Rethinking family planning policies in the developing world: evidence from sterilizations in India

Maëlys De La Rupelle and Christelle Dumas ()
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Christelle Dumas: Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA

No 2020-08, Thema Working Papers from THEMA (Théorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), CY Cergy-Paris University, ESSEC and CNRS

Abstract: In India, as in many developing countries, female sterilization is the main contraceptive method: 37% of women above 25 are sterilized. While no economic study provides guidance on how to implement family planning in a poor country, we analyze the consequences of sterilization for maternal health, as a hidden cost of fertility control. We instrument sterilization by interacting the first-born gender with an exogenous driver of past child mortality. We show that sterilization strongly deteriorates reproductive tract health and do not find any positive e ect on nutrition. Women from lower socio-economic background and scheduled castes su er more from the policy.

Keywords: Family planning policies; Sterilization; Health; Gender; Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 I15 J13 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ema:worpap:2020-08

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