Publication:
Terror as a Bargaining Instrument : A Case Study of Dowry Violence in Rural India

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dc.contributor.authorBloch, Francis
dc.contributor.authorRao, Vijayendra
dc.date.accessioned2015-03-11T14:45:41Z
dc.date.available2015-03-11T14:45:41Z
dc.date.issued2000-05
dc.description.abstractThe authors examine how domestic violence may be used as a bargaining instrument, to extract larger dowries from a spouse's family. The phrase "dowry violence" refers not to the paid at the time of the wedding, but to additional payments demanded by the groom's family after the marriage. The additional dowry is often paid to stop the husband from systematically beating the wife. The authors base their case study of three villages in southern India on qualitative and survey data. Based on the ethnographic evidence, they develop a noncooperative bargaining and signaling model of dowries and domestic violence. They test the predictions from those models on survey data. They find that women whose families pay smaller dowries suffer increased risk of marital violence. So do women who come from richer families (from whom resources can more easily be extracted). Larger dowries - as well as greater satisfaction with the marriage (in the form of more male children) - reduce the probability of violence. In India marriage is almost never a matter of choice for women, but is driven almost entirely by social norms, and parental preferences. Providing opportunities for women outside of marriage and the marriage market would significantly improve their well-being by allowing them to leave an abusive husband, or find a way of "bribing" him to stop the abuse, or present a credible threat, which has the same effect.en
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-2347
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/21580
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Papers;No. 2347
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subjectdomestic violence
dc.subjecteconomic incentives
dc.subjectspousal abuse
dc.subjectmarital abuse
dc.subjectmarried women
dc.subjectmarriage economic aspects
dc.subjectrural
dc.subjectsocial norms
dc.subjectethnography
dc.subjecteconometric models
dc.subjectbattered women
dc.subjectstatus of women
dc.subjectgender inequality
dc.subjectgender-based violence
dc.subjectaged
dc.subjectcrime
dc.subjectdivorce
dc.subjectdomestic violence
dc.subjectdowries
dc.subjectdowry
dc.subjectemployment
dc.subjectexercises
dc.subjectextended family
dc.subjectfamilies
dc.subjectfathers
dc.subjectfemales
dc.subjectgenerations
dc.subjecthouseholds
dc.subjectintergenerational transmission
dc.subjectmales
dc.subjectmarriages
dc.subjectmarried men
dc.subjectmarried women
dc.subjectmortality
dc.subjectparents
dc.subjectpolice
dc.subjectpolygamy
dc.subjectreligious practices
dc.subjectsocial isolation
dc.subjectsocial norms
dc.subjectsociety
dc.subjectsuicide
dc.subjectvillages
dc.subjectviolence
dc.titleTerror as a Bargaining Instrument : A Case Study of Dowry Violence in Rural Indiaen
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crosscuttingsolutionareaGender
okr.crossref.titleTerror as a Bargaining Instrument: A Case Study of Dowry Violence in Rural India
okr.date.disclosure2000-05-31
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-10T09:23:50.106507Z
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Policy Research Working Paper
okr.globalpracticeHealth, Nutrition, and Population
okr.guid333311468771060459
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-2347
okr.identifier.reportWPS2347
okr.language.supporteden
okr.region.administrativeSouth Asia
okr.region.countryIndia
okr.sectorHealth and other social services :: Other social services
okr.topicCulture and Development::Anthropology
okr.topicGender
okr.topicGender::Gender and Law
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population::Adolescent Health
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population::Health Monitoring & Evaluation
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population::Population & Development
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population::Public Health Promotion
okr.topicSocial Development::Social Inclusion & Institutions
okr.unitPoverty and Human Resources, Development Research Group
relation.isAuthorOfPublication385fa299-94e8-5dcc-a817-90cf574a0ae2
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery385fa299-94e8-5dcc-a817-90cf574a0ae2
relation.isSeriesOfPublication26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
relation.isSeriesOfPublication.latestForDiscovery26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
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