Inheritance Law Reform and Women’s Access to Capital : Evidence from India’s Hindu Succession Act

Inheritance Law Reform and Women’s Access to Capital : Evidence from India’s Hindu Succession Act

This paper examines whether and to what extent amendments in inheritance legislation impact women's physical and human capital investments, using disaggregated household level data from India. The authors use inheritance patterns over three ge...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Deininger, Klaus, Goyal, Aparajita, Nagarajan, Hari
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	ACCESS TO LAND ADVERSE EFFECTS AGE AT MARRIAGE AGE DISTRIBUTION AGE GROUPS AGE OF MARRIAGE AGED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES ASSETS BARRIERS TO WOMEN CHILD HEALTH CHILD MORTALITY COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DISCRIMINATION DISSEMINATION DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH DIVORCE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DYING EARLY MARRIAGE ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES ECONOMIC OUTCOMES ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMIC STATUS ECONOMICS RESEARCH EDUCATION OF GIRLS EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT ELEMENTARY EDUCATION EMPOWERMENT EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN EQUALITY OF WOMEN EQUILIBRIUM THEORY FAMILY HEALTH FAMILY INCOME FAMILY LAW FAMILY MEMBERS FAMILY PROPERTY FAMILY RESOURCES FATHER FATHERS FEMALE FEMALE CHILDREN FEMALE HEIRS FEMALES FERTILITY FUNCTIONAL FORMS FUTURE GENERATIONS FUTURE RESEARCH GENDER GENDER ASPECTS GENDER BIAS GENDER DIFFERENCES GENDER DISCRIMINATION GENDER EQUALITY GENDER INEQUALITY HOME HOUSEHOLD FORMATION HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL HUSBAND HUSBANDS IMPACT ON CHILDREN INCOME INEQUALITY INDIFFERENCE CURVES INEQUALITIES INEQUALITY INHERITANCE INHERITANCE RIGHTS INHERITANCES INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INVESTMENT IN CHILDREN KINSHIP KINSHIP STRUCTURE LABOR FORCE LABOR SUPPLY LAND OWNERSHIP LAWS LEGAL AGE AT MARRIAGE LEGAL CHANGE LEGAL CHANGES LEGAL RIGHTS LEGISLATION LEGISLATIVE CHANGES LEVEL OF EDUCATION LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIES LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MARRIAGES MATERIAL WEALTH MATERNAL MORTALITY MODERNIZATION MOTHER MOTHERS NATIONAL COUNCIL NATIONAL LEVEL NUMBER OF CHILDREN NUTRITION OLD AGE OLD-AGE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN OPTIMIZATION OWNERSHIP OF LAND PARENTS PENSION PENSIONS PERMANENT INCOME POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL POWER POLYGAMY POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT POPULATION STUDIES POSITIVE EFFECTS PRIMARY EDUCATION PRODUCTION FUNCTION PROGRESS PROPERTY RIGHTS REPRODUCTIVE DECISIONS RESOURCE ALLOCATION RESPECT RURAL AREAS RURAL DEVELOPMENT RURAL POVERTY SANCTIONS SEX SEX RATIOS SEXES SOCIAL SECURITY SOCIAL STATUS SPILLOVER SPOUSE SPOUSES STATE GOVERNMENTS STATUS OF WOMEN TAXATION UTILITY FUNCTION WIDOW WIDOWS WIFE WILL WILLS WIVES WOMAN
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100614094013 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3823

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Summary:	This paper examines whether and to what extent amendments in inheritance legislation impact women's physical and human capital investments, using disaggregated household level data from India. The authors use inheritance patterns over three generations of individuals to assess the impact of changes in the Hindu Succession Act that grant daughters equal coparcenary birth rights in joint family property that were denied to daughters in the past. The causal effect is isolated by exploiting the variation in the timing of father's death to compare within household bequests of land given to sons and daughters in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. The analysis shows that the amendment significantly increased daughters' likelihood to inherit land, but that even after the amendment substantial bias persists. The results also indicate a robust increase in educational attainment of daughters, suggesting an alternative channel of wealth transfer.