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Gender Bias in Parental Attitude: An Experimental Approach

Author

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  • Lutfunnahar Begum

    (National Board of Revenue)

  • Philip J. Grossman

    (Monash University)

  • Asadul Islam

    (Monash University)

Abstract

Parental bias toward children of a particular gender has been widely observed in many societies. Such bias could be due to pure gender preference or differences in earning opportunities and concern for old-age support. We conduct a high-stakes allocation task (subjects allocate the equivalent of one day’s wages between male and female school-aged students) in rural Bangladesh to examine parental attitudes toward male and female children. Parents, either jointly or individually, allocated freely or restricted endowments for the benefit of anonymous girls or boys at a nearby school. We examine whether there is any systematic bias among fathers and mothers and, if so, whether such bias differs when they make the decision individually or jointly. The results suggest (1) bias both for and against boys or girls but no systematic bias by either parent; and (2) no significant differences in individual and joint decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lutfunnahar Begum & Philip J. Grossman & Asadul Islam, 2018. "Gender Bias in Parental Attitude: An Experimental Approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1641-1662, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:55:y:2018:i:5:d:10.1007_s13524-018-0699-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-018-0699-y
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    Cited by:

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    2. Hashibul Hassan & Asad Islam & Abu Siddique & Liang Choon Wang, 2024. "Telementoring and Homeschooling During School Closures: a Randomised Experiment in Rural Bangladesh," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(662), pages 2418-2438.
    3. Lutfunnahar Begum & Philip J Grossman & Asad Islam, 2022. "Parental gender bias and investment in children’s health and education: evidence from Bangladesh [Child gender and parental investments in India: Are boys and girls treated differently?]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(4), pages 1045-1062.

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