Replication Data for: Household bargaining and spending on children: Experimental evidence from Tanzania

Purpose: The dataset was collected to investigate the impact of women’s intrahousehold bargaining power on the allocation of household resources, specifically toward children's education. The data aim to provide insights into how shifts in relative control over financial decisions between spouses influence investments in children, with a focus on whether increasing women's bargaining power leads to higher spending on education.

Nature of the data: The dataset includes experimental data from a between-subject lab experiment involving 287 married couples in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The main variables capture how households allocate a fixed monetary endowment between the husband, wife, and one of their children in primary school. Additional variables include time preferences, risk preferences, and demographic characteristics such as age, education, and employment status of the participants.

Scope: The dataset covers data from 287 couples recruited from four primary schools in a low-income ward of Dar es Salaam. The couples participated in an experiment that varied the bargaining power of spouses by manipulating control over money in different treatments (husband dictator, wife dictator, and two bargaining games).

Methodology: The data were collected through a lab experiment, in which couples were asked to allocate a monetary endowment between themselves and their child, with the allocation to the child representing an investment in their education (in the form of tutoring). Participants also completed tasks to measure time and risk preferences. The design allowed for a clean identification of how shifts in bargaining power influenced resource allocation decisions.