Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/29939 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
Ruhr Economic Papers No. 154
Publisher: 
Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI), Essen
Abstract: 
In belligerent countries, male-to-female sex ratios at birth increased during and shortly after the two world wars. These rises still defy explanation. Several causes have been suggested (but not tested) in the literature. Many of these causes are proximate in nature, reflecting behavioral responses to the dramatically changed marriage market conditions for women and men that were induced by war-related declines in adult sex ratios. Based on county-level census data for the German state of Bavaria in the vicinity and aftermath of World War II, we explore the reduced-form relationship between changes in adult and off spring sex ratios. Our results suggest that war-induced shortfalls of men significantly increased the percentage of boys among newborns.
Subjects: 
World War II
adult sex ratio
sex ratio at birth
JEL: 
J12
J13
N34
ISBN: 
978-3-86788-174-6
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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