Unraveling the Threads

Social norms act as informal rules that shape our behavior and facilitate coordination. However, certain norms, such as child marriage and female genital cutting (FGC), adversely affect the health, education, and labor outcomes of (vulnerable) individuals, exacerbating inequalities and impeding the economic development of countries. This dissertation empirically explores how policy-induced changes in social norms shape gender and ethnic inequalities in these outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Through quasi-experimental designs across four independent chapters, the following questions are addressed: How do social norms interact with each other? How are they linked to inequality in human capital? Under which conditions may norm-targeting policies succeed or backfire?. Chapter 2 examines how a reform that raised the minimum marriage age for women from 15 to 18 in Ethiopia affected FGC outcomes. I find that the child marriage ban increased the prevalence of severe cutting among bride price practicing groups, reflecting an increased need to signal premarital chastity. Simultaneously, I present suggestive evidence that less invasive forms of FGC declined in these groups while girls’ education improved. Chapter 3 analyzes how the same child marriage ban impacted gender gaps in schooling and child labor. The results suggest that girls’ school attendance rose in districts with a high prevalence of the bride price practice, thereby narrowing the gender gap. In contrast, girls’ child labor increased in low-prevalence districts. Chapter 4 analyzes the effects of an inheritance reform in Ghana, which restricted matrilineal kinship norms that traditionally allocate inheritance within the extended family. The reform widened the gender gap in adult labor, driven by men working more hours, while concurrently reducing girls’ child labor. Chapter 5 presents evidence on how smoking behavior in Indonesia, which is linked to norms around masculinity, affect child development. The findings indicate that paternal smoking initiation was associated with reduced height among children from ethnic minorities but not the majority, thereby widening the development gap between both groups. Collectively, the dissertation presents crucial insights into the complex dynamics of social norms and their implications for policy design, offering guidance for crafting interventions aimed at reducing inequalities.