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Having a Son Promotes Clean Cooking Fuel Use in Urban India: Women's Status and Son Preference

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  • Avinash Kishore
  • Dean Spears

Abstract

Urban Indian households with a male first child are approximately 2 percentage points more likely to use clean cooking fuel than comparable households with a female first child. Given Indian son preference, there are at least two mechanisms by which child sex could affect fuel choice: by improving the intrahousehold status of women, who bear more of the costs of traditional fuels, or by presenting an opportunity to invest in children's health, in the context of a preference for healthier boys. If child sex is not selected for by biased abortion or other processes, then the sex of a first child has an exogenous causal effect on household fuel choice. We show that the association between fuel choice and child sex is not driven by terminated pregnancies or by household wealth or family size. Among a range of outcomes we study, the effect of child sex is unique to fuel choice; our finding that there is no effect on other assets indicates that it is unlikely that the result is confounded by real or subjectively anticipated wealth. In addition to the National Family Health Survey NFHS-3, the main data source studied, we approximately replicate the result using the NFHS-2 and the District Level Health and Facilities Survey DLHS-3. Finally, we show evidence for a "first-stage" effect of having a first son on women's social status: such women have a greater body mass index, on average.

Suggested Citation

  • Avinash Kishore & Dean Spears, 2014. "Having a Son Promotes Clean Cooking Fuel Use in Urban India: Women's Status and Son Preference," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(4), pages 673-699.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/676330
    DOI: 10.1086/676330
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    Cited by:

    1. Rashid Javed & Mazhar Mughal, 2022. "Changing patterns of son preference and fertility in Pakistan," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 1086-1109, August.
    2. Yasmin, Nazia & Grundmann, Philipp, 2020. "Home-cooked energy transitions: Women empowerment and biogas-based cooking technology in Pakistan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Gupta, Aashish & Spears, Dean, 2017. "Health externalities of India's expansion of coal plants: Evidence from a national panel of 40,000 households," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 262-276.
    4. Shing-Yi Wang, 2019. "The Labor Supply Consequences of Having a Boy in China," NBER Working Papers 26185, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Chattopadhyay, Mriduchhanda & Arimura, Toshi H. & Katayama, Hajime & Sakudo, Mari & Yokoo, Hide-Fumi, 2021. "Subjective probabilistic expectations, household air pollution, and health: Evidence from cooking fuel use patterns in West Bengal, India," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Gupta, Ridhima & Pelli, Martino, 2021. "Electrification and cooking fuel choice in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    7. Coffey, Diane & Spears, Dean, 2019. "Neonatal Death in India: Birth Order in a Context of Maternal Undernutrition," IZA Discussion Papers 12288, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Vyas, Sangita & Gupta, Aashish & Khalid, Nazar, 2021. "Gender and LPG use after government intervention in rural north India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    9. Ebert, Cara & Vollmer, Sebastian, 2022. "Girls unwanted – The role of parents’ child-specific sex preference for children’s early mental development," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    10. Hoque Nazmul & Boulier Bryan L., 2020. "Hi-tech Sexism? Evidence from Bangladesh," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(3), pages 1-39, July.
    11. Burke, Paul J. & Dundas, Guy, 2015. "Female Labor Force Participation and Household Dependence on Biomass Energy: Evidence from National Longitudinal Data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 424-437.

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