Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP9017
Authors: Graziella Bertocchi; Marianna Brunetti; Costanza Torricelli
Abstract: We empirically study the determinants of intra-household decision power with respect to economic and financial choices using a suitable direct measure provided in the 1989-2010 Bank of Italy Survey of Household Income and Wealth. Focusing on a sample of couples, we evaluate the effect of each spouse's characteristics, household characteristics, and background variables. We find that the probability that the wife is in charge is affected by household characteristics such as family size and total income and wealth, but more importantly that it increases with the difference between hers and her husband's characteristics in terms of age, education, and income. The main conclusion is that decision-making power over family economics is not only determined by strictly economic differences, as suggested by previous studies, but also by differences in human capital and experience. Finally, exploiting the time dimension of our dataset, we show that this pattern is increasing over time.
Keywords: family economics; gender differences; intrahousehold decision power
JEL Codes: D13; E21; G11; J12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| differences in age (J71) | probability of the wife being the decision-maker (D13) |
| education differential (I24) | probability of the wife being the decision-maker (D13) |
| income differential (J31) | probability of the wife being the decision-maker (D13) |
| wife's income (J31) | probability of the wife being the decision-maker (D13) |
| husband's income (J31) | probability of the wife being the decision-maker (D13) |
| household characteristics (R20) | probability of the wife being the decision-maker (D13) |