Prenatal care, son preference, and the sex ratio at birth
| dc.contributor.author | Echavarri, Rebeca | |
| dc.contributor.author | Beltrán Tapia, Francisco J. | |
| dc.contributor.department | Economía | es_ES |
| dc.contributor.department | Ekonomia | eu |
| dc.contributor.department | Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-02-14T09:12:32Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-02-14T09:12:32Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-02-05 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2025-02-14T08:45:33Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | The sex ratio at birth (SRB) in Spain jumped abruptly in the late 1970s and temporarily reached values of more than 109 boys per 100 girls in the early 1980s. This article shows that health care system expansion increased the likelihood of male births in Spain between 1975 and 1995. By facilitating the delivery of preterm and dystocic babies and improving overall maternal conditions, these developments increased the survival chances of male fetuses, who are biologically weaker than females. However, biological factors alone cannot explain the biased SRB. Our analysis shows that the availability of prenatal sex determination technologies and a strong son preference nurtured by the Francoist dictatorship fostered gender-biased behaviors that resulted in an excessively high SRB. The lack of evidence on sex-specific abortions suggests that women took better care of themselves when carrying a son. The spread of gender-egalitarian values brought about by the end of the dictatorship and the transition to democracy undermined son preference and returned the SRB to normal levels. | en |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Rebeca Echavarri acknowledges financial support from grants PID2020-115183RB-C21 and PID2021-127119NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI//10.13039/501100 and by 'ERDF A way of making Europe'. Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia acknowledges financial support from the Research Council of Norway (Project 301527). | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.citation | Echavarri, R., Beltrán Tapia, F. (2025). Prenatal care, son preference, and the sex ratio at birth. Demography, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-11798263. | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.1215/00703370-11798263 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 0070-3370 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/53402 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher | Duke University Press | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Demography (2025), 11798263 | |
| dc.relation.projectID | info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2020-115183RB-C21/ES/ | |
| dc.relation.projectID | info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023/PID2021-127119NB-I00/ES/ | |
| dc.relation.publisherversion | https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-11798263 | |
| dc.rights | © 2025 The Authors. Creative Commons BY 4.0 | |
| dc.rights.accessRights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess | |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Sex ratio at birth | en |
| dc.subject | Son preference | en |
| dc.subject | Gender discrimination | en |
| dc.subject | Maternal health | en |
| dc.title | Prenatal care, son preference, and the sex ratio at birth | en |
| dc.type | info:eu-repo/semantics/article | |
| dc.type.version | info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | dcef902d-e6ec-4c03-807c-f6155967cc25 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | dcef902d-e6ec-4c03-807c-f6155967cc25 |