This paper analyzes the shaping of a costly gender norm: foot-binding in historical China. We present a theory that explains the rise of foot-binding, in response to a gender-asymmetric social mobility shock that dispersed men’s quality distribution in the marriage market. The theory...

This paper examines the impact of having only one child on parental risk behaviors in societies where children serve as a bedrock for elderly support. Employing regional and temporal variation from the enforcement of the One-Child Policy, our instrumental variable estimates show that the...