Missing women in Indian districts: a quantitative analysis

The ratio of women to men in India reveals socially determined excess female mortality. The cultural and economic variables used to explain variations in the juvenile sex ratio are interrelated with each other and with other demographic and economic variables, and show large regional differences within India. Our empirical study is built on an extension to Sen's entitlements framework and spatial lag and spatial error econometric procedures. We find that low female labour participation (FLP) is an important determinant of anti-female child bias in regions characterised by both Indo-Aryan and Dravidian kinship systems, but where Indo-Aryan kinship predominates, mainly in Northern India, the effect of FLP is much more significant.     

Statistical tests for the universality of youth employment mechanisms in segmented labour markets

Patterns of youth employment among manual workers by sex in 47 industrial sectors in the six leading EEC economies in three years (1966, 1972 and 1978) are analysed statistically with a model which relates youth employment share to two aspects of national pay structures: the degree of labour market segmentation (indicated by pay dispersion for adult employees of the same sex) and the importance of wage for age rules (indicated by youth relative pay). Each pay variable proves influential, with the partial exception of female relative pay. Tests for similarity of pay coefficients across countries and time lead to the rejection of both a universal relationship and the national dichotomy in the relative pay relationship which was suggested by earlier results. At the same time, as the economic importance of differences in pay coefficients by country is secondary, major differences between countries in outcomes in the youth labour market arise more from the attributes of national payment systems than from the parameters of employment share functions.     

A theory of gender differences in parental altruism

Abstract.  We offer a theory of gender differences in parental altruism based on the asymmetry that female fertility is constrained but male fertility is relatively unconstrained. Modelling human preferences as having been shaped during the Pleistocene, we derive evolutionarily stable, co‐evolved male and female preferences for altruism towards one's children. We demonstrate that there would be gender differences in parental altruism that depend on the relative abundance or scarcity of resources and the importance and substitutability of parental inputs in promoting the survival of offspring. The results point to greater altruism in females, under plausible conditions. JEL Classification: D64, J16, P46     

The Economics Of Partner Out Trading in Sexual Markets

This paper derives a model of participation in what is commonly known as ‘adultery’. Arguably the best sex survey in the world is used to produce estimates of participation functions. The results show a great deal of support for bioeconomic models and reveal some interesting similarities and differences between the male and female equations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

OCCUPATIONAL EARNINGS BEHAVIOR AND THE INEQUALITY OF EARNINGS BY SEX AND RACE IN THE UNITED STATES*

This paper examines differences in earnings by occupations, and within occupations by sex and by race, on the basis of the 1/100 Public Use Samples of the 1960 and 1970 U.S. Population Censuses. It employs interval analysis to establish 32 categories of occupations with similar characteristics. Little relation was found between mean earnings of occupational groups and the degree of earnings inequality within them. When the figures are examined by sex, it was found that men, on average, earned over twice as much as women in both years, but women's earnings were more unequally distributed (as measured by the Gini coefficient). Women are concentrated in the traditional “female” occupations, which tend to be those at the bottom of the earnings scale, and men have a monopoly of the higher paid occupations. But mean earnings for men exceeded those for women in all occupational groups except one, even in the primarily female occupations. Standardizing first for occupational distribution and then for earnings by occupation, it was found that earnings differences between males and females within occupation had a greater impact on the overall male-female earnings ratio than did differences in occupational distribution by sex. In contrast, when the figures are examined by race, the change in occupational distribution (primarily the movement of blacks out of farming and of blacks and Spanish speakers out of personal services) was the major factor. There was also a considerable degree of earnings inequality within demographic groups. The degree of inequality was in the main reduced when the demographic groups were subdivided into occupations, but it was still substantial. Additional factors like time worked, schooling, and experience must be taken into consideration in understanding this phenomenon.     

Gender Imbalance: The Male/Female Sex Ratio Determination

Synopsis The aim of this paper is to develop a rational choice model for male/female sex ratio determination. The equilibrium sex ratio at birth is determined by the preference for sons and birth rates. The conventional theory predicts that low birth rate will increase the disparity between male and female births. However, our model predicts that low birth rate will decrease the sex ratio at birth. The argument has relevance both for positive and normative aspects of demographic composition, as well as other applications.     

