Trends in Prenatal Sex Selection and Girls’ Nutritional Status in India

摘要

We study whether changes in prenatal sex selection across regions in India are associated with changes in girls’ nutritional status. We exploit geographic variation in the incidence of prenatal sex selection and apply a triple difference approach comparing changes in the nutritional status of girls relative to boys across regions and over time. We find a reduction in girls’ malnutrition in regions with an increasing incidence of prenatal sex selection. (JEL codes: J13, J16, I1, O12)