عنوان

Religion and son preference in India and Bangladesh: Three essays on comparing Hindus and Muslims on son preference and sex differentials in child health

Number

TL48444

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Religion and son preference in India and Bangladesh: Three essays on comparing Hindus and Muslims on son preference and sex differentials in child health

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Abhijit Visaria

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

Guillot, Michel

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Pennsylvania

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2015

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

115

Text of Note

Committee members: Behrman, Jere; Kapur, Devesh

Text of Note

Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-339-03336-5

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Discipline of degree

Demography

Body granting the degree

University of Pennsylvania

Text preceding or following the note

2015

Text of Note

While the existence of son preference in south Asia is well-known, a gap in our understanding of the determinants of son preference is potential differences between religious groups. In this dissertation, I examine whether Hindus and Muslims in India and Bangladesh differ in terms of son preference. I find low daughter discrimination among Muslims and significant son preference among Hindus. I first analyze preferences for the ideal number and sex of children in India, and compare them to actual fertility behaviors that serve as a measure of sex selective abortion. I find that Muslim women are less likely to report a preference for sons in their ideal fertility responses. Analysis of parity-specific births conditional on the sex composition of previous children reveals that the odds of male births are higher than female births for only Hindus and specifically when the previously born children are only girls. In Chapter 2, I extend the analysis to stunting and childhood immunization. I find that Hindu girls are worse off compared to Hindu boys in terms of stunting when their older siblings are also girls. However, there are no sex differentials in immunization, which suggests that while Hindu girls are disadvantaged in terms of long-term intra-household access to nutrition, girls are not discriminated against, in either Hindu or Muslim families, when it comes to availing health services through a fixed number of low-cost or free events. In Chapter 3, I examine whether a group's majority/minority status influences son preferences by comparing Hindu-majority and Muslim-minority India with Muslim-majority and Hindu-minority Bangladesh. Overall I do not find evidence for son preference among Muslims. In India, Hindus exhibit son preference in Hindu-majority clusters but not in Hindu-minority clusters. In Bangladesh, Hindus exhibit son preference in Hindu-minority areas but not Hindu-majority areas. This suggests that traditional, gender-biased norms prevail for a group with a majority at both the community and national levels. In Indian Hindu-minority clusters, the unique social and cultural environment with more gender-equitable norms influences Hindus. In Hindu-minority areas in Hindu-minority Bangladesh, traditional social norms may be reinforced through a greater threat perception and closely-knit networks.

Sociology; Demography

Subject Term

Social sciences;Bangladesh;India;Religion;Sex differentials;Son preference

Alenezi, Nouf

Guillot, Michel

Subdivision

Demography

University of Pennsylvania

Call Number

1728063785; 3721679

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y