Perceived abilities and gender stereotypes within the household. Experimental evidence from rural Bangladesh  [Draft]

Is it possible to improve women’s agency by providing information on their abilities? Using a lab experiment in the field, I study how perceived abilities and gender stereotypes shape intra-household dynamics. I set up an incentivized decision-making game with 525 married couples from 42 rural villages in Bangladesh and I investigate whether women are discriminated against because they are perceived less skilled than men and whether it is possible to reduce the gender bias within households. During the game, I provide information on women’s abilities and I observe how allocations and beliefs change. The empirical analysis shows that %women are perceived as less capable than men and 

the less capable women are perceived compared to men, the less they are involved in decision-making. After the information treatment, individuals with the lowest perceptions about the wife's skills are 20 percent more likely to make allocations in her favour. The treatment has a larger impact on younger couples, on men with stronger control preferences and on risk-averse women. This brings further evidence of the inability of spouses to observe each other's skills. Two weeks after the experiment, women in treated couples report being more involved in household decisions. These results suggest the gender discrimination within households has a statistical component that can be corrected by increasing skills observability. 

Implementing partner: DRI Bangladesh

Project manager: Ashraf Mian

Gender preferences and hiring decisions in Bangladesh with Xavier Giné, Jessica Goldberg, Anusuya Sivaram and Lore Vandewalle [Draft available soon]

Perceptions and household dynamics [Draft available soon]

Engaging women in mobile money markets [link] with Xavier Giné, Jessica Goldberg, Anusuya Sivaram and Lore Vandewalle

The short-term effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on rural communities and self-help group members (2020) by Deshpande A., Mefield J., Rao V., Saxena K. and Vandewalle L.

The value of the Committee on Agriculture: Mapping Q&As to trade flows (2020) by Jackson, L. A., Maggi, F., Piermartini, R., and Rubínová, S. WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2020-15

The impact of extreme weather events on education (2017) by Groppo, V., and Kraehnert, K. Journal of Population Economics, 30(2), 433-472.

Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work (2018) by Addati L.,  Cattaneo U., Esquivel V. and Valarino I., ILO report