cover image: On the Quantity and Quality of Girls : Fertility, Parental Investments, and Mortality

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On the Quantity and Quality of Girls : Fertility, Parental Investments, and Mortality

9 Sep 2020

The introduction of prenatal sex-detection technologies in India has led to a phenomenal increase in abortion of female fetuses. This paper examines the impacts of this on girl relative to boy mortality rates after birth, using data from 1973-2005. The analysis finds a narrowing of the gender gap in under-5 mortality rates, in line with surviving girls being more wanted. The estimates show that for every three aborted girls, one additional girl survives to age five. Investigation of the mechanisms finds a narrowing of gender gaps in parental investments in children, moderation of son-biased fertility stopping, and shrinking of the gap between actual and desired fertility. Heterogeneity in fertility responses suggests a shift in the distribution of girls toward lower socioeconomic status families. The findings have implications not only for counts of missing girls, but also for the later life outcomes of girls.
rural area household income labor market new technology parental investment mental health soil quality age distribution birth control birth spacing breastfeeding child health child mortality development policy economic liberalization family size fertility decline industry maternal mortality medical equipment mortality decline prenatal care regression analysis reproductive health south asia medical device health service poverty reduction gender gap gender and development maternal health investment in children nutritional status live birth birth order maternal age fetal development household wealth health investment open access domestic production business taxation survey data import duty mentally ill standard error multiple birth business school medical practitioner abortions abortion law public facilities health care services industry law and development nutrition and population poor household early child and children's health summary statistic rural woman recent years in family inequality under law high mortality unintended pregnancies licensing policy number of girls richer countries law and justice institutions demographic characteristic department of economics proportion of female health condition increased opportunity impact on child local production supply shock government facility survival probability previous work socioeconomic impact diagnostic tool national family health survey import sector gender composition decline in fertility low socioeconomic status female child average investment license regulations decline in poverty married woman age at death causal impact detection technology raw data birth history discrimination against girl stopping rules sex-selective abortion marriage market indian context high fertility downward bias population sex ratio mother's age usage rate neonatal mortality rates excess female mortality public sector provision number of pregnancies safe abortion excess fertility diagnostic techniques number of abortions reductions in mortality lower mortality import liberalization societies for centuries demographic landscape sex determination birth outcome unwanted births absence of woman mortality of child uniform rate birth cohort legal access fetal health early childhood mortality children in families right to abortion trend break sex of the child postnatal health unwanted children mortality reduction contraceptive failure rights organizations fertility preference indicators for child population level abortion facilities linear time trend

Authors

Lnu,Anukriti,Bhalotra,Sonia R.,Tam,Hiu

Disclosure Status
Disclosed
Doc Name
On the Quantity and Quality of Girls : Fertility, Parental Investments, and Mortality
Document Date
2020-09-09
Originating Unit
DECRG: Human Development (DECHD)
Published in
United States of America
Series Name
Policy Research working paper;no. WPS 9390
Total Volume(s)
1
Unit Owning
Off of Sr VP Dev Econ/Chief Econ (DECVP)
Version Type
Final
Volume No
1

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