Women, Property Rights, and Islam

To what extent do conventional explanations of women's rights, such as religion, culture, core rights, and advocacy, help to explain the status of women's rights in Muslim majority countries? Religion and patriarchal culture are commonly cited to explain the persistence of gender inequality. While often overlooked, the study of property rights offers leverage for differentiating between religious and cultural explanations of women's status given their different prescriptions regarding the acquisition and management of property. Examining developing and Muslim majority countries, we find that patriarchal norms, more so than religion, constitute the main barrier to gender equality. Further, we find that core rights like women's access to education and, to a lesser degree, norms-building by women's rights groups best explain where women enjoy effective property rights.