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Household Savings and Marriage Payments: Evidence from Dowry in India
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Household Savings and Marriage Payments: Evidence from Dowry in India

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  • S Anukriti

    (Boston College
    IZA)

  • Sungoh Kwon

    (University of Connecticut)

  • Nishith Prakash

    (University of Connecticut)

Abstract

This paper examines how traditional marriage market institutions affect households’ financial decisions. We study how bride-to-groom marriage payments, i.e., dowries, influence saving behavior in rural India. Exploiting variation in firstborn gender and heterogeneity in dowry amounts across marriage markets, we find that the prospect of paying higher dowry increases household savings, which are primarily financed through increased paternal labor supply. This is the first paper that highlights this alternative motive for savings in dowry-paying societies. However, we find no impacts of dowry expectations on son-preferring fertility behaviors and investments in girls.

Suggested Citation

  • S Anukriti & Sungoh Kwon & Nishith Prakash, 2018. "Household Savings and Marriage Payments: Evidence from Dowry in India," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 949, Boston College Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:boc:bocoec:949
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    Cited by:

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    2. Xu, Sijia & Shonchoy, Abu S. & Fujii, Tomoki, 2022. "Assessing gender parity in intrahousehold allocation of educational resources: Evidence from Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Household Savings; Dowry; Marriage Payments; India; Labor Supply; Fertility; Sex Ratio; Child Investments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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