A family preference for sons over daughters may manifest itself in different ways, including higher mortality, worse health status, or lower educational attainment among girls. This study focuses on one measure of son preference in the developing world, namely the likelihood of continued...

In a setting where husbands wield considerable coercive power, forms of marriage should adapt to protect the interests of women and their families. The authors study the pervasive marriage custom of watta satta in rural Pakistan, a bride exchange between families coupled with a mutual threat of...

This paper summarizes key aspects of family allowances programs across the world and presents information on their characteristics in a cross-country comparative context. Family allowances can be universal (paid to all resident families with a specified number of children) or employment-based...

Although there has been a considerable amount of legislation aimed at marital rights in several countries in recent decades, the implications for women's labor supply has been a comparatively neglected area. In this report, the authors use insights from the economics of marriage , including...

The relationship between women's health and their (physical and economic) productivity is complex and multi-dimensional. It is characterized by"flows"in both directions and a host of intervening factors. Two simple statements summarize the major directional flows: (a) women's health affects...

The author investigates the extent and determinants of poor child health and nutrition in rural Guatemala, as reflected in attained height. Exploiting a rich data set on relevant social, economic, ethnic, and geographic characteristics, he estimates the role played by exogeneous individual,...

Kinship systems in China, the Republic of Korea, and North India have similar features that generate discrimination against girls, and these countries have some of the highest proportions of girls"missing"in the world. The authors document how the excess mortality of girls was increased by war,...

This paper analyzes the determinants of HIV infection and associated sexual behaviors using data from the first five Demographic and Health Surveys to include HIV testing for a representative sample of the adult population. Emerging from a wealth of country relevant results, four important...

The authors present a non-altruistic model of demand for children, in the presence of uncertainty about children's survival. Children are seen as assets, as they provide help during old age. If certain conditions are met, both the financial market, and the family network are used to transfer...

Son preference has persisted in the face of sweeping economic and social changes in China, India, and the Republic of Korea. The authors attribute this to their similar family systems, which generate strong disincentives to raise daughters while valuing adult women's contributions to the...