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<p>This paper explores the existence of son preference and gender-based fertility behavior among Southeast Asian mothers. Using census data of ten countries (Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) over the years 1970-2014 and a sample of over 18 million observation, I show that having a first-born girl is associated with 0.16 more children in the household, equivalent to 7.2 percent rise from the mean. The marginal effects are quite robust across various specifications and subsamples. The effects are larger for countries with lower human development index and individuals with lower education. A birth cohort analysis show that the effects are significantly smaller for later cohorts implying that son preference fertility behavior has diminished over time.</p>
</abstract>

This paper explores the existence of son preference and gender-based fertility behavior among Southeast Asian mothers. Using census data of ten countries (Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) over the years 1970-2014 and a sample of over 18 million observation, I show that having a first-born girl is associated with 0.16 more children in the household, equivalent to 7.2 percent rise from the mean. The marginal effects are quite robust across various specifications and subsamples. The effects are larger for countries with lower human development index and individuals with lower education. A birth cohort analysis show that the effects are significantly smaller for later cohorts implying that son preference fertility behavior has diminished over time.

The Transition of Son Preference: Evidence from Southeast Asian Countries

ECONOMICS

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"The Transition of Son Preference: Evidence from Southeast Asian Countries"}

This paper explores the existence of son preference and gender-based fertility behavior among Southeast Asian mothers. Using census data of ten countries...

The Transition of Son Preference: Evidence from Southeast Asian Countries

Published Online: Jun 04, 2021

Page range: 43 - 67

Received: Jan 22, 2021

Accepted: Feb 09, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eoik-2021-0010

Keywords
Son Preference, Gender Discrimination, Fertility, Family Planning, Family Economics, Sex Selection, Culture

© 2021 Nahid Tavassoli, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Transition of Son Preference: Evidence from Southeast Asian Countries

Published Online: Jun 04, 2021

Page range: 43 - 67

Received: Jan 22, 2021

Accepted: Feb 09, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eoik-2021-0010

KeywordsSon Preference, Gender Discrimination, Fertility, Family Planning, Family Economics, Sex Selection, Culture

© 2021 Nahid Tavassoli, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Son Preference, Gender Discrimination, Fertility, Family Planning, Family Economics, Sex Selection, Culture