The Distribution of Effort - Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting

Jul 19, 2026

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Physical effort is central to economic models of behavior, yet direct measurements have long been limited. This paper compares men’s and women’s physical activity in a low-income rural environment using wearable accelerometers and treats the recorded activity levels as a proxy for effort. In the setting studied, women display marginally higher physical effort, but spousal effort differences are tightly linked to bargaining power. Larger husband-wife effort gaps coincide with differences in age, individual land ownership, and an empowerment index, suggesting gender disadvantage extends to physical effort within couples.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

Introduction

Measuring effort with wearable accelerometers

Physical activity as a proxy for effort

Effort across extensive and intensive margins

Linking effort gaps to bargaining power

Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized The World Bank Economic Review, 37(1), 2023, 93–111 [https://doi.org10.1093/wber/lhac029](https://doi.org10.1093/wber/lhac029) Article The Distribution of Effort: Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting Jed Friedman , Isis Gaddis , Talip Kilic , Antonio Martuscelli , Amparo Palacios-Lopez, and Alberto Zezza Abstract Physical effort is a primary component in models of economic behavior. However, applications that measure effort are historically scarce. This paper assesses the differences in physical activity between men and women through wearable accelerometers and uses these activity measures as a proxy for physical effort. Crucially, the accelerometer-generated data measures the level of physical activity associated with each activity or task recorded in the data. In this rural setting, women exert marginally higher levels of physical effort. However, differences in effort between men and women among married partners are strongly associated with differences in bargaining power, with larger husband-wife effort gaps alongside differences in age, individual land ownership, and an overall empowerment index. Physical activity can exhibit an unequal distribution between men and women suggesting that gender disadvantage, at least within couples, extends to the domain of physical effort. JEL classification: D13, J16, J22 Keywords: physical activity, accelerometers, effort, time use, gender, intrahousehold bargaining 1. Introduction Human effort, both its determinants and consequences, has long been a subject of study in controlled settings in medicine and psychology. In economics, effort plays an integral role in theories of worker decision making (Chayanov 1966; Becker 1977; Becker 1985), and the marginal cost of human effort is a Jed Friedman (corresponding author) is a Lead Economist in the Development Research Group at the World Bank, Washington, DC, USA; his email address is [jfriedman@worldbank.org. Isis Gaddis](jfriedman@worldbank.org. Isis Gaddis) (corresponding author) is a Senior Economist with the World Bank’s South Asia Gender Innovation Lab Gender Group and IZA Research Fellow, Washington, DC, USA; heremail is [igaddis@worldbank.org. Talip Kilic](igaddis@worldbank.org. Talip Kilic) is a Senior Economist at the World Bank’s Development Data Group, Washington, DC, USA; his email is [tkilic@worldbank.org. Antonio Martuscelli](tkilic@worldbank.org. Antonio Martuscelli) is Assistant Professor at the LUMSA University, Rome, Italy; his email is [a.martuscelli@lumsa.it. Amparo](a.martuscelli@lumsa.it. Amparo) Palacios-Lopez is a Senior Economist at the World Bank’s Development Data Group, Washington, DC, USA; her email is [apalacioslopez@worldbank.org. Alberto Zezza](apalacioslopez@worldbank.org. Alberto Zezza) is a Senior Economist at the World Bank’s Development Data Group, Washington, DC, USA; his email is [a.zezza@worldbank.org. The](a.zezza@worldbank.org. The) authors gratefully acknowledge funding from UK Aid, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the World Bank Strategic Research Program. They would like to thank Caren Grown for valuable comments, Wadonda Consult for excellent research support, and Akuffo Amankwah, Innocent Pangapanga, Michael Pratt, James Sallis, Kelli Cain, Terry Conway, and Chad Spoon for their expertise and advice. The authors dedicate this paper to the memory of Professor Ephraim Chirwa. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. © 2023 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. Published by Oxford University Press. Downloaded from [https://academ

FAQs

How does the paper measure physical effort for men and women?

It uses wearable accelerometers to capture physical activity levels, treating the activity associated with recorded tasks as a proxy for physical effort.

What does the study find about gender differences in physical effort in the rural setting?

Women exert marginally higher physical effort than men on average, based on accelerometer-derived activity measures.

How are effort differences between married partners related to bargaining power?

Effort gaps between husbands and wives are strongly associated with differences in bargaining power, with the larger effort gap linked to age, individual land ownership, and an overall empowerment index.

Jul 19, 2026

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