Inheritance Law Reform and Women’s Access to Capital : Evidence from India’s Hindu Succession Act

This paper examines whether and to what extent amendments in inheritance legislation impact women's physical and human capital investments, using disaggregated household level data from India. The authors use inheritance patterns over three generations of individuals to assess the impact of changes in the Hindu Succession Act that grant daughters equal coparcenary birth rights in joint family property that were denied to daughters in the past. The causal effect is isolated by exploiting the variation in the timing of father's death to compare within household bequests of land given to sons and daughters in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. The analysis shows that the amendment significantly increased daughters' likelihood to inherit land, but that even after the amendment substantial bias persists. The results also indicate a robust increase in educational attainment of daughters, suggesting an alternative channel of wealth transfer.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Nagarajan, Hari, Deininger, Klaus, Goyal, Aparajita
Language:	English
Published:	2010-06-01
Subjects:	ACCESS TO LAND, ADVERSE EFFECTS, AGE AT MARRIAGE, AGE DISTRIBUTION, AGE GROUPS, AGE OF MARRIAGE, AGED, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AGRICULTURE, ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES, ASSETS, BARRIERS TO WOMEN, CHILD HEALTH, CHILD MORTALITY, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DISCRIMINATION, DISSEMINATION, DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, DIVORCE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DYING, EARLY MARRIAGE, ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS, ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES, ECONOMIC OUTCOMES, ECONOMIC RESEARCH, ECONOMIC STATUS, ECONOMICS RESEARCH, EDUCATION OF GIRLS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, ELEMENTARY EDUCATION, EMPOWERMENT, EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN, EQUALITY OF WOMEN, EQUILIBRIUM THEORY, FAMILY HEALTH, FAMILY INCOME, FAMILY LAW, FAMILY MEMBERS, FAMILY PROPERTY, FAMILY RESOURCES, FATHER, FATHERS, FEMALE, FEMALE CHILDREN, FEMALE HEIRS, FEMALES, FERTILITY, FUNCTIONAL FORMS, FUTURE GENERATIONS, FUTURE RESEARCH, GENDER, GENDER ASPECTS, GENDER BIAS, GENDER DIFFERENCES, GENDER DISCRIMINATION, GENDER EQUALITY, GENDER INEQUALITY, HOME, HOUSEHOLD FORMATION, HOUSEHOLD LEVEL, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUSBAND, HUSBANDS, IMPACT ON CHILDREN, INCOME INEQUALITY, INDIFFERENCE CURVES, INEQUALITIES, INEQUALITY, INHERITANCE, INHERITANCE RIGHTS, INHERITANCES, INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INVESTMENT IN CHILDREN, KINSHIP, KINSHIP STRUCTURE, LABOR FORCE, LABOR SUPPLY, LAND OWNERSHIP, LAWS, LEGAL AGE AT MARRIAGE, LEGAL CHANGE, LEGAL CHANGES, LEGAL RIGHTS, LEGISLATION, LEGISLATIVE CHANGES, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIES, LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES, MARRIAGES, MATERIAL WEALTH, MATERNAL MORTALITY, MODERNIZATION, MOTHER, MOTHERS, NATIONAL COUNCIL, NATIONAL LEVEL, NUMBER OF CHILDREN, NUTRITION, OLD AGE, OLD-AGE, OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN, OPTIMIZATION, OWNERSHIP OF LAND, PARENTS, PENSION, PENSIONS, PERMANENT INCOME, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POLITICAL POWER, POLYGAMY, POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT, POPULATION STUDIES, POSITIVE EFFECTS, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRODUCTION FUNCTION, PROGRESS, PROPERTY RIGHTS, REPRODUCTIVE DECISIONS, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, RESPECT, RURAL AREAS, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RURAL POVERTY, SANCTIONS, SEX, SEX RATIOS, SEXES, SOCIAL SECURITY, SOCIAL STATUS, SPILLOVER, SPOUSE, SPOUSES, STATE GOVERNMENTS, STATUS OF WOMEN, TAXATION, UTILITY FUNCTION, WIDOW, WIDOWS, WIFE, WILL, WILLS, WIVES, WOMAN,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100614094013 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3823
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