Working Papers
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of the 2005 Hindu Succession Act Amendment (HSAA 2005) on educational attainment, which may have altered returns to educating daughters by granting Hindu women equal inheritance rights to certain household assets. I estimate causal effects using National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) data from 2019-2021 and a difference-in-differences design that exploits variation in inheritance rights by religion and birth year. I find that the reform increased the likelihood of completing school by 7 percentage points for Hindu girls in rural areas. The effects were greater for girls 6 to 9 years old at the time of the reform, while those aged 15 to 19 experienced smaller, statistically insignificant effects. In contrast, I find no clear evidence that it affected girls in urban areas. The findings suggest that the reform primarily benefited girls at risk of discontinuing education at higher levels and highlight how inheritance rights can shape parental investments in daughters.
"Child Marriage and Women’s Education in Post-Independence India" (with Meghna Laha)
Abstract: We examine the impact of British rule, which introduced gender reforms to abolish child marriage and promote women’s education, on women’s age at first marriage and education post-independence. We use National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data from 1998-99 and a difference-in-differences approach, comparing Madhya Pradesh (formerly British-ruled) and Rajasthan (not formerly British-ruled) across birth cohorts pre- and post-independence (1947). We find that women born in Madhya Pradesh post-independence attained higher education (0.2 more years; 5.3% fewer with no education) but married slightly earlier (0.47 years), with child marriage remaining more prevalent among Hindu women and women in rural areas.
Works in Progress
"Inheritance Reform, Household Savings, and Asset Allocation in India"
Abstract: I examine how India’s inheritance rights reforms (1976–1994) affected household savings behavior and intra-household asset allocation. By strengthening women’s inheritance rights, the reforms may have altered how parents distribute wealth between sons and daughters. Using the 2006 Rural Economic and Demographic Survey (REDS), I examine the impact on brothers’ asset accumulation by exploiting variation in reform timing across five southern states and in sisters’ birth cohorts. Preliminary results suggest no decrease in landholdings or inheritance among brothers and weak evidence of an increase in assets. Ongoing work applies pooled and staggered difference-in-differences methods to estimate effects on brothers’ inheritance.