Good news for my startup lease/trade-in wife business.
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Economic theories reveal the pitfalls of polygamy
By David Turner, Employment Correspondent
Published: February 1 2005 02:00 | Last updated: February 1 2005 02:00
Polygamy makes perfect sense to many rich men in poorer countries but it is bad for the economy overall, according to a report called The Mystery of Monogamy by three economists.
The study, published recently by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, argues that mass polygamy, which still exists in sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt and Thailand, can make it hard for economies “to break out of the poverty trap”.
The practice, it says, allows rich men “to spend their money on quantity rather than investing in child quality” and stretches a wealthy man’s resources across a larger number of children.
The authors also argue that the practice has only died out in the west because it no longer makes economic sense for the middle classes, who can no longer afford more than one wife.
The use of economic thinking to explain cultural norms has disgusted some moralists, who have argued that money cannot explain all human behaviour.
Economists counter that the rules of economics can be applied to all scarce resources - not only money but also other resources important within human relationships.
Eric Gould, Omer Moav and Avi Simhon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem base their provocative conclusions on a study of Africa’s Ivory Coast. Four in 10 adult women of child-bearing age share their husband with another wife, according to research used by the authors.
Richer men tended to have more wives. But richer men who were well educated or earned their income from wages tended to have fewer wives. Rich men who earned their income from other sources - such as land or corruption, suggest the authors - tended to have more wives.
The study showed that educated men have an interest in finding “quality” wives of good education, because they have more chance of producing a skilled and well-educated child with high earning potential. Quality wives, like any quality good or service, will come at a higher price - so aman will be able to afford fewer of them.
But rich men whose success is not rooted in education have less chance of producing a well-educated child - and hence less interest in an educated woman. The best way of maximising the total income of their children is to concentrate on producing a large number of not particularly well educated offspring - which is easier if they have more than one wife.
But in richer countries, where wealth derives more from education, the premium placed on an educated wife is much higher. Her price in the marriage market will become so high that all but the richest men will be able to afford only one wife.
The authors recommend that governments in poorer countries should subsidise education. By creating a firmer link between the division of a country’s wealth and human capital, it will encourage men to devote themselves to finding a single, educated woman rather than a large number of them.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/03b89160-73f9-11d9-b705-00000e2511c8.html