| Abstract: |
Gender affects household spending in two areas that have been widely studied
in the literature. One strand documents that greater female bargaining power
within households results in a variety of shifts in household production and
consumption. An important source of intrahousehold bargaining power is
ownership of assets, especially land. Another strand examines gender bias in
spending on children. This paper addresses both strands simultaneously. In it,
differences in spending on education are examined empirically, at both the
household and the individual level. Results are mixed, though the balance of
evidence weighs toward pro-male bias in spending on education at the household
level. Results also indicate that the relationship between asset ownership and
female bargaining power within the household is contingent on the type of
asset. |