Unitary or Noncooperative Intrahousehold Model? Evidence from Couples in Uganda
We present an overview of the evidence regarding the unitary, collective and non-cooperative models of household decision making and discuss how they can affect indi-vidual and household welfare. We then discuss the results of an artefactual experimentconducted in Uganda with spouses in order to test whether household members maxi-mize common preferences, or instead are willing to pay a significant cost to hide moneyfrom their spouse. We find that both the unitary and non-cooperative models exist inthe intra-household decision making process and that a “one-size fits all” model ofhousehold decision making is unlikely to be satisfactory.
Fiala, N. und X. He (2017), Unitary or Noncooperative Intrahousehold Model? Evidence from Couples in Uganda. World Bank Economic Review, 30, 1, 77-85
DOI: 10.1093/wber/lhw011