IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/eurjdr/v37y2025i3d10.1057_s41287-025-00689-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Amendment of the Hindu Succession Act and Women’s Human Capital in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Asuka Yamamoto

    (Kyushu University)

Abstract

Using five-period repeated cross-sectional data from the Indian National Family Health Survey, this study examines the impact of inheritance rights reforms on the human capital of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists. The results demonstrate that, in the reform states, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Buddhist daughters of landholding household heads (the treatment group) improved their human capital indicators of education (years of education) and their health status (underweight and BMI z-score). There is also some indication that their reading habits might have improved compared to the control group. In contrast, the human capital indicators of the placebo group—Muslims and Christians, who share similar characteristics with the treatment group but were not subject to the reform—showed no clear improvements. Estimates based on reform timing show that Karnataka and Maharashtra, which were reformed in 1994, have contributed the most to the main result. The results provide evidence for the human capital-enhancing impact of inheritance reforms for women.

Suggested Citation

  • Asuka Yamamoto, 2025. "Amendment of the Hindu Succession Act and Women’s Human Capital in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 37(3), pages 569-592, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:37:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1057_s41287-025-00689-6
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-025-00689-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41287-025-00689-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41287-025-00689-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elisabetta Aurino & Francesco Burchi, 2017. "Children’s Multidimensional Health and Medium-Term Cognitive Skills in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 289-311, April.
    2. Jimena Pacheco & Natascha Wagner, 2023. "Long‐term impacts of an early childhood shock on human capital: Evidence from the 1999 economic crisis in Ecuador," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(11), pages 2460-2476, November.
    3. Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Zhao, Jun, 2020. "Doubly robust difference-in-differences estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 101-122.
    4. Anderson, Siwan & Genicot, Garance, 2015. "Suicide and property rights in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 64-78.
    5. Roy, Sanchari, 2015. "Empowering women? Inheritance rights, female education and dowry payments in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 233-251.
    6. Esther Duflo, 2012. "Women Empowerment and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1051-1079, December.
    7. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    8. Yokoo, Hide-Fumi & Arimura, Toshi H. & Chattopadhyay, Mriduchhanda & Katayama, Hajime, 2023. "Subjective risk belief function in the field: Evidence from cooking fuel choices and health in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Momoe Makino, 2019. "Dowry in the absence of the legal protection of women’s inheritance rights," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 287-321, March.
    10. Cheryl Doss & Mai Truong & Gorrettie Nabanoga & Justine Namaalwa, 2012. "Women, Marriage and Asset Inheritance in Uganda," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 30(5), pages 597-616, September.
    11. Bina Agarwal & Pervesh Anthwal & Malvika Mahesh, 2021. "How Many and Which Women Own Land in India? Inter-gender and Intra-gender Gaps," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(11), pages 1807-1829, November.
    12. Heather Congdon Fors & Annika Lindskog, 2023. "Within‐family inequalities in human capital accumulation in India," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 3-28, February.
    13. Sapkal Rahul Suresh, 2017. "From Mother to Daughter: Does Equal Inheritance Property Laws Reform Improve Female Labor Supply and Educational Attainments in India?," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-36, April.
    14. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    15. My Nguyen & Kien Le, 2023. "The impacts of women's land ownership: Evidence from Vietnam," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 158-177, February.
    16. Klaus Deininger & Songqing Jin & Hari K. Nagarajan & Fang Xia, 2019. "Inheritance Law Reform, Empowerment, and Human Capital Accumulation: Second-Generation Effects from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(12), pages 2549-2571, December.
    17. Tanu Gupta, 2022. "Women's inheritance rights and time use: Evidence from Hindu Succession Act in India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-20, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Rachel Heath & Xu Tan, 2020. "Intrahousehold Bargaining, Female Autonomy, and Labor Supply: Theory and Evidence from India," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 1928-1968.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Margaux Suteau, 2020. "Inheritance Rights and Women's Empowerment in the Labor and Marriage Markets," THEMA Working Papers 2020-17, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    2. Vaidehi Tandel & Arnab Dutta & Sahil Gandhi & Ashwini Narayanan, 2023. "Women’s right to property and the child quantity-quality trade-off: evidence from India," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 2967-3003, October.
    3. Md Shahadath Hossain & Plamen Nikolov, 2021. "Entitled to Property: Inheritance Laws, Female Bargaining Power, and Child Health in India," Working Papers 2021-030, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    4. Joseph Ajefu & Efobi Uchenna & Nadia Singh & Shayequa Zeenat Ali, 2024. "Women’s Inheritance Rights and Child Health Outcomes in Kenya," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 137-150, March.
    5. Md Shahadath Hossain & Plamen Nikolov, 2021. "Entitled to Property: How Breaking the Gender Barrier Improves Child Health in India," Papers 2106.10841, arXiv.org, revised May 2023.
    6. Shreya Biswas & Upasak Das & Prasenjit Sarkhel, 2024. "Duration of exposure to inheritance law in India: Examining the heterogeneous effects on empowerment," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 777-799, May.
    7. Nayana Bose & Shreyasee Das, 2024. "Reassessing the relationship between women's empowerment and fertility: Evidence from India," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 544-573, May.
    8. Hossain, Md Shahadath & Nikolov, Plamen, 2021. "Entitled to Property: Inheritance Laws, Female Bargaining Power, and Child Health in India," IZA Discussion Papers 14498, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Andréa Renk & Clarice Manuel, 2023. "Patriarchy on the map: Women’s empowerment trajectories in Nepal’s changing social context," DeFiPP Working Papers 2304, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    10. Federica Alfani & Vasco Molini & Giacomo Pallante & Alessandro PalmaGran, 2024. "Job displacement and reallocation failure. Evidence from climate shocks in Morocco," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 51(1), pages 1-31.
    11. Sonia Bhalotra & Abhishek Chakravarty & Dilip Mookherjee & Francisco J. Pino, 2019. "Property Rights and Gender Bias: Evidence from Land Reform in West Bengal," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 205-237, April.
    12. Cotti, Chad & Courtemanche, Charles & Maclean, Joanna Catherine & Nesson, Erik & Pesko, Michael F. & Tefft, Nathan W., 2022. "The effects of e-cigarette taxes on e-cigarette prices and tobacco product sales: Evidence from retail panel data," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    13. Simone Balestra & Helge Liebert & Nicole Maestas & Tisamarie B. Sherry, 2021. "Behavioral Responses to Supply-Side Drug Policy During the Opioid Epidemic," NBER Working Papers 29596, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Bernardus Van Doornik & David Schoenherr & Janis Skrastins, 2025. "Escaping Death: individual mobility and female mortality," Working Papers Series 621, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    15. Philipp Barteska & Jay Euijung Lee, 2024. "Bureaucrats and the Korean export miracle," Discussion Papers 2024-11, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    16. Hans-Bernd Schaefer & Rok Spruk, 2024. "Islamic Law, Western European Law and the Roots of Middle East's Long Divergence: a Comparative Empirical Investigation (800-1600)," Papers 2401.14435, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    17. Melnik, Walter & Smyth, Andrew, 2024. "R&D tax credits and innovation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    18. Dmitry Arkhangelsky & Guido Imbens, 2023. "Causal Models for Longitudinal and Panel Data: A Survey," Papers 2311.15458, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2024.
    19. Isabelle Chort & Berk Öktem, 2024. "Agricultural shocks, coping policies and deforestation: Evidence from the coffee leaf rust epidemic in Mexico," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(3), pages 1020-1057, May.
    20. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:37:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1057_s41287-025-00689-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.