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Prenatal Sex Selection and Girls’ Well‐Being: Evidence from India

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  • Hu, Luojia
  • Schlosser, Analia

Abstract

We study the impacts of prenatal sex selection on girls’ well‐being in India. We show that high sex ratios at birth reflect the practice of prenatal sex selection and apply a triple difference strategy to examine whether changes in health outcomes of girls relative to boys within states and over time are systematically associated with changes in sex‐ratios at birth. We find that an increase in prenatal sex selection leads to a reduction in girls’ malnutrition, in particular, underweight and wasting. We further explore various underlying channels linking between prenatal sex selection and girls’ outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Hu, Luojia & Schlosser, Analia, 2014. "Prenatal Sex Selection and Girls’ Well‐Being: Evidence from India," Foerder Institute for Economic Research Working Papers 275836, Tel-Aviv University > Foerder Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:isfiwp:275836
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.275836
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    Cited by:

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    2. Adriana D. Kugler & Santosh Kumar, 2017. "Preference for Boys, Family Size, and Educational Attainment in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 835-859, June.
    3. Shen, Menghan & Li, Linyan, 2020. "Differences in Cesarean section rates by fetal sex among Chinese women in the United States: Does Chinese culture play a role?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    4. Moshe HAZAN & Hosny ZOABI, 2015. "Sons or Daughters? Sex Preferences and the Reversal of the Gender Educational Gap," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(2), pages 179-201, June.
    5. Prashant Bharadwaj & Leah K. Lakdawala, 2013. "Discrimination Begins in the Womb: Evidence of Sex-Selective Prenatal Investments," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(1), pages 71-113.
    6. Chew, Soo Hong & Yi, Junjian & Zhang, Junsen & Zhong, Songfa, 2017. "Risk Aversion and Son Preference: Experimental Evidence from Chinese Twin Parents," IZA Discussion Papers 10519, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Hwang, Jisoo & Lee, Chulhee & Lee, Esther, 2019. "Gender norms and housework time allocation among dual-earner couples," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 102-116.
    8. Lídia Farré, 2013. "The Role of Men in the Economic and Social Development of Women: Implications for Gender Equality," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 22-51, February.
    9. Friedman-Sokuler, Naomi & Justman, Moshe, 2020. "Gender, culture and STEM: Counter-intuitive patterns in Arab society," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    10. Milazzo, Annamaria, 2018. "Why are adult women missing? Son preference and maternal survival in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 467-484.
    11. Tafesse, W.;, 2018. "The effect of mandatory iodine fortification on cognitive test scores in rural India," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 18/10, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    12. González, Libertad, 2018. "Sex selection and health at birth among Indian immigrants," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 64-75.
    13. Alexander Stimpfle & David Stadelmann, 2016. "Does Central Europe Import the Missing Women Phenomenon?," CREMA Working Paper Series 2016-04, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    14. Reshmaan Hussam, 2014. "Marry Rich, Poor Girl: Investigating the Effects of Sex Selection on Intrahousehold Outcomes in India," Harvard Business School Working Papers 18-029, Harvard Business School.
    15. Daniel Rosenblum, 2013. "The effect of fertility decisions on excess female mortality in India," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(1), pages 147-180, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial Economics;

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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