Ten Years of Relational Power: The Long-Run Effects of Teaching Negotiation Skills to Adolescent Girls
We evaluate the effects of teaching negotiation skills to adolescent girls in economically vulnerable compounds in Lusaka, Zambia ten years later. Treated participants complete 0.27 more years of education. Consistent with greater relational empowerment, they also begin sexual activity later, marry later, have smaller age gaps with their husbands, are less likely to report a high likelihood of having HIV, and express less traditional gender attitudes. Social benefits and costs from HIV reduction and increased education suggest the intervention generated 7.8-16.2 dollars for every dollar spent and may have paid for itself in government revenues.
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Copy CitationNava Ashraf, Natalie Bau, Corinne Low, and Xiaoyue Shan, "Ten Years of Relational Power: The Long-Run Effects of Teaching Negotiation Skills to Adolescent Girls," NBER Working Paper 34339 (2025), https://doi.org/10.3386/w34339.
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