The Intergenerational Effects of Marital Transfers

Abstract

We study the intergenerational effects of marital transfers in India. We use exogenous variation in dowry amounts induced by stronger anti-dowry laws introduced in 1985. The new legal regime reduced dowries substantially and increased domestic violence against women. We find that children born to mothers exposed to the reform have a 0.24 standard deviation lower height-for-age 𝒵-score and about 0.41 fewer years of completed schooling. These results are plausibly driven by lower maternal autonomy, increased domestic violence against mothers and lower household wealth on account of reduced dowries.