Suicide and Property Rights in India

Siwan Anderson and Garance Genicot

No 19978, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper studies the impact of female property rights on male and female suicide rates in India. Using state level variation in legal changes to women's property rights, we show that better property rights for women are associated with a decrease in the difference between female and male suicide rates, but an increase in both male and female suicides. We conjecture that increasing female property rights increased conflict within household and this increased conflict resulted in more suicides among both men and women in India. Using individual level data on domestic violence we find evidence that increased property rights for women did increase the incidence of wife beating in India. A model of intra-household bargaining with asymmetric information and costly conflict is consistent with these findings.

JEL-codes: D1 K36 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-law
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published as Anderson, Siwan & Genicot, Garance, 2015. "Suicide and property rights in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 64-78.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Suicide and property rights in India (2015)
Working Paper: Suicide and Property Rights in India (2012)
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