We develop a non-cooperative bargaining model with incomplete information linking dowry payments, domestic violence, resource allocation between a husband and a wife, and separation. Our model generates several predictions, which we test empirically using amendments to the Indian anti-dowry law as a natural experiment. (Review of Economics and Statistics)

We study the relationship between dowries, wealth transfers from the bride’s family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage, and individual-level poverty in rural India. (Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization)

This study investigates the causal impacts of two iterations of a large-scale nutritional intervention to promote the self-development and empowerment of adolescent girls in India.

The study examines how a legal reform increasing women’s inheritance rights in India positively impacts their mental health and life satisfaction, with spillover benefits observed in husbands of treated women. Findings highlight that economic empowerment policies can enhance mental well-being through improvements in socio-economic indicators like land ownership and autonomy.

I estimate preferences for height in the Indian marriage market and study how marital matching and sorting on height impacts children’s height distribution.