This paper examines how traditional marriage market institutions affect households' financial decisions. We study how … bride-to-groom marriage payments, i.e., dowries, influence saving behavior in rural India. Exploiting variation in firstborn … gender and heterogeneity in dowry amounts across marriage markets, we find that the prospect of paying higher dowry increases …

The ancient custom of dowry, that is, bride-to-groom marriage payments, remains ubiquitous in many contemporary … 1986-2007. Utilizing variation in firstborn gender and dowry amounts across marriage markets, the paper finds that the … prospect of higher dowry payments at the time of a daughter's marriage leads parents to save more in advance. The higher …

-age women's labour supply decisions in India, where female labour force participation continues to decline over time. We find … for women aged 20-50, with the effect stronger for urban women. The effect is particularly strong if the pension …, leading to reduced labour supply by the elderly, allowing them to provide greater childcare support. The increase in women …