Customary Norms, Inheritance, and Human Capital: Evidence from a Reform of the Matrilineal System in Ghana

doi:10.1257/app.20150342

Publication:
Customary Norms, Inheritance, and Human Capital: Evidence from a Reform of the Matrilineal System in Ghana

dc.contributor.author	La Ferrera, Eliana
dc.contributor.author	Milazzo, Annamaria
dc.date.accessioned	2017-12-20T17:47:49Z
dc.date.available	2017-12-20T17:47:49Z
dc.date.issued	2017-10
dc.description.abstract	We study the role of traditional norms in land allocation and human capital investment. We exploit a policy experiment in Ghana that increased the land that children from matrilineal groups could inherit from their fathers. Boys exposed to the reform received 0.9 less years of education—an effect driven by landed households, for whom the reform was binding. We find no effect for girls, whose inheritance was de facto unaffected. These patterns suggest that before the reform matrilineal groups invested more in education than they would if unconstrained, to substitute for land inheritance, underscoring the importance of cultural norms.	en
dc.identifier.citation	American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/29062
dc.identifier.issn	1945-7782
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/29062
dc.publisher	American Economic Association
dc.rights	CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	American Economic Association
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
dc.subject	EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
dc.subject	CULTURAL NORMS
dc.subject	LAND INHERITANCE
dc.subject	PROPERTY RIGHTS
dc.subject	LAND ALLOCATION
dc.subject	HUMAN CAPITAL
dc.subject	EDUCATION
dc.subject	GENDER
dc.title	Customary Norms, Inheritance, and Human Capital	en
dc.title.subtitle	Evidence from a Reform of the Matrilineal System in Ghana	en
dc.type	Journal Article	en
dc.type	Article de journal	fr
dc.type	Artículo de revista	es
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.associatedcontent	https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20150342 Journal website (version of record)	en
okr.crossref.title	Customary Norms, Inheritance, and Human Capital: Evidence from a Reform of the Matrilineal System in Ghana
okr.date.disclosure	2017-12-19
okr.doctype	Publications & Research::Journal Article
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.externalcontent	External Content
okr.guid	705611515667736531
okr.identifier.doi	10.1257/app.20150342
okr.identifier.doi	10.1596/29062
okr.identifier.report	122570
okr.journal.nbpages	166-85
okr.language.supported	en
okr.peerreview	Academic Peer Review
okr.region.administrative	Africa
okr.region.country	Ghana
okr.topic	Gender::Gender and Economics
okr.topic	Gender::Gender and Education
okr.topic	Rural Development::Rural Land Policies for Poverty Reduction
okr.topic	Education::Economics of Education
okr.unit	Development Research Group (DECRG)
okr.volume	9(4)