The Transmission of Son Preference

Abstract

This paper examines how culturally rooted son preference contributes to missing women. I exploit the quasi-random settlement of mainland Chinese migrants in Taiwan and measure their cultural backgrounds using ancestor worship in their places of origin. Local families exposed to migrants from origins with stronger ancestor worship are more likely to continue childbearing without a son and, after the Legalization of Abortion in 1985, to select sons at higher birth orders. Among second-generation migrants, sex selection is associated not only with the ancestor worship of their fathers’ origins but also with that of their migrant neighbors from other origins. These findings show how cultural exposure shapes the demand for sons and families’ responses to greater access to prenatal sex selection.