Essays in Development Economics: Gender Norms, Decision Making, and Outcomes

Abstract

This dissertation consists of three empirical studies on the economics of gender in low- and middle-income countries. The first study examines the relative effectiveness of targeting men, women, or both with interventions aimed at reducing child marriage. The second study focuses on how exposure to intimate partner violence in the household influences the decision making of women. The third study investigates the extent to which interventions that teach boys and girls how to set goals and plan for their future impact their soft skills and education outcomes. I use causal econometric methods, leveraging data from six randomized controlled experiments and two quasi-experiments. The studies span various contexts -- Ethiopia, Pakistan, Uganda, and Kenya. They share a unified object of research, that is, the decisions by women and men, boys and girls, and how they are shaped by and shape gender inequalities.