Ask me why: Patterns of intrahousehold decision-making

Households are sites of both cooperation and contestation. With more data available at the intrahousehold level, development researchers and practitioners have increasingly focused on household dynamics and decision-making and how these relate to outcomes of interest across many domains such as heal...

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Main Authors: Bernard, Tanguy, Doss, Cheryl R., Hidrobo, Melissa, Hoel, Jessica B., Kieran, Caitlin
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142949
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author Bernard, Tanguy
Doss, Cheryl R.
Hidrobo, Melissa
Hoel, Jessica B.
Kieran, Caitlin
author_browse Bernard, Tanguy
Doss, Cheryl R.
Hidrobo, Melissa
Hoel, Jessica B.
Kieran, Caitlin
author_facet Bernard, Tanguy
Doss, Cheryl R.
Hidrobo, Melissa
Hoel, Jessica B.
Kieran, Caitlin
author_sort Bernard, Tanguy
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Households are sites of both cooperation and contestation. With more data available at the intrahousehold level, development researchers and practitioners have increasingly focused on household dynamics and decision-making and how these relate to outcomes of interest across many domains such as health and agriculture. Many researchers who wish to better understand power dynamics within households have focused on the question of who makes decisions in the household. A woman’s participation in household decision-making is often used both as a proxy for empowerment, an end in its own right, and as a means to achieve better production and consumption outcomes. However, research on this topic pays less attention to why different household members may make different decisions, and whether this matters for individual or household welfare. In this paper, we use an innovative methodology to look beyond the identity of the decision-maker to explore the reasons that may drive patterns of household decision-making. We then assess whether the rationale behind who makes household decisions helps explain variation in household outcomes, above and beyond what is explained by the identity of the decision-maker. Our approach uses vignettes, which are survey instruments used to measure concepts that are more easily defined by examples.1 Vignettes have been used to measure subjective well-being (Ravallion, Himelein, & Beegle, 2016), women’s agency (see Donald, Koolwal, Annan, Falb, & Goldstein, 2017 for a review), bias against women politicians (Beaman, Chattopadhyay, Duflo, Pande, & Topalova, 2009), as well as risk aversion (Barter & Renold, 1999). However, this is the first time that they have been used to analyze the processes of household decision-making.
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spelling CGSpace1429492025-02-24T06:46:29Z Ask me why: Patterns of intrahousehold decision-making Bernard, Tanguy Doss, Cheryl R. Hidrobo, Melissa Hoel, Jessica B. Kieran, Caitlin gender gender equality agricultural production milk health consumption households capacity development measurement empowerment children decision making bargaining power rural areas women Households are sites of both cooperation and contestation. With more data available at the intrahousehold level, development researchers and practitioners have increasingly focused on household dynamics and decision-making and how these relate to outcomes of interest across many domains such as health and agriculture. Many researchers who wish to better understand power dynamics within households have focused on the question of who makes decisions in the household. A woman’s participation in household decision-making is often used both as a proxy for empowerment, an end in its own right, and as a means to achieve better production and consumption outcomes. However, research on this topic pays less attention to why different household members may make different decisions, and whether this matters for individual or household welfare. In this paper, we use an innovative methodology to look beyond the identity of the decision-maker to explore the reasons that may drive patterns of household decision-making. We then assess whether the rationale behind who makes household decisions helps explain variation in household outcomes, above and beyond what is explained by the identity of the decision-maker. Our approach uses vignettes, which are survey instruments used to measure concepts that are more easily defined by examples.1 Vignettes have been used to measure subjective well-being (Ravallion, Himelein, & Beegle, 2016), women’s agency (see Donald, Koolwal, Annan, Falb, & Goldstein, 2017 for a review), bias against women politicians (Beaman, Chattopadhyay, Duflo, Pande, & Topalova, 2009), as well as risk aversion (Barter & Renold, 1999). However, this is the first time that they have been used to analyze the processes of household decision-making. 2020-01-01 2024-05-22T12:11:22Z 2024-05-22T12:11:22Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142949 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145999 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133900 Open Access Elsevier Bernard, Tanguy; Doss, Cheryl R.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoel, Jessica B.; and Kieran, Caitlin. 2020. Ask me why: Patterns of intrahousehold decision-making. World Development 125(January 2020): 104671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104671
spellingShingle gender
gender equality
agricultural production
milk
health
consumption
households
capacity development
measurement
empowerment
children
decision making
bargaining power
rural areas
women
Bernard, Tanguy
Doss, Cheryl R.
Hidrobo, Melissa
Hoel, Jessica B.
Kieran, Caitlin
Ask me why: Patterns of intrahousehold decision-making
title Ask me why: Patterns of intrahousehold decision-making
title_full Ask me why: Patterns of intrahousehold decision-making
title_fullStr Ask me why: Patterns of intrahousehold decision-making
title_full_unstemmed Ask me why: Patterns of intrahousehold decision-making
title_short Ask me why: Patterns of intrahousehold decision-making
title_sort ask me why patterns of intrahousehold decision making
topic gender
gender equality
agricultural production
milk
health
consumption
households
capacity development
measurement
empowerment
children
decision making
bargaining power
rural areas
women
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142949
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