2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/416136For years, South Korea presented the puzzling phenomenon of steeply rising sex ratios at birth despite rapid development, including in women's education and formal employment. This paper shows that son preference decreased in response to development, but its manifestation continued until the mid-1990s due to improved sex-selection technology. The paper analyzes unusually rich survey data, and finds that the impact of development worked largely through triggering normative changes across the whole society - rather than just through changes in individuals as their socio-economic circumstances changed. The findings show that nearly three-quarters of the decline in son preference between 1991 and 2003 is attributable to normative change, and the rest to increases in the proportions of urban and educated people. South Korea is now the first Asian country to reverse the trend in rising sex ratios at birth. The paper discusses the cultural underpinnings of son preference in pre-industrial Korea, and how these were unraveled by industrialization and urbanization, while being buttressed by public policies upholding the patriarchal family system. Finally, the authors hypothesize that child sex ratios in China and India will decline well before they reach South Korean levels of development, since they have vigorous programs to accelerate normative change to reduce son preference.application/pdftext/plainCC BY 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/World BankABORTIONAGE AT MARRIAGEAGINGALLOCATION OF RESOURCESBIRTH ORDERBORROWINGCENSUSESCHANGES IN POPULATION COMPOSITIONCHILD MORTALITYCHILD SURVIVALCHILDBEARINGCITIZENCITIZENSCONCUBINECONSTITUTIONAL COURTCOURTCULTURAL CHANGECULTURAL FACTORSDEMOCRACYDEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSISDEMOGRAPHIC TRENDSDESCENTDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT POLICYDISABLEDDISCRIMINATIONDIVORCEECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESECONOMIC STATUSEDUCATED WOMENEDUCATION LEVELSEDUCATIONAL LEVELELEMENTARY SCHOOLEMPLOYMENT OF WOMENEMPLOYMENT STATUSEQUAL RIGHTSEXPENDITURESFAMILIESFAMILY HEALTHFAMILY LAWFAMILY MEMBERSFAMILY PLANNINGFAMILY ROLESFAMILY SIZEFASHIONFATHERFEMALEFEMALE CHILDRENFEMALE EDUCATIONFEMALE INFANTICIDEFEMALE LABORFEMALE LABOR FORCEFEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONFEMALE LIFE EXPECTANCYFERTILITYFERTILITY ATTITUDESFERTILITY BEHAVIORFERTILITY CONTROLFERTILITY DECLINEFERTILITY LEVELSFERTILITY RATEFERTILITY SURVEYFERTILITY TRANSITIONFERTILITY TRANSITIONSFERTILITY TRENDSFINANCIAL SUPPORTFORMAL EDUCATIONGENDERGENDER BIASGENDER EQUALITYGENDER EQUITYGENDER IMBALANCEGENDER INEQUALITIESGENDER RELATIONSGIRL CHILDGIRLSGRASSROOTS WOMENHEAD OF THE FAMILYHOUSEHOLDSHOUSING LOANSHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCESHUSBANDHUSBANDSIDEAS