The Economics of Polygyny in Sub-Saharan Africa: Female Productivity and the Demand for Wives in Côte d'Ivoire

1995/10/01 by Hanan G. Jacoby · 5 citations
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics #Microfinance and Financial Inclusion #Marriage and Sexual Relationships

paper · doi:10.1086/262009

openalex publication_date 1995/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Polygyny is still practiced throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa, with important social consequences. This paper makes the first attempt to link African polygyny directly to the productivity of women in agriculture using micro data. I develop a structural model of the demand for wives that disentangles wealth and substitution effects. Using a large household survey from Côte d'Ivoire, I find that marked geographic diversity in cropping patterns leads to regional variation in female labor productivity. I also find that, conditional on wealth, men do have more wives when women are more productive, that is, cheaper. This substitution effect may explain why polygyny declined in rural areas of Côte d'Ivoire during agricultural development

Citations

• Estimation and Inference in Two-Step Econometric Models
• A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity

Cited by

• Why Is Polygyny More Prevalent in Western Africa? An African Slave Trade Perspective
• Polygyny and women's health in sub-Saharan Africa
• Polygyny and Intimate Partner Violence in Mozambique
• Migration and the “Second Wife” in South China: Toward Cross-Border Polygyny <sup/>
• Polygyny [wikipedia]