31st Annual Student Research Conference
Domestic Relations Laws and Intra-Household Bargaining in a Least Developed Nation: A Look at Liberia
Nguyen Luong
Dr. Justin Jarvis, Faculty Mentor
Women’s ability to negotiate the allocation of resources within the family unit affects key development indicators including children’s education, domestic violence, and cooperative behavior. This project will examine an increase in legal domestic relations rights brought about by increased property rights and rights to contractual action granted to women in Liberia in the 1970’s. These new rights strengthened the negotiating positions of women and allowed them more bargaining power in intra-household decision-making. Periods before and after the reform will be examined to determine the effects of these increases in women’s intra-household bargaining power on household outcomes such as investment in children’s education and primary education enrollment rates. This project will use regression analysis to isolate the causal effects, and will then be able to address implications for family policy reform as a device for economic development in least developed countries.
Keywords: Intra-household, Bargaining, Decision-making, Women, Liberia, Development
Topic(s):Economics
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 109-1
Location: VH 1320
Time: 8:00