Estimating the Effect of the One-Child Policy on the Sex Ratio Imbalance in China: Identification Based on the Difference-in-Differences

In China, the male-biased sex ratio has increased significantly. Because the one-child policy applies only to the Han Chinese but not to minorities, this unique affirmative policy allows us to identify the causal effect of the one-child policy on the increase in sex ratios by using a difference-in-differences (DD) estimator. Using the 1990 census, we find that the strict enforcement of the one-child policy led to 4.4 extra boys per 100 girls in the 1980s, accounting for about 94% of the total increase in sex ratios during this period. The robust tests indicate that the estimated policy effect is not likely confounded by other omitted policy shocks or socioeconomic changes. Moreover, we conduct the DD estimation using both the 2000 census and the 2005 mini-census. Our estimates suggest that the one-child policy resulted in about 7.0 extra boys per 100 girls for the 1991–2005 birth cohorts. The effect of the one-child policy accounts for about 57% and 54% of the total increases in sex ratios for the 1991–2000 and 2001–2005 birth cohorts, respectively.     

中国乡城人口流动与城镇出生人口性别比——基于“五普”数据的分析

本文利用中国第五次人口普查1‰抽样数据,以城镇区域人口为重点,定量分析了农村人口流动对城镇地区人口出生性别比,以及农村流入城镇人口子女性别的影响。研究发现,中国农村未流动人口、农村流入城镇人口和城镇非农村流入人口的出生性别比均偏离了出生性别比的正常水平,农村人口流动影响了城镇地区生育性别,农村流入城镇人口相对较强的男孩偏好观念加剧了城镇地区出生性别比偏高。     

Estimating a Dynamic Model of Sex Selection in China

High ratios of males to females in China, which have historically concerned researchers (Sen 1990), have increased in the wake of China’s one-child policy, which began in 1979. Chinese policymakers are currently attempting to correct the imbalance in the sex ratio through initiatives that provide financial compensation to parents with daughters. Other scholars have advocated a relaxation of the one-child policy to allow more parents to have a son without engaging in sex selection. In this article, I present a model of fertility choice when parents have access to a sex-selection technology and face a mandated fertility limit. By exploiting variation in fines levied in China for unsanctioned births, I estimate the relative price of a son and daughter for mothers observed in China’s census data (1982–2000). I find that a couple’s first son is worth 1.42 years of income more than a first daughter, and the premium is highest among less-educated mothers and families engaged in agriculture. Simulations indicate that a subsidy of 1 year of income to families without a son would reduce the number of “missing girls” by 67% but impose an annual cost of 1.8% of Chinese gross domestic product (GDP). Alternatively, a three-child policy would reduce the number of “missing girls” by 56% but increase the fertility rate by 35%.     

Immigrant mothers’ preferences for children’s sexes: A register-based study of fertility behaviour in Norway

Parental sex preferences have been documented in many native populations, but much less evidence is available on immigrants’ preferences for the sexes of their children. Using high-quality longitudinal register data from Norway, a country with a recent immigration history, we estimate hazards regression models of third birth risks by the sex composition of the first two children. A central question in the extant literature is whether the sex preferences of immigrant mothers match those observed in their country of origin, or if cultural adaption to local conditions is more important. Our analyses indicate that the sex preferences of immigrants generally match those previously documented for their native population, especially in the case of son preferences. The pattern of sex preferences is unmodified by the mother’s exposure to the host society. In sum, our evidence generally supports theories emphasizing cultural persistence in preferences, rather than theories of adaption or immigrant selectivity.     

生育政策的地区差异与儿童性别比关系研究

自20世纪80年代中期以来,中国的出生性别比持续攀升。由于该现象发生在现行的生育政策推行以后,所以政策被认为是造成或加剧性别比偏高的主要原因之一。然而,直接衡量生育政策,并探讨它对出生性别比影响的研究十分缺乏。本文使用“中国健康和营养调查”(1989~2000)数据,分析生育政策的地区差异与社区层次儿童性别比之间的关系。结果显示,在其它条件相同的情况下,趋于平衡的性别比更可能在政策被严格推行的地点和时间出现;政策的性别特征激化儿童性别比,但政策仅仅作用于第二胎。因此,在夫妻控制子女性别的能力超过控制子女数量的能力、在部分人群尚不能同等对待男性胎儿和女性胎儿的时候,若要获得相对平衡的出生性别比,政府必须完善现行的生育政策,并对人们的生育行为进行行政干预。     

Has the Chinese family planning policy been successful in changing fertility preferences?

