Religion and abortion: The role of politician identity

Sonia Bhalotra, Irma Clots-Figueras and Lakshmi Iyer

Journal of Development Economics, 2021, vol. 153, issue C

Abstract: Debates around abortion typically invoke religion and politics but there is no causal evidence of the impact of politician religion on abortion. Leveraging quasi-random variation in politician religion generated by close elections in India and controlling for the party affiliation of politicians, we find lower rates of sex-selective abortion in districts won by Muslim state legislators, consistent with a higher reported aversion to abortion among Muslims compared to Hindus. The competing hypothesis that this reflects weaker son preference among Muslims is undermined by stated preference data and by demonstrating that fertility and girl-biased infant mortality increase in Muslim-won districts.

Keywords: Religion; Politician identity; Abortion; Sex-selection; India; Gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 J13 O15 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Religion and Abortion: The Role of Politician Identity (2021)
Working Paper: Religion and Abortion: The Role of Politician Identity (2021)
Working Paper: Religion and abortion: The role of politician identity (2021)
Working Paper: Religion and Abortion: The Role of Politician Identity (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:153:y:2021:i:c:s0304387821001139

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102746

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