Abstract:

While the process of data collection can lead to bias, little empirical evidence investigates the role of the survey method. In this paper, we compare two survey methods: the standard face-to-face interview and an alternative method we call Human-Assisted Self-Administered survey (HASA). In the latter, respondents are guided by an enumerator reading questions, but they answer privately on an electronic device. Taking advantage of an RCT in Benin, we randomize the survey method across respondents while holding the questionnaire constant. We show that the survey method leads to different results depending on the degree of enumerator influence. Identifying this influence by quantifying how much of the variation in the outcome variable is attributable to enumerators, we document that variables that are unlikely to be influenced by enumerators do not differ significantly across survey methods. However, variables that are likely to be affected differ systematically. These variables are mainly related to norms, opinions, and beliefs. In particular, we find that respondents who answer directly on an electronic device report less gender-equal behavior and values. Investigating the mechanisms, we show that social desirability bias is more likely to affect responses in classical face-to-face interviews, where individuals' responses are less confidential.

Abstract: 

In sub-Saharan Africa, women constitute the majority of new Christian membership (including Evangelical and Pentecostal denominations), and this gender gap exceeds that of any other religion. Existing explanations for conversion to these churches emphasize demand for mutual help or informal insurance. We instead show that emancipation is central: these churches provide services that support women’s economic advancement and help them challenge patriarchal norms. Using experimental data from Benin, we find that women randomly offered an economic opportunity become more likely to convert, partly because these churches help counter witchcraft threats, a risk that disproportionately targets economically successful women. To assess external validity, we combine large African datasets with local variation in exposure to positive economic shocks and prevalence of witchcraft beliefs. Women are more likely to join new Christian churches following such shocks, especially where witchcraft beliefs are widespread. There, women work more, have fewer children, and exercise greater decision‑making power, while both women and men reject traditional beliefs, rituals, and authorities.

Abstract:

This paper examines the demographic consequences of one of the most prevalent belief systems in sub-Saharan Africa. I focus on the impact of a belief system that emphasizes the role of ancestors, who have a strong interest in the continuation of their lineage into which they may be reincarnated. I combine first-hand data, novel ethnographic information, and historical and contemporary surveys to show: 1) a strong, positive relationship between ancestral beliefs and fertility across contexts and time periods; and 2) that this relationship is specifically driven by the motive to continue one's lineage. In a simple model where the total number of children in the lineage is a public good and depends on the kinship system, I show that 1) the effect of ancestral beliefs is driven by patrilineal societies, where the motive to continue one's lineage is stronger; and 2) in groups with ancestral beliefs, a specific pattern of free riding among siblings emerges: in patrilineal societies, fertility decreases with the number of the husband's brothers, whereas in matrilineal societies, female fertility decreases with the number of sisters (but not brothers). These predictions are supported by the data.

Abstract:

Regional inequalities in education are a persistent and worrying phenomenon in Africa, with roots dating back to the colonial period. However, the mechanisms that explain this persistent inequality remain poorly understood. This paper addresses this gap by examining the case of colonial Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Using contemporary and historical surveys, archives, and administrative data on contemporary schools, we offer new insights into the persistence of regional educational inequalities since the colonial period. We highlight a factor neglected in the existing literature: the spatial clustering of post-independence schools around historical missions, driven by competition between religious schools of different denominations. Since distance to school has a stronger effect on girls' than boys' enrollment, our results help explain the stronger long-term impact of colonial schools on women than on men. Regarding other mechanisms, we isolate the role of parents' education on children's educational outcomes and examine whether missions were the locus of structural change. The quantitative importance of these channels seems limited in this context.

Abstract:

The persistence of high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa remains poorly explained by standard economic models centered on income, health, and human capital. This paper examines the role of kinship structure -- specifically, the organization of society around unilineal descent groups (lineages) -- as a cultural determinant of fertility. We develop a conceptual framework in which lineage-held communal property generates a public-good externality in children, giving rise to pronatalist social norms that persist through internalization, conformity pressures, and direct kin enforcement. Combining 147 Demographic and Health Survey waves across 39 sub-Saharan African countries with ethnographic data, and exploiting both within-country–year variation and a spatial regression discontinuity design at ancestral ethnic boundaries, we find that lineage organization is associated with approximately 0.2–0.3 additional children per woman -- roughly one-third of the fertility differential associated with female education or urban residence. This effect is systematically attenuated when lineage ties are weaker: in societies with greater precolonial political centralization, near historical Christian missions, in urban areas proximate to capital cities, or when women's decision making power is high. Case studies from Burkina Faso and Benin reveal that lineage-perpetuation concerns shape both fertility preferences and realized outcomes and that direct fertility pressure from kin responds specifically to the number of lineage-continuing offspring. Our findings underscore the importance of incorporating kinship organization into models of the fertility transition and into the design of population policies.

Abstract:

Pineapple is a dynamic value chain in Benin that attracts investments from various stakeholders. Small-scale farmers produce the majority of the crop and most of them are men. Although women play an important role in agriculture overall and often manage their own fields, few of them cultivate pineapple on their fields. They face several specific, gender-related constraints preventing their involvement in this productive activity, including liquidity constraints, problems with the planification of activities over the course of the 18 months production cycle, bookkeeping or competing demands on their time. Exploratory field work reveals that husbands’ support is a crucial determinant of women’s success in this activity. A husband may offer financial support or help in monitoring workers for example. This raises the following questions: Is this support offering a (second-best) substitute for access to financial market or training or is it rather a complement (or a necessary condition) for a woman’s investment in this productive activity? What are the costs of seeking one husband’s help for one’s own business? Why are some husbands reluctant in offering this support? May this support be stimulated by an exogenous intervention? We investigate these questions taking advantage from an intervention set up by the Belgian Development Agency (Enabel) in order to encourage women involvement in pineapple production. It includes a business training and a generous subsidy for women to start or to expand a pineapple production. With a view to stimulate husbands’ support, in some groups, husbands have been invited to take part in the training and design, with their wife, an action plan for her pineapple production.