Publication:

Unraveling intra-household discrimination by the opportunity cost of raising a female: evidence from India

Discrimination against girls is a social burden in India, which is enforced by the dowry system. Recent studies examined the impact of dowries on girls' mortality. However, none has addressed whether overall access to credit that would allow the financing of dowries affects female mortality. The present study aims to fill this gap and approximates for the first time the cost of raising daughters through the credit restrictions that exist in their state. We combine two major databases: the National Family Health Survey (2015-2016) and the India Enterprise Surveys (2014). Our results reveal a statistically significant difference between girls’ and boys' mortality in states with greater credit constraints relative to others, which clashes with biological factors. In other words, our estimates suggest that a rise in the cost of financing dowries would have an effect on the survival of girls: increases in the opportunity cost associated with raising a daughter endanger their survival.