Section IV discusses the data and presents a number of descriptive statistics. Sec- tions V and VI report the empirical results and robustness tests. Finally, Section VII
concludes the paper.
II. Background
A. Son Preference in China
China has a long history of son preference. Male superiority is an ideal in Confucian values and is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. This tradition emphasizes the impor-
tance of continuing the family line through the male offspring, thereby reinforcing male dominance within a household. These values shape marriage patterns and family
structures that are strictly patriarchal.
Son preference has profoundly shaped child- bearing and child- rearing behavior in China. Historically, parents refrained from having more children when the desired
number of sons was reached.
6
However, China’s national family planning program, enacted in 1979 and commonly known as the One Child Policy, dramatically altered
the situation. In essence, the stringent birth control policy placed a legal limit on fam- ily size, preventing individuals from having multiple children to ensure the birth of
a son or sons. The opportunity cost of raising more children of an unwanted sex increases substantially. Consequently, son preference manifests itself through sex-
selection practices, which may be performed either prenatally or postnatally. Female infanticide, the neglect of baby girls, and the preferential allocation of household
resources to sons fall into the category of postnatal sex- selection strategies. It was only recently, however, that prenatal sex selection was rendered possible by modern
technology.
B. Abortions in China
In contemporary China, abortion was legalized in 1953.
7
Until 1957, however, legal abortions were permitted only when the continuation of a pregnancy was medically
undesirable, when the spacing of childbirth was too close, or when a woman had experienced diffi culty in breastfeeding the previous child. Even in such cases, abor-
tions were not allowed without certifi cation from a physician and approval from the couple’s work units. In 1957, legal access to abortion was facilitated as part of China’s
early efforts to curb its population growth. In principle, abortions were available only upon request to any married woman within 10 weeks of conception, and only one
abortion could be performed each year.
After the One Child Policy was enacted in 1979, abortion became an essential com- ponent of the birth- control campaign and the number of abortions soared. All refer-
ences to abortion were omitted from the Criminal Code of China of 1979 Savage 1988; Rigdon 1996. In 1983, a national campaign was launched, which encouraged
6. Conversely, the gender- specifi c stopping rule Dahl and Moretti 2008 per se differs from sex selection because it is not viewed as causing an imbalance in the sex ratio itself.
7. The Chinese are largely permissive toward abortion, primarily resulting from the lack of a strong religious tradition Rigdon 1996.
mandatory abortion for pregnancies exceeding the quotas stipulated by the Policy Si- mon 1988. Abortion services are provided by government health facilities, and quali-
fi ed medical personnel normally perform early abortions using vacuum aspiration. Although most abortions are performed during early pregnancy, they are permitted up
to six months of gestation Hepburn and Simon 2007. Second- trimester abortions are performed in a hospital by a physician. Abortions are free, and women undergoing the
procedure are rewarded by paid leave of up to 30 days.
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C. Ultrasound and Prenatal Sex Selection
