Fertility Decline and Missing Women

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jayachandran, Seema
• 署名单位: Northwestern University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20150576
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 118-139
• 关键词: Son preference; sex-ratio; INDIA; CONSEQUENCES; imbalance; BEHAVIOR; CHILDREN; birth; BIAS

摘要

The desire for smaller families is conjectured as one reason the male-to-female sex ratio has increased with economic development in several countries. Families that strongly want at least one son are less likely to obtain him by chance at low fertility, which could increase their use of sex-selective abortion. This paper quantifies the relationship between desired fertility and the sex ratio in India by eliciting sex composition preferences at specified fertility levels. I find that the desired sex ratio increases sharply as fertility falls and that fertility decline explains one third to one half of India's recent sex ratio increase.