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Culture, Economic Stress, and Missing Girls

Malein, Viktor LU orcid ; Matiashvili, Tamri and Tapia, Francisco J. Beltrán (2024) In Discussion paper p.1-65
Abstract
Cultural norms play a pivotal role in shaping how societies respond to crises. This study examines the causal effect of ethnic-specific gender norms on gender-biased mortality during resource shocks. Studying the 1891-1892 Russian famine, we compare cohorts born before and after the famine in districts differentially affected by the famine and with diverse gender norms. Our findings reveal that areas where women were depicted more negatively suffered a more skewed sex ratio favouring male survival. Our empirical exercise further stresses the importance of the cultural channel in driving these results and emphasizes the role of agency in survival outcomes. This study sheds light on the profound influence of cultural norms on... (More)
Cultural norms play a pivotal role in shaping how societies respond to crises. This study examines the causal effect of ethnic-specific gender norms on gender-biased mortality during resource shocks. Studying the 1891-1892 Russian famine, we compare cohorts born before and after the famine in districts differentially affected by the famine and with diverse gender norms. Our findings reveal that areas where women were depicted more negatively suffered a more skewed sex ratio favouring male survival. Our empirical exercise further stresses the importance of the cultural channel in driving these results and emphasizes the role of agency in survival outcomes. This study sheds light on the profound influence of cultural norms on survival-relevant decisions during crises, pointing at culturally ingrained channels of discrimination. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Famine, Sex ratio, Folklore, N33, J16, Z13, N53
in
Discussion paper
issue
DP18761
pages
1 - 65
publisher
Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
ISSN
0265-8003
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c729678f-da99-4399-acea-162112119cf3
alternative location
https://cepr.org/publications/dp18761
date added to LUP
2024-01-04 20:10:01
date last changed
2024-01-24 09:21:11
@misc{c729678f-da99-4399-acea-162112119cf3,
  abstract     = {{Cultural norms play a pivotal role in shaping how societies respond to crises. This study examines the causal effect of ethnic-specific gender norms on gender-biased mortality during resource shocks. Studying the 1891-1892 Russian famine, we compare cohorts born before and after the famine in districts differentially affected by the famine and with diverse gender norms. Our findings reveal that areas where women were depicted more negatively suffered a more skewed sex ratio favouring male survival. Our empirical exercise further stresses the importance of the cultural channel in driving these results and emphasizes the role of agency in survival outcomes. This study sheds light on the profound influence of cultural norms on survival-relevant decisions during crises, pointing at culturally ingrained channels of discrimination.}},
  author       = {{Malein, Viktor and Matiashvili, Tamri and Tapia, Francisco J. Beltrán}},
  issn         = {{0265-8003}},
  keywords     = {{Famine; Sex ratio; Folklore; N33; J16; Z13; N53}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{DP18761}},
  pages        = {{1--65}},
  publisher    = {{Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)}},
  series       = {{Discussion paper}},
  title        = {{Culture, Economic Stress, and Missing Girls}},
  url          = {{https://cepr.org/publications/dp18761}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}