The Role of Identity on Resource Entitlements : Evidence from Italian Households in the Mezzogiorno

Most household studies on resource allocation focus on the role that gender norms has on the bargaining power of male and female members. It is less clear however how the issue of gender impacts on the perceived legitimacy between the two heads of household, and subsequently their access to commodities and capabilities (Sen 1987). Using an entitlement perspective (Sen 1981), this paper argues and shows that perceived legitimacy or entitlement to resources depends more on context-based gender relations than on individual agency. Drawing on an original household survey conducted in a region with traditional gender roles, the results suggest that men and women tend to be influenced by norms in assessing individual and household entitlements. However, the degree of influence differs by gender and across samples. Men tend to be highly influenced by norms, which is consistent across both samples, while women tend to be less influenced than men in one sample, while the degree of influence is not significant in the other sample. Women’s perception tends to be less affected by norms than men in one sample, and more by the actual context of resource scarcity in the other sample