The risk of polygamy and wives'saving behavior

Marie Boltz and Isabelle Chort

No 7860, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: In a polygamous society, all monogamous women are potentially at risk of polygamy. However, the anthropological and economic literatures are silent on the potential impact of the risk of polygamy on the economic decisions of monogamous wives. This paper explores this issue in Senegal, using individual panel data. The paper first estimates a Cox model for the probability of transition to polygamy. Second, it estimates the impact of the predicted risk of polygamy on monogamous wives'savings. The findings show a positive impact of the risk of polygamy on female savings entrusted to formal or informal institutions, which is suggestive of self-protective strategies. The increase in savings comes at the cost of reduced consumption of household food expenditures and wives'private nonfood expenses.

Keywords: Governance; Diagnostic; Capacity; Building (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-10-17
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Risk of Polygamy and Wives’ Saving Behavior (2019)
Working Paper: The Risk of Polygamy and Wives’ Saving Behavior (2019)
Working Paper: The Risk of Polygamy and Wives’ Saving Behavior (2019)
Working Paper: The Risk of Polygamy and Wives' Saving Behavior (2015)
Working Paper: The Risk of Polygamy and Wives' Saving Behaviour (2015)
Working Paper: The Risk of Polygamy and Wives Saving Behavior (2015)
Working Paper: The Risk of Polygamy and Wives Saving Behavior (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7860

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