Research

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

SELECTED COLLABORATIONS & CONTRIBUTIONS (UNITED NATIONS)

Highlights

• Targeting transformative disaster risk resilience in South and South-West Asia : Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2024 for ESCAP Subregions, December 2024 Link

• Strengthening national and subnational capacity for sustainable disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation in Maldives, August 2024 Link

• Asia and the Pacific SDG progress report 2024 : showcasing transformative actions,Page42-45 15 February 2024, Link

• User guidebook : risk & resilience portal and decision support system (Dhivehi) , March 2024, Link

• User guidebook : risk & resilience portal and decision support system (English) , March 2024, Link

• Beginner's handbook : landuse/land cover mapping and climate risk assessment for Maldives using geospatial techniques (English), March 2024, Link

• Beginner’s handbook : operationalizing Impact-Based Forecasting and Warning Services (IBFWS) for the Maldives, 01 January 2024, link

• Beginner’s handbook : geographic information system and QGIS software, 01 January 2024, Link

• Air Pollution: Technologies for Solving Crop Residue Burning in South Asia1, Asia-Pacic Tech Monitor, Volume 42 - No. 4 - October - December 2023, P30-38  Link

• Compendium of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Cooperation (G20 DRR Working Group)  Compendium of multi-hazard early warning cooperation | ESCAP (unescap.org) 30 March 2023

• Input Paper Early Warnings for All in Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities for action (G20 DRR Working Group), 30 March 2023 , Link

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• State of the Climate in Asia 2024 Link

• Accelerating progress in SDG-6 (Clean water and sanitation) in South and South-West Asia subregion, August 2024 Link

• Accelerating Progress in SDG 7 (Access to Affordable & Sustainable Energy) in the South and South-West Asia, August 2024 Link

• Integrated straw management in Pakistan, November 2023 Link

• Integrated straw management in Nepal, November 2023 Link

• Integrated straw management in India, November 2023 Link

• Accelerating Progress in SDG-11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities) in South and South-West Asia region, October 2023 Link

• Accelerating Progress in SDG 9 (Sustainable Industrialization) in South and South-West Asia Region, October 2023 Link

• Integrated straw management in Bangladesh, June 2023 Link

• Sustainable management of crop residues in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan : challenges and solutions, May 2023  Link

SELECTED ABSTRACTS

Mahr: A Prenuptial Agreement in Islamic Marriage Contracts and Its Impact on Divorce Outcomes

Abstract

Mahr—a monetary gift promised by the groom to the bride at the time of marriage—is a mandatory part of prenuptial agreements in Islamic marriage contracts and can play a crucial role in divorce cases. I investigate how mahr affects the intrahousehold bargaining power of couples in their divorce outcomes using a 2013 reform in Iran. Since only men have the right to finalize a divorce, women usually forfeit part of their mahr to negotiate for the husband’s approval of the divorce request. The new law capped the value of mahr at 110 gold coins (around $35k USD), with any additional payment conditional on men’s individual wealth. I use a theoretical model of Islamic marriage and divorce to shows how mahr alters a couple’s choice about divorce and their market outcomes such as final mahr payments and child custody agreements. I provide empirical evidence, using a set of hand-collected data, that supports the predictions of this model for divorces and the impacts of the reform. Compared to the initial amount promised in male-initiated divorces, actual payment of mahr decreased substantially, whereas mahr paid in divorces initiated by women showed no significant decrease. Even though the proportion of cases involving children and the probability of the mother getting custody does not change, the probability of receiving child support for mothers with custody shows a significant decline, consisting with the policy decreasing women’s negotiation power.  

JEL Codes: D86, D19, J4, J1, J16

Keywords: Islamic Marriage, Mahr, Contracts, Divorce, Gender, Intrahousehold Bargaining 

Academic Conferences, SEMINARS, & PRESENTATIONS 

Presentation 

• University of Victoria, 2021

• American Economic Association, Paper Discussion, January 2020 

• The IAFFE Annual Conference at SUNY New Paltz, June 2018

• IZA Workshop on Gender and Family Economics, Apr 2018

• The Iranian Studies Initiative Annual Conference, “The Changing Nature of Family and Marriage in Contemporary Iran”, University of California Santa Barbara, Nov 2017

Guest Lecturing

• Marriage & Divorce Markets, Department of Economics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Nov 2017