Economics
The effect of violent crime on female decision-making within the household: evidence from the Mexican war on drugs
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This paper uses the surge in drug-related violence in Mexico to study the effect of violent crime on married women’s decision-making. Using a fixed-effects regression model, we find that increased violence is associated with a reduction in women’s participation in household decision-making. Yet, the effect is small—at the average, it leads to women making 0.11 fewer decisions, a decrease of 1.2% relative to the baseline value. Further, the effect is short-lived—the effect of past homicides is not significant when controlling for current levels of violent crime. We find that violence is associated with higher probability of working and higher number of working hours for women, while men experience a reduction in their probability of working. This implies that our results are likely not due to changing norms or women losing economic power but rather women spending less time at home while men take on some of the household responsibilities.
Publication Title
Review of Economics of the Household
Publication Date
6-2019
Volume
17
Issue
2
First Page
615
Last Page
646
ISSN
1569-5239
DOI
10.1007/s11150-018-9418-0
Keywords
drug war, female empowerment, household bargaining, insecurity, Mexico, violence
Repository Citation
Tsaneva, Magda; Rockmore, Marc; and Albohmood, Zahra, "The effect of violent crime on female decision-making within the household: evidence from the Mexican war on drugs" (2019). Economics. 211.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_economics/211
