Augustin Tapsoba (Toulouse School of Economics)

Polygyny and the Economic Determinants of Family Formation Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Augustin Tapsoba
Toulouse School of Economics

Abstract

I study how local income shocks affect family formation in the presence of polygyny. Polygyny is modeled as a sequential one-to-one matching process wherein young bachelors and older married men compete for brides. When there is a negative shock, the demand for second wives is more responsive to the decline in income and bride price than the demand for first/unique wives. This leads to a larger number of girls marrying younger husbands as their first wives. Positive shocks yield the opposite effect. Unlike in monogamous markets, aggregate income shocks do not significantly affect girls’ marriage timing in high polygyny areas.

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