Working Paper: NBER ID: w19978
Authors: Siwan Anderson; Garance Genicot
Abstract: This paper studies the impact of female property rights on male and female suicide rates in India. Using state level variation in legal changes to women's property rights, we show that better property rights for women are associated with a decrease in the difference between female and male suicide rates, but an increase in both male and female suicides. We conjecture that increasing female property rights increased conflict within household and this increased conflict resulted in more suicides among both men and women in India. Using individual level data on domestic violence we find evidence that increased property rights for women did increase the incidence of wife beating in India. A model of intra-household bargaining with asymmetric information and costly conflict is consistent with these findings.
Keywords: female property rights; suicide rates; India; domestic violence
JEL Codes: D1; K36; O1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| improvements in female property rights (P14) | decrease in the difference between female and male suicide rates (J12) |
| improvements in female property rights (P14) | increase in male suicide rates (J12) |
| improvements in female property rights (P14) | increase in female suicide rates (J12) |
| increased marital conflict (J12) | higher suicide rates among both genders (J12) |
| increased female property rights (P14) | increased marital conflict (J12) |
| amendments to the Hindu Succession Act (J12) | increase in suicide rates from family problems (J12) |
| increased female property rights (P14) | increase in incidence of domestic violence (J12) |