Abstract
New data and new methods have provided many new insights into rural households in the past 50 years. We analyze what we have learned from household models since Boserup and Becker, using this to frame more recent findings about household behavior from three types of studies: observational studies, experimental games, and impact evaluations. More sex‐disaggregated data, as well as data that are collected at smaller units, such as agricultural plots, have allowed us to better understand agricultural productivity, risk sharing, and spousal cooperation. However, the focus on bargaining within households has often led us to ignore the cooperation that occurs within households. Many resources are owned and managed jointly by household members and many decisions are made jointly, although not all parties necessarily have equal voice in these decisions. Research demonstrating that households often do not reach efficient outcomes suggests that we still have much to learn about rural household behavior. Understanding both individual roles within households and the levels of cooperation, including joint decision making and ownership of resources, is essential to analysis of households, especially in rural areas where households engage in both production and consumption.
Highlights
Theoretical and empirical research on rural households has shaped the way economists think about household behavior and gender dynamics over the last 50 years. Boserup’s (1970) Women’s Role in Economic Development and Becker’s (1981) Treatise on the Family, published a decade apart, have influenced approaches both to understanding rural households and designing agricultural development policies and programs.Based on her analysis of data from Africa and Asia, Boserup (1970) hypothesized that in areas with low population density, women, rather than men, do more farm work, whereas in densely populated areas, agriculture is intensive in male labor
Technical efficiency is higher when the empowerment gaps are lower. These findings hold for both plots managed only by men and those managed jointly by men and women. (Married women do not manage plots independently in Bangladesh.) This paper suggests that women’s relative level of empowerment affects household-level agricultural productivity, whether or not women are reported as the plot managers
We use the theoretical and empirical contributions of Ester Boserup and Gary Becker to frame the contributions of recent research to our understanding of household behavior in rural areas of developing countries
Summary
Theoretical and empirical research on rural households has shaped the way economists think about household behavior and gender dynamics over the last 50 years. Boserup’s (1970) Women’s Role in Economic Development and Becker’s (1981) Treatise on the Family, published a decade apart, have influenced approaches both to understanding rural households and designing agricultural development policies and programs. Boserup’s (1970) Women’s Role in Economic Development and Becker’s (1981) Treatise on the Family, published a decade apart, have influenced approaches both to understanding rural households and designing agricultural development policies and programs Based on her analysis of data from Africa and Asia, Boserup (1970) hypothesized that in areas with low population density, women, rather than men, do more farm work, whereas in densely populated areas, agriculture is intensive in male labor. Becker takes social norms on gender roles as exogenous, with men specializing in production activities and women specializing in reproduction activities This model has been challenged, both theoretically and empirically, by collective models of household behavior that allow decision makers to have different preferences and do not assume a single household welfare index or utility function (Chiappori, 1992). We conclude by pointing out implications for data collection, identifying methodological work to continue examining the assumptions that underlie economists’ approaches to this topic, and suggesting a broader research agenda on social norms and jointness that draws on social science disciplines beyond economics
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