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Women’s Inheritance Rights and Bargaining Power: Evidence from Kenya

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  • Mariaflavia Harari

Abstract

This paper investigates the human capital effects of a legal reform granting Kenyan women equal inheritance rights. I employ a difference-in-differences strategy, exploiting variation in prereform inheritance rights across religious groups. I find that women exposed to the reform are more educated, less likely to undergo genital mutilation, and more likely to receive prenatal care and that they delay marriage and childbearing. They also tend to participate more in family decisions, suggesting improved bargaining power as the main channel. These findings suggest that legal recognition of women’s inheritance rights can be beneficial for women even in the context of poor enforcement.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariaflavia Harari, 2019. "Women’s Inheritance Rights and Bargaining Power: Evidence from Kenya," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(1), pages 189-238.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/700630
    DOI: 10.1086/700630
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    Cited by:

    1. Deininger, Klaus & Xia, Fang & Kilic, Talip & Moylan, Heather, 2021. "Investment impacts of gendered land rights in customary tenure systems: Substantive and methodological insights from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    2. Siwan Anderson & Chris Bidner, 2021. "An Institutional Perspective on the Economics of the Family," Discussion Papers dp21-14, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    3. Chen, Jiahui & Liao, Hua & Zhang, Tong, 2024. "Empowering women substantially accelerates the household clean energy transition in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. Dong, Xinwei, 2022. "Intrahousehold property ownership, women’s bargaining power, and family structure," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2023. "Armed conflicts and women's authority in intra‐household decision making," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 70(3), pages 249-267, July.
    6. Le Kien & Nguyen My, 2021. "How Education Empowers Women in Developing Countries," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 511-536, April.
    7. Davis, Lewis S. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2022. "Individualism and women's economic rights," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 579-597.
    8. Rokicki, Slawa, 2021. "Impact of family law reform on adolescent reproductive health in Ethiopia: A quasi-experimental study," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. McGavock, Tamara, 2021. "Here waits the bride? The effect of Ethiopia's child marriage law," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).

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