Sociology 699F: Gender & Social Change

Kishor 1993

Gender inequality <- marriage exogamy + low wlfp

Model

• DV: Gender differences in child mortality
• = basic index of gender inequality
• wide variation across 366 Indian districts
• can disaggregate effects on the logged ratio into determinants of the numerator (female mortality) and denominator (male mortality)
• IVs: economic + non-economic determinants
• economic: wlfp as determined by agricultural technology (rice vs. wheat)
• noneconomic: patriarchal kinship systems: dowry & exogamy
• interaction: inequality <- both together
• development: wealth, industrialization/urbanization, education
• Design: entirely macro, no micro data
• is it the lfp of women in the household or in the area?
• is it the exogamy of women in the household or in the area?
• is it the wealth of the household or the development of the area
• Design: controls for substantial autocorrelation

Results:

• excess girls' mortality <- both exogamy & low wlfp
• interaction: highest excess mortality when combined
• development: urban & industrial -> worse; ag productivity increasingly worse (J shaped)

Implications:

• Importance of family structure
• Importance of wlfp (see also Oppenheimer, 1973, and Huber, 1990
• Interaction between inequality-producing institutions
• Controls for spatial autocorrelation
• Need for micro and macro data together