Child Gender and Parental Investments: Are Boys and Girls Treated Differently

儿童性别和父母投资：男孩和女孩是否受到不同对待

• 批准号: 8258227
• 负责人: Adriana Lleras-Muney
• 金额: $ 9.48万
• 依托单位: RAND CORPORATION
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-04-18 至 2013-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8258227
• 关键词: Address; Asians; Belief; Breast Feeding; Caring; Cessation of life; Characteristics; Child; Child Care; Country; Data; Demographic and Health Surveys; Developed Countries; Diet; Family; Fertility; Gender; Healthcare; India; Individual; Intake; Investments; Life; Literature; Measures; Methodology; Nutritional; Parents; Pattern; Research; Research Design; Resource Allocation; Sex Characteristics; Siblings; Son; Supplementation; Surveys; Time; United States; Vaccinated; Vaccination; Vitamin A; Vitamins; Western World; boys; feeding; girls; mortality; novel; preference; public health relevance; time use

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Throughout the Western world, boys have higher mortality rates than girls. This pattern is, however, reversed in a number of South and East Asian countries, in which mortality rates are higher for girls than for boys. But why are girls dying more than boys in places like India? There is a belief that parents may favor boys, investing more on them than on girls: Boys may be fed a more nutritious diet and receive better health care than girls. The existing evidence on whether boys and girls are treated differently is however inconclusive. Some studies find evidence that boys are better treated than girls. Other studies however find no evidence of differential treatment. One issue with previous studies is that they assume that boys and girls live in families with similar characteristics. But this assumption is incorrect if families want to have a certain number of sons and as a result follow fertility stopping rules. As a consequence, estimates of differences in investments that assume that boys and girls live in similar families will be biased. We develop a novel methodology that addresses this econometric issue to answer the question: are boys and girls treated differently? We will first examine whether boys and girls are treated differently in terms of an important but not frequently studied type of investment in children: childcare time. For this purpose, we will use data from the Indian Time Use Survey, which collected information on how individuals allocate their time-including how much time they spend taking care of children. To square the novel methodology with the literature's previous findings, we will-combining our empirical methodology and data from the Indian Demographic and Health Surveys-further examine gender differences in other measures of child investments that have been studied in the literature before, such as vaccinations, vitamin supplementation and breastfeeding. Finally, to examine the importance of these investments, we will provide a rough estimate of how much of boy-girl differences in mortality rates are explained by boy-girl differences in investments using estimates from the literature of the effects of these investments on mortality. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The mortality rates for girls in India are higher than for boys-the opposite being true in developed countries-and it has been argued that in India boys are given better care than girls. We develop a novel methodology to answer the question: are boys and girls treated differently? We will first examine whether boys and girls are treated differently in terms of an important but not frequently studied type of investment in children: childcare time. We will use data from the Indian Time Use Survey, which collected information on how individuals allocate their time-including how much time they spend taking care of children. We will also examine gender differences in other measures of child investments, such as vaccinations, vitamin A intake and breastfeeding.

描述（由申请人提供）：在整个西方世界中，男孩的死亡率高于女孩。但是，这种模式在许多南亚和东亚国家逆转，其中女孩的死亡率高于男孩。但是，为什么女孩比印度这样的地方比男孩更死？人们相信，父母可能会喜欢男孩，对男孩的投资比对女孩的投资更多：男孩可能会得到更营养的饮食，并获得比女孩更好的医疗保健。现有关于男孩和女孩是否受到不同对待的证据尚无定论。一些研究发现证据表明男孩比女孩更好。但是，其他研究没有发现差异治疗的证据。先前研究的一个问题是，他们假设男孩和女孩生活在具有相似特征的家庭中。但是，如果家庭想拥有一定数量的儿子，那么这个假设是不正确的，结果遵循生育能力停止规则。结果，假定男孩和女孩生活在类似家庭中的投资差异的估计是有偏见的。我们开发了一种解决这个经济学问题的新方法，以回答以下问题：男孩和女孩的治疗方式有所不同吗？我们将首先检查男孩和女孩是否在重要但不经常研究的儿童投资类型方面受到不同的治疗：育儿时间。为此，我们将使用印度时间使用调查中的数据，该数据收集了有关个人如何分配时间，包括他们花多少时间照顾孩子的信息。为了使新方法与文献的先前发现相吻合，我们将综合我们的经验方法论和来自印度人口统计和健康调查的数据，以研究以前在文献中已经在文献中研究过的其他儿童投资措施中的性别差异，例如疫苗接种，补充维生素补充剂和母乳喂养。最后，为了研究这些投资的重要性，我们将通过使用这些投资对死亡率的影响的估计来解释了男孩女孩的死亡率差异的粗略估计。 公共卫生相关性：印度女孩的死亡率高于男孩 - 在发达国家相反，并且有人认为在印度，男孩比女孩更好。我们开发了一种新颖的方法来回答以下问题：男孩和女孩的治疗方式有所不同吗？我们将首先检查男孩和女孩是否在重要但不经常研究的儿童投资类型方面受到不同的治疗：育儿时间。我们将使用印度时间使用调查中的数据，这些数据收集了有关个人如何分配时间，包括他们花多少时间照顾孩子的信息。我们还将研究其他儿童投资措施的性别差异，例如疫苗接种，维生素A摄入量和母乳喂养。