Sharing norm, household efficiency and female demand for agency in the Philippines

Jean-Marie Baland, Ludovic Bequet, Catherine Guirkinger and Clarice Manuel

No 2201, DeFiPP Working Papers from University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies

Abstract: Households in the Philippines are characterized by durable unions and a relatively high status of women who are entrusted with the management of household finances, a context conducive to intra-household cooperation. We run experimental games with couples in the rural Philippines. We first find the prevalence of a strong sharing norm whereby women secure about two thirds of the total payoffs, in line with their prominent role in the family. Despite a favourable setting, couples incur large efficiency losses of about 46% of potential gains. We interpret this finding as revealing a strong, latent demand for agency by women who express a strong preference for hidden money over (larger) transfers from their husband as the latter involve an implicit control over their use. These findings challenge a naive view of female empowerment that solely focuses on the apparent control over household resources.

Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2022-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban and nep-sea
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https://defipp.unamur.be/wp/defipp_wp_2022_1.pdf First version, 2022 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Sharing norm, household efficiency and female demand for agency in the Philippines (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nam:defipp:2201

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