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Abstract
BACKGROUND
Son preference is culturally rooted across generations in India. While the social and economic implications of son preference are widely acknowledged, there is little evidence on spatial heterogeneity, especially at the district level.
OBJECTIVE
To derive estimates of son preference for the 640 districts of India and examine spatial heterogeneity in son preference across the districts of India.
METHODS
We apply model-based Small-Area Estimation (SAE) techniques, linking data from the 2015–2016 Indian National Family Health Survey and the 2011 Indian Population and Housing Census to generate district-level estimates of son preference.
RESULTS
The diagnostic measures confirm that the model-based estimates are robust enough to provide reliable estimates of son preference at the district level. Son preference is highest in the districts across northern and central Indian states, followed by districts in Gujarat and Maharashtra, and lowest in the southern districts in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
CONCLUSIONS
There is considerable heterogeneity in son preference across Indian districts, often masked by state-level average estimates. Our findings warrant urgent policy interventions targeting specific districts in India to tackle the ongoing son-preference attitudes and practices.
CONTRIBUTION
Our study demonstrates the power of SAE techniques to generate robust estimates of son preference at the district level. This study is the first of its kind to examine spatial patterns in parity-specific son preference at the district level in India.
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1. Introduction
Strong son preference and discrimination against girls in India has been widely acknowledged in the gender literature. Research studies have primarily focused on the demographic, social, and economic determinants and associated implications of son preference in India, such as slow transition to low fertility, male-dominated sex ratios at birth, sex-selective abortions, excess female mortality, and poor health and educational outcomes for girls (Aksan 2021; Arnold, Kim Choe, and Roy 1998; Arnold, Kishor, and Roy 2002; Chao et al. 2020; Clark 2000; Echavarri and Ezcurra 2010; Guilmoto et al. 2018; Guo, Das Gupta, and Li 2016; Kashyap and Villavicencio 2016; Mitra 2014; Patel et al. 2013; Robitaille and Chatterjee 2018; Saikia et al. 2021; Singh et al. 2021). Existing data on son preference at the state level often mask within-state heterogeneity and hence are less useful for targeted policy intervention....