Abstract
We assess the effectiveness of the Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) in predicting intra-household bargaining power. We conducted a lab-in-the-field experiment with 464 agricultural households, where spouses made decisions about money allocations. The experiment tested whether they would choose efficient overall household gains or favor individual monetary benefits. Our findings demonstrate that women’s empowerment levels, as measured by the A-WEAI, are predictive of decisions in the allocation task. This supports the A-WEAI’s utility in representing and predicting intra-household dynamics.
Andreas C. Drichoutis
Associate Professor of Consumer Behavior
His research interests are focused on decision making across a broad spectrum of topics pertinent to agricultural/food economics. His contributions are notably diversified spanning the area of contingent valuation and experimental auctions methods, choice under risk, inter-temporal decision making and applied demand analysis. Most of his research applies experimental economics methods to answer questions relevant to agricultural economists and decision scientists.