Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/295479 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
CReAM Discussion Paper Series No. 13/14
Publisher: 
Centre for Research & Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London, London
Abstract: 
This paper investigates the effect of the differential pecuniary costs of sons and daughters on fertility decisions. The focus is on dowries in India, which increase the economic returns to sons and decrease the returns to daughters. The paper exploits an exogenous shift in the cost of girls relative to boys arising from a revision in anti-dowry law. The reform is found to have attenuated the widely documented positive correlation between daughters and their parents' fertility. The observed patterns can be explained by a simple model of sequential fertility decisions where the gender composition of children determines future dowry payments.
Subjects: 
Dowry
Fertility
India
Son Preferences
JEL: 
O15
J12
J13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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