ERF 26th Annual Conference
The Price of Silence: Marriage Transfers and Women’s Attitude Toward Intimate Partner Violence
No.
ERF26_111
Publisher
ERF
Date
July, 2020
Topic
D1. Household Behavior and Family Economics
J1. Demographic Economics
This paper provides evidence about the relationship between marriage transfers and women’s opinion on intimate partner violence (IPV) in Jordan. In Middle East countries, the social structure is particularly imbued by patriarchal norms and domestic violence is largely widespread. Marriages are shaped by welldened customs. In particular, the groom has to offer a so-called bride-price to the bride and bride’s parents might contribute to marriage costs by endowing her with a set of furniture, called trousseau. While women’s attitude about IPV arises as a key concern, a lack of knowledge still exists about its association with those transfers. I estimate how women’s attitude toward IPV is aected by (i) the bride-price amount (ii) the bride’s contribution to the marriage costs. After accounting for potential endogeneity, I find that both payments are associated to a positive and signicant increase of woman’s likelihood to justify IPV. Woman’s outside options are affected through the family pressure generated by pre-marital investment and requirement to return the bride-price in case of divorce.
Authors
Suzanna Khalifa
PhD Candidate in Economics, Aix-Marseille School of...