Alimony Rights and Intrahousehold Allocation of Resources: Evidence from Brazil.

Can family policy affect well-being of individuals without altering the resources available to their families? This article examines the extension of alimony rights and obligations to cohabiting couples in Brazil. For women in intact relationships, alimony rights upon dissolution should improve outs...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Economic Journal Vol. 116; pp. 627 - 659
Autor principal: Rangel, Marcos A.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell July 2006
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Can family policy affect well-being of individuals without altering the resources available to their families? This article examines the extension of alimony rights and obligations to cohabiting couples in Brazil. For women in intact relationships, alimony rights upon dissolution should improve outside options, strengthening their negotiating positions, and increasing their influence over intrahousehold allocation of resources. Robust econometric evidence indicates that more decision power in the hands of women impacts hours worked by female adults and investments in the education of children. This suggests that family policy and models of family decision making should take intrahousehold heterogeneity of preferences into account. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.