The Origins of Sex Imbalance in Early Age Mortality
Roland Pongou, Brown University
Sex difference in mortality during infancy and childhood is decomposed into the effects of pre-birth environmental factors, child biology, and parental preferences. Exploiting variation in sex difference in mortality in the population of twins and within male-female twin pairs, and variation in parental bias in sub-Saharan Africa and India, we show that : (1) pre-birth environmental factors account for a large fraction of the higher mortality rates generally observed among males in the general population; (2) male biological make-up contributes to the elevated mortality of male children only during infancy, but its role has been previously overstated; however, contrary to the long-held biological theory of sex gap in morbidity and mortality, male biological make-up favors male survival during childhood; (3) parental discrimination against females increases mortality in this sex in India, but usual estimates of sex gap understate its effect by 400 percent during infancy, and 150 percent during childhood.
Presented in Session 48: Genetic Influences on Health and Mortality