Data and Code for: Intrahousehold Consumption Allocation and Demand for Agency: A Triple Experimental Investigation

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Uzma Afzal, University of Nottingham; Giovanna d'Adda, University of Milan; Marcel Fafchamps, Stanford University; Farah Said, Lahore School of Economics

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  Code 05/05/2021 03:28:PM
  Data 02/09/2021 01:00:AM
README_v2.pdf application/pdf 638.5 KB 05/05/2021 11:24:AM

Project Citation: 

Afzal, Uzma, d’Adda, Giovanna, Fafchamps, Marcel, and Said, Farah. Data and Code for: Intrahousehold Consumption Allocation and Demand for Agency: A Triple Experimental Investigation. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-06-15. https://doi.org/10.3886/E132081V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary
We conduct lab experiments to investigate demand for consumption agency in married couples from Pakistan. We find subjects are often no better at guessing their spouse's preferences than those of a stranger, and many subjects disregard what they believe or know about others' preferences when assigning them a consumption bundle. This suggests that individual executive agency within the household has instrumental value. We indeed find significant evidence of demand for agency in all experiments, and this demand varies with the cost and anticipated instrumental benefit of agency. But subjects often make choices incompatible with pure instrumental motives -- e.g., paying for agency even when they know their partner assigned them their preferred choice. We also find
female subjects to be quite willing to exert agency even though, based on survey responses, they have little executive agency within their household.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources International Growth Centre (1-VRC-VPAK-VXXXX-89308); Economic and Social Research Council (United Kingdom) (ES/L012286/1)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms experiment; allocative efficiency; empowerment; gender equality; procedural equality; utility theory
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      D13 Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
      D61 Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
      D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
      J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Pakistan
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 2015 – 2017
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 2015 – 2017
Universe:  View help for Universe Married couples in Punjab, Pakistan.
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) experimental data

Methodology

Data Source:  View help for Data Source Participant response and survey data collected from one field and two lab-in-field experiments.
Collection Mode(s):  View help for Collection Mode(s) face-to-face interview; paper and pencil interview (PAPI)
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation individual

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Published Versions

V1 [2022-06-15]

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