Intrahousehold Allocation of Nutrients in Rural India: Are Boys Favored? Do Parents Exhibit Inequality Aversion?

This paper develops a multinutrient input, multihealth related outcome model of intrahousehold nutrient allocation that permits identification of gender preferences and equity-productivity tradeoffs. Estimates for rural South India suggest that parents display male preference during the lean season, particularly in lower-caste households. Parents also exhibit inequality aversion so pure investment models may be misleading, though such inequality aversion is less in the lean season than estimated for the United States. The combination of male preference and limited inequality aversion means that the nutritionally most vulnerable-especially females-may be at considerable risk when food is scarcest. Copyright 1988 by Royal Economic Society.