Arranged marriage, education and dowry: A Contract-theoretic perspective

Soumyanetra Munshi ()

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India

Abstract: This paper propounds a contract-theoretic model where dowry acts as a screening device to differentiate grooms of varying qualities. In 'arranged' marriage settings that are characterized by incomplete information in the sense that the true quality of the groom remains unobservable to the bride, and in the presence of observable traits like education that are easier for the better quality groom to achieve, education-dowry contracts can potentially serve as a screening instrument. Moreover increasing dowry levels can be explained through increased educational attainments brought about by modernization and government policies. The paper also discusses historical and narrative evidences in support of its main hypotheses.

Keywords: 'Arranged' marriage; 'arranged' marriage and dowry; dowry inflation; dowry and education; dowry as a screening device; dowry as a signal of the quality of the groom (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 J12 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2014-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cta and nep-mic
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: 'Arranged' Marriage, Education, and Dowry: A Contract-Theoretic Perspective (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2014-006

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