Publications [#239067] of Duncan Thomas

Journal Articles

  1. Beegle, K; Frankenberg, E; Thomas, D, Bargaining power within couples and use of prenatal and delivery care in Indonesia., Studies in family planning, vol. 32 no. 2 (June, 2001), pp. 130-146, ISSN 0039-3665
    (last updated on 2024/03/28)

    Abstract:
    Indonesian women's power relative to that of their husbands is examined to determine how it affects use of prenatal and delivery care. Holding household resources constant, a woman's control over economic resources affects the couple's decision-making. Compared with a woman with no assets that she perceives as being her own, a woman with some share of household assets influences reproductive health decisions. Evidence suggests that her influence on service use also varies if a woman is better educated than her husband, comes from a background of higher social status than her husband's, or if her father is better educated than her father-in-law. Therefore, both economic and social dimensions of the distribution of power between spouses influence use of services, and conceptualizing power as multidimensional is useful for understanding couples' behavior.