wl-7283-Linkage between Child Sex Ratio and Dowry-related Crime: Evidence from India

India falls among those frontline countries which have been experiencing a declining female sex ratio over the years. It is a matter of worry to mention that child sex ratio in India as reported byCensus, 2001 was 927, which declined to 918 in 2011 while the child sex ratio according to 1991 census, was 945. This implies that India has been maintaining a consistent downward trend in child sex ratio. There are numerous studies that have made attempt to target the underlying causes behind this. Among several factors affectingthe sex ratio, the wide scale of dowry crime may be perceived as an instrumental factor behind the relatively lower preference for a female child. Though few studies have tried to link dowry cost to female infanticide in India, studies to link child sex ratio with dowry-related crime are lacking. In the present study, an attempt has been made to empirically examine the linkage between dowry death and child sex ratio in India. The study is based on secondary datacovering three census periods from 1991 to 2011 and 24 Indian states. Further, in order to cover recent years, the study used time series data sourced from the WorldBank data-base for the periods 2000 to 2020. With the help of regression analysis, the study finds that dowry-related crime significantly and negatively affects the child sex ratio.