Sources of Inequality Between Male and Female Wages in Australia

This article examines the influence of labour force status, full-time/part-time employment status, educational qualifications, work experience, and occupation as sources of inequality between male and female wages in Australia. A decomposition method is used to identify the effect of these factors on male/ female inequality. This strategy involves successively removing persons who differ with respect to each of these factors from the population under study and then decomposing the inequality in the remaining sub-population into inequality within each sex and inequality between the sexes. This decomposition is done using the I₀ inequality index proposed by Theil (1967). The study is based on unit record data from the 1981–82 Income and Housing Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It finds that a significant proportion of the inequality between the wages of the sexes can be explained by their differences with respect to the factors listed above.     

Surplus men and scarce women: The impact of mating competition on the desire for sons in China*

We conducted this research to explore the possible factors shaping son preference, with a view to understanding the persistently high male/female sex ratio. Using data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) and the Population Census of China, we find a significant impact of regional sex ratio on people's preferences for the sex of their future children. Specifically, the extent of son preference decreases with the increase in the male/female sex imbalance in the local area. We also find that sex imbalance has a positive impact on a wide range of outcomes that capture the pressure on males to enter marriage markets, such as regional housing prices, the number of houses owned, and family economic status. This result is consistent with the view that greater sex imbalance exerts larger pressure on men in the marriage market, leading to changes in son preference. Omitted variable bias is addressed by using climate changes in the month preceding the fertilization period as an instrument for sex ratio. Instrumental sex ratio negatively impacts son preference, offering strong support for our hypothesis.     

对1987-2010年我国老年人口自杀死亡的研究分析

利用人口死因的抽样调查资料和数次中国人口普查资料的年龄性别内插数据,对1987-2010年我国老年人口自杀死亡的趋势、城乡差异和性别差异作了分析,探讨了老人自杀死亡的原因,并提出了相关的防范措施。     

Publicly Provided Goods and Intrafamily Resource Allocation: Female Child Survival in India

The paper examines the problem of excess mortality of females in India. The determinants of gender–specific child survival are investigated through the traditional household production model pioneered by Becker, which is extended to include publicly provided goods as fixed inputs in production decisions. The introduction of government–provided goods provides an avenue for investigating the influence of the state on household decisions. Gender–specific child survival equations are estimated using a robust "seemingly unrelated regression" method. Results using 1981 Indian Census data indicate that increases in female literacy and female labor force participation increase female child survival in rural India. Furthermore, higher ratios of female to male medical technicians are associated with higher female child survival relative to males. This paper demonstrates that a large and effective role exists for government to address excess female morality.     

War and the political zeitgeist: Evidence from the history of female suffrage

Despite the upheaval associated with warfare, empirical evidence linking conflict with institutional development is limited. This paper examines the hypothesis that international wars accelerated democratization by fostering political inclusion. Employing survival analysis, I find that during the 20th century, nations engaging in external conflict were more than twice as likely to extend the franchise to women in the post-conflict period, even after controlling for other commonly cited determinants of suffrage adoption. I explore several potential mechanisms for this association and find evidence consistent with stories which connect war with increased national unity, ideological fervor, and international posturing. Finally, examining conflict-induced changes in sex ratios and female labor force participation suggests that the underlying determinants of suffrage expansion at the national and sub-national level differ.     

Gender Earnings Differential in Urban China

This study uses survey data collected from five large cities in China to describe and decompose the earnings difference between female and male workers. The results indicate that the main source of lower earnings for females lies in unequal pay within sectors, and that the earnings gap due to differences in sectoral attainment is relatively small. The results also reveal that most of the gender earnings differential is attributable to sex discrimination rather than to the gender difference in the endowment of human capital. Therefore, eliminating discrimination against females within individual sectors is effective in narrowing the gender earnings gap.     

ACCOUNTING FOR THE TIMING OF FIRST MARRIAGE*

Among first marriages in the United States, grooms are on average 1.7 years older than their brides. Traditionally, this fact is explained by sex differences in income. We use a general equilibrium, overlapping generations search model economy to show instead that sex differences in fecundity are essential to account for the age gap at first marriage, whereas sex differences in income play a secondary role. Our model economy also accounts for other facts on the timing of first marriages that the literature has overlooked.     

