From bargaining power to empowerment: Measuring the unmeasurable

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centre
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Food Policy Research Institute
cg.contributor.crpAgriculture for Nutrition and Health
cg.contributor.crpPolicies, Institutions, and Markets
cg.contributor.donorGates Foundation
cg.contributor.donorUnited States Agency for International Development
cg.creator.identifierAgnes Quisumbing: 0000-0002-5429-1857
cg.howPublishedFormally Published
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project (GAAP)
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEIA)
cg.identifier.publicationRankA
cg.isijournalISI Journal
cg.issn0169-5150
cg.issue3
cg.journalAgricultural Economics
cg.reviewStatusPeer Review
cg.volume56
dc.contributor.authorQuisumbing, Agnes R.
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-29T15:49:20Z
dc.date.available2025-05-29T15:49:20Z
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/174871
dc.titleFrom bargaining power to empowerment: Measuring the unmeasurableen
dcterms.abstractMeasuring power is central to empirical work on intrahousehold and gender relations. This paper reviews how progress in the measurement of power within households has facilitated our understanding of household decision-making and creates new opportunities for programs and policy. Early efforts to test household models focused on measuring spousal bargaining power, usually in models featuring two decision-makers within the household. Proxy measures for bargaining power included age, education, assets, and “outside options” that could affect spouses’ threat points within marriage. Evidence rejecting the collective model of the household has influenced the design of policies and programs, notably conditional cash transfer programs. Efforts have since shifted to measuring empowerment, drawing on theories of agency and power. Since 2010, several measures of women's empowerment have been developed, including the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and its variants. A distinct feature of the WEAI, like other counting-based measures, is its decomposability into its component indicators, which makes identifying sources of disempowerment possible. The WEAI indicators also embody jointness of decision-making or ownership, which better reflects actual decision-making within households compared to 2-person bargaining models. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research. This paper was presented at a Plenary Session of the 32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE) 2024, held from 2–7 August, 2024 in New Delhi, India.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientists
dcterms.available2025-04-16
dcterms.bibliographicCitationQuisumbing, Agnes R. 2025. From bargaining power to empowerment: Measuring the unmeasurable. Agricultural Economics 56(3): 419-430. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.70022
dcterms.extentp. 419-430
dcterms.issued2025-05
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherWiley
dcterms.relationhttps://iaae.confex.com/iaae/icae32/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/22674
dcterms.subjectbargaining power
dcterms.subjectdecision making
dcterms.subjecthouseholds
dcterms.subjectwomen's empowerment
dcterms.subjectgender
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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