"Bargaining" and gender relations: Within and beyond the household

Abstract

This paper presents a set of models to serve as an alternative to the problem of looking at households as a "unitary" concept. The author uses analytical description, a formal model, and empirical analysis in different ways to broaden our understanding on how gender relations are constructed and contested within and outside the household. The paper identifies and explains the complex and dynamic aspects of gender and power both within the household and beyond the household including markets, communities and the State. These gender dynamics are not easy to conceptualize but they impact economic outcomes due to division on labor, access to resources, and the interaction with other structures such as race and class. Even though most models are not gender specific, their focus on the bargaining approach can be a true asset to analyze gender dynamics and how gender inequalities are created. This paper brings to surface the bargaining of gender relations beyond the household, and the links between extra-household and intra-household bargaining power.