Where are the missing girls? Gender discrimination in mid-19th century Spain

Francisco Beltrán Tapia and Domingo Gallego ()

No 23, Working Papers from Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Cambridge

Abstract: Drawing on a large dataset at the district level for mid-19th century Spain, this article shows not only that average (male-to-female) infant and childhood sex ratios were relatively high, but also that some regions experienced extremely high figures, thus pointing to some sort of excess female mortality. The analysis also suggests that economic deprivation was likely to trigger gender discrimination towards newborn and/or young girls. Although less conclusive, there is also evidence that certain social and cultural contexts could have also mitigated this behaviour.

Pages: 13,902 words
Date: 2015-06-14
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in Cambridge Working Paper in Economic & Social History, No. 23

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cmh:wpaper:23

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