Women's Empowerment and Earned Income: Experimental Evidence from Jordan

A seminar with Steve L. Monroe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Middle East Initiative and PhD in Politics, Princeton University.

Paper Authors: Carolyn Barnett, Amaney Jamal, and Steve Monroe

Light lunch will be served at this event.

Abstract

Does earning income empower women in patriarchal societies? We conduct two original experiments in Amman, Jordan that investigate how patriarchy constrains the effects of relative earned income on women’s bargaining power and women’s preferences for paid employment opportunities. In the first experiment, we randomize women’s earned income relative to male and female partners in a bargaining lab game. Women randomly assigned higher incomes than their partners behave more efficaciously than women with lower incomes. They are only more influential over bargaining outcomes, however, when paired with women, not men. We then employ a conjoint survey experiment using hypothetical job opportunities to assess how the prospect of higher incomes and working alongside men affect women’s job preferences. While higher wages make a job more desirable, mixed-sex workspaces are a strong deterrent. Together, these findings provide new evidence that patriarchal factors both constrain women’s desire to engage in paid labor and segment the empowering effects of women’s earned income.