Economics Research Seminar – Dr Eren Arbatli

Economics Research Seminar – Dr Eren Arbatli

Title: Adjusting to Toxic Husbands: Normalization of Domestic Violence by Women

Date: 01 October 2025

Time: 13:30- 14:30

Venue: NUBS.4.25

If you would like to attend, please register using the following link:

Adjusting to Toxic Husbands: Normalization of Domestic Violence by Women

Speaker:   Dr Eren Arbatli

Dr Arbatli is an Associate Professor at Durham University. Here is his biography: My research explores various topics in long-run comparative development, political economics and cultural economics. My work primarily focuses on the long-term effects of population diversity and ancestral legacy on conflict, regional development and political preferences. My other work relates to political violence, political propaganda and machine politics.

https://sites.google.com/site/erenarbatli/

Abstract:

Beyond societal norms and upbringing, what drives women’s acceptance of intimate partner violence (IPV)? We propose a theory that focuses on women’s experiences with ‘toxic husbands’ who display authoritarian attitudes and high proclivity to aggression. In our model, women learn about their husband’s type and the true risk of physical IPV over the course of marriage. IPV acceptance is a manifestation of fear-induced submission that occurs when perceived risks are high and outside options are low. Leveraging a population-level natural experiment that exogenously affects husband type, we provide evidence supporting the predictions of our theory.