We study the impact of bride kidnapping, a peculiar form of marriage practiced in Central Asia, on child birth weight. The search for a suitable mate in a kidnapped marriage is initiated by the groom, and there is typically non-coerced consent only by the male. We expect adverse consequences...

Socialist countries and their successor states collected remarkably detailed population health data at the district level; they also suffered extraordinary environmental hazards and severe public health crises, including a surge in tuberculosis following the collapse of the Soviet Union....

We study the impact of bride kidnapping, a form of marriage practiced in Central Asia and elsewhere, on infant birth weight. Considerable debate exists as to whether kidnapping is merely ritualized elopement, or whether it involves bride coercion. To the extent that it is non-consensual, we...