Is There Dowry Inflation in South Asia?

42 Pages Posted: 21 Mar 2008 Last revised: 31 Dec 2022

See all articles by Raj Arunachalam

Raj Arunachalam

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Trevon Logan

Ohio State University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: March 2008

Abstract

This paper is the first systematic attempt to measure the existence and degree of dowry inflation in South Asia. The popular press and scholarly literature have assumed dowry inflation in South Asia for some time, and there are now a number of theoretical papers that have attempted to explain the rise of dowries in South Asia. Despite these advances, there has been no systematic study of dowry inflation. Using large-sample retrospective survey data from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal, we assess the empirical evidence for dowry infllation. We find no evidence that real dowry amounts have systematically increased over time in South Asia.

Suggested Citation

Arunachalam, Raj and Logan, Trevon, Is There Dowry Inflation in South Asia? (March 2008). NBER Working Paper No. w13905, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1112017

Raj Arunachalam

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Trevon Logan (Contact Author)

Ohio State University ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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