Gender Differences in Preferences, Intra-Household Externalities, and Low Demand for Improved Cookstoves

56 Pages Posted: 13 Apr 2013 Last revised: 27 Apr 2023

See all articles by Grant Miller

Grant Miller

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Stanford University - School of Medicine

Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak

Yale School of Management; Yale University - Cowles Foundation

Date Written: April 2013

Abstract

This paper examines whether an intra-household externality prevents adoption of a technology with substantial implications for population health and the environment: improved cookstoves. Motivated by a model of intra-household decision-making, the experiment markets stoves to husbands or wives in turn at randomly varying prices. We find that women - who bear disproportionate cooking costs - have stronger preference for healthier stoves, but lack the authority to make purchases. Our findings suggest that if women cannot make independent choices about household resource use, public policy may not be able to exploit gender differences in preferences to promote technology adoption absent broader social change.

Suggested Citation

Miller, Grant and Miller, Grant and Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq, Gender Differences in Preferences, Intra-Household Externalities, and Low Demand for Improved Cookstoves (April 2013). NBER Working Paper No. w18964, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2250273

Grant Miller (Contact Author)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Stanford University - School of Medicine ( email )

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Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak

Yale School of Management ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://mba.yale.edu/faculty/profiles/mobarak.shtml

Yale University - Cowles Foundation

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New Haven, CT 06520-8281
United States

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