Cash transfers, gender norms, and women’s control over decision-making in Egypt
Bargaining models predict that cash transfers targeted at women can increase women’s influence in household decisions; however, empirical evidence is mixed. We employ a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to identify the causal effect of Egypt’s national cash transfer program on women’s control ov...
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
University of Chicago Press
2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176641 |
| _version_ | 1855532888703893504 |
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| author | El-Enbaby, Hoda Gilligan, Daniel O. Karachiwalla, Naureen Kassim, Yumna Kurdi, Sikandra |
| author_browse | El-Enbaby, Hoda Gilligan, Daniel O. Karachiwalla, Naureen Kassim, Yumna Kurdi, Sikandra |
| author_facet | El-Enbaby, Hoda Gilligan, Daniel O. Karachiwalla, Naureen Kassim, Yumna Kurdi, Sikandra |
| author_sort | El-Enbaby, Hoda |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Bargaining models predict that cash transfers targeted at women can increase women’s influence in household decisions; however, empirical evidence is mixed. We employ a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to identify the causal effect of Egypt’s national cash transfer program on women’s control over household decision-making. For women without education only, the transfers have large and significant negative effects on women’s ability to influence household decisions. The program also causes a decrease in women’s labor supply and an increase in husbands’ involvement in household decisions for women who have no education, suggesting two plausible pathways for the negative effect on women’s control over household decision-making. We also find that the program has no effect on several measures of gender norms, highlighting that these norms are entrenched rather than affected by the program. Additional results reveal that the negative effects on decision-making are concentrated among women who hold more restrictive gender norms and highlight the importance of norms for understanding the effects of cash transfers on intrahousehold dynamics. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace176641 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | University of Chicago Press |
| publisherStr | University of Chicago Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1766412025-10-26T13:00:45Z Cash transfers, gender norms, and women’s control over decision-making in Egypt El-Enbaby, Hoda Gilligan, Daniel O. Karachiwalla, Naureen Kassim, Yumna Kurdi, Sikandra cash transfers decision making gender norms women Bargaining models predict that cash transfers targeted at women can increase women’s influence in household decisions; however, empirical evidence is mixed. We employ a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to identify the causal effect of Egypt’s national cash transfer program on women’s control over household decision-making. For women without education only, the transfers have large and significant negative effects on women’s ability to influence household decisions. The program also causes a decrease in women’s labor supply and an increase in husbands’ involvement in household decisions for women who have no education, suggesting two plausible pathways for the negative effect on women’s control over household decision-making. We also find that the program has no effect on several measures of gender norms, highlighting that these norms are entrenched rather than affected by the program. Additional results reveal that the negative effects on decision-making are concentrated among women who hold more restrictive gender norms and highlight the importance of norms for understanding the effects of cash transfers on intrahousehold dynamics. 2025-07 2025-09-23T18:36:52Z 2025-09-23T18:36:52Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176641 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133538 Open Access University of Chicago Press El-Enbaby, Hoda; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Kassim, Yumna; and Kurdi, Sikandra. 2025. Cash transfers, gender norms, and women’s control over decision-making in Egypt. Economic Development and Cultural Change 73(4): 1721 - 1760. https://doi.org/10.1086/732909 |
| spellingShingle | cash transfers decision making gender norms women El-Enbaby, Hoda Gilligan, Daniel O. Karachiwalla, Naureen Kassim, Yumna Kurdi, Sikandra Cash transfers, gender norms, and women’s control over decision-making in Egypt |
| title | Cash transfers, gender norms, and women’s control over decision-making in Egypt |
| title_full | Cash transfers, gender norms, and women’s control over decision-making in Egypt |
| title_fullStr | Cash transfers, gender norms, and women’s control over decision-making in Egypt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cash transfers, gender norms, and women’s control over decision-making in Egypt |
| title_short | Cash transfers, gender norms, and women’s control over decision-making in Egypt |
| title_sort | cash transfers gender norms and women s control over decision making in egypt |
| topic | cash transfers decision making gender norms women |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176641 |
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