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Sweet unbinding: Sugarcane cultivation and the demise of foot-binding

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  • Cheng, Nora
  • Fan, Elliott
  • Wu, Tsong-Min

Abstract

We analyze the economic motives for the sudden demise in foot-binding, a self-harming custom widely practiced by Chinese females for centuries. We use newly-discovered Taiwanese data to estimate the extent to which females unbound their feet in response to the rapid growth in sugarcane cultivation in the early 20th century, growth which significantly boosted the demand for female labor. We find that cane cultivation significantly induced unbinding, with the IV estimations utilizing cane railroads – lines built exclusively for cane transportation – support a causal interpretation of the estimated effect. This finding implies that increased female employment opportunities can help eliminate norms that are harmful for females. Further analysis suggests that the need for human capital improvement was more likely to have driven the effects of cane cultivation, rather than the increased intra-household bargaining power for females.

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  • Cheng, Nora & Fan, Elliott & Wu, Tsong-Min, 2022. "Sweet unbinding: Sugarcane cultivation and the demise of foot-binding," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:157:y:2022:i:c:s0304387822000463
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102876
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhu, Ge, 2024. "Liberated from care: Long-term care insurance policy and Employment for women," MPRA Paper 120472, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Xinyu Fan & Lingwei Wu, 2023. "The Shaping Of A Gender Norm: Marriage, Labor, And Foot‐Binding In Historical China," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(4), pages 1819-1850, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Foot-binding; Social norm; Gender role; Sugarcane;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • N35 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Asia including Middle East
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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