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Trade Liberalization in a Traditional Society: Implications for Relative Female Survival

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  • Chakraborty, Tanika

Abstract

Trade openness has ambiguous implications for son preference in a traditional society. While it can work in favor of girls by improving relative female wages or average household income, it can worsen the relative preference for girls by changing marriage payments. This paper exploits an exogenous policy shock in India to study the impact of trade openness on son preference, as reflected in the sex-ratio. Survival chances of girls worsened in regions experiencing high trade openness, particularly for Hindus belonging to traditionally higher castes. I argue that Dowry inflation is a possible channel through which trade liberalization affected sex-ratio.

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  • Chakraborty, Tanika, 2015. "Trade Liberalization in a Traditional Society: Implications for Relative Female Survival," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 158-170.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:74:y:2015:i:c:p:158-170
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.04.014
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    2. Zimmermann, Laura, 2018. "It’s a boy! Women and decision-making benefits from a son in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 326-335.
    3. Vincent Bignon & Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa, 2018. "The Toll of Tariffs: Protectionism, Education and Fertility in Late 19th Century France," Working papers 690, Banque de France.
    4. Soohyung Lee & Chiara Orsini, 2018. "Girls and boys: Economic crisis, fertility, and birth outcomes," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(7), pages 1044-1063, November.
    5. Chiplunkar, Gaurav & Weaver, Jeffrey, 2023. "Marriage markets and the rise of dowry in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    6. Sengupta, Shruti & Azam, Mehtabul, 2022. "The Effect of Trade Liberalization on Marriage and Fertility: Evidence from Indian Census," IZA Discussion Papers 15841, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Lee, Soohyung & Orsini, Chiara, 2018. "Girls and Boys: Economic Crisis, Fertility, and Birth Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 11531, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. P. Niluka S. P. Ekanayake & Jakob B. Madsen & Tushar Bharati, 2023. "Trade and economic growth: Does the sophistication of traded goods matter?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 481-524, December.
    9. Law, Cherry, 2019. "Unintended consequence of trade on regional dietary patterns in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 277-293.

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