Marriage payments and wives’ welfare: All you need is love

Rozenn Hotte and Sylvie Lambert
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Rozenn Hotte: IRJI - Institut de recherche juridique interdisciplinaire - UT - Université de Tours

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Abstract: Bride price is essential to marriage in West Africa, and its impact on wives' well-being in their marital life is a matter of debate. According to our data from Senegal, transfers to the bride's family characterize approximately 85% of marriages. Furthermore, although this is largely ignored in the literature, these marriages are also characterized by the simultaneous existence of other marriage payments, which flow in different directions between the stakeholders. This paper studies the relationship between these multiple marriage payments and the well-being of the wife in her household. We use a unique survey that asks separate questions about the different types of marriage payments. We highlight the strength of the link between what is given to the bride herself and her welfare, as opposed to the looseness of the relation between this welfare and what is given to her family.

Keywords: Bride price; Marriage; Women; Senegal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-09
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Journal of Development Economics, 2023, 164, ⟨10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103141⟩

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Related works:
Journal Article: Marriage payments and wives’ welfare: All you need is love (2023)
Working Paper: Marriage payments and wives’ welfare: All you need is love (2023)
Working Paper: Marriage Payments and Wife's Welfare: All you need is love (2020)
Working Paper: Marriage Payments and Wife's Welfare: All you need is love (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-04192617

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103141

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