On the Timing of Marriage, Cattle, and Weather Shocks in Rural Zimbabwe

The authors focus on the timing of
marriages of women in rural Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean marriages
are associated with bride welath payments, which are
transfers from (the family of) the groom to the bride's
family. Unmarried daughters could therefore be considered
assets who, at time of need, can be cashed in. The authors
investigate to what extent the timing of a marriage of a
daughter is affected by the economic conditions of the
household from which she originates. They distinguish
household-specific wealth levels and two types of
shocks--correlated (weather) shocks and idiosyncratic
shocks. The authors estimate a duration model using a unique
panel survey of Zimbabwean smallholder farmers. The
estimation results support the hypothesis that the timing of
marriage is affected by household characteristics. Girls
from households that experiences a negative (idiosyncratic)
shock in their assets are more likely to marry.