The desire for a son is the father of many daughters: a sex ratio paradox

This paper investigates the impact of preferences for male offspring to female offspring upon the sex ratio of the population. Asymmetric procreation behaviour of this kind is modelled by assuming that a female's procreation ceases only after at least one son or n daughters are born. It is shown that such asymmetric procreation behaviour has no effect on the sex ratio of the society, but influences rather the growth rate of the population. Finally, problems concerning the interrelationship between the sex ratio, the pattern of procreation, and the marriage régime in stationary populations are investigated.Financial support of the Norwegian Research Council (Ruhrgas scholarship scheme) is gratefully acknowledged. I am indebted to two anonymous referees for critical comments, to Gustav Feichtinger for hints to the literature, and to Sabrina Bird, Elizabeth Harrison and Corey Spellman for suggestions to improve my English style.