Dowries are prevalent in South Asian countries, despite legal bans. Theoretical studies suggest that increasing women's financial contribution to households is the key to effectively abolishing this practice. To empirically examine this proposition, we conducted a unique survey in rural Pakistan and gathered contemporaneous information about the expected amount of dowry for unmarried daughters. The estimation results show a negative association between female labour force participation and the expected amount of dowry, whereas no negative association is observed with other marriage expenses. These findings suggest that the negative association derives from appreciation of working women rather than their stigmatization.

中文翻译：

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巴基斯坦的女性劳动力参与和嫁妆

尽管有法律禁止，嫁妆在南亚国家还是很普遍。理论研究表明，增加妇女对家庭的经济贡献是有效废除这种做法的关键。为了从经验上检验这一主张，我们在巴基斯坦农村地区进行了一次独特的调查，并收集了有关未婚女儿预期嫁妆额的同期信息。估计结果表明，女性劳动力参与度与预期的嫁妆量之间呈负相关，而与其他婚姻支出之间没有负相关。这些发现表明，消极的联想源于对职业妇女的欣赏而不是对她们的污名化。