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Do marriage markets respond to a natural disaster? The impact of flooding of the Kosi river in India

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  • Madhulika Khanna

    (Georgetown University)

  • Nishtha Kochhar

    (Georgetown University)

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of the flooding of the Kosi river on the timing of marriage in the Indian state of Bihar, one of the world’s poorest regions. Using a difference-in-differences design, we show that the Kosi floods reduced men’s age at marriage by almost a year and women’s age at marriage by over 4 months. The Kosi floods also decreased the secondary school completion rates of married men and women and married women’s command over economic resources. We interpret these results within a framework of marriage markets, where in the absence of complete credit markets, marriage market payments (dowry) help smooth consumption in response to adverse income shocks. In support of this framework, we find that the impact of the Kosi floods is more pronounced among Hindus (for whom dowry is the traditional marriage payment norm) and among the landless (who are more credit-constrained).

Suggested Citation

  • Madhulika Khanna & Nishtha Kochhar, 2023. "Do marriage markets respond to a natural disaster? The impact of flooding of the Kosi river in India," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 2241-2276, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:36:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s00148-023-00955-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-023-00955-z
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    Keywords

    Flooding; Gender; Marriage markets; Natural disasters; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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