| By: |
Ulugbek Aminjonov (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU), Trier University);
Olivier Bargain (Bordeaux University) |
| Abstract: |
This paper examines how combinations of ancestral cultural norms are
associated with women’s empowerment across ethnic groups worldwide. Linking
Demographic and Health Surveys to ancestral traits from the Ethnographic
Atlas, we develop a hybrid supervised– unsupervised approach combining Partial
Least Squares with k-means clustering to identify multidimensional normative
configurations. We identify five probabilistic regimes spanning the
empowerment gradient. Severe disempowerment is associated with an accumulation
of restrictive norms, while religious norms and women’s role in agriculture
distinguish higherempowerment environments within otherwise broadly
patriarchal configurations. Further up the gradient, contrasts concern first
hierarchical social institutions, then kinship structures and the loosening of
patriarchal arrangements, before less traditional, more gender-neutral
configurations become widespread at the highest levels of empowerment. The
salience of norms varies with the configurations in which they are embedded,
revealing strongly non-monotonic patterns. These findings remain robust to
accounting for contemporary socioeconomic conditions and to a range of
sensitivity checks. Overall, the analysis provides a global mapping of
ancestral normative environments associated with women’s agency and helps
identify the configurations most closely related to severe intrahousehold
inequality. |
| Keywords: |
women’s empowerment, ancestral norms, cultural persistence, kinship systems, machine learning, gender inequality, DHS, Ethnographic Atlas |
| JEL: |
J16 O15 Z13 C38 D13 |
| Date: |
2026–09 |
| URL: |
https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaa:dpaper:202607 |