Islamic Inheritance Law, Son Preference and Fertility Behavior of Muslim Couples in Indonesia

Carranza, Eliana

关键词: ABORTION;    ABORTION RATE;    ADULT MEN;    ADULTS;    AGE AT MARRIAGE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5972
RP-ID  :  WPS5972

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper examines whether the sonpreference and fertility behavior of Muslim couples respondto the risk of inheritance expropriation by their extendedfamily. According to traditional Islamic inheritanceprinciples, only the son of a deceased man can exclude hismale agnates from inheritance and preserve his estate withinthe nuclear household. The paper exploits cross-sectionaland time variation in the application of the Islamicinheritance exclusion rule in Indonesia: between Muslim andnon-Muslim populations affected by different legal systems,across men with different sibling sex composition, andbefore and after a change in Islamic law that allowed femalechildren to exclude male relatives. The analysis finds thatMuslim couples more affected by the exclusion rule exhibitstronger son preference, practice sex-differential fertilitystopping, attain a higher proportion of sons, and havelarger families than non-Muslims or Muslims for whom theexclusion rule is less binding.