Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/58533 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6273
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The liberalization of the Indian economy in the 1990s made prenatal ultrasound technology affordable and available to a large fraction of the population. As a result, ultrasound use amongst pregnant women rose dramatically in many parts of India. This paper provides evidence on the consequences of the expansion of prenatal ultrasound use on sex-selection. We exploit state-by-cohort variation in ultrasound use in India as a unique quasi-experiment. We find that sex-selective abortion of female fetuses is rising in states with a slow expansion of ultrasound relative to those states with a rapid expansion of ultrasound. Thus, our findings suggest that the recent rapid spread of ultrasound is not causing higher rates of sex-selection in India.
Subjects: 
ultrasound
sex-selective abortion
India
JEL: 
J13
J16
O1
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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