Does Hepatitis B Infection or Son Preference Explain the Bulk of Gender Imbalance in China? A Review of the Evidence

China has a large deficit of females, and public policies have sought to reduce the son preference that is widely believed to cause this. Recently a study has suggested that up to 75 percent of this deficit is attributable to hepatitis B infection, indicating that immunization programs should form the first plank of policy interventions. However, a large medical dataset from Taiwan (China) shows that hepatitis B infection raises women's probability of having a son by only 0.25 percent. And demographic data from China show that the only group of women who have elevated probabilities of bearing a son are those who have already borne daughters. This pattern makes it difficult to see how any biological factor can explain a large part of the imbalance in China's sex ratios at birth -- unless it can be shown that it somehow selectively affects those who have borne girls, or causes them to first bear girls and then boys. The Taiwanese data suggest that this is not the case with hepatitis B, since its impact is unaffected by the sex composition of previous births. The data support the cultural, rather than the biological, explanation for the "missing women."

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Das Gupta, Monica
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2008-01
Subjects:	BABIES, BIRTH ORDER, BIRTH ORDERS, BIRTHS, CHANCES OF SURVIVAL, CHILD MORTALITY, CULTURAL FACTORS, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DIFFERENTIALS IN HEALTH, DIFFERENTIALS IN MORTALITY, DISCRIMINATION, DISEASE, DISEASES, DYING, EARLY CHILDHOOD, FAMILIES, FAMILY COMPOSITION, FATHER, FATHERS, FEMALE, FEMALE CHILDREN, FEMALE MORTALITY, FEMALES, FERTILITY, FETUSES, FIRST CHILD, GENDER, GENDER BIAS, GENDER DIFFERENTIALS, GENDER EQUITY, HEALTH SURVEYS, HEPATITIS, HEPATITIS B VIRUS, HUMAN BIOLOGY, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUSBAND, HUSBANDS, IDEAS ABOUT GENDER ROLES, IMMIGRANTS, IMMUNIZATION, IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM, IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMS, INFANT, INFANTICIDE, INFECTION, INFECTION RATES, INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING, INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVES, KIDNEYS, LEGISLATION, LIFE EVENTS, MARRIED WOMEN, MEDICAL SCIENCES, MEDICINE, MORTALITY, MORTALITY DIFFERENTIALS, MOTHER, MOTHERS, NEWBORNS, NUMBER OF CHILDREN, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, PATIENTS, PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT, POPULATION DIVISION, POPULATION STUDIES, PREFERENCE FOR SONS, PREGNANT WOMEN, PREVALENCE, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PROGRESS, PUBLIC LIFE, PUBLIC SERVICES, RATIO OF BOYS TO GIRLS, SEX, SEX DIFFERENCES, SEX RATIO, SEX RATIOS, SEX-SELECTIVE ABORTIONS, SEXES, SOCIAL AFFAIRS, SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS, SON PREFERENCE, SOUTH ASIAN, SPONTANEOUS ABORTIONS, STATE POLICIES, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, TROPICAL DISEASES, URBANIZATION, VACCINATION CAMPAIGN, VACCINATION CAMPAIGNS, VITAL STATISTICS, WIFE, WIVES, WOMAN, WORLD POPULATION,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/01/8980990/hepatitis-b-infection-or-son-preference-explain-bulk-gender-imbalance-china-review-evidence https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6392
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