scholarly journals Gender Differences in Intra-Household Financial Decision-Making: An Application of Coarsened Exact Matching

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 469
Author(s):  
Frederik Booysen ◽  
Sevias Guvuriro
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Household Expenditure ◽  
Exact Matching ◽  
Household Decision ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Household Decision Making ◽  
Financial Decision ◽  
Per Capita

Most studies that explore collective models of intra-household decision-making use economic outcomes such as human capital, earnings, assets, and relative income shares as proxies of the relative distribution of bargaining power. These studies, however, fail to incorporate important measures of control over and management of the economic resources within households. In the current study, a direct measure of financial decision-making power within the household is used to directly assess the distribution of bargaining power. Coarsened exact matching, an identification strategy not yet applied in studies of this nature, is applied to couple-level observational data from South Africa’s longitudinal National Income Dynamics Study. The influence of gender differences in intra-household decision-making on resource allocations to per capita household expenditure is assessed. In the case of greater financial decision-making power in couples being assigned to wives rather than husbands, per capita household expenditure on education increases significantly. The empowerment of women with financial decision-making power therefore holds the promise of realizing the benefits of investments in human capital.

Skills and household financial decision-making in Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (11) ◽  
pp. 1433-1450
Author(s):  
Arief Wibisono Lubis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Microfinance Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Household Decision ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Household Decision Making ◽  
Financial Decision

PurposeThis study examines whether financial literacy is a relevant factor that determines authority in household financial decision-making, an area that is often viewed as boring, difficult and full of uncertainties. Cognitive ability and personality traits are also included as additional explanatory variables.Design/methodology/approachThe logistic regression technique was applied using a sample of more than 2,300 microfinance institutions' clients in three provinces in Indonesia.FindingsThis study finds that financial literacy correlates positively with authority in household financial decision-making only among men. This does not mean that financial literacy is irrelevant for women's agency, since the skill might be important for authorities in other decision-making areas, including those outside households. Meanwhile, the relationship between cognitive ability and household financial decision-making authority is more universal.Research limitations/implicationsThis study does not collect information on the levels of financial literacy of other household members and does not capture respondents' perceptions of household financial decision-making.Social implicationsThe overall low level of financial literacy calls for the need for more targeted efforts to address this issue by policymakers. Education policy should also be designed to improve cognitive ability, as this ability is important for human agency and well-being.Originality/valueHousehold decision-making has received significant attention in the literature. Authority in household decision-making is important because it represents a person's agency and has a profound impact on well-being. To the best of author's knowledge, studies on the importance of skills in household financial decision-making are very limited.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in Financial Decisions

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-27
Author(s):  
Jeetendra Dangol
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Financial Decision ◽  
Convenience Sampling ◽  
Risk Taker ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

This paper examines the gender differences in financial decision-making of university students who are young, single, childless individuals that have at least average financial literacy and very small or no income. This paper is based on the survey questionnaires developed by Grable and Lytton (2003), distributed and collected from 100 students (50 men and 50 women) by using convenience sampling technique. The study finds that men and women differ in their financial decision. Women are less risk taker than men in financial decision-making; it indicates that women prefer to safer investment.

scholarly journals Are Movers More Egalitarian than Stayers? An Intergenerational Perspective on Intra-Household Financial Decision-Making

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-146
Author(s):  
Şebnem Eroğlu
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Migration ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Gender Ideologies ◽  
Household Decision ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Married Individuals ◽  
Financial Decision ◽  
And Gender

This study seeks to investigate the role of international migration in shaping the financial decision-making behaviors of married couples through a comparison of three generations of Turkish migrants to Europe (i.e., movers) with their counterparts who remained in Turkey (i.e., stayers). The data are drawn from a subset of personal data from the 2000 Families Survey, involving 4,215 interviews performed randomly with married individuals nested within 1,713 families. The results suggest that international migration increases the tendency for spouses to jointly decide on their finances by (1) weakening the intergenerational transmission of traditional financial decision-making behaviors and gender ideologies and (2) enabling more intense acculturation of younger generations within “less patriarchal” contexts. With its unique, intergenerational, and multisite perspective, the study provides particular insight into the understudied relationship between migration and intra-household decision-making and its benefits for gender equality.

scholarly journals Bargaining Power or Specialization? Determinants of Household Decision Making in Chinese Rural Migrant Families

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402098044
Author(s):  
Zicheng Wang ◽  
Yun Lou ◽  
Yi Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Household Decision ◽  
Household Decision Making ◽  
Female Migrants ◽  
Migrant Families

Family migration is a common integration process for rural migrants in contemporary China. However, discussions on intra-household decision making in dual-earner migrant families are limited. This study aims to address this gap. The data set from the Rural Urban Migration in China (RUMiC2008–2010) is employed to explore the determinants of household decision making. In addition, logit regression is performed to estimate the probability of wives acting as head of the household under different specifications, and the Blinder–Oaxaca–Fairlie decomposition is utilized to discuss gender differentials in decision-making responsibilities. Income and migration duration differentials between a wife and husband have important influences on the probability of being responsible for household decision making. The squared terms of wives’ and husbands’ income have inverted effects. The gender gap between household decision makers can be largely attributed to structural factors rather than observable characteristics, though bargaining power acts as the main contributor in explained parts. Bargaining theory can account for the probability of wives becoming the household decision maker, and the claim of the specialization approach is also confirmed. Gender inequality among household decision makers is largely attributed to structural factors, such as cultural/social norms, obstacles, or gender discrimination. The establishment of long-term effective mechanisms to improve employment quality for female migrants, the supply of basic public services, and protection of women’s legal rights in the household should be strengthened in the future to elevate the status of female migrants.

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