Although cultural practices often have important consequences for household consumption and economic performance, they are seldom studied by economists. To fill this gap we study the impact of taboos on agriculture and poverty. Madagascar is a good case study for this purpose given the prevalence of taboos in everyday life and the variation in cultural practices across the country. We examine t...

We study the impact of work taboos (fady days) on agriculture and poverty. Using cross-sectional data from a national household survey for Madagascar, we find that 18% of agricultural households have two or more fady days per week and that an extra fady day is associated with 6 percent lower per capita consumption and 5 percent lower rice productivity. To address the possible endogeneity of fad...

Provides a sociological explanation of how menses can play an important role in the way of living of a society. It comes alive socially and makes its presence felt in the cultural realm in the form of rituals at menarche, taboos and restrictions throughout one’s menstrual life, the gendered meanings that are constructed as a result of the following of such taboos, and the variety of treatments ...

BACKGROUND The nutritional status of women before and during pregnancy can be determined by maternal knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions towards certain foods. The present study aimed to explore maternal dietary habits, food taboos, and cultural beliefs that can affect nutrition during pregnancy in rural Arsi, central Ethiopia. METHODS A qualitative, cross-sectional study, involving 38 key ...

A cross-sectional study assessing the prevalence of food taboos during pregnancy, types of foods prohibited and the associations of some of the socioeconomic parameters to food taboos, was carried out in Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Two hundred ninety five healthy pregnant women who attended an antenatal clinic for routine check-up between February and May 1995, were included in the study. A...

Abstract The article outlines a new framework for the study of communicative taboos in repressive political regimes such as GDR. concept goes beyond somewhat reductive position that understands mere silencing. approach developed here aims at refining our understanding discursive dictatorial regimes, where one dominant ideology has become deeply ingrained most aspects society. It starts with obs...