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The Impact of Pre-marital Sex Ratios on Household Saving in Two Asian Countries: The Competitive Saving Motive Revisited

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  • Charles Yuji Horioka
  • Akiko Terada-Hagiwara

Abstract

This paper estimates a household saving rate equation for India and Korea using long-term time series data for the 1975-2010 period, focusing in particular on the impact of the pre-marital sex ratio on the household saving rate. To summarize the main findings of the paper, it finds that the pre-marital sex (or gender) ratio (the ratio of males to females) has a significant impact on the household saving rate in both India and Korea, even after controlling for the usual suspects such as the aged and youth dependency ratios and income. It has a negative impact in India, where the bride’s side has to pay substantial dowries to the groom’s side at marriage, but a positive impact in Korea, where, as in China, the groom’s side has to bear a disproportionate share of marriage-related expenses including purchasing a house or condominium for the newlywed couple.

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  • Charles Yuji Horioka & Akiko Terada-Hagiwara, 2016. "The Impact of Pre-marital Sex Ratios on Household Saving in Two Asian Countries: The Competitive Saving Motive Revisited," NBER Working Papers 22412, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22412
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    Cited by:

    1. S Anukriti & Sungoh Kwon & Nishith Prakash, 2018. "Household Savings and Marriage Payments: Evidence from Dowry in India," Working papers 2018-09, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    2. Cheema, Ahmed Raza & Coxhead, Ian, 2019. "“Gender Shock†and Household Labor Allocation: Dowry and Labor Migration in Pakistan," Staff Paper Series 593, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    3. Ahmed Raza Cheema & Ian Coxhead, 2022. "Does Dowry Drive Labor Export? Evidence from Pakistan," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 60(4), pages 173-205, December.
    4. Barua, Rashmi & Goel, Prarthna & Sane, Renuka, 2017. "The Effect of Age-Specific Sex Ratios on Crime: Instrumental Variable Estimates from India," Working Papers 17/214, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    5. Grossbard, Shoshana, 2016. "Marriage and Marriage Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 10312, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Anukriti, S. & Kwon, Sungoh & Prakash, Nishith, 2022. "Saving for dowry: Evidence from rural India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    7. Nikolaos Satsios & Mohga Bassim, 2018. "The effect of control variables on the saving motives of the Pomak households," Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, Pro Global Science Association, vol. 15(1), pages 37-44, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

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