respondents which is thought to proxy for the degree of orthodox governance among the leaders of the community. Other control variables rely on the information solicited as part of the IHS3 Community Questionnaire and include the shares of households in the community under the following marital arrangements: (i) matrilineal, neolocal, (ii) matrilineal, matrilocal, (iii) matrilineal, patrilocal, (iv) patrilineal, neolocal and (v) patrilineal, patrilocal. Due to limited observations in categories (i) and (iv), we collapse these arrangements into: i) matrilineal, neolocal/matrilocal, (ii) matrilineal, patrilocal, and (iii) patrilineal, neolocal/patrilocal.

Broadly speaking, patrilineal and particularly patrilocal kinship systems tend to disadvantage women in their intra-household relations, for she is uprooted from her own social group and placed in another on top of the generally patriarchal bias of Malawian society (Takane, 2007). Not only does her husband have control over her in many domains, but she has less ability to appeal to her kin in disagreements, and she has fewer rights over the land that she works.<sup>18</sup> Peters (1997) states that while women exercise authority in the domains of life governed by kinship, male authority is the norm beyond these domains. That is, matrilineal social organization should not be taken to imply a lack of patriarchy, particularly as there are key authoritative roles for men in their own matrilines as “guardians” of their sisters and nieces and nephews (Phiri, 1983). Men are said to ‘own’ the matrilineage while women ‘create’ it (Peters, 1997). A matrilineal system, though, can provide women additional bargaining power in relations with her husband, particularly if the couple resides matrilocally (Reniers, 2003).<sup>19</sup> Hence, the vector of covariates accounting for shares of households under the applicable marital arrangements defined above in terms of lineage and locality captures the relative degree of female empowerment in the community, which may capture more progressive and open leadership at least in terms of women’s representation and voice. As shown in Tables A3 through A5, the results from the preferred specifications are qualitatively similar to those obtained through the introduction of these variables as additional controls.

> 18 In any discussion of these traditional arrangements, it must be stressed that these are ideal types, and although at times they are applied rigidly, there is normally scope for great flexibility in their application, particularly when faced with land scarcity (as is the case in much of Malawi today) (Takane, 2007).

19 Historically, there have been significant pressures on matrilineal systems in Malawi, beginning with Ngoni invasions in the late 19<sup>th</sup> century (Phiri, 1983). Most scholars seem to think that this patrilineal, warlike group adopted much of the culture of the (mainly) Chewa whom they conquered, although there was a dual process of cultural diffusion (Mtika and Doctor, 2002). Thus the matrilineal Chewa practice both uxorilocal and virilocal marriage, and have less distinct lineages than either the Yao or the Tumbuka (Mtika and Doctor, 2002). Later outsiders continued to put pressure on the matrilineal system, including missionaries, who allocated lands to men, and who preached the moral and economic superiority of man (Phiri, 1983). Both colonial and post-independence state practices also increased the importance of the nuclear family over the matrilineal kin group, including tax that needed to be paid in cash (forcing men into wage labor, often on large plantations or through emigration) and agricultural extension services targeted at men and encouraging cash crops (Peters, 1997). Even apart from largescale pressures on traditional lineage and land-allocation systems, there is extensive evidence of deviation from the ‘rules’ outlined above. Many of these are due to personal relationships – if a man in a patrilineal group were raised by his mother’s family, he might inherit from them rather than from his patrikin, for example (Takane, 2007). Across Malawi, there is also a trend towards individualistic behavior.

26