Patrilineality, fertility, and women's income: Evidence from family lineage in China

Lin Zhang

China Economic Review, 2022, vol. 74, issue C

Abstract: This study investigates how traditional patrilineal family institution influences women's income through fertility behavior by offering evidence from family lineage (zongzu) in China. We hypothesize that family with strong lineage—proxied by owning genealogy—has a negative effect on women's income through the son-targeting fertility behavior. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, this study confirms the hypothesis. Relative to the women whose first child is a son, the women marring into families owning genealogy indeed have more children and lower income, if their first child is a daughter. In contrast, such finding does not hold for the male sample. Preliminary evidence suggests that shorter work time can explain the findings.

Keywords: Patrilineality; Lineage; Fertility; Gender inequality; One-child policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J13 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:74:y:2022:i:c:s1043951x22000633

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2022.101805

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