Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP13567
Authors: Abigail Adams; Alison Andrew
Abstract: Rajasthani women typically leave school early and marry young. We develop a novel discrete choice methodology using hypothetical vignettes to elicit average parental preferences over a daughter’s education and age of marriage, and subjective beliefs about the evolution of her marriage market prospects. We find parents have a strong preference for delaying a daughter’s marriage until eighteen but no further. Conditional on a marriage match, parents place little intrinsic value on a daughter’s education. However, they believe the probability of receiving a good marriage offer increases strongly with a daughter?s education but deteriorates quickly with her age on leaving school.
Keywords: Subjective Expectations; Education; Early Marriage
JEL Codes: J12; J16; I26
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Parents' preferences for delaying their daughter's marriage (J12) | Legal constraints (K12) |
| Daughter's education (I24) | Perceived marriage quality (J12) |
| Daughter's age after leaving school (J13) | Perceived marriage quality (J12) |
| Perceived marriage market returns to education (I26) | Parental investments in daughters' schooling (I21) |