Has China’s strict one-child policy been successful in changing fertility preferences? Using linked data from surveys conducted in four counties of northern China in 1991 and 1994, we compare reproductive behavior against prior fertility preferences and show when and where women change from wanting to not wanting more children. The acceptance of policy-sanctioned family size follows a development gradient and reflects the degree of enforcement. High acceptance occurs in the most urban, industrialized county and in the county with the most rigid family planning policy. Acceptance is weaker among women living in the poorest county and in the county where enforcement is most lenient.     

独生子女政策对人力资本水平的影响研究--基于2005年1%人口抽样调查微观数据的实证研究

本文利用2005年1%人口抽样调查的微观数据估计了独生子女政策对中国人力资本水平的影响效应,为独生子女政策是否实现了“优生优育”的政策目标提供实证证据。研究发现,独生子女政策显著提高了独生子女的人力资本水平,促使他们获得高中及以上教育程度的概率平均提高了2．7个百分点。本文还发现,独生子女政策对人力资本水平的影响效应在城乡和性别间存在显著差异,在城市的影响效应大于农村,对女性的影响大于男性,独生子女政策一定程度上扩大了人力资本水平的城乡差距,然而对缩小性别间的人力资本差距起到积极作用,进一步研究发现人力资本水平的性别间差距缩小作用主要发生在城市内部,城市女性是独生子女政策的最大受益者。最后,本文通过缩小样本的出生时间范围、与少数民族样本的对比、控制父母亲的个人特征以及采用不同的人力资本衡量指标等方法对估计结果进行了稳健性检验,结果相当稳健。     

When do couples sign the one-child certificate in urban China?

This paper analyzes a central part of China's one-child policy: when do eligible couples sign the one-child certificate and what are important socioeconomic determinants of this decision? We use proportional hazard models applied to micro-data from the 1985 Chinese Fertility Survey to study this question. Our results for urban residents in Hebei and Shaanxi indicate that a couple's socioeconomic characteristics significantly affect the timing of signing the certificate. In particular, education of the husband and wife, household wealth, and the age at marriage increase the probability of signing the certificate at an earlier time, while living space decreases the probability. Living in extended family structure or a male first child (to test for son preference) apparently have little effect.     

Investigation on birth desires of couples of childbearing age in Hongsheng and three other villages conforming to consideration conditions for the second birth]

The opinions of inhabitants of outlying rural areas regarding second births are explored in this report. By means of household interviews, it is revealed that 22 households out of 153 (i.e., 14.4%) that are eligible for a second birth usually do not opt for the second birth. In a study that took place in four villages within one county, findings showed that desire for a second birth is determined in large part by the sex of the firstborn, males being preferred to females. Moreover, this desire decreases in proportion to time in that the elegible married couple often realizes the economic benefit of having only one child after the first child's birth and chooses not to have a second one. Similarly, many low-income couples would like to have a second child but find that it is not within their economic means. Mid-range income couples often want a second child as well. However, it is generally the couples with higher income that choose to remain with only one child. The desire for a male child is quite strong in the People's Republic of China, especially in rural areas. The fact that the male carries on the family name is very important in most people's opinion, as is the fact that a son has the potential to increase the family's income through manual labor. Thus, the inhabitants of rural areas traditionally favor male children.     

Gendering family composition: Sex preferences for children and childbearing behavior in the Nordic countries

It has been argued that a society's gender system may influence parents' sex preferences for children. If this is true, one should expect to find no evidence of such preferences in countries with a high level of gender equality. In this article, we exploit data from population registers from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden to examine continuities and changes in parental sex preferences in the Nordic countries during the past three to four decades. First, we do not observe an effect of the sex of the first born child on second-birth risks. Second, we detect a distinct preference for at least one child of each sex among parents of two children. For third births, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish parents seem to develop a preference for having a daughter, while Finns exhibit a significant preference for having a son. These findings show that modernization and more equal opportunities for women and men do not necessarily lead to parental gender indifference. On the contrary, they may even result in new sex preferences.     

