Bride price, which is payment from the groom and/or the groom's family to the bride's family at the time of marriage, is a common cultural practice in many African societies. It is often argued that the practice may have negative effects for girls and women because it may: incentivize early...

This paper considers arguments about Islam and women's welfare, and, at greater length, how legal systems with Islamic elements treat women, with a focus on how women fare in Islamic family courts. Key methodological issues include how to focus on real-world views and practices rather than only...

Structural transformation in rural Viet Nam has led to rising incomes and a diversification of livelihoods away from agriculture. Using panel data on children in 2,181 rural households surveyed over the 2008-14 period, we examine how the welfare of children has been impacted by structural...

One-third of married women are sterilized in India. This is largely due to family planning programs that put a strong emphasis on 'permanent' contraceptive methods rather than temporary ones. However, little is known about potential adverse effects on women's wellbeing. We analyse the...

Is maternal employment beneficial or harmful for child development? Maternal employment generates income, which is needed to provide core inputs for children's health and education. However, maternal employment comes at the cost of time spent with children, which is also a critical input into...

Relative to developed countries, there are far fewer women than men in parts of the developing world. Estimates suggest that more than 200 million women are demographically 'missing' worldwide. To explain the global 'missing women' phenomenon, research has mainly focused on excess female...

This paper analyses whether living in a locality with high crime against women affects the probability of early marriage-that is, marriage before the legal age of marriage of girls. We hypothesize that parents who perceive themselves to live in a high-crime locality would marry their daughters...

The impact of childbirth on the labour market participation of women has been discussed extensively in the context of developed countries, constraints on mothers labour market participation and earnings being characterized as the motherhood penalty . In the developing country context, and...

The impact of childbirth on women's employment has been discussed extensively in the context of developed countries. Constraints on mothers' labour market participation and consequent fall in earnings are characterised as the 'motherhood penalty'. This phenomenon is relatively less explored in...

We explore the relationship between connections and public transfers in decentralized poverty-targeting programmes. Using panel data from Vietnam we find evidence that households with connections to local government are more likely to be classified as poor, the main determinant of whether...