<p>We study the effects of brothers-to-siblings ratio on spousal quality for Hindu women in India, a setting where families play a crucial role in spousal choice. We use three large household surveys and consistently find that women with a higher share of male siblings are married to a more-educated spouse. A similar positive impact is observed on other dimensions of spousal quality, such as spousal height and landownership. We investigate the potential mechanisms behind this effect. Brothers could affect a woman’s spousal quality through improving her own human capital formation, offering more time to search for a spouse, and increasing the family’s ability to pay dowry. Evidence from a rural household survey supports greater dowry payment but not any other mechanisms.</p>

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Brothers, dowry, and spousal quality

  • Md. Nazmul Ahsan,
  • Urvashi Jain

摘要

We study the effects of brothers-to-siblings ratio on spousal quality for Hindu women in India, a setting where families play a crucial role in spousal choice. We use three large household surveys and consistently find that women with a higher share of male siblings are married to a more-educated spouse. A similar positive impact is observed on other dimensions of spousal quality, such as spousal height and landownership. We investigate the potential mechanisms behind this effect. Brothers could affect a woman’s spousal quality through improving her own human capital formation, offering more time to search for a spouse, and increasing the family’s ability to pay dowry. Evidence from a rural household survey supports greater dowry payment but not any other mechanisms.