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Spousal Bargaining Over Care for Elderly Parents in China: Imbalances in Sex Ratios Influence the Allocation of Support

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  • Maria Porter

Abstract

Using a unique Chinese survey of parents and adult children, this paper examines how married children negotiate with their spouses for time devoted to caring for their own parents. Applying a collective bargaining framework, I show that the sex ratio at marriage shifts household bargaining in favour of the husband’s parents when women are less scarce, or against his parents when women are scarcer. Such changing dynamics in the family may potentially reverse the current preference for sons in China, implying that those with sons, rather than daughters, may be increasingly in need of state support.

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  • Maria Porter, 2017. "Spousal Bargaining Over Care for Elderly Parents in China: Imbalances in Sex Ratios Influence the Allocation of Support," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 514-529, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:53:y:2017:i:4:p:514-529
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2016.1156093
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    Cited by:

    1. Menghua Li & Yun Zhou & Xinjie Shi, 2021. "Who Will Care for Middle Aged and Elderly Parents in Rural China?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 29(2), pages 123-150, March.
    2. Min Cui & Jizhou Zhang & Xianli Xia, 2022. "The Relationship between Child Rearing Burden and Farmers’ Adoption of Climate Adaptive Technology: Taking Water-Saving Irrigation Technology as an Example," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-22, June.
    3. Keera Allendorf, 2020. "Another Gendered Demographic Dividend: Adjusting to a Future without Sons," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 46(3), pages 471-499, September.
    4. Donni, Olivier & Molina, José Alberto, 2018. "Household Collective Models: Three Decades of Theoretical Contributions and Empirical Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 11915, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Rufei Guo & Qian Wang & Junjian Yi & Junsen Zhang, 2022. "Housing prices and son preference: Evidence from China’s housing reform," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 421-446, July.
    6. Pierre-André Chiappori & José Alberto Molina, 2019. "The intra-spousal balance of power within the family: cross-cultural evidence," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 983, Boston College Department of Economics.
    7. Bhattacharya, Leena, 2023. "Time allocation of daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law in India: The role of education as bargaining power," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1343, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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