Working Papers
"The Impact of Inheritance Rights Reform on Women’s Education in India" [Job Market Paper]
Abstract: School completion rates for females in India are low, especially in rural areas. Reforms that change returns to education may influence investments in education. This paper examines the impact of the 2005 Hindu Succession Act Amendment on educational attainment. The reform may have altered the returns to educating daughters by granting Hindu women equal inheritance rights to certain household assets. I estimate causal effects using survey data from 2019-2021 and a difference-in-differences design that exploits variation in inheritance rights due to 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 who were 6 to 9 years old at the time of the reform, while those aged 15 to 19 experienced smaller and 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.
"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 and 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). Women born in Madhya Pradesh post-independence married slightly earlier (0.47 years). However, they attained higher education (0.2 more years, 5.3% fewer with no education), suggesting British-era reforms improved education even where early marriage persisted. Next, we plan to study specific reforms such as the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, extend the analysis to more states, and use longitudinal data to strengthen the identification.
Works in Progress
"Inheritance Reforms and Household Savings and Durable Goods Consumption Behavior in India"