Earnings functions: beyond human capital

Taking a short-run view of the labour market, where individuals with given levels of education have to be matched with jobs differing in level of complexity and difficulty, wages are related to education and job levels. In a sample of some 13 000 observations, controlling for age, experience and sex, a model emphasizing both sides of the allocation process is favoured over the simple human capital view that ignores allocation once education is taken care of. It is claimed that the long-run human capital model can fruitfully be expanded with this short-run allocation structure. The empirical results measure the differences in earnings for individuals with given education working at different job levels, and shows them to be substantial. The relevance of adding job levels to the explanatory variables is illustrated with the case of female earnings discrimination and with differences in age–earnings profiles between general and vocational education.     

Determinants of age at marriage in Karnataka during 1971-1981: a district level analysis

"In this paper we examined the interdistrict variations in mean age at marriage of males and females in Karnataka [India] in two points of time, 1971 and 1981, and also the possible factors influencing this variation....A multivariate analysis of the determinants of mean age at marriage in Karnataka showed that literacy rate, sex ratio of the population and percentage of villages electrified are important in explaining the regional and time variation in age at marriage of both sexes.... Our regression results indicated that a 10 per cent increase in female literacy rate is associated with approximately one-year increase in female age at marriage. However, neither the increase in female literacy nor the changes in the sex ratio of the population could explain all the increase in female age at marriage during 1971-81. This indirectly suggests that there was an increase in female age at marriage among all socio-economic groups."     

Reproductive behaviour in peasant societies: a theoretical and empirical analysis

In spite of the concern and repeated attempts to promote population control programs, a coherent and unified theory of peasant reproductive behavior has not emerged. The author attempts to extend the microeconomic foundations of reproductive behavior by considering a dynamic intertemporal model of household production emphasizing survival uncertainty and age specific differences in productive ability. An optimal policy is derived in a single sex model in which decisions are made sequentially based on new information. It is shown that households will follow a stopping rule; the household will continue to reproduce until an optimal number of living children is reached. As a consequence of the stopping rule households will appear to be replacing infant and child deaths if these occurred early in the program. After presenting the model, empirical applications of the theory are explored and the model is estimated using sample survey data collected in Bangladesh in 1977. Issues raised in the analysis are discussed.     

Gender,differential mortality and development: the experience of Kerala

This study examines aspects of sex differentials in mortality in India. "The general question of sex bias and excess female mortality is first discussed.... Subsequently the reasons for the regional contrast in sex ratios are explored.... We then focus on the interesting exception to the Indian trend and attempt an explanation for the unusual sexual profile that Kerala displays.... The paper ends...with an attempt to draw some tentative conclusions from the Kerala experience with an eye towards more general issues concerning women and the development process."     

中国的女孩生存:历史、现状和展望

基于已有的数据、研究成果及中国政府和社会的干预实践,对有关改善中国女孩生存的研究和实践进行回顾式的评述和展望。中国一直存在对女性的歧视,近年来中国持续升高的出生性别比和偏高的女孩死亡水平,反映出女性社会地位低下和女孩生存风险恶化。对女孩的歧视包括出生前和出生后的歧视。描述了中国高出生性别比和偏高女孩死亡水平的水平、趋势和区域差异,分析了女孩生存环境恶化的直接和间接原因及其引发的人口和社会后果。通过比较国际社会的经验和中国政府及社会的认识与行动,讨论了改善中国女孩生存的前景及相应的措施。     

War,Marriage Markets,and the Sex Ratio at Birth

In belligerent countries, male‐to‐female sex ratios at birth increased during and shortly after the two world wars. These rises occurred amidst dramatically changed marriage‐market conditions caused by war‐related declines in adult sex ratios, and still defy explanation. Based on county‐level census data for the German state of Bavaria in the years just before and immediately after World War II, we explore the reduced‐form relationship between changes in marriage‐market tightness (the adult sex ratio) and changes in the offspring sex ratio, and we discuss potential mechanisms that might link the two. Our results suggest that war‐induced shortfalls of men significantly increased the percentage of boys among newborns.     

FERTILITY SHOCKS AND EQUILIBRIUM MARRIAGE‐RATE DYNAMICS

Female marriage probabilities were 50% higher in France in the years after World War 1, despite a large drop in the sex ratio. We develop a model of marital matching in which composition effects in the singles pool affect postdisruption matching rates. When calibrated to French data from World War 1, this mechanism explains 2/3 of the postwar rise in female marriage probabilities as the result of better composition of the pool of single men. We conclude that endogeneity issues make the sex ratio a potentially unreliable indicator of female marriage prospects.