https://repository.auw.edu.bd/handle/123456789/1152 2026-05-19T15:50:31Z https://repository.auw.edu.bd/handle/123456789/1237 Understanding Poverty in India Clarke, Simon 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.auw.edu.bd/handle/123456789/1236 An Economic Analysis of the Gender Gap in Household Demand for Education: Evidence from India Das, Suparna Education plays a crucial role in building tomorrow’s human capital, and thus, it is an essential tool for economic growth and development. Following the second Millennium Development Goal’s (MDG) (2000) call for achieving universal school education by 2015, extensive government initiatives with special emphasis on girls were undertaken in India. Access to education has shown tremendous progress and became successful in bringing almost all potential pupils to primary (standard I-V) school. However, starting from the elementary (standard VI-VIII) level onwards, the gender gap in enrollment persists and widens with the level of education in India. This paper quantifies the gender difference in enrollment decisions for children and provides a theoretical structure to the underlying demand-side factors that influence parents in keeping girls out of the post-primary education system compared to boys. The analysis uses the 2nd round dataset of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), published in 2012 and finds a significant gender gap in enrollment. A girl child is on average, 3.6% less likely to continue schooling compared to a boy, ceteris paribus. The enrollment probability of girls worsens with higher birth order; an eldest sister has a significantly lower probability (5.2%) of continuing school education compared to an eldest brother, keeping other things same. Further, it also finds that beyond the age of 14 when children are no longer entitled to get free compulsory education under Right to Education (RTE), girls’ enrollment probability declines. For example, a girl above the age of 14 is 7.8% less likely to continue schooling, and if she is an eldest sister among siblings, her probability of discontinuing schooling is11% compared to that of boys in similar conditions. Labor market variables especially returns on education and variability in wages, play crucial and significant roles in the schooling decision of children. Parents’ reciprocity expectation is also found responsible for lower enrollment of girls compared to boys. 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.auw.edu.bd/handle/123456789/1235 The Co-existence of Biased Sex Ratio and Crime against Women in India: Examining the Causality Das, Suparna Preference for a son has deep historical roots in India and is evident in its highly skewed sex ratios. The country has recently been on the news often for heinous rape incidences. It registered a 27 percent annual growth rate in crime against women in 2013. The economic theory indicates that the scarcity of girls should make the girls dearer to society, but the reality is the opposite in India. It creates the puzzle that, despite scarcity, India still does not value their women. Instead, the statistics show that crime against women is increasing faster than the overall crime. Therefore, it becomes interesting to explore the puzzle and to examine whether this coincidence of pro-male biased sex ratios and higher crime on women bears any empirical relationship in the case of India. The paper uses data from Census and National Crime Records Bureau for the analysis. The district- year panel analysis found a significant negative relation between sex ratios and crime against women. It is found that an increase in 1 female in the population of 1000 males, that is, a 1 unit increase in the youth sex ratio in favor of females, will decrease the crime against women by 0.53 percent, keeping other things the same. Further, it is also found that the impact of sex ratios is highest on domestic violence, followed by kidnapping compared to other crimes against women. 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.auw.edu.bd/handle/123456789/1234 Impact of Covid on the Trend of Domestic Violence in Indian Households Das, Suparna Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, a rising trend of domestic violence in India is reported by literature using either call/complaints data or newspaper reports. However, the complaints data could not provide an adequate measure of the effect of the pandemic on the occurrence of domestic violence, if a substantial number of cases remain unreported. Till now, national level data to capture the changes in household dynamics during pandemic time is rare. The novelty of this study comes from the use of a national level survey, National Family Health Survey data of the Fifth round (2019-21) on India, which was not specifically designed for identifying the impact of COVID, but includes many attributes of women’s life regarding demographic characteristics, health and childbirth, subjective and objective information on domestic violence among many others. The data has been collected from 2019 to 2021, with a halt due to COVID restrictions from April to September 2020. Using this break in the data this study examines whether and how the pattern of domestic violence has changed during the pandemic time. The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the trend and nature of domestic violence and also on the patterns of the influence of the predictors of domestic violence are measured using probit regression analysis. The findings imply that violence may decrease if women provide financial security to the family amid uncertainties during pandemic, but violence can increase if women increase the burden of the family. 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z