Essays on Gender, Intra-Household Allocation and Development

Abstract

This dissertation studies gender, intra-household allocation and development. Industrialization and globalization has expanded opportunities for women in developing countries to work in manufacturing and service sector jobs often located outside their villages. The first chapter of this dissertation studies whether such job opportunities can lead to socio-economic changes for women, particularly with regard to marriage, fertility and empowerment. The second chapter examines the impact of a large public workfare program targeting rural households in India on children. In particular, we study the impact of time use by the youngest and oldest children in a household as adult time use changes in response to new work opportunities. The final chapter of this dissertation studies the impact of age of marriage on female mobility and autonomy in rural India.