Gender, Birth Order, and Child Growth: Evidence from Central Asia
This paper examines how son preference shapes physical growth outcomes of children under the age of five in Central Asia, where cultural preferences favour youngest sons. In a sample of over 40,000 children aged 0-5 years in five Central Asian countries, we estimate how height-for-age and weight-for age vary by children’s birth order and gender. Our results show a strong birth order gradient in growth of equal size for boys and girls, suggesting unequal intra-household resource allocation consistent with quantity-quality trade-offs. Despite the patriarchal social structure of the included countries, our analysis finds no evidence that preferences to have sons translate into differential growth outcomes by gender.
TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology & TUM School of Management
JEL-Klassifikation: I12, I14, J12, J13, Z13