Missing women in Indian districts: a quantitative analysis

Agnihotri, Satish B.; Palmer-Jones, Richard; Parikh, Ashok

doi:10.1016/s0954-349x(02)00023-1

Cited by 35 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Gender discrimination in India is a significant issue, and has been a consistent source of concern for policy makers and academics (Sen, 1992;World Bank, 2001;Duflo, 2005;World Bank, 2006). A large literature in economics, sociology and anthropology has explored the underlying causes of discrimination against women in India, highlighting the dowry system, low levels of female education, and other socioeconomic factors as central factors (Rosenzweig and Shultz, 1982;Agnihotri, 2000;Agnihotri et al, 2002;Murthi et al, 1995;Rahman and Rao, 2004;Qian, 2006). Changing these underlying factors is difficult; introducing television, or reducing any barriers to its spread, may be less so.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in India

Oster¹,

Jensen²

2007

118

120

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Cable and satellite television have grown rapidly throughout the developing world. The availability of cable and satellite television exposes viewers to new information about the outside world, which may affect individual attitudes and behaviors. This paper explores the effect of the introduction of cable television on gender attitudes in rural India. Using a three-year individual-level panel dataset, we find that the introduction of cable television is associated with improvements in women's status. We find significant increases in reported autonomy, decreases in the reported acceptability of beating and decreases in reported son preference. We also find increases in female school enrollment and decreases in fertility (primarily via increased birth spacing). The effects are large, equivalent in some cases to about five years of education in the cross section, and move gender attitudes of individuals in rural areas much closer to those in urban areas. We argue that the results are not driven by pre-existing differential trends. These results have important policy implications, as India and other countries attempt to decrease bias against women. Abstract Cable and satellite television have grown rapidly throughout the developing world. The availability of cable and satellite television exposes viewers to new information about the outside world, which may affect individual attitudes and behaviors. This paper explores the effect of the introduction of cable television on gender attitudes in rural India. Using a three-year individual-level panel dataset, we find that the introduction of cable television is associated with improvements in women's status. We find significant increases in reported autonomy, decreases in the reported acceptability of beating and decreases in reported son preference. We also find increases in female school enrollment and decreases in fertility (primarily via increased birth spacing). The effects are large, equivalent in some cases to about five years of education in the cross section, and move gender attitudes of individuals in rural areas much closer to those in urban areas. We argue that the results are not driven by pre-existing differential trends. These results have important policy implications, as India and other countries attempt to decrease bias against women.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in India

Oster¹,

Jensen²

2007

118

120

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In such a case, the wife has no independent choice and may not be empowered to any significant extent by her outside work. This result is at odds with the view of some economists (e.g., Agnihotri et al, 1998;Anand and Sen, 1995) who treat the earning of income outside the home by wives as a variable leading to their empowerment. We argue here that the causal significance of such a variable depends on the cultural context in which it is embedded, and seems to be different in an Indian context from a Western one.…”

Section: Variables To Be Considered As Determinants Of the Status Of mentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Development of this index was greatly influenced by Amartya Sen (Anand and Sen, 1995) and reflects his views about the importance of entitlements as determinants of the well-being of individuals. In addition, Agnihotri, Palmer-Jones, and Parikh (1998) extensively use female participation rates in the workforce in their spatial (regional) study of female-male ratios in India. These ratios are often employed as indicators of the status of females in comparison to males.…”

Section: Variables To Be Considered As Determinants Of the Status Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

Socioeconomic determinants of the intra-family status of wives in rural India: Analysis and empirical evidence

2001

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Relying on a structured survey of 117 wives in four rural villages in the Midnapore District of West Bengal, this article investigates the influence on the intra-family status of wives of variables that may increase the bargaining power of wives in their family. Several indicators of status are considered and investigated using the ANOVA technique and probit analysis. The main hypothesis considered is whether the results support bargaining theories of the intra-household status of wives or the view that gender status is primarily determined in Indian society by social customs and the patriarchal structure of society. Given the overall patriarchal structure of Indian society, the results indicate that bargaining theories are at best only marginally relevant. Situations that result in greater bargaining power for wives in Western societies do not necessarily do so in north India given the total pervasiveness of its patriarchal society.

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“…Although in a context of overall low female autonomy (compared to much of the rest of the world), a North-South divide has often been remarked on that shows in the northern and north-western parts of India having both distinct kinship systems and demographic regimes, including adverse-to-females sex ratios, that are consistent with less female say in household decisions, mobility and entitlement to resources than in the southern and south-eastern parts of the country (Sopher 1980;Miller 1981 Agnihotri et al 2002). The most influential characterisation of the northern and southern kinship systems in terms of their implications for female autonomy and demographic outcomes is that of Dyson and Moore (1983).…”

Section: Background: India's North-south Divide In Female Autonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomy or Efficiency: An Experiment on Household Decisions in Two Regions of India

et al. 2011

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Abstract:Dyson and Moore (1983) posit that women in South India enjoy relatively more agency than in the North. Their conclusions have become part of the standard picture of Indian rural society.In this paper, we examine using experimental data the implications of the regional contrast in female autonomy for the efficiency of family decision-making. We take a sample of 1200 couples from one rural and one urban area in the north of India (Uttar Pradesh) and one area in the south (Tamil Nadu) that are often taken to exemplify differences in the autonomy of women and the nature of marital relationships. Generally, we find large-scale and robust evidence of inefficiency and the hiding of assets when this is possible. Men invest more and are more generous to their partners. Women are more willing to invest in a common pool when their income is earned through working and when assets are publicly observable.Regarding the focus of our paper, we find continuing significant differences between North and South and we find relatively little evidence that urban living is associated with changes in the nature of marital behaviour. There are some differences between response to treatment but the key and striking difference between the North and the South is that in both rural and urban sites in the former region household efficiency is considerably greater than in the latter, which does on the face of it suggest a tradeoff between autonomy and efficiency.

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Missing women in Indian districts: a quantitative analysis

Cited by 35 publications

References 23 publications

The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in India

The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in India

Socioeconomic determinants of the intra-family status of wives in rural India: Analysis and empirical evidence

Autonomy or Efficiency: An Experiment on Household Decisions in Two Regions of India

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