abstract: 'This paper explores the causal link between couple''s household

  decision-making power and women''s labour market and economic outcomes.

  Autonomy refers to the condition of independence while decision-making

  power can be defined as one''s ability to make important decisions within

  the household. Autonomy and decision-making power are used

  interchangeably in this paper. Using the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and

  Health Survey and a series of probit, instrumental probit and

  multinomial logistic regression models, findings suggest that women who

  have lower autonomy in their households are less likely to be currently

  employed and even when they are employed, these women have higher odds

  of working in family businesses, which are typically associated with

  greater labour market vulnerability. These women are, however, more

  likely to own assets, a strategy likely aimed at improving their exit

  options. Interestingly, when men have relatively more power within the

  household, there are positive implications for women''s labour market

  outcomes-women are more likely to be currently employed and less likely

  to be unpaid workers in family businesses. An explanation for this may

  be found in the country''s high poverty levels and general economic

  hardships which necessitates the influx of additional resources into the

  household through women''s paid employment. Greater absolute and relative

  autonomy of male partners, however, reduce women''s asset ownership,

  likely because greater resource accumulation by women, beyond wage

  receipts, can be an indicator of dominance within the household, a

  position typically ascribed to men by cultural and patriarchal norms.

  These results suggest that relative perceptions of authority and

  autonomy in the household are important determinants of Nigerian women''s

  labour market behaviours and asset ownership, and the influences of male

  partners cannot, and should not, be underestimated.'
affiliation: 'Owoo, NS (Corresponding Author), Univ Ghana, Dept Econ, POB LG 57, Accra,
  Ghana.

  Owoo, Nkechi S., Univ Ghana, Dept Econ, POB LG 57, Accra, Ghana.'
author: Owoo, Nkechi S.
author-email: nowoo@ug.edu.gh
author_list:
- family: Owoo
  given: Nkechi S.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1007/s11113-022-09732-4
earlyaccessdate: JUL 2022
eissn: 1573-7829
files: []
issn: 0167-5923
journal: POPULATION RESEARCH AND POLICY REVIEW
keywords: 'Household Decision making; Labour market participation; Assets

  ownership; Patriarchal culture; Nigeria'
keywords-plus: 'GENDER-ROLE ATTITUDES; PARTICIPATION; INEQUALITY; IDEOLOGY; MARRIAGE;

  RELIGION; NIGERIA'
language: English
month: DEC
number: '6'
number-of-cited-references: '47'
orcid-numbers: Owoo, Nkechi/0000-0002-5220-9733
pages: 2365-2391
papis_id: 4ed43b540a698228605b30e1482ddef9
ref: Owoo2022couplesdecisionmakin
times-cited: '0'
title: Couple's Decision-Making Power, Women's Labour Market Outcomes, and Asset Ownership
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000826122600001
usage-count-last-180-days: '2'
usage-count-since-2013: '6'
volume: '41'
web-of-science-categories: Demography
year: '2022'