However, gendered institutions including family and divorce laws, and social norms and practices may counteract the ability to bargain based on one's earnings. The choice of these proxies is based on evidence provided in a number of studies including China that an advantage in education has a large impact on the bargaining power of a spouse (Koolwal, 2005; Orrefice and Bercea, 2007; Carlsson and others, 2009). This is because a person's education indicates one's level of knowledge; therefore, someone who is less educated tends to defer decisions to a person with more knowledge.