Women's preferences for children in Shifang County,Sichuan, China

Fertility preference being related to government policy in China, women generally understate their desired family size when questioned directly. A binomial probit model is, therefore, presented to estimate the probability that family-size preferences in Shifang County, Sichuan, China, are understated. The model provides estimates on the percentage of respondent understatement along with the number of children, women of different ages and social characteristics truly desire. Women's preferences for sons versus daughters are also examined. The study found that women desire on average 1/2 more children than that which they state. Understating was in greatest evidence among urban, educated, and younger women more sensitive to the government's 1-child policy. Preference for sons was found to be weaker than expected, yet strong nonetheless in rural areas among women desiring only 1 child. Sons are considered to cause more worry for parents in China due to an aggressive, risk-taking nature. Possible explanations for the decline of son preference include increasing familial costs for sons' betrothment and marriage, changing household structures, and increasing status of and job opportunities for women in Chinese society. In closing, the paper highlights that couples restrict marital fertility out of interest for national prosperity and the welfare of future generations, not personal preference for small families. Were government policy to relax, fertility would rise to preferred levels.     

Factors affecting adoption in China, 1950-87

Though adoption in China is known to have increased as more girls were abandoned and became available for adoption following the introduction of the country's one-child policy in the 1980s, little is known about Chinese adoption practices. This paper investigates the factors affecting adoption in China in the period 1950-87 using data from the National Two-Per-Thousand Sample Survey on Fertility and Contraception of 1988. The results show that the national adoption rate was 2.3 per cent. Childless women were more likely than women with children to adopt and did not show a sex preference. Women with children by birth used adoption to secure a child of the 'missing' sex. Women who had experienced the death of a child were more likely to adopt than those who had not. Women with children may have used adoption as a strategy to circumvent the strict family planning policies.     

儿童照料与二孩生育意愿 ——来自上海的证据

本文围绕一项针对上海市育龄女性的生育意愿调查,分别使用二分和有序Logit方法分析儿童照顾对上海市育龄女性的二孩生育意愿的影响。研究发现当育龄女性能够从家庭内和社会中获得更多孩子照料的时间支持时,她们有更高的二孩生育意愿,也会伴有更明确的二孩生育规划;双独家庭能够从父辈获得更多的经济、时间上的帮助,因此他们要比单独家庭和双非家庭更愿意再生一个孩子;居住于上海市城区的女性从某种程度上更易获得孩子的照料资源,有更多的优质教育资源可供选择,因此她们的二孩生育意愿高于居住于郊区的女性。此外,本文通过是否采用了避孕措施对二孩生育的意愿程度做了进一步区分,结果发现当第一个孩子主要是由孩子父母承担照料工作的时候,女性存在二孩生育意愿的程度是最低的,祖辈照料对二孩生育意愿程度的积极影响也明显低于社会性照料,此现象在上海市户籍的女性中体现尤为明显。最后为纠正自选择偏差问题,本文使用倾向值匹配方法(PSM)进一步验证了与首孩性别相比,首孩的抚养成本与接受照料情况显然对二孩生育意愿的影响程度更大。因此,本文认为加大公共托育服务的供给、为育龄女性提供高质量的0-3岁婴幼儿社会照料支持是提高二孩生育意愿的最有效政策。     

We must pay attention to the difference between the original intention and the current status of family planning]

Due to imperfections in the current family planning (FP) policy, and the differences un program implementation in urban and rural areas, the fertility of the urban population with higher IQ scores is under control but this is not the case for the rural population. Among rural couples, one child is rare and two or three are commonplace, while in cities over 70% of couples are having one child. In the metropolitan cities, this figure is about 90%. In the rural areas, provision of education is a serious problem because of insufficient resources, a lack of qualified teachers and inadequate facilities. At the present, at least 3 million school age children in rural areas can not go to primary school. Besides there is a big contrast in FP practice between Han nationality and minorities. Population growth is basically under control among the more advanced Han nationally but not among the less advances minority nationalities. This growth rate among the minority population was about 50.27/1000 in the past five years, which is alarming. Furthermore, the couples given opportunity to have a second child are often those whose first child had birth defects or is mentally retarded, whereas couples with a normal child can have only one child. This has become a vicious circle, since subsequent children are more likely to have the same birth defects. It was discovered from a 1983-85 survey that the prevalence of birth defects was 12.8/1000. The current situation is that the fertility of urban, educated, and healthy people is restricted while the less educated, those living in less developed areas, and those with health defects are having more children. The outcome of this situation is the decline of national population quality, which greatly deviates from the original intention of the FP.     

