It has been argued that rising dowry payments are caused by population growth. According to that explanation, termed the "marriage squeeze," a population increase leads to an excess supply of brides since men marry younger women. As a result, dowry payments rise in order to clear the marriage...

Although there are numerous studies of the dowry phenomenon in India, research pertaining to the custom in the rest of South Asia is sparse. The aim of this paper is to study dowry payments in Pakistan. Several interpretations for dowry are distinguished using a simple theoretical framework and...

This paper investigates individual motives to participate in rotating savings and credit associations (roscas). Detailed evidence from roscas in a Kenyan slum (Nairobi) suggests that most roscas are predominantly composed of women, particularly those living in a couple and earning an independent...

In contrast to most dowry-oriented societies in which payments have declined with modernization, those in India have undergone significant inflation over the last five decades. This paper explains the difference between these two experiences by focusing on the role played by caste. The...

This paper examines the determinants of female autonomy within households in a developing country. In particular, we investigate the relative contributions of earned versus unearned income in enhancing women's autonomy and the role of employment outside of their husband's farm. In a simple...

Informal groups cannot rely on external enforcement to insure that members abide by their obligations. It is generally assumed that these problems are solved by 'social sanctions' and reputational effects. The present paper focuses on roscas, one of the most commonly found informal financial...

Modernisation necessarily leads to the emergence of dowry as a direct transfer to the groom ("groom-price"). The historical instances of dowry can be classified according to the schema implied by the model. The implications of the model are also tested using current data from Pakistan; a country...

In contrast to most dowry-oriented societies in which payments have declined with modernization, those in India have undergone significant inflation over the last five decades. This paper explains the difference between these two experiences by focusing on the role played by caste. The...

This paper investigates individual motives to participate in rotating savings and credit associations (roscas). Detailed evidence of roscas in a Kenyan slum (Nairobi) shows that most roscas are predominantly composed of women. To explain this phenomenon, we propose an argument based on...