Bride kidnapping and informal governance institutions

Abstract

Bride kidnapping, a forced marriage practice, has surged in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan alongside a revival of traditional values. The central government has empowered councils of elders, or aksakals, to handle local disputes based on cultural norms, including bride kidnapping. This study uses data from a national survey and a latent class nested logit model to examine how aksakal governance influences men's decisions to kidnap brides. Findings indicate that living under aksakal governance makes men 9% more likely to obtain a wife through bride capture, with men substituting kidnapping for choice marriage modalities such as elopement and standard love marriages.