Watta Satta : Bride Exchange and Women's Welfare in Rural Pakistan

In a setting where husbands wield
considerable coercive power, forms of marriage should adapt
to protect the interests of women and their families. The
authors study the pervasive marriage custom of watta satta
in rural Pakistan, a bride exchange between families coupled
with a mutual threat of retaliation. They show that watta
satta may be a mechanism to coordinate the actions of two
sets of in-laws, each of whom wish to restrain their
sons-in-law but who only have the ability to restrain their
sons. The authors' empirical results support this view.
The likelihood of marital inefficiency, as measured by
estrangement, domestic abuse, and wife's mental health,
is significantly lower in watta satta arrangements as
compared with conventional marriages, but only after
properly accounting for selection.