Son preference has persisted in the face of sweeping change these incentives without more direct efforts by economic and social changes in China, India, and the the state and civil society to increase the flexibility of the Republic of Korea. The authors attribute this to their kinship system such that daughters and sons can be similar family systems, which generate strong perceived as being more equally valuable. Much can be disincentives to raise daughters while valuing adult done to this end through social movements, legislation, women's contributions to the household. Urbanization, and the mass media. female education, and employment can only slowly

For years, sex ratios at birth kept rising in South Korea despite rapid development. We show that this was not an anomaly: underlying son preference fell with development, but the effect of son preference on sex ratios at birth rose until the mid-1990s as a result of improved sex-selection technology. Now South Korea leads Asia with a declining sex ratio at birth. We explore how son preference was affected by development and by public policy. Decomposition analysis indicates that development reduced son preference primarily through triggering normative changes across society-rather than just in individuals whose socioeconomic circumstances had changed. The cultural underpinnings of son preference in preindustrial Korea were unraveled by industrialization and urbanization even as public policies sought to uphold the patriarchal family system. Our results suggest that child sex ratios in China and India may decline before those countries reach South Korean levels of development, since the governments of both countries vigorously promote normative change to reduce son preference. Copyright 2007 The Population Council, Inc..

Son preference has persisted in the face of sweeping change these incentives without more direct efforts by economic and social changes in China, India, and the the state and civil society to increase the flexibility of the Republic of Korea. The authors attribute this to their kinship system such that daughters and sons can be similar family systems, which generate strong perceived as being more equally valuable. Much can be disincentives to raise daughters while valuing adult done to this end through social movements, legislation, women's contributions to the household. Urbanization, and the mass media. female education, and employment can only slowly

Purpose:The first Korean national population-based cancer registry using nationwide hospital-based recording system and the regional cancer registries provided the source to obtain national cancer incidences for the period 1999～2001.M aterials and Methods: The incidence of cancer in Korea was calculated based on the Korea Central Cancer Registry database, data from additional medical record review survey, the Regional Cancer Registry databases, site-specific cancer registry databases, and cancer mortality data from the Korea National Statistical Office. Crude and age-standardized rates were calculated by sex for 18 age groups.Results: The overall crude incidence rates (CR) were 247.3 and 188.3 per 100,000 for men and women and the overall age-standardized incidence rates (ASR) were 281.2 and 160.3 per 100,000, respectively. Among men, five leading primary cancer sites were stomach (CR 58.6, ASR 65.6), lung (CR 42.1, ASR 50.9), liver (CR 41.9, ASR 44.9), colon and rectum (CR 24.2, ASR 27.3) and bladder (CR 7.7, ASR 9.2). Among women, the most common cancers were stomach (CR 30.8, ASR 25.8), breast (CR 25.7, ASR 21.7), colon and rectum (CR 19.6, ASR 16.7), uterine cervix (CR 18.4, ASR 15.5), and lung cancer (CR 15.1, ASR 12.4). In 0～14 age group, leukemia was most common for both sexes. For men, stomach cancer was most common in 15～64 age group, but lung cancer was more frequent for over 65 age group. For women, thyroid cancer in 15～34 age group, breast cancer in 35～64 age group, and stomach cancer in over 65 age group were most common for each age group. The proportions of death certificate only were 7.5% for men and 7.4% for women.Conclusion: This is the first attempt to determine the national cancer incidence and this data will be useful to plan for research and national cancer control in Korea.

In Korea, total fertility declined from 6.0 in 1960 to 1.6 in 1990, in spite of a strong preference for male offspring. This paper addresses the notion that son preference hinders fertility decline, and examines the effects of patriarchal relations and modernization on fertility using the 1991 Korea National Fertility and Family Health Survey. It was found that women who have a son are less likely to have another child, and that women with a son who do progress to have another child, take longer to conceive the subsequent child. This pattern prevailed for women of parity one, two, and three, and became more pronounced with higher parity. A multivariate analysis showed that preference for male offspring, patriarchy, and modernization are all strong predictors of second, third, and fourth conceptions.