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Religion and Abortion: The Role of Politician Identity

Author

Listed:
  • Bhalotra, Sonia
  • Iyer, Lakshmi
  • Clots Figueras, Irma

Abstract

Debates around abortion typically invoke religion and politics but there is no causal evidence of the impact of politician religion on abortion. Leveraging quasi-random variation in politician religion generated by close elections in India and controlling for the party affiliation of politicians, we find lower rates of sex-selective abortion in districts won by Muslim state legislators, consistent with a higher reported aversion to abortion among Muslims compared to Hindus. The competing hypothesis that this reflects weaker son preference among Muslims is undermined by stated preference data and by demonstrating that fertility and girl-biased infant mortality increase in Muslim-won districts.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhalotra, Sonia & Iyer, Lakshmi & Clots Figueras, Irma, 2021. "Religion and Abortion: The Role of Politician Identity," CEPR Discussion Papers 16604, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:16604
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    2. Sascha O. Becker & Jeanet Sinding Bentzen & Chun Chee Kok, 2025. "Gender and Religion: A Survey," Monash Economics Working Papers 2025-18, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    3. Fenske, James & Gupta, Bishnupriya & Neumann, Cora, 2022. "Missing Women In Colonial India," CEPR Discussion Papers 17189, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Gulzar, Saad & Ladino, Juan Felipe & Mehmood, Muhammad Zia & Rogger, Daniel, 2025. "Command and Can’t Control : Assessing Centralized Accountability in the Public Sector," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11200, The World Bank.
    5. Sonia Bhalotra & Irma Clots-Figueras & Lakshmi Iyer & Joseph Vecci, 2023. "Leader Identity and Coordination," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(1), pages 175-189, January.
    6. Prakash, Nishith & Sahoo, Soham & Saraswat, Deepak & Sindhi, Reetika, 2022. "When Criminality Begets Crime: The Role of Elected Politicians in India," IZA Discussion Papers 15259, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Dincecco, Mark & Fenske, James & Gupta, Bishnupriya & Menon, Anil, 2024. "Conflict and Gender Norms," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 704, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    8. Magontier, Pierre & Solé-Ollé, Albert & Viladecans-Marsal, Elisabet, 2024. "The political economy of coastal development," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    9. Anil, Deepthi Sara & Sahoo, Soham & Pakrashi, Debayan, 2025. "Do educated politicians facilitate better public health? Evidence from India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).
    10. S Anukriti & Sonia Bhalotra & Eddy H F Tam, 2022. "On the Quantity and Quality of Girls: Fertility, Parental Investments and Mortality," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(641), pages 1-36.
    11. Tien Manh Vu & Hiroyuki Yamada, 2024. "Impacts of religion on sex selection in Vietnam," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1603-1621, December.
    12. Isha Gupta, 2020. "Fertility And Mothers’ Labour Force Participation In Rural India," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0267, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    13. Sayli Javadekar & Kritika Saxena, 2021. "The Seen and the Unseen: Impact of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Prenatal Sex Selection," IHEID Working Papers 15-2021, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    14. Sayli Javadekar & Kritika Saxena, 2025. "The seen and unseen: the unintended impact of a conditional cash transfer program on prenatal sex selection," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-34, March.
    15. Bhalotra, Sonia & Brulé, Rachel & Roy, Sanchari, 2020. "Women's inheritance rights reform and the preference for sons in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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