2.dos Issues with existing research
Since the dowry are legitimately blocked within the Asia and Bangladesh, anyone usually think twice to inform you exact dowry amounts. The high quality matter on the dowry throughout the Indian dataset asks regarding community-built dowry. Instance, the brand new Asia Human Invention Survey requires “Essentially in the region for a family eg your, what are the style of issues that are provided just like the gift suggestions during the time of the brand new daughter’s relationships?” A residential district-based dowry isn’t the just like one dowry, which is reduced by the bride’s mothers at the time of relationship. Rather, practical question from dowry allows only a binary answer, we.elizabeth., no matter if a positive level of dowry try paid down (elizabeth.g., Questionnaire to brightwomen.net BesГёk lenken the Updates of women and you can Fertility in India and you may Pakistan). A digital address, needless to say, does not promote far additional information. Typical away from if a confident dowry number is provided corresponds to help you, that’s mostly informed me of the, cultural, spiritual, and status experiences inside Southern China.
Once the dowry is not lawfully banned in Pakistan, extent individually paid off from the female respondent’s mothers are going to be expected versus reservation inside the an excellent Pakistani dataset for instance the Pakistan Rural House Survey. Regardless if Pakistani interviewees may well not intentionally cover correct information regarding dowry methods, brand new questionnaire will get nonetheless have remember mistakes once the participants need to remember the fresh new dowry number paid back of the their mothers several years ago. Shape 1a plots the new predict level of real dowry values measured during the Pakistani Rupees during the 2004 on to relationships season using investigation from the new Pakistan Rural House Questionnaire. As the opinion is the fact actual dowry numbers was growing, or perhaps display a non-decreasing trend, new profile ways the general inclination away from recall errors. Put another way, the longer the new gap amongst the interviewees’ relationship plus the remember date, the more likely he could be so you’re able to overestimate this new dowry count.
Relationship ranging from ladies ounts. The brand new line shows the latest forecast real quantity of dowry regressed for the women’s matrimony seasons. This new shaded area reveals 95% rely on period of one’s forecast amount of dowry. The information and knowledge sourced elements of (a) and you will (b) is actually Pakistan Outlying Home Survey 2004, and also the rural household questionnaire presented of the journalist within the 2013, respectively
step three Data
Into better of our knowledge, analysis obtained within analysis will be the earliest to take on explicitly a general habit of overestimate a cost paid extended in the past. Just like the features out of prior to now accumulated studies, ours are retrospective; but not, based on that it interest, i particularly implemented specific efforts to reduce survey recall errors. Such, we wanted the degree of one another people-established dowry (non-retrospective) and personal dowry count paid off during the time of the newest respondent’s marriage (retrospective). Given that Pakistani dowry contains silver/accessories, clothing, chairs, kitchenware, and stuff like that, i queried dowry quantity because of the goods. Whenever we felt a respondent’s overestimation of your dowry number, especially in the outcome off a marriage you to definitely occurred a great long time in the past, just like the dowry is actually presented, we can and performed see these wide variety that have those who went to the latest ceremony. Consequently, all of our studies towards predict real quantities of dowry (Fig. 1b) don’t show people decreasing pattern, having said that with people stated when you look at the Fig. 1a.
step 3.1 Survey
When conducting our survey between , we intended to capture the heterogeneous aspects of the Punjab province in Pakistan. We divided Punjab (36 districts) into five regions: Pothohar (or North), Central, East, West, and South Punjab. Climate, culture (including marriage/inheritance practices), and socioeconomic conditions differ across regions but are similar within each region. We randomly selected one district from each region, namely, Rawalpindi, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal, Muzaffargarh, and Bahawalnagar (Fig. 2). We used the district census for 1998–1999, the latest census available in Pakistan as of 2013, to randomly select six villages in rural areas in each of the five districts. We restricted sampling villages to those with a population of at least 1000 at the time of the census. In each village, we selected 22 households, following a stratified random sampling methodology. First, with assistance from the village chief, we made a list of households in the village and categorized them into a stratum. The strata are kammees Footnote 10 (i.e., traditional service or lower caste, with annual income ? PKR 200,000, > PKR 200,000) and zamindars (i.e., landowning farmers with land < 5,>12.5 acres). Eligible households in our survey are defined as those with an economically active husband and wife aged 15–65. Second, we performed stratified random sampling so that the share of each stratum in our sample corresponds to the share of each stratum of the village population (= households).