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Sammanfattning

In many rural areas of developing countries, female-headed households face significant gender-based discrimination and stigma. This paper examines the benefits an adult male brings to these households simply by being male in a society with deep-rooted gender inequality. Using regression discontinuity design, we estimate the impact of the presence of an adult male in female-headed households in rural Burundi. We compare households with a young adult male-who enjoys the privileges of an adult man-with households with a teenage male just below the 18 years-old mark-who is not yet considered an adult. We find that the presence of an adult male is associated with higher income, asset value, and children's years of education in female-headed households. The mechanisms appear to be increased participation in labor markets, farm production, and access to assets. Our paper studies how gender norms may constrain economic opportunities of female-headed households.

Nyckelord

Gender Inequality; Gender Gap; Developing Countries; Burundi; J16; I30; O13; O15

Publicerad i

Review of Economics of the Household
2025
Utgivare: SPRINGER

SLU författare

UKÄ forskningsämne

Nationalekonomi
Genusstudier

Publikationens identifierare

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-025-09791-4

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/143099