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Changing Patterns of Son Preference and Fertility in Pakistan

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  • Javed, Rashid
  • Mughal, Mazhar

Abstract

Using data from two representative Demographic and Health Surveys, we examine the change in son preference over the past three decades and its effects on Pakistani women's fertility. We analyse a number of indicators and employ different empirical methods to come up with strong and persistent evidence for both the revealed and stated preference for sons. This disproportionate preference for boys is visible in increasing desired sex ratio and worsening sex ratio at last birth. Reliance over differential birth-stopping has significantly increased over time as couples are more likely to stop childbearing once the desired number of boys is achieved.

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  • Javed, Rashid & Mughal, Mazhar, 2022. "Changing Patterns of Son Preference and Fertility in Pakistan," EconStor Preprints 248643, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:esprep:248643
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    1. John Bongaarts, 2013. "The Implementation of Preferences for Male Offspring," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 39(2), pages 185-208, June.
    2. Rashid Javed & Mazhar Mughal, 2019. "Have a Son, Gain a Voice: Son Preference and Female Participation in Household Decision Making," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(12), pages 2526-2548, December.
    3. Milazzo, Annamaria, 2018. "Why are adult women missing? Son preference and maternal survival in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 467-484.
    4. Javed, Rashid & Mughal, Mazhar, 2020. "Preference for boys and length of birth intervals in Pakistan," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 140-152.
    5. M. Khan & Ismail Sirageldin, 1977. "Son preference and the demand for additional children in pakistan," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 14(4), pages 481-495, November.
    6. Adriana D. Kugler & Santosh Kumar, 2017. "Preference for Boys, Family Size, and Educational Attainment in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 835-859, June.
    7. Quanbao Jiang & Ying Li & Jesús Sánchez-Barricarte, 2016. "Fertility Intention, Son Preference, and Second Childbirth: Survey Findings from Shaanxi Province of China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 935-953, February.
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    9. Avinash Kishore & Dean Spears, 2014. "Having a Son Promotes Clean Cooking Fuel Use in Urban India: Women's Status and Son Preference," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(4), pages 673-699.
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    13. Narayan Das, 1987. "Sex preference and fertility behavior: A study of recent Indian data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 24(4), pages 517-530, November.
    14. Deepankar Basu & Robert Jong, 2010. "Son targeting fertility behavior: Some consequences and determinants," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(2), pages 521-536, May.
    15. Manini Ojha, 2022. "Gender gap in schooling: Is there a role for health insurance?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 29-54, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Boburmirzo Ibrokhimov & Rashid Javed & Mazhar Mughal, 2023. "Migrants remittances and fertility in the Post-Soviet states," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(6), pages 574-596, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Son preference; Fertility; parity progression; Pakistan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • 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
    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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