Public Transfers and Domestic Violence: The Roles of Private Information and Spousal Control
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Abstract
We study whether transfer programs in which funds are targeted to women decrease the incidence of spousal abuse. We examine the impact of the Mexican Oportunidades program on spousal abuse rates and threats of violence using data from a specialized survey. Beneficiary women are 40 percent less likely to be victims of physical abuse, but are more likely to receive violent threats with no associated abuse. This evidence is consistent with a model of decision-makers' interactions with asymmetric information in the male partner's gains to marriage, who can then use threats of violence to extract rents from their female partners. (JEL D82, J12, J16, K42, O15, O17)Citation
Bobonis, Gustavo J., Melissa González-Brenes, and Roberto Castro. 2013. "Public Transfers and Domestic Violence: The Roles of Private Information and Spousal Control." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 5 (1): 179-205. DOI: 10.1257/pol.5.1.179Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D82 Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
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