Does gender dynamics in intra-household decision making shift with male migration? Evidence from rice-farming households in Eastern India

Rohini Ram Mohan, Ranjitha Puskur, Chandrasekar D. and Harold Glenn Valera ()

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper unpacks the complex relationship between migration of men and the decision-making power of the women who ‘stay behind’ in Bihar, Eastern India. We use mixed methods research design to assess whether women perceive a shift in decision making ‘authority’ between different members in households where men migrate and examine the subjective meanings of these shifts. Using a retrospective survey, we map the extent to which women report shifts in decision making ‘authority’ after migration of male member. Decision-making is examined for various activities classified into four domains: agricultural practices, labor allocation, machinery and purchase of productive assets, and household expenditure and activities. Overall, patterns indicate a nominal change in the proportional distribution of perceived household decision authority for all categories and shift towards joint decision making (by wife and husband) emerging as an important trajectory. Using multinomial regression and interpretative analysis of qualitative findings, the paper sheds light on the role of age, family type, household and migrant characteristics in shaping the direction of shifts, and limiting the transfer of meaningful bargaining power to women. The paper makes a case that transformation of the patriarchal habitus requires a more substantial transformation of livelihood capitals.

Keywords: Migration; Decision-making; Women; India; Habitus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J22 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-01-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published in Gender, Technology and Development 2.27(2022): pp. 157-183

Downloads: (external link)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/123458/1/MPRA_paper_123458.pdf original version (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:123458

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany Ludwigstraße 33, D-80539 Munich, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Joachim Winter ().