Using household level data from rural Ethiopia, this paper investigates how the control and ownership of productive assets are distributed between husband and wife. Contrary to what is often assumed in empirical work on intrahousehold issues, we find that ownership of assets, control within marriage, and disposition upon death or divorce do not overlap. Control over productive resources is centralized into the hands of the household head, be it a man or a woman, irrespective of ownership at or after marriage. Disposition upon death or divorce only loosely depends on individual ownership during marriage, but control over assets is associated with larger claims over these assets upon divorce, a finding consistent with the presence of incentive problems. We also find that assets brought into marriage have little impact on disposition upon death, but matter in case of divorce.
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