Shuang Zhang
Postdoctoral Fellow, SIEPR at Stanford University
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This paper examines the effect of income growth induced by 1978-84 land reform on the sex ratio imbalance in China. Using variation in reform timing by county together with the absence of sex selection among first-born children, we compare the sex of the second child between families with a first girl and those with a first boy before and after the reform. Results show that following a first daughter, the second child is 5.5 percent more likely to be a boy after land reform. Better educated parents are substantially more likely to respond with sex selection.