Child brides

Peter Leeson and Paola A. Suarez

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2017, vol. 144, issue C, 40-61

Abstract: This paper develops and empirically tests a theory of the market for “child brides”—prepubescent girls whose parents marry them to adult men. We argue that parental preference for sons over daughters creates a supply of, and demand for, prepubescent brides in impoverished societies. Evidence from India, one of the most son-preferring and child-bride populous nations in the world, supports our theory’s predictions: stronger son preference is associated with the birth of more unwanted daughters, younger postpubescent-female age at marriage, and a higher incidence of prepubescent brides. Moreover, son preference has a stronger positive association with prepubescent brides where poverty is more extreme; prepubescent brides have lower quality husbands than postpubescent brides; and stronger son preference is associated with a higher ratio of traditional-marriage-aged males to females.

Keywords: Child brides; Prepubescent female marriage; Marriage market; Son preference; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:144:y:2017:i:c:p:40-61

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2017.10.001

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