Replication data for: Customary Norms, Inheritance, and Human Capital: Evidence from a Reform of the Matrilineal System in Ghana

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Eliana La Ferrara; Annamaria Milazzo

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Attendance.do	text/plain	8.1 KB	10/12/2019 09:10:AM
Eduyrs_completion.do	text/plain	16.8 KB	10/12/2019 09:10:AM
Eduyrs_cote.do	text/plain	2.1 KB	10/12/2019 09:10:AM
Figures.do	text/plain	5.3 KB	10/12/2019 09:10:AM
UncleCheck.do	text/plain	2.4 KB	10/12/2019 09:10:AM

Project Description

Summary: We study the role of traditional norms in land allocation and human capital investment. We exploit a policy experiment in Ghana that increased the land that children from matrilineal groups could inherit from their fathers. Boys exposed to the reform received 0.9 less years of education—an effect driven by landed households, for whom the reform was binding. We find no effect for girls, whose inheritance was de facto unaffected. These patterns suggest that before the reform matrilineal groups invested more in education than they would if unconstrained, to substitute for land inheritance, underscoring the importance of cultural norms.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      D64 Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
      I21 Analysis of Education
      J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
      O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
      O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
      Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-12]

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DDI 2.5

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