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Cultural Dynamics of Gender Norms

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 3, 2020 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM (PDT)

Marriott Marquis, Grand Ballroom 12
Hosted By: American Economic Association
  • Chair: Owen Ozier, World Bank

The Historical Roots of Female Genital Cutting

Lucia Corno
,
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart
Eliana La Ferrara
,
Bocconi University
Alessandra Voena
,
University of Chicago

Abstract

Harmful social norms are an impediment to economic development and economic growth. This paper focuses on one such norm, female genital cutting (FGC) and aim at understanding its historical origin. Our hypothesis, substantiated by historical sources, is that FGC was connected to the Red Sea route of the slave trade, where women were sold as concubines and infibulation was used to ensure chastity. We next conjecture that the differential exposure of ethnic groups to the Red Sea route determined differential adoption of the practice, which later evolved into a marker for ethnic identity. We combine individual level data from all DHS and MICS surveys in Africa with historical data on slavery by ethnic group and trade route to estimate the effect of exposure to the Red Sea slave route on contemporary FGC prevalence. Our results show that women belonging to ethnic groups where ancestors were traded in the Red Sea route are more likely to be cut today. Understanding the origins of FGC is the first necessary step to take before designing policies capable to eradicate this practice.

Female First Born and Family Structure in Sub-Saharan Africa

Garance Genicot
,
Georgetown University
Maria Hernandez de Benito
,
Georgetown University

Abstract

This paper documents how the gender of the first child affects family structure in Sub-Saharan Africa. Recent work provides evidence that the first child’s gender impacts family structure in the region. Genicot and Hernandez de Benito (2019) find evidence in rural Tanzania that there are fewer women above 40 with a female first born and that they are also less likely to be remarried. Milazzo (2013) finds that women with a female first born in Nigeria have more children and are more likely to be either divorced or separated, and to end up in a polygynous union. Lambert and VanDeWalle (2016) describe that having a son from a previous union is correlated with lower remarriage rate post-divorce among widows in Senegal. These findings have important consequences for children and women welfare. Using national census and DHS data, we study the impact of the gender of the first child on the likelihood of having an absentee father, the probability of ever been married, remaining married, and remarrying in case of separation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Next, we combine these data with information on ancestral anthropological and cultural practices of the ethnic group to which the woman belongs. This allows us to relate the effect of the gender of the first child to the persistence over time of cultural norms.

Son Preference, Maternal Health and Women’s Survival

Neha Agarwal
,
University of Otago
Annamaria Milazzo
,
Independent Researcher

Abstract

This paper studies how the gender of the first child can affect women’s health and mortality during the reproductive ages. Previous work for India suggests that, compared to women with first-born sons, women with first-born girls are more likely to be anemic and have lower survival. This is partially because son preference induces these women into fertility behaviors that are medically known to be associated with higher risk of maternal morbidity and mortality (Milazzo, 2018). This paper extends this analysis to 73 additional countries covering over 2.5 million women, facing different intensities of son preference and maternal health conditions. We identify some distinct patterns. First, we find evidence suggesting that lower survival of women with first-born girls is largely found in countries characterized by the co-existence of strong son preference and worse maternal conditions. Second, in these countries women with first-born girls also exhibit higher incidence of anemia. Third, we create a measure of imbalance in sex ratio of women with first-born girls and find that it correlates with a range of socio-economic indicators of adverse outcomes for (and attitudes towards) women in the reproductive ages. These results generally hold even after excluding India. This work aims to shed some light on the economic and cultural determinants of maternal morbidity and mortality and on the wide-ranging consequences of son preference during the reproductive ages.

Do Daughters Change Fathers’ Gender Attitudes?

Pamela Jakiela
,
Center for Global Development
Laura Kincaide
,
Harvard University
Owen Ozier
,
World Bank

Abstract

We examine the family of identification strategies that take the gender composition of children as plausibly exogenous. In a simple framework, we show how different variations on the identification strategy would recover different effects reflecting different combinations of underlying parameters. Using all available DHS data, we show that there is variation across regions in the sex ratio of births, making that identification strategy more credible in some regions than in others. Treating the gender of the firstborn child as exogenous, we then show that gender of the firstborn has an effect on fathers' attitudes towards domestic violence where those attitudes are most regressive and the sex ratio appears close to its natural value.
Discussant(s)
Seema Jayachandran
,
Northwestern University
Sara Lowes
,
Bocconi University
Rachel Heath
,
University of Washington
Pietro Biroli
,
University of Zurich
JEL Classifications
  • Z1 - Cultural Economics; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology
  • J1 - Demographic Economics