Resources at Marriage and Intrahousehold Allocation: Evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa*

Key Points

• The study aims to evaluate household dynamics by comparing the unitary model with the collective model of intrahousehold resource allocation using data from four countries.
• Utilized specially designed data from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa to test household models.
• Examined the effect of human capital and individual assets at marriage as proxies for bargaining power across different countries.
• Assessed the effect of women's and men's assets on household expenditure patterns, particularly in education.
• Reject the unitary model of household behavior in all countries, while finding support for Pareto-efficiency.
• In Bangladesh and South Africa, increased women's assets correlate with higher education expenditure for children.
• In Ethiopia, men's assets have a similar positive effect on education expenditure, but the impacts differ between boys and girls across countries.

Abstract