Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/247102 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
EHES Working Paper No. 172
Publisher: 
European Historical Economics Society (EHES), s.l.
Abstract: 
Based on anecdotal evidence on girls' inferior status and the analysis of sex ratios, this article argues that son preference resulted in gender discriminatory practices that unduly increased female mortality rates in infancy and childhood in Greece during the late-19th and early-20th century. The relative number of boys and girls was extremely high early in life and female under-registration alone is not likely to explain this result. Female infanticide and/or the mortal neglect of infant girls played therefore a more important role than previously acknowledged. Likewise, sex ratios increased as children grew older, thus suggesting that parents continued to treat boys and girls differently throughout childhood. Lastly, the analysis of province-level information shows that economic and social conditions influenced how the value of girls was perceived in different contexts, thus aggravating or mitigating female excess mortality.
Subjects: 
Sex ratios
Infant and child mortality
Gender discrimination
Health
JEL: 
I14
I15
J13
J16
N33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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