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Title
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Only women can whisper to gods : voodoo, menopause and women's autonomy
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Author
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Abstract
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| In various parts of the world women gain autonomy in decision-making as they get older. We hypothesize that part of this age-dividend is rooted in (historical) beliefs regarding the supernatural powers of menopaused women. To test this hypothesis, we study the age- and menopause-dividend in womens decision-making autonomy in four West-African countries that include ethnic groups that practice(d) voodoo. Our empirical analysis relies on several rounds of DHS surveys, and a difference-in-differences strategy, in which we exploit the quasi-exogenous variation in the timing of menopause as well as the historical variation in magicoreligious beliefs across ethnicities. We find that (1) the age-dividend in womens autonomy is more pronounced in ethnic groups that practice(d) voodoo, (2) the menopause-dividend is only observed among women from these groups, and (3) it is especially large for women whose husbands believe that illness can have a supernatural cause. We also document a tangible welfare effect, in terms of a higher Body Mass Index among menopaused women of voodoo-related ethnic groups. Our study constitutes the first attempt to unpack the cross-cultural age-dividend in womens autonomy, thereby contributing to the detailed contextual knowledge needed for designing effective female empowerment policies. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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World development. - Oxford
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Publication
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Oxford
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2019
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ISSN
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0305-750X
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DOI
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10.1016/J.WORLDDEV.2019.03.005
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Volume/pages
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119
(2019)
, p. 40-54
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ISI
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000467350000003
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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Full text (open access)
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