Soil Endowments, Production Technologies and Missing Women in India

Carranza, Eliana

关键词: AGE AT MARRIAGE;    AGE GROUP;    AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES;    AGRICULTURAL INPUTS;    AGRICULTURAL LABOR;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5974
RP-ID  :  WPS5974

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The female population deficit in Indiahas been explained in a number of ways, but the greatheterogeneity in the deficit across districts within Indiastill remains an open question. This paper argues thatacross India, a largely agrarian economy, soil texturevaries exogenously and determines the workability of thesoil and the technology used in land preparation. Deeptillage, possible only in lighter and looser loamy soils,reduces the use of labor in cultivation tasks performed bywomen and has a negative impact on the relative value ofgirls to a household. The analysis finds that soil textureexplains a large part of the variation in women'srelative participation in agriculture and in infant sexratios across districts in India.