Don’t get us wrong – treating women like property and selling their hand in marriage is unequivocally wrong. But just like how volcanoes, for all their destructive fury, lead to some pretty awesome looking photographs, so too is there evidence for at least one positive outcome from having bride prices, according to research covered by Kevin Grier:

• A paper indicates that brides who are educated command a substantially higher price in societies where the practice of pricing brides is common.
• For example a college degree in Indonesia can lead to a 100% increase in the price of a bride.
• This gives families an economic incentive to send daughters to school, as it becomes an investment into future profits.
• This also seems to drive the construction of schools for girls in bride-selling communities.

Grier points out that it’s not explained why education leads to higher prices, and notes other open questions. You can read them here.

Source: Cherokee Gothic

Via: Marginal Revolution