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Abstract
This paper examines how differences in the bargaining power of husband and wife
affect the distribution of consumption expenditures in rural Bangladeshi households. Two
alternative measures of assets are used: current assets and the value of assets brought to
marriage. Results show that both assets at marriage and current assets are strongly
determined by the human capital of husband and wife and the characteristics of their origin
families. For both husband and wife, parents’ landholdings are a consistent determinant of
both assets at marriage and current assets. Contrary to the unitary model, husband’s and
wife’s assets have different effects on the allocation of expenditures within the household.
Wife’s assets have a positive and significant effect on the share of expenditures on
children’s clothing and education. This result is robust to the choice of asset measure and
estimation procedure. After endogeneity of assets is accounted for, husband’s current
assets have a positive and significant effect on the food expenditure share. Neglecting the
endogeneity of asset measures to individual and parental characteristics may lead to biased
estimates of the impact of men’s and women’s assets on expenditure shares.