Trade Liberalization, Labour Market Shocks and Evolution of Dowry: Evidence from India
This paper examines whether current economic changes can influence traditional marriage institutions in India. I study if labour market shocks influence the size of bride-to-groom marriage payments, or dowries, in India. I exploit the 1991 Trade Liberalization reforms to investigate changes in female employment and earnings across districts in India and measure its impact on the size of marriage payments using a difference-in-difference identification strategy. Dowry payments decrease faster relative to the national trend in districts that are more exposed to trade reforms. The decline in dowry is explained by an improvement in economic position of women relative to men. I do not find evidence of other channels such as income effects of trade or changes in marriage market matching patterns as the operative force driving the decrease in dowry. By causally linking the economic potential of women to the size of marriage payments, this paper shows that changes in economic environment can affect cultural customs. It suggests a useful alternative to legislative ban on dowry which remains ineffective even today.
In this paper, I use Regression Discontinuity Design to explore the causal link between mother's education and intra- household allocation of resources to children. I find that increasing education by a single year increases the agency of women in their households even in the absence of a corresponding increase in their labour market earnings. This points towards an under- estimation of returns to education if one considers only the labour market returns. I test this link between education and bargaining power formally using a Difference-in-Discontinuities design.
Work-in-Progress
Conditional Cash Transfers and Child Health with Sayli Javadekar
Unsustainable Ground Water Resources and Lower Investment in Girls Education with Sayli Javadekar