This paper examines the relationship between household structures, the institutions that
shape them and physical and human capital accumulation using household and individual data
from China, Indonesia, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
Household structures differ greatly across countries and are very diverse within
countries. In the two African countries studied a large share of the population live in extended
households and/or polygamous ones. Such household structures are the exception or even absent
in the Asian cases, where nuclear monogamous households prevail.
This paper finds that polygamy is negatively related to capital accumulation. Wealth per
capita is significantly lower in polygamous households even after controlling for income, age
and literacy of the household head. A first analysis of the possible channels suggests that the
larger size of polygamous households plays an important role. A similar result is found
for education: enrolment rates are never higher but frequently lower in these households. The
diversity across countries demonstrates that polygamy has very different meanings across
societies...
Household Structures and Savings
Evidence from Household Surveys
Working paper
OECD Development Centre Working Papers
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Abstract
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4 October 2021
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