The Shadow of Indebtedness: Bridewealth and Norms Constraining Female Reproductive Autonomy

Horne, Christine; Dodoo, F. Nii-Amoo; Dodoo, Naa Dodua

doi:10.1177/0003122413484923

Cited by 67 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In line with anthropological evidence we argue that with the full payment of the bride price a woman loses her reproductive autonomy and subordinates her fertility preferences to the husband (Horne et al, 2013). Then, every man in a traditional society maximises the following utility function:…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…This contains the services a wife provides for her husband, such as taking care of the household, and her level of education but also less tangible traits such as her beauty and her reputation within the local community. This builds on existing evidence that the amount of the bride price reflects a woman's socio-economic characteristics (Gaspart and Platteau, 2010;Horne et al, 2013;Platteau and Gaspart, 2007). The second component entering male utility is his number of children, which is a function of a woman's traits W. Building on existing anthropological evidence we argue that men in traditional societies aim for large families as it increases their standing within the community (Caldwell & Caldwell, 1990).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Such a bride price system raises several concerns related to the economics of the marriage market, gender empowerment and intra-household bargaining power. The anthropological literature has shown that bride price payments strengthen normative constraints on women's autonomy in the reproductive domain (Horne, Dodoo, & Dodua Dodoo, 2013). We consider a woman's role in marriage as represented by the fertility decisions of the couple.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Bride Price and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from Rural Senegal

Mbaye

Wagner

2016

The Journal of Development Studies

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This paper provides evidence about the relationship between bride price payments and fertility decisions in Senegal. Higher bride price payments reduce the fertility pressure for women with results being robust to confounding socio-economic and contextual factors. The fertility-reducing impact is greater for women who are economically dependent on their husbands. In polygamous households and for arranged marriages, a lower bride price increases fertility pressure while in monogamous households and for non-arranged marriages, the bride price does not affect fertility. As bride price payments have less power over (economically) independent women, empowerment will give leeway to girls in traditional societies.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bride Price and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from Rural Senegal

Mbaye

Wagner

2016

The Journal of Development Studies

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“…This is an issue we had been unable to tackle using more traditional demographic approaches. The results of our vignette experiment provide clear evidence that the payment of bridewealth increases normative constraints on women's reproductive autonomy (Horne, Dodoo, and Dodoo 2013). In a scenario in which the bridewealth negotiated for a particular woman had been completely paid, the norms constraining the woman's autonomy were significantly stronger than in a scenario in which no bridewealth had been paid.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Recognizing that experiments offered an untapped tool for assessing the effects of bridewealth, we developed a vignette experiment to test the effects of bridewealth payment on a woman's reproductive autonomy (Horne, Dodoo, and Dodoo 2013). …”

Section: Experimental Methodology and Population-based Survey Experimmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lab experiments in demographic fieldwork

Dodoo

Horne²,

Dodoo³

2014

DemRes

Self Cite

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BACKGROUNDAnthropological literature has long linked bridewealth payments to decision-making about fertility. Recent research underscores the significance of men's preferences regarding women's reproductive behavior, and suggests that bridewealth payments place constraints on women's reproductive autonomy. Yet because survey data on bridewealth are rare, and the collection of new survey data on bridewealth presents serious challenges, this explanation could not be tested. OBJECTIVEOur objective in this paper is to highlight the potential utility of lab experiments (in particular, vignette experiments) for improving our understanding of gender relations in Africa, using the hypothesized effect of bridewealth on normative constraints on women's reproductive autonomy as an illustration. METHODSWe discuss our reasons for turning to lab experiments, and to vignette experiments in particular. We also summarize a series of studies (Horne, Dodoo, and Dodoo 2013; Dodoo, Horne, and Biney 2014) which have implemented our experimental approach. RESULTSOur experimental evidence shows that bridewealth payments are associated with greater normative constraints on women's reproductive autonomy. We also find that these negative effects of bridewealth are consistent across participant ages, and do not appear to be ameliorated by female schooling. CONCLUSIONSWe conclude that lab experiments in general (and vignette experiments in particular) are underutilized methodological tools that may be useful for helping us gain a better understanding of the cultural context of gender relations in Africa; and that demographic research more generally may benefit from taking advantage of the strengths of experimental methods.

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Urban Women and the Transformations ofBraedpraes¹in Honiara²

Jourdan¹,

Labbé

2020

Oceania

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In the capital city of the Solomon Islands, brideprice is often given to formalize the marriage of young couples from the island of Malaita. For the young wife, brideprice is a reminder that she is expected to work and produce children for the lineage of her husband, an obligation that is at times strongly impressed upon her by her in-laws. Data gathered in Honiara over the last 15 years, most recently in 2015-2016, show the emergence of a variety of patterns among Malaitan women living in Honiara regarding their productive and reproductive autonomy, and their role in brideprice. Beyond their diversity, what these data reveal, we argue, is that the interstitial cultural spaces created by the urbanization of social and economic relations afford young urban women the possibility of engaging with brideprice in a way that had not been possible until then. We demonstrate that, as members of an emerging new middle-class, these women seek (either in agreement with their husbands, or in spite of them) to transform the meaning of brideprice: while showing respect to their in-laws and to tradition, their goal is to gain greater control over their lives within the confines of brideprice sociality.

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The Shadow of Indebtedness: Bridewealth and Norms Constraining Female Reproductive Autonomy

Cited by 67 publications

References 49 publications

Bride Price and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from Rural Senegal

Bride Price and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from Rural Senegal

Lab experiments in demographic fieldwork

Urban Women and the Transformations ofBraedpraes¹in Honiara²

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The Shadow of Indebtedness: Bridewealth and Norms Constraining Female Reproductive Autonomy

Cited by 67 publications

References 49 publications

Bride Price and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from Rural Senegal

Bride Price and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from Rural Senegal

Lab experiments in demographic fieldwork

Urban Women and the Transformations ofBraedpraes1in Honiara2

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Resources

About

Urban Women and the Transformations ofBraedpraes¹in Honiara²