Unintended Consequences of Women’s Inheritance Rights on Female Mortality in India

Abstract

Before 2005, most states of India only gave sons the legal right to inherit their parents’ ancestral land. However, five states in India had legal reforms giving daughters the same inheritance rights as sons. This article examines the impact of these reforms on female child mortality and fertility. A model shows that if parents desire to maximize their bequest per son, then giving daughters inheritance rights increases the cost of daughters, causing parents to reduce investment in their daughters’ health or decrease fertility. A difference-in-difference analysis shows that the reforms caused an increase in female child mortality but had no effect on fertility rates.