Targeting men, women or both to reduce child marriage

Rachel Cassidy, Anaya Dam, Wendy Janssens, Umair Kiani and Karlijn Morsink
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Rachel Cassidy: Institute for Fiscal Studies & World Bank
Anaya Dam: Utrecht University
Umair Kiani: Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan
Karlijn Morsink: Utrecht University, Wageningen University & Cornell University

No 22-087/V, Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers from Tinbergen Institute

Abstract: We ask whether it is more effective to target men, women, or both — with the same intervention in the same context — to improve women’s and girls’ outcomes when behaviour is governed by gendered social norms. We conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial of an edutainment intervention aimed at delaying marriage of adolescent girls — in two provinces of Pakistan, where community norms favour early marriage. We find that targeting men, alone or jointly with women, reduces child marriages in households directly targeted by the intervention. Targeting women, alone or jointly with men, leads to sustained reductions in child marriages at the village level. To rationalize this pattern of results, we build on a model of Bayesian persuasion in the household, where women are more hesitant to deviate from social norms. We extend this by allowing for gender-segregated information transmission from targeted spouses to other households in the village.

Keywords: Social Norms; Targeting; Gender; Child Marriage; Edutainment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-11-21, Revised 2024-10-22
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