出生性别比偏高因素的国外研究评述与思考

文章通过对国外有关出生性别比偏高影响因素研究的文献回顾,从产前和产后歧视、男孩偏好及其持续性等方面介绍了国外的经验研究成果及其政策含义,并就其理论意义和缺陷给予评价。     

性别偏好如何影响家庭生育数量?——来自中国城市家庭的实证研究

家庭生育数量会受到性别偏好的影响,但影响方向和作用机制还未达成共识。文章利用全国城市青年调查数据,对性别偏好和家庭生育数量之间的关系进行实证研究。结果表明,性别偏好并不等同于男孩偏好,其内容呈现出多元化特点;无性别偏好在城市已婚已育青年中所占比重最高。不同性别偏好对家庭生育数量的作用方向和强度有所差异:性别数量双偏好会显著提升家庭生育数量;与无性别偏好相比较,单性别偏好也会提升家庭生育数量,但女孩偏好对家庭生育数量的提升作用更强也更显著。     

Sex ratio at birth for urban and rural areas

Previous studies show that sex ratio at birth in China's urban areas is usually higher than that of rural areas. The higher proportion of 1st births in urban areas was once taken to explain the cause for the higher sex ratio. The data of the 1982 fertility sampling survey show that the sex ratio at birth during the period from 1964 to 1981 remains higher in the urban areas (108.0) than in the rural areas (107.8). Further studies are yet needed on the differentials in sex ratios at birth between urban and rural areas and on their causes. The sex ratio in 1981 of the 29 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China's mainland was 108.5, somewhat higher than that of most countries in the world. 2 things account for the occurrence. 1 is that, biologically, certain particularities may exist in the sex ratio at birth of China's population, for the ratio varies with ethnic groups, nationalities and regions. The other is that, sociologically, female infants may be underreported in some areas and the phenomenon of infanticide left over by history still exists in some isolated cases. These surveys suggest that a certain specific characteristic does exist in the sex ratio at birth of China's urban areas, but they also contribute to the explanation of the higher sex ratio at birth of the total population of the country.     

How peasants view couples with only one child]

A study on attitudes toward the one-child policy in Dayi county, Sichual, China, is presented. It is reported that, following the adoption of this policy in 1979, the rate of natural increase in this population of some 440,000 fell from a 1970 level of 33.3 per 1,000 to 1.62 in 1980. The study shows that although individual preferences were for more children, peasants realized that more people meant less land per head. The benefits of a small family were also perceived, and the importance of government support for the elderly in affecting attitudes toward having children is stressed.     

Sex selection with biased technologies and its effect on the population sex ratio

Current biomedical research on sex selection techniques may soon offer couples the opportunity to choose the sex of their children with greater certainty. A technique planned for marketing by mid-1978 can increase the probability of bearing a son to as much as 0.90. However, couples who wish to improve their chances of bearing a daughter have no such opportunity. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, a decision-making model is provided which describes how couples should choose among alternative sex-selection methods so as to maximize the probability of bearing their desired number of sons and daughters. Second, the effect of the widespread use of sex-selection techniques on the population sex ratio is explored. It is shown that even if populations have unbiased sex preferences, or sex preferences biased towards daughters, the use of biased sex-selection technologies may result in very high population sex ratios.     

子女孩次性别结构与女性再生育——基于孩次性别递进生育率的分析

现有子女的孩次性别结构是影响女性再生育的重要因素。使用中国2000年人口普查数据和时期孩次性别递进生育指标对女性生育水平进行了测算。结果显示,女性普遍生育但终身只生育一个孩子的比例很大,基于孩次性别结构的生育行为体现了男孩偏好;城市和镇在生育第一孩时就存在性别选择;第一个孩子是女孩的女性生育二孩的可能性较大,且二孩是男孩的比例显著大于是女孩的比例;第一个孩子是男孩的城市和镇的女性大部分不再生育,而农村女性有很大比例会生育二孩,但几乎不存在性别选择。采用某地区2019年的数据进行补充验证,同样发现:只有一个女孩的女性相比较只有一个男孩的女性生育者生第二孩的可能性要高很多,以上研究发现对当前二孩生育行为具有一定的启示意义。