TY - JOUR T1 - Where There Is a Will JF - Journal of Human Resources JO - J Hum Resour SP - 393 LP - 423 DO - 10.3368/jhr.49.2.393 VL - 49 IS - 2 AU - Tarun Jain Y1 - 2014/03/31 UR - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/49/2/393.abstract N2 - This paper demonstrates that the social institutions of lineage maintenance, patrilocality, and joint families have a significant role in explaining sex differences in survival and health outcomes in rural India. Tests using panel data from rural households support this explanation, which accounts for 7 percent of excess female mortality in Haryana and Rajasthan and 4 percent in Punjab. An institutional explanation suggests limits on the role for public policy in addressing large sex differences in health and mortality outcomes. ER -