TY - JOUR AU - Almond,Douglas AU - Edlund,Lena AU - Milligan,Kevin TI - O Sister, Where Art Thou? The Role of Son Preference and Sex Choice: Evidence from Immigrants to Canada JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series VL - No. 15391 PY - 2009 Y2 - October 2009 UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15391 L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15391.pdf N1 - Author contact info: Douglas Almond Department of Economics Columbia University International Affairs Building, MC 3308 420 West 118th Street New York, NY 10027 Tel: 212/854-7248 Fax: 212/854-3239 E-Mail: da2152@columbia.edu Lena Edlund Department of Economics Columbia University 1002A IAB, MC 3308 420 West 118th Street New York, NY 10027 Tel: 212/854-4513 Fax: 212/854-8059 E-Mail: le93@columbia.edu Kevin S. Milligan Department of Economics University of British Columbia #997-1873 East Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 CANADA Tel: 604/822-6747 Fax: 604/822-5915 E-Mail: kevin.milligan@ubc.ca AB - Sex ratios at birth are above the biologically normal level in a number of Asian countries, notably India and China. Standard explanations include poverty and a cultural emphasis on male offspring. We study Asian immigrants to Canada using Census data, focussing on sex ratios across generations and religious groups. We find sex ratios to be normal at first parity, but rising with parity if there were no previous son. Since these immigrants are neither poor nor live in a society tolerant of sex discrimination/sex selection, our findings are more consistent with a preference for sons per se (and not for sons as a means to, e.g., old age support). Additionally, we uncover strong differences by religious affiliation that align with historical differences in doctrine concerning infanticide. Comparing across generations of Asian immigrants, we find fertility responds strongly to the sex composition of older children for first generation families. For the second generation, expression of son preference through the fertility channel is muted whereas sex selection seems to persist. ER -