Anisha Sharma, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics Ashoka University
27 Oct 2023

In response to alarming imbalances in its child sex ratio, in 1994 India passed an act prohibiting prenatal diagnostic methods for sex-determination and sex-selective abortions. This column explores the unintended impact on human capital attainment. It finds that the ban led to an increase in female births but also worsened health and educational outcomes for children who were born into intensively treated families. It also identifies a widening gender gap in human capital attainment after the ban. Key underlying mechanisms include increased fertility in families where girls are born, to achieve a desired number of sons, as well as increased discrimination against unwanted daughters.

Continued: https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/banning-sex-selective-abortion-has-unintended-effects-health-and-education-children