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Education and Polygamy: Evidence from Cameroon

Author

Listed:
  • André, Pierre

    (University of Cergy-Pontoise)

  • Dupraz, Yannick

    (University of Warwick)

Abstract
We take advantage of a wave of school constructions in Cameroon after World War II and use variations in school supply at the village level to estimate labor and marriage market returns to education in the 1976 population census. Education increases the likelihood to be in a polygamous union for men and for women, as well as the overall socioeconomic status of the spouse. We argue that education increases polygamy for women because it allows them to marry more educated and richer men, who are more likely to be polygamists. To show this, we estimate a structural model of marriage with polygamy. The positive affinity between a man’s polygamy and a woman’s education is mostly explained by the affinity of education.

Suggested Citation

  • André, Pierre & Dupraz, Yannick, 2019. "Education and Polygamy: Evidence from Cameroon," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 435, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:435
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    Cited by:

    1. Augsburg, Britta & Baquero, Juan P. & Gautam, Sanghmitra & Rodriguez-Lesmes, Paul, 2023. "Sanitation and marriage markets in India: Evidence from the Total Sanitation Campaign," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    2. Arnaud Dupuy & Alfred Galichon, 2022. "A Note on the Estimation of Job Amenities and Labor Productivity," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03893167, HAL.
    3. Arnaud Dupuy & Alfred Galichon, 2022. "A Note on the Estimation of Job Amenities and Labor Productivity," Post-Print hal-03893167, HAL.
    4. Arnaud Dupuy & Alfred Galichon, 2023. "A Note on the Estimation of Job Amenities and Labor Productivity," Papers 2301.12542, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    polygamy; education; marriage; matching models. JEL Classification: J12; I20; O12.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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