Abstract
This article examines how cultural norms shape household resilience strategies during income shocks. Using Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index data and household data, the study examines how droughts affect children's dropout rates in Benin relative to the kinship systems of the household’s ethnic group. The paper exploits Benin’s rich ethnic composition- 47 different ethnicities in this study-with divergent ancestral norms to build this cross-regional sample, contrasting with previous research in Malawi (Dessi et al. 2023). The idea is that households in contexts of greater gender equality, as seen in matrilocal ethnic groups, are more likely to protect girls’ education relative to boys’ education. In contrast, patrilocal households may sacrifice girls’ schooling. This theory would correlate with the gender gap in economic empowerment and bargaining power prominent in Benin. The paper's results show that girls’ dropout rates fall faster than boys’ in matrilocal contexts, while patrilocal contexts have no significant results.