TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kutsoati, Edward
AU  - Morck, Randall
TI  - Family Ties, Inheritance Rights, and Successful Poverty Alleviation: Evidence from Ghana
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 18080
PY  - 2012
Y2  - May 2012
DO  - 10.3386/w18080
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18080
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18080.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Edward Kutsoati
Department of Economics
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155
E-Mail: edward.kutsoati@tufts.edu

Randall Morck
Faculty of Business
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6G 2R6
CANADA
Tel: 780/492-5683
Fax: 780/492-3325
E-Mail: randall.morck@ualberta.ca
M1  - published as Edward Kutsoati, Randall Morck. "Family Ties, Inheritance Rights, and Successful Poverty Alleviation: Evidence from Ghana," in Sebastian Edwards, Simon Johnson, and David N. Weil, editors, "African Successes, Volume II: Human Capital" University of Chicago Press (2016)

M3  - presented at "African Development Successes", August 3-5, 2011
AB  - Ghanaian custom views children as members of either their mother's or father's lineage (extended family), but not both. Patrilineal custom charges a man's lineage with caring for his widow and children, while matrilineal custom places this burden on the widows' lineage - her father, brothers, and uncles.  Deeming custom inadequate, and to  promote the nuclear family, Ghana enacted the Intestate Succession (PNDC) Law 111, 1985 and 1998 Children's Act 560 to force men to provide for their widows and children, as in Western cultures. Our survey shows that, although most people die intestate and many profess to know Law 111, it is rarely implemented. Knowledge of the law correlates with couples accumulating assets jointly and with inter-vivos husband to wife transfers, controlling for education. These effects are least evident for widows of  matrilineal lineage men, suggesting a persistence of traditional norms. Widows with closer ties with their own or their spouse's lineage report greater financial support, as do those very few who benefit from legal wills or access Law 111 and, importantly, widows of matrilineal lineage. Some evidence also supports Act 560 benefiting nuclear families, especially if the decedent's lineage is matrilineal. Overall, our study confirms African traditional institutions' persistent importance, and the limited effects of formal law.
ER  -