer this question, we study a wave of public school construction in late-colonial Cameroon. Our difference-in-differences and event-study specifications show that school openings have simultaneously increased education and the chances to be in a polygamous union for men and, more surprisingly, for women. We estimate a structural model of marriage to explain why education made women more likely to be in a polygamous union. The main estimated channel is marriage to educated men who are more often polygamists than uneducated men, not direct preferences for polygamy.

Keywords: Polygamy; Education; Marriage; Matching models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-05
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://cyu.hal.science/hal-04024207v1
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Published in Journal of Development Economics, 2023, 162, pp.103068. ⟨10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103068⟩

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Related works:
Journal Article: Education and polygamy: Evidence from Cameroon (2023)
Working Paper: Education and Polygamy: Evidence from Cameroon (2019)
Working Paper: Education and Polygamy: Evidence from Cameroon (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04024207

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103068

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