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Article
Women's Inheritance Rights and Intergenerational Transmission of Resources in India
Journal of Human Resources (2013)
  • Klaus Deininger, World Bank
  • Aparajita Goyal, World Bank
  • Hari Nagarajan, Institute of Rural Management Anand
Abstract
We 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. We show that the amendment significantly increased daughters’ likelihood to inherit land, but that even after the amendment, substantial bias persists. Our results also indicate a robust increase in educational attainment of daughters, suggesting an alternative channel of wealth transfer.
Keywords
  • Land Bequests,
  • Hindu Succession Act,
  • Hindu Inheritance Law,
  • Educational Attainment,
  • Gender,
  • India,
  • Women's empowerment,
  • dowry,
  • land transfers,
  • marriage,
  • death,
  • inheritance
Publication Date
Winter December, 2013
DOI
10.3368/jhr.48.1.114
Citation Information
Klaus Deininger, Aparajita Goyal and Hari Nagarajan. "Women's Inheritance Rights and Intergenerational Transmission of Resources in India" Journal of Human Resources Vol. 48 Iss. 1 (2013) p. 114 - 141
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/aparajita_goyal/7/