Financial Incentives and the Fertility-Sex Ratio Trade-Off

Anukriti, S

doi:10.1257/app.20150234

Cited by 43 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Correspondingly, the sex ratio IMR for third order infants with two older sisters is 1.4, indicating a 40% higher IMR for males relative to females in this group. These findings are consistent with research from India indicating that as fertility rates decline, differential treatment and survival of higher order infants based on sex worsens [22]. Further, national data also indicate that higher fertility, and resultant higher order births, is more likely among poorer populations in the country [1], and in these populations we continue to see excess female postnatal mortality [3], [5].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Associations Between Sex Composition of Older Siblings and Infant Mortality in India from 1992 to 2016

et al. 2019

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BackgroundThis study examines associations between sex composition of older siblings and infant mortality by sex, to guide efforts to address excess female infant mortality in India.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of infant mortality in India using four waves of data from the nationally-representative National Family Health Survey, collected between 1992 and 2016 (unweighted N = 338,504 for children aged 1–5). We used sex-stratified multivariable logistic regression models to assess the associations between sex composition of older siblings and risk of infant mortality.FindingsMale infants with two living older sisters and no living older brothers had lower odds of infant mortality relative to those with one living older brother (e.g., 2015–16 AOR 0.62, 95% CI 0.50–0.76); this effect was significant for boys across all waves of data but was not seen for girls in any wave. Exploratory models focused on third order births found that boys were less likely than girls to die in infancy if born subsequent to two older sisters (2015–16 AOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.31–0.74); analysis of crude prevalence data indicated that this converts into a 64% greater risk for infant mortality for girls relative to boys in this third-order group.InterpretationHigher birth order males with older sisters have greater protection against infant mortality, a finding that has persisted for over 25 years. To address ongoing gender inequities in infant survival in India, greater focus is needed to support higher birth order girls and social norm movements against son preference.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Associations Between Sex Composition of Older Siblings and Infant Mortality in India from 1992 to 2016

et al. 2019

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“…As fertility constraints tighten, the opportunity cost of having an unwanted girl then rises (because the probability of not having the target number of sons increases). Consequently, couples for whom the opportunity cost of a girl exceeds the cost of sex selection will sex select (prenatally or postnatally -in our case, because we only study province-years in which ultrasound technology was not available, postnatally) (Anukriti 2016;Ebenstein 2011;Lin, Liu, and Qian 2014). In the aggregate the consequences for sex ratios are unambiguous: an increase in the cost of children leads not only to smaller family sizes, but also greater neglect of daughters -and hence rising sex ratios.…”

Section: A Simple Conceptual Framework For Fertility Decline and Sex mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our framework is adapted from Lin, Liu, and Qian (2014), who study the joint effect of legalized abortion and son preference on sex ratios at birth and relative female infant mortality rates in Taiwan. An important distinction is that the cost of sex selection in our model is an ex-post cost experienced through neglect; in contrast, most models treat this cost as an ex-ante cost (the cost of ultrasound, for example) (Anukriti 2016;Ebenstein 2011;Lin, Liu, and Qian 2014). First, define the household utility function from giving births as:…”

Section: Appendix 1: Analysis Of Possible Underreporting Figure A-1: mentioning

confidence: 99%

Population sex imbalance in China before the One-Child Policy

Babiarz

Song

et al. 2019

DemRes

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Most research on population sex imbalance in China has focused on the One-Child Policy era. However, because much of China's fertility decline occurred during the 1970s, we investigate the possibility that sex ratios began rising during this period (as predicted by theory) before the One-Child Policy. RESULTS Analyzing sex ratios between 1960 and 1987 by birth order and sibship sex composition, we find that among the subset of couples expected to have the greatest demand for sons (those at higher parities without previous sons), sex ratios at birth reached 115-121 boys per 100 girls during the 1970s-implying approximately 840,000 to 1,100,000 girls missing from Chinese birth cohorts during the 1970s. Importantly, these results do not appear to be driven by differential under-reporting of living girls, or instances of adoption. Given the absence of ultrasound technologies prior to 1979, they imply the presence of postnatal sex selection in China during the 1970s. CONTRIBUTION Our work makes several important contributions to existing literature. First, we focus on the subset of couples among whom the demand for sons is predicted to be the strongest: higher parity couples not yet having a boy. Second, we estimate sex ratios by single year of age (from birth to age 4), distinguishing differential rates of infant death from more gradual neglect of girls as they age throughout childhood. Third, we

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“…While nowadays sex ratios are balanced in Western societies, the availability of new technologies of gender control in utero creates increasing imbalances in the ratio of men and women in countries where boys are favored over girls. In particular, India and China face the challenge of counteracting an increased skewness in sex ratios and its demographic and economic consequences (Anukriti, 2018;Jayachandran 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unbalanced sex ratios in Germany caused by World War II and their effect on fertility: A life cycle perspective

Kesternich

Siflinger

Smith

et al. 2020

European Economic Review

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This paper analyses long-term effects of highly unbalanced sex ratios in Germany caused by World War II on fertility outcomes over the life cycle. By using Census data linked with individual biography data, we find that a permanent reduction in the number of men delayed women's first birth. However, the effects crucially depend on at what age fertility of women is evaluated. While women with low sex ratios have fewer children at younger ages, they compensate at later ages. We also find substitution from the extensive towards the intensive margin. Mechanisms are marrying later, accepting lower quality matches and expanding the child-bearing period.

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Financial Incentives and the Fertility-Sex Ratio Trade-Off

Cited by 43 publications

References 42 publications

Associations Between Sex Composition of Older Siblings and Infant Mortality in India from 1992 to 2016

Associations Between Sex Composition of Older Siblings and Infant Mortality in India from 1992 to 2016

Population sex imbalance in China before the One-Child Policy

Unbalanced sex ratios in Germany caused by World War II and their effect on fertility: A life cycle perspective

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