Entitled to Property: How Breaking the Gender Barrier Improves Child Health in India

Md Shahadath Hossain () and Plamen Nikolov ()
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Md Shahadath Hossain: University of Houston
Plamen Nikolov: Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science

No 16193, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Non-unitary household models suggest that enhancing women's bargaining power can influence child health, a crucial determinant of human capital and economic standing throughout adulthood. We examine the effects of a policy shift, the Hindu Succession Act Amendment (HSAA), which granted inheritance rights to unmarried women in India, on child health. Our findings indicate that the HSAA improved children's height and weight. Furthermore, we uncover evidence supporting a mechanism whereby the policy bolstered women's intra-household bargaining power, resulting in downstream benefits through enhanced parental care for children and improved child health. These results emphasize that children fare better when mothers control a larger share of family resources. Policies empowering women can yield additional positive externalities for children's human capital

Keywords: human capital; height; bargaining; parental investments; developing countries; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 I12 I13 J13 J16 J18 K13 O12 O15 Z12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2023-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-hea
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