Democracy and Demography: Societal Effects of Fertility Limits on Local Leaders

S Anukriti and Abhishek Chakravarty

Journal of Human Resources, 2019, vol. 54, issue 1, 79-121

Abstract: We investigate whether restricting elected leadership positions to candidates with “desirable†characteristics leads to the society-wide adoption of those characteristics in a democracy with high political participation. Exploiting quasi-experimental variation in fertility limits imposed on village council members in India to curb population growth, we find that rural couples significantly decreased fertility in response, and child survival improved. However, the limits also increased the already male-biased sex ratio at birth in castes with strong son preference.

JEL-codes: H75 J13 J16 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.54.1.1016.8308R2
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:54:y:2019:i:1:p:79-121

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