IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/demogr/v55y2018i5d10.1007_s13524-018-0699-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender Bias in Parental Attitude: An Experimental Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Lutfunnahar Begum

    (National Board of Revenue)

  • Philip J. Grossman

    (Monash University)

  • Asadul Islam

    (Monash University)

Abstract

Parental bias toward children of a particular gender has been widely observed in many societies. Such bias could be due to pure gender preference or differences in earning opportunities and concern for old-age support. We conduct a high-stakes allocation task (subjects allocate the equivalent of one day’s wages between male and female school-aged students) in rural Bangladesh to examine parental attitudes toward male and female children. Parents, either jointly or individually, allocated freely or restricted endowments for the benefit of anonymous girls or boys at a nearby school. We examine whether there is any systematic bias among fathers and mothers and, if so, whether such bias differs when they make the decision individually or jointly. The results suggest (1) bias both for and against boys or girls but no systematic bias by either parent; and (2) no significant differences in individual and joint decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lutfunnahar Begum & Philip J. Grossman & Asadul Islam, 2018. "Gender Bias in Parental Attitude: An Experimental Approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1641-1662, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:55:y:2018:i:5:d:10.1007_s13524-018-0699-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-018-0699-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13524-018-0699-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13524-018-0699-y?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sharon Maccini & Dean Yang, 2009. "Under the Weather: Health, Schooling, and Economic Consequences of Early-Life Rainfall," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(3), pages 1006-1026, June.
    2. Duncan Thomas, 1990. "Intra-Household Resource Allocation: An Inferential Approach," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 25(4), pages 635-664.
    3. Rohini Pande & Nan Astone, 2007. "Explaining son preference in rural India: the independent role of structural versus individual factors," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 26(1), pages 1-29, February.
    4. Lee A. Lillard & Robert J. Willis, 1994. "Intergenerational Educational Mobility: Effects of Family and State in Malaysia," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 29(4), pages 1126-1166.
    5. André Portela Souza, 2007. "Child Labor, School Attendance, and Intrahousehold Gender Bias in Brazil," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 21(2), pages 301-316, March.
    6. Ernst Fehr & Klaus M. Schmidt, 1999. "A Theory of Fairness, Competition, and Cooperation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 114(3), pages 817-868.
    7. Youjin Hahn & Asadul Islam & Kanti Nuzhat & Russell Smyth & Hee-Seung Yang, 2018. "Education, Marriage, and Fertility: Long-Term Evidence from a Female Stipend Program in Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(2), pages 383-415.
    8. Bhalotra, Sonia & Valente, Christine & van Soest, Arthur, 2010. "The puzzle of Muslim advantage in child survival in India," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 191-204, March.
    9. Silvia Helena Barcellos & Leandro S. Carvalho & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2014. "Child Gender and Parental Investments in India: Are Boys and Girls Treated Differently?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 157-189, January.
    10. Duncan Thomas, 1994. "Like Father, like Son; Like Mother, like Daughter: Parental Resources and Child Height," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 29(4), pages 950-988.
    11. Deaton, Angus S, 1989. "Looking for Boy-Girl Discrimination in Household Expenditure Data," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 3(1), pages 1-15, January.
    12. Nava Ashraf, 2009. "Spousal Control and Intra-household Decision Making: An Experimental Study in the Philippines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1245-1277, September.
    13. Bourguignon, Francois & Chiappori, Pierre-Andre, 1992. "Collective models of household behavior : An introduction," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(2-3), pages 355-364, April.
    14. Lori Beaman & Raghabendra Chattopadhyay & Esther Duflo & Rohini Pande & Petia Topalova, 2009. "Powerful Women: Does Exposure Reduce Bias?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 124(4), pages 1497-1540.
    15. Sonia Bhalotra & Cliff Attfield, 1998. "Intrahousehold resource allocation in rural Pakistan: a semiparametric analysis," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(5), pages 463-480.
    16. Alistair Munro, 2018. "Intra†Household Experiments: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 134-175, February.
    17. Carlsson, Fredrik & He, Haoran & Martinsson, Peter & Qin, Ping & Sutter, Matthias, 2012. "Household decision making in rural China: Using experiments to estimate the influences of spouses," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 525-536.
    18. Vani Borooah & Sriya Iyer, 2005. "Vidya, Veda, and Varna: The influence of religion and caste on education in rural India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(8), pages 1369-1404.
    19. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Schultz, T Paul, 1982. "Market Opportunities, Genetic Endowments, and Intrafamily Resource Distribution: Child Survival in Rural India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(4), pages 803-815, September.
    20. Behrman, Jere R & Pollak, Robert A & Taubman, Paul, 1982. "Parental Preferences and Provision for Progeny," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(1), pages 52-73, February.
    21. Claudia Goldin, 2014. "A Pollution Theory of Discrimination: Male and Female Differences in Occupations and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital in History: The American Record, pages 313-348, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Pitt, Mark M & Rosenzweig, Mark R & Hassan, Md Nazmul, 1990. "Productivity, Health, and Inequality in the Intrahousehold Distribution of Food in Low-Income Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1139-1156, December.
    23. Lutfunnahar Begum & Asad Islam & Russell Smyth, 2017. "Girl Power: Stipend Programs and the Education of Younger Siblings," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(11), pages 1882-1898, November.
    24. Chaim Fershtman & Uri Gneezy, 2001. "Discrimination in a Segmented Society: An Experimental Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 116(1), pages 351-377.
    25. Gunnar Andersson & Karsten Hank & Marit Rønsen & Andres Vikat, 2006. "Gendering family composition: Sex preferences for children and childbearing behavior in the Nordic countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 255-267, May.
    26. Edward L. Glaeser & Yueran Ma, 2014. "The Supply of Gender Stereotypes and Discriminatory Beliefs," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital in History: The American Record, pages 355-389, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. G. Gandhi Kingdon, 2002. "The Gender Gap in Educational Attainment in India: How Much Can Be Explained?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 25-53.
    28. Munshi, Kaivan & Myaux, Jacques, 2006. "Social norms and the fertility transition," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 1-38, June.
    29. Rose, Elaina, 2000. "Gender Bias, Credit Constraints and Time Allocation in Rural India," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(465), pages 738-758, July.
    30. Adeline Delavande & Basit Zafar, 2013. "Gender discrimination and social identity: experimental evidence from urban Pakistan," Staff Reports 593, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lutfunnahar Begum & Philip J Grossman & Asad Islam, 2022. "Parental gender bias and investment in children’s health and education: evidence from Bangladesh [Child gender and parental investments in India: Are boys and girls treated differently?]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(4), pages 1045-1062.
    2. Islam, Asad & Pakrashi, Debayan & Sahoo, Soubhagya & Wang, Liang Choon & Zenou, Yves, 2021. "Gender inequality and caste: Field experimental evidence from India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 111-124.
    3. Hassan, Hashibul & Islam, Asad & Siddique, Abu & Wang, Liang Choon, 2021. "Telementoring and homeschooling during school closures: A randomized experiment in rural Bangladesh," SocArXiv mhyq5, Center for Open Science.

    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. Lutfunnahar Begum & Philip J. Grossman & Asadul Islam, 2014. "Identifying Gender Bias in Parental Attitude: An Experimental Approach," Monash Economics Working Papers 32-14, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    2. Lutfunnahar Begum & Philip J. Grossman & Asadul Islam, 2014. "Parental Attitude and Investment in Children’s Education and Health in Developing Countries," Monash Economics Working Papers 30-14, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    3. Xu, Zeyu, 2007. "A survey on intra-household models and evidence," MPRA Paper 3763, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Lutfunnahar Begum & Philip J Grossman & Asad Islam, 2022. "Parental gender bias and investment in children’s health and education: evidence from Bangladesh [Child gender and parental investments in India: Are boys and girls treated differently?]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(4), pages 1045-1062.
    5. Silvia Helena Barcellos & Leandro S. Carvalho & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2014. "Child Gender and Parental Investments in India: Are Boys and Girls Treated Differently?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 157-189, January.
    6. Hina Nazli & Shahnaz Hamid, 1999. "Concerns of Food Security, Role of Gender and Intra-household Dynamics in Pakistan," PIDE Research Report 1999:3, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    7. Silvia Pasqua, 2005. "Gender Bias in Parental Investments in Children’s Education: A Theoretical Analysis," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 291-314, September.
    8. Aguayo, Ernesto & Chapa, Joana & Rangel, Erick & Treviño, Lourdes & Valero-Gil, Jorge, 2007. "Gender-bias in Education Opportunities for Population Aged 12-18 in Mexico: 1992-2004," MPRA Paper 3561, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. 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).
    10. Jonna P. ESTUDILLO & Agnes R. QUISUMBING & Keijiro OTSUKA, 2001. "Gender Differences In Wealth Transfer And Expenditure Allocation: Evidence From The Rural Philippines," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 39(4), pages 366-394, December.
    11. 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.
    12. De Rock, Bram & Cherchye, Laurens & Chiappori, Pierre-André & Ringdal, Charlotte & Vermeulen, Frederic, 2021. "Feed the children," CEPR Discussion Papers 16482, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Jere R. Behrman, 1994. "Intra-family Distribution in Developing Countries," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 253-296.
    14. Ms. Gabriela Inchauste, 2001. "Intrahousehold Allocation of Resources: The Bolivian Family," IMF Working Papers 2001/057, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Doss, Cheryl, 2013. "Intrahousehold bargaining and resource allocation in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6337, The World Bank.
    16. Jacob, Arun, 2016. "Gender Bias in Educational Attainment in India : The Role of Dowry Payments," MPRA Paper 76338, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Chen, Susan E. & Bhagowalia, Priya & Shively, Gerald, 2011. "Input Choices in Agriculture: Is There A Gender Bias?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 561-568, April.
    18. Nobuhiko FUWA & Seiro ITO & Kensuke KUBO & Takashi KUROSAKI & Yasuyuki SAWADA, 2006. "Introduction To A Study Of Intrahousehold Resource Allocation And Gender Discrimination In Rural Andhra Pradesh, India," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 44(4), pages 375-397, December.
    19. Rana Ejaz Ali Khan & Karamat Ali, 2005. "Bargaining Over Sons' and Daughters' Schooling-Probit Analysis of Household Behavior," HEW 0505002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Carlsson, Fredrik & Yang, Xiaojun, 2013. "Intertemporal Choice Shifts in Households: Do they occur and are they good?," Working Papers in Economics 569, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.

    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:spr:demogr:v:55:y:2018:i:5:d:10.1007_s13524-018-0699-y. 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.springer.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.