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Do families spend more on boys than on girls? Empirical evidence from rural China

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  • Lee, Yiu-fai Daniel

Abstract

The issue of gender bias bears both theoretical significance and policy relevance. Using a household level dataset obtained from the China Standards of Living Survey 1995, this paper tests the gender bias hypothesis in terms of household consumption expenditures in rural China. To the contrary of the general impression that Chinese people have a strong cultural preference for sons, we do not find any strong evidence to support the hypothesis that boys are favored in rural China. We subject our baseline results to robustness checks from the implications of the bargaining approach and the preference for sons argument.

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  • Lee, Yiu-fai Daniel, 2008. "Do families spend more on boys than on girls? Empirical evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 80-100, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:19:y:2008:i:1:p:80-100
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    Cited by:

    1. Masahiro Hori & Nahoko Mitsuyama & Satoshi Shimizutani, 2016. "New Evidence on Intra-Household Allocation of Resources in Japanese Households," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 77-95, 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. Laura Zimmermann, 2012. "Reconsidering Gender Bias in Intrahousehold Allocation in India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 151-163, September.
    4. Sylvie Démurger & Hui Xu, 2015. "Left-behind children and return migration in China," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Sipei Xu & Jia Zhang, 2022. "Do Social Pensions Affect the Physical and Mental Health of Rural Children in China? An Intergenerational Care Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-25, March.
    6. Sylvie Démurger & Hui Xu, 2011. "Left-Behind Children and Return Decisions of Rural Migrants in China," Post-Print halshs-00625636, HAL.
    7. Peng, Fei & Anwar, Sajid & Kang, Lili, 2022. "Number of siblings, access to treated water and returns to education in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 526-538.
    8. Maimaiti, Yasheng & Siebert, W. Stanley, 2009. "The Gender Education Gap in China: The Power of Water," IZA Discussion Papers 4108, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Ding, Weili & Zhang, Yuan, 2014. "When a son is born: The impact of fertility patterns on family finance in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 192-208.
    10. Maldonado, Javier, 2019. "Detecting Gender Discrimination in Intrahousehold Resource Allocation," DES - Working Papers. Statistics and Econometrics. WS 28146, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Estadística.

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