Effect of Political Decentralization and Female Leadership on Institutional Births and Child Mortality in Rural Bihar, India

Santosh Kumar () and Nishith Prakash
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Santosh Kumar: Department of Economics and International Business, Sam Houston State University
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Santosh Kumar Gautam

No 1703, Working Papers from Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the impacts of political decentralization and women reservation in local governance on institutional births and child mortality in the state of Bihar, India. Using the difference-in-differences methodology, we find a significant positive association between political decentralization and institutional births. We also find that the increased participation of women at local governance led to an increased survival rate of children belonging to richer households. We argue that our results are consistent with female leaders having policy preference for women and child well-being.

Keywords: Gender Quota; Political Decentralization; Institutional Delivery; Child Mortality; Bihar; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H41 I15 J16 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2017-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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http://www.shsu.edu/academics/economics-and-intern ... es/wp17-03_paper.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Effect of political decentralization and female leadership on institutional births and child mortality in rural Bihar, India (2017)
Working Paper: Effect of Political Decentralization and Female Leadership on Institutional Births and Child Mortality in Rural Bihar, India (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:shs:wpaper:1703

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