Control and Ownership of Assets Within Rural Ethiopian Households

This article investigates how the control and devolution of productive assets are allocated among husband and wife. Theory predicts that bargaining power within marriage depends on the division of assets upon divorce and on control over assets during marriage. Using detailed household data from rura...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of development studies 2002-08, Vol.38 (6), p.47-82
Main Authors: Fafchamps, M., Quisumbing, A.R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assets
control over assets
Development studies
Divorce
Ethiopia
Family Power
Family Roles
Heads of Households
Households
Husbands
Marital Relations
marriage
Married couples
Ownership
Ownership and control
productive assets
Resource Allocation
Rural Areas
Welfare
Wives
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Summary:This article investigates how the control and devolution of productive assets are allocated among husband and wife. Theory predicts that bargaining power within marriage depends on the division of assets upon divorce and on control over assets during marriage. Using detailed household data from rural Ethiopia, we show that assets brought to marriage, ownership of assets, control within marriage, and disposition upon death or divorce are only partly related. Productive resources are controlled by the household head. Disposition upon death or divorce only loosely depends on individual ownership during marriage but control is associated with larger claims upon divorce. Assets brought into marriage have little impact on disposition upon death, but matter in case of divorce.
ISSN:0022-0388
1743-9140
DOI:10.1080/00220380412331322581