Publication: Leaning in at Home: Women's Promotions and Intra-household Bargaining in Bangladesh
Date
2023-03-23
ISSN
Published
2023-03-23
Author(s)
Uckat, Hannah
Abstract
It is established that entering
employment improves a woman's bargaining position in
the household. This paper investigates whether a
woman's career advancement further improves her
intra-household bargaining power. The analysis exploits
quasi-random participation in a career promotion program in
Bangladesh's garment industry to causally estimate the
impact of women's promotion on household
decision-making. The findings show that women who
participate in the promotion program gain bargaining power
as measured by higher expenditures on women (51%) and girls
(74%), and on remittances (58%). The promotion-related
income effect only partially explains these increases,
suggesting that women gain more agency over household income
more generally. Further, these new female managers now serve
as role models to their staff. The paper finds that the
direct effects spill over to women who are quasi-randomly
exposed to the new female managers, who also report more say
in household decisions. Complementarities between
women's positions in the workplace and in the household
appear important.
Citation
“Uckat, Hannah. 2023. Leaning in at Home: Women's Promotions and Intra-household Bargaining in Bangladesh. Policy Research Working Papers; 10370. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/39586 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”