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Sex-selective Abortions and Infant Mortality in India: The Role of Parents’ Stated Son Preference

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  • Marie-Claire Robitaille
  • Ishita Chatterjee

Abstract

In India, millions of female foetuses have been aborted since the 1980s alongside an abnormally high infant girl mortality rate; this has generated a vast literature exploring the root causes of son preference. The literature is sparse, however, on how the decisions to abort or neglect girls are made. This paper examines mothers’ and fathers’ respective roles behind those decisions. Using the third National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-3) data, we show that sex-selective abortions are most commonly used if both spouses or if only the fathers prefer sons, while sex-selective neglect is used if only the mothers prefer sons.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie-Claire Robitaille & Ishita Chatterjee, 2018. "Sex-selective Abortions and Infant Mortality in India: The Role of Parents’ Stated Son Preference," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(1), pages 47-56, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:54:y:2018:i:1:p:47-56
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2016.1241389
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    Cited by:

    1. Goli, Srinivas & Arora, Somya & Jain, Neha & Sekher, TV, 2022. "Patrilocality and Child Sex Ratios in India," SocArXiv 7qxyp, Center for Open Science.
    2. Srinivas Goli & Somya Arora & Neha Jain & Sekher T. V., 2024. "Patrilocality and Child Sex Ratios in India," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(4), pages 1-28, August.
    3. Qianqian Shang & Quanbao Jiang & Yongkun Yin, 2022. "How Does Children's Sex Affect Parental Sex Preference: Preference Adaptation and Learning," Working Papers wp2022_2202, CEMFI.
    4. Heather Congdon Fors & Annika Lindskog, 2023. "Son preference and education Inequalities in India: the role of gender-biased fertility strategies and preferential treatment of boys," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1431-1460, July.
    5. Mehta, Ritu & Bharadwaj, Apoorva, 2021. "Food advertising targeting children in India: Analysis and implications," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    6. Abhishek Singh & Ashish Kumar Upadhyay & Kaushalendra Kumar & Ashish Singh & Fiifi Amoako Johnson & Sabu S. Padmadas, 2022. "Spatial heterogeneity in son preference across India’s 640 districts: An application of small-area estimation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(26), pages 793-842.
    7. Neha Jain, 2022. "Patrilocality and Child Sex Ratios in India," Working Papers 2265, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

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