PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jung, Jaehyun
TI  - Can Abortion Mitigate Transitory Shocks?
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.0320-10808R3
DP  - 2026 Jan 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 185--210
VI  - 61
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/61/1/185.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/61/1/185.full
AB  - This work investigates abortion in response to drought-induced transitory income shocks and how son preference regulates such adjustments for rural mothers in Vietnam. I find that affected mothers were 30 percent more likely to obtain abortions when they were unable to smooth consumption. Importantly, drought is associated with disproportionately more abortions of female fetuses, which exacerbates the male-biased sex ratio at birth. Although a rebound in birth rates after approximately two years suggests that the effects of drought are pertinent to the timing of fertility, transitory shocks under son preference can have long-term demographic consequences by increasing the number of “missing girls.”