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The great Indian demonetization and gender gap in health outcomes: Evidence from two Indian states

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  • Ahsan, Md Nazmul
  • Thakur, Sounak

Abstract

We utilize the timing of India’s 2016 demonetization policy to examine whether a negative macroeconomic shock disproportionately affects women’s health outcomes relative to men’s. Our empirical framework considers women as the treated group and men as the comparison group. Using data from the National Family Health Survey-4 and a household fixed effects model, we find that the induced income shock leads to a 4% decline in hemoglobin for women as compared to the pre-demonetization level. This corresponds to a 21% increase in the gender gap in hemoglobin. The result is further validated with an event study and a variety of robustness checks. An examination of food consumption suggests that this pattern is possibly driven by a widening male–female gap in the consumption of iron-rich foods.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahsan, Md Nazmul & Thakur, Sounak, 2024. "The great Indian demonetization and gender gap in health outcomes: Evidence from two Indian states," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:53:y:2024:i:c:s1570677x24000212
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101369
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Macroeconomic shock; Demonetization; Health; Discrimination; Gender-gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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