Resumen
Equal participation of women and men in household decision-making processes is subject to controversy. The necessary preconditions for neo-liberal globalization entrap the women of the global South with little democracy, freedom, or prosperity. The traditionally cultivated belief that males are breadwinners and authorized to make major household decisions leads to male domination and eventually gender bias. To examine gender bias against female members, Berry (1988) had combined the effects of contribution to household income and participation rate in household decision making and claimed that female members are residual claimants in both aspects. Using primary data collected from villages of Bangladesh, the present study examines pure gender bias and the impact of economic contribution to household income on participation in household decision-making process by male and female members. It reveals a strong positive correlation between an individual member?s participation in household decision making and his/her economic contribution to household income irrespective of gender. If a female member?s contribution to household income increases, her participation in household decision-making also increases proportionally. By utilizing a contribution-decision making continuum to isolate the two effects?the pure gender bias effect and the economic contribution effect, the study concludes that the residual claim hypothesis is not always applicable.Keywords: Residual claim hypothesis, Contribution-decision making continuum, Pure gender bias, Bias due to economic effect, Relationship bias.