RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Social Norms and the Impact of Early Life Events on Gender Inequality
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 1020-11229R3
DO 10.3368/jhr.1020-11229R3
A1 Luo, Wei
A1 Huang, Wei
A1 Park, Albert
YR 2024
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2024/09/03/jhr.1020-11229R3.abstract
AB We study the influence of social norms in shaping the impact of early life exposure to China’s Great Famine on gender inequality. We model how social norms interact with adverse shocks to affect male and female survival chances and influence subsequent human capital investments. We test these predictions empirically by using the 2000 China Population Census that has information on birthplace and estimate a differencein-differences model that combines cohort and regional variation in exposure to the famine with regional variation in the culture of son preference. We find that son preference buffers the negative impact of intrauterine famine shocks on cohort male- to-female sex ratios but actually reduces famine’s impact on gender inequality in health and education.