Publication: Saving for Dowry: Evidence from Rural India
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2020-10
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2020-10-29
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The ancient custom of dowry, that is, bride-to-groom marriage payments, remains ubiquitous in many contemporary societies. This paper examines whether dowry impacted household decision making and resource allocation in rural India during 1986-2007. Utilizing variation in firstborn gender and dowry amounts across marriage markets, the paper finds that the prospect of higher dowry payments at the time of a daughter's marriage leads parents to save more in advance. The higher savings are primarily financed through increased paternal labor supply. This implies that people are farsighted; they work and save more today with payoff in the distant future.
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“Anukriti, S.; Kwon, Sungoh; Prakash, Nishith. 2020. Saving for Dowry: Evidence from Rural India. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9453. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34686 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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