Fertility, Mahr, and Price of Gold: Evidence from the MENA Region
Abdulrhman Alamoudi

Abstract
This study investigates how the high average bride price of payments paid by the groom to the bride at the time of marriage has a relationship with fertility decisions by using microdata from several countries of the MENA region. To correct for the potential endogeneity of women's wealth, I use the average price of gold and oil at the time of marriage as a source of exogenous variation to proxy for bride price payment. This study's primary outcome confirms that a high bride price paid by the groom is associated with less bargaining power for women and higher fertility.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jeds.v11n1a1