Conflict or cooperation? Experimental evidence on intra-household allocations in Ethiopia

•Men and women have strikingly similar preferences and fairness norms.•Husbands contribute more than their wives in the intra-household games.•Commonly held social norms are important for household decisions.•A household survey carried after the lab supports the external validity of experiment. We explore intra-household decision-making using lab experiments with more than 200 married couples in Ethiopia. In contrast to much of the literature that highlights conflicting interests between household members, we find striking similarities in household allocation preferences and norms of men and women. In particular, men and women are equally cooperative and altruistic in anonymous games, they place equal emphasis on public household goods relative to private goods, and they have similar risk and time preferences. Men do, however, contribute more than women in intra-household public goods and dictator games. Qualitative evidence suggests that this is due to a commonly held norm that wives should be compensated for their greater responsibility in managing household expenses. A household survey conducted some days after the experiment supports the external validity of our findings.