Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -and of all English-language academic papers published using these datasets. We argue that Central Asia is a fascinating region for the study of comparative economics given its dual experience of transition and development. However, the region is also understudied, in part due to lack of data, and especially due to a lack of panel data. We identify knowledge gaps caused from this lack of longitudinal surveys and suggest worthwhile areas for future research. Finally, we also present the new and novel individual-level panel dataset called "Life in Kyrgyzstan". Terms of use: Documents inJEL codes: O12, I32, J22

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -and of all English-language academic papers published using these datasets. We argue that Central Asia is a fascinating region for the study of comparative economics given its dual experience of transition and development. However, the region is also understudied, in part due to lack of data, and especially due to a lack of panel data. We identify knowledge gaps caused from this lack of longitudinal surveys and suggest worthwhile areas for future research. Finally, we also present the new and novel individual-level panel dataset called "Life in Kyrgyzstan". Terms of use: Documents inJEL codes: O12, I32, J22

Abstract:We study the impact of bride kidnapping, a form of marriage practiced in Central Asia and elsewhere, on infant birth weight. Considerable debate exists as to whether kidnapping is merely ritualized elopement, or whether it involves bride coercion. To the extent that it is non-consensual, we expect adverse consequences from such marriages, working through poor spousal matching quality and subsequent psychosocial stress. Remarkable survey data from rural Kyrgyzstan enable us to explore differential outcomes for kidnapped women. We apply several estimation models, including an IV estimation in which we instrument kidnapping among young women with the district-level prevalence of kidnapping among older women and an OLS regression with district fixed effects. Our findings indicate that children born to kidnapped mothers are of a substantially lower birth weight than children born to mothers who are not kidnapped. We further find less positively assorted mating among spouses in kidnapped marriages than in other types and higher divorce rates among kidnapped women. These findings have important implications for children's long-term development; they also discredit the ritualized-kidnapping-as-elopement view.