What are the impacts of forced displacement on displaced women marriage outcomes? This paper studies how a shock to displacement, induced by the staggered occurrence of earthquakes in Indonesia, affects the timing of marriage of displaced young women. Relying on individual-level longitudinal data and a differences-in-differences design, I find that displacement accelerates the timing of marriage; the effects correspond to a 53% increase. The displacement average effect masks important heterogeneity that depends on an ethnic group’s marriage custom. Results are 74% higher among bride price women. I propose three main mechanisms for these results: bride price as a consumption-smoothing channel, a change in household composition to alleviate the adverse economic shock of displacement, and a need to assimilate with the local population.
Abstract
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