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Sex Selection and Gender Balance
2011
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
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We model the equilibrium sex ratio when parents can choose the sex of their child. With intrinsic son preference, sex selection results in a male-biased sex ratio. This is ine¢ cient due to a marriage market congestion externality. Medical innovations that facilitate selection aggravate the ine¢ ciency. If son preference arises endogenously, due to population growth causing an excess supply of women on the marriage market, selection may improve welfare. Empirically, sex selection causes an
doi:10.1257/mic.3.1.214
fatcat:skqzaaszijh5dfrt5flbfbewka