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Where There Is a Will: Fertility Behavior and Sex Bias in Large Families

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  • Tarun Jain

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that the social institutions of lineage maintenance, patrilocality, and joint families have a significant role in explaining sex differences in survival and health outcomes in rural India. Tests using panel data from rural households support this explanation, which accounts for 7 percent of excess female mortality in Haryana and Rajasthan and 4 percent in Punjab. An institutional explanation suggests limits on the role for public policy in addressing large sex differences in health and mortality outcomes.

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  • Tarun Jain, 2014. "Where There Is a Will: Fertility Behavior and Sex Bias in Large Families," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(2), pages 393-423.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:49:y:2014:ii:1:p:393-423
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sisir Debnath, 2015. "The Impact of Household Structure on Female Autonomy in Developing Countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(5), pages 485-502, May.
    3. Akansha Batra & Indrani Gupta & Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay, 2018. "Gender Differences in Health Expenditure of Rural Cancer Patients: Evidence from a Public Tertiary Care Facility in India," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 16(3), pages 615-629, September.
    4. Akansha Batra & Indrani Gupta & Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay, 2014. "Does discrimination drive gender differences in health expenditure on adults: Evidence from Cancer patients in rural India," Discussion Papers 14-03, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.
    5. Paola A. Suarez, 2018. "Child-bride marriage and female welfare," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 1-28, February.
    6. Bhalotra, Sonia & Clots-Figueras, Irma & Iyer, Lakshmi, 2021. "Religion and abortion: The role of politician identity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Calvi, Rossella & Keskar, Ajinkya, 2021. "'Til Dowry Do Us Part: Bargaining and Violence in Indian Families," CEPR Discussion Papers 15696, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Southgate, Douglas & Coxhead, Ian, 2009. "Food Insecurity and Its Determinants in Asia and the Pacific," Staff Paper Series 534, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    9. 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.
    10. Diva Dhar & Tarun Jain & Seema Jayachandran, 2022. "Reshaping Adolescents' Gender Attitudes: Evidence from a School-Based Experiment in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(3), pages 899-927, March.
    11. Sofia Amaral, 2015. "Do Improved Property Rights Decrease Violence Against Women in India?," Discussion Papers 15-10, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    12. 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).
    13. Anukriti, S & Erten, Bilge & Mukherjee, Priya, 2022. "Women's Political Representation and Intimate Partner Violence," IZA Discussion Papers 15395, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Lata Gangadharan & Tarun Jain & Pushkar Maitra & Joseph Vecci, 2016. "The behavioural implications of women's empowerment programmes," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-64, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Ana Ferrer & Alicia Adsera, 2016. "Speeding up for a son? Fertility transitions among Migrants to Canada," Working Papers 1602, University of Waterloo, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2016.
    16. Bahrami-Rad, Duman, 2021. "Keeping it in the family: Female inheritance, inmarriage, and the status of women," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    17. Lata Gangadharan & Tarun Jain & Pushkar Maitra & Joseph Vecci, 2016. "The behavioural implications of women's empowerment programmes," WIDER Working Paper Series 064, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Adserà, Alícia & Ferrer, Ana M., 2016. "Speeding up for a son? Fertility transitions among Asian migrants to Canada," CLEF Working Paper Series 1, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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