Daughters, dowries, deliveries: The effect of marital payments on fertility choices in India

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Alfano, Marco
• 署名单位: University of Strathclyde
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2016.11.004
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 89-104
• 关键词: dowry; fertility; INDIA; Son preferences

摘要

This paper investigates the effect of the differential pecuniary costs of sons and daughters on fertility decisions. The focus is on dowries in India, which increase the economic returns to sons and decrease the returns to daughters. The paper exploits an exogenous shift in the cost of girls relative to boys arising from a revision in anti-dowry law, which is shown to have decreased dowry transfers markedly. The reform is found to have attenuated the widely documented positive association between daughters and their parents' fertility. The effect is particularly pronounced for more autonomous women and for individuals living in areas characterised by strong preferences for sons.