We examine the effect of a Chinese family planning policy (FPP) known as "Later, Longer, and Fewer" on the gender gap in breastfeeding. We find that FPP increased the daughter-son breastfeeding gap in favor of sons in rural areas. Mean intensity of the FPP predicts the gender gap to be 35%...

This study examines the relationship between fertility decline and the reversal/narrowing of the gender gap in literacy/numeracy test scores. Drawing on Becker's Quantity-Quality (Q-Q) trade-off model, we propose that in a society such as China, where son-preference is prevalent, the Q-Q...

I evaluate the impact of abortion policies in sub-Saharan Africa to understand possible consequences from a reduced international support for women's rights following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. I find that decriminalizing abortion reduces fertility through two complementary channels. For...

In this paper we develop a novel approach to measuring individual welfare within households, recognizing that individuals may have both different preferences (particularly regarding public consumption) and differential access to resources. We construct a money metric measure of welfare that...

This paper presents novel causal evidence on the effects of pro-natalist cash transfers on fertility, sex ratio at birth, and infant health. In the context of South Korea, I exploit rich spatial and temporal variation in cash transfers provided to families with newborn babies and the universe of...

In China, the male-biased sex ratio has increased significantly. Because the one-child policy only applied to the Han Chinese but not to minorities, this unique affirmative policy allows us to identify the causal effect of the one-child policy on the increase in sex ratios by a...

This paper investigates the net impact of birth control policy in China on educational attainment of the partially excluded ethnic minorities. Exploring county-level variation in the value of fines levied for unsanctioned births, we show that more stringent enforcement of the birth control...

Using combined data from population censuses and Urban Household Surveys, we study the effects of demographic structural changes on the rise in household saving in China. Variations in fines across provinces on unauthorized births under the one-child policy and in cohort-specific fertility...

Data on 2,355 married women from the 2006 China Health and Nutrition Survey are used to study how female employment affects fertility in China. China has deep concerns with both population size and female employment, so the relationship between the two should be better understood. Causality...

In China, the male-biased sex ratio has increased significantly. Because the one-child policy only applied to the Han Chinese but not to minorities, this unique affirmative policy allows us to identify the causal effect of the one-child policy on the increase in sex ratios by a...