Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Greenwich
Work-in-progress (Project-based collaboration):
Economic and Empowerment impact of Millet processing and value addition in India
Intra-household resource allocation and women empowerment in South-East Asia
Impact of Covid-19 on agricultural value chains in South-East Asia
Job Market paper:
Marriage Norms and Fertility Outcomes in Developing Countries
Working papers:
Cultural Norms, Descent systems, and Female Labour Force Participation in sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between the and female labour force participation rates in African countries. It uses an innovative approach to identify the effect of culture by evaluating the variations in labour market outcomes of women from two distinct unilineal descent groups (patrilineal and matrilineal systems), and women with historically sedentary versus nomadic lineages. The paper finds that over 60% of women in sub-Saharan Africa are in the labour market irrespective of their descent system. However, women from nomadic cultures have a much lower average labour force participation rate than women with sedentary ancestry. Variations in the strength of formal institutions is, interestingly, able to temper the effect of cultural norms on female labour market outcomes. Strong formal institutions mediate the effect of culture leading to improved labour market outcomes for women irrespective of cultural backgrounds. The interaction between culture and formal institutions produces a particularly important effect for women with nomadic ancestry. The findings show that higher average values of formal institutions reverse the negative effect of the nomadic culture, yielding positive and statistically significant estimates for the rate of women's participation in the labour force.
The Fertility Outcomes of Descendants of Immigrants in the United Kingdom: Does Culture Matter?
Abstract
In this paper I explore the relationship between completed fertility and cultural norms from country of ancestry, specifically, the norms regarding female fertility and family size. I exploit the differences in total fertility rates (TFR) from eleven ancestry countries as an exogenous source of variation to show the transmission of cultural norms from parents to children in ethnic minority households. using a sample of women aged 35 to 64 who were born and raised in the UK with at least one parent born outside the UK, I show that the TFR from a country of ancestry has an important positive impact on the completed fertility of second-generation immigrant women. In addition, having many siblings increases the level of completed fertility quite significantly, indicating that cultural transmission takes place within the household. I also find evidence of a negative correlation between educational attainment and fertility rate. But this effect is heterogenous across birth cohorts - women in the younger birth cohort had lower fertility rates than women in the older birth cohort. This may indicate a change in the susceptibility of the younger generation to the cultural beliefs and fertility preferences of their parents.
Research Affiliations: Global Challenges Doctoral Centre