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Dowry Is A Curse In Women'S Marriage: Changing Determinants In The Socio-Economic Context Of Bangladesh

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  • Khandaker Mursheda, Farhana
  • Kazi Abdul, Mannan

Abstract

The marriage transaction of women, usually in the form of financial or household and living utilities, known as dowry, is a diffused experience in Bangladesh, attracting much attentiveness from social science academia. It is one of the fundamental reasons for the oppression of women, ranging from diverse psychological and physical abuse that can ultimately lead to femicide or suicide. The study included a total weighted sample of 19,735 married women aged 18 to 61 years. We estimated the prevalence of dowry among the women in the study by prioritising and stratifying them by various characteristics. In this study, we used a five-level binary logistic regression model and estimated odds ratios to identify the determinants associated with the practice of dowry in marriage among women at all levels, with a confidence interval of 95%. The data were analysed using Stata software version 18. This study highlights the trends in the determinants of dowry among married women in Bangladesh. The most striking finding is that almost three-quarters of women, especially in certain regions, were directly involved in dowry. It is noted that higher education of both men and women and older household heads significantly affects the likelihood of dowry reduction. Therefore, these findings suggest that the state and social system should take effective measures to continue the trend of higher education in society, empowering older household heads and increasing awareness of both men and women about dowry.

Suggested Citation

  • Khandaker Mursheda, Farhana & Kazi Abdul, Mannan, 2025. "Dowry Is A Curse In Women'S Marriage: Changing Determinants In The Socio-Economic Context Of Bangladesh," MPRA Paper 124011, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2025.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:124011
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raj Arunachalam & Trevon Logan, 2016. "On the heterogeneity of dowry motives," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 135-166, January.
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    6. Shobhit Srivastava & Shekhar Chauhan & Ratna Patel & Strong P Marbaniang & Pradeep Kumar & Ronak Paul & Preeti Dhillon, 2021. "Banned by the law, practiced by the society: The study of factors associated with dowry payments among adolescent girls in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(10), pages 1-16, October.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    marriage; dowry; socio-economic; socio-culture; Bangladesh;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy

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