Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP6876
Authors: V. Bhaskar
Abstract: We consider a society where parents prefer boys to girls, but also value grandchildren. Parental sex selection results in a biased sex ratio that is socially inefficient, due to a congestion externality in the marriage market. Improvements in selection techniques aggravate the inefficiency. These results are robust to allowing prices in the marriage market, if the market is subject to frictions. We extend the model to consider gender preferences which depend upon family composition, allowing us to examine the possible sex ratio effects of China's one-child policy, and the implications of choice in societies where family balancing considerations are paramount.
Keywords: congestion externality; gender bias; marriage market; sex ratio; sex selection
JEL Codes: J12; J13; J16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| parental preferences for boys (J13) | biased sex ratio (J16) |
| biased sex ratio (J16) | social inefficiency in marriage market (J12) |
| improvements in sex selection technology (J13) | biased sex ratio (J16) |
| biased sex ratio (J16) | reduced expected utility of typical parent (D11) |
| biased sex ratio (J16) | congestion externality in marriage market (J49) |
| improvements in sex selection technology (J13) | reduced overall welfare (D69) |
| equilibrium resulting from parental choices (D10) | lower payoff for having girls (J16) |
| parental choices (J13) | skewed equilibrium sex ratio towards boys (J16) |
| skewed equilibrium sex ratio towards boys (J13) | negative impact on social welfare (D69) |
| technological progress in sex selection (J13) | reduced social welfare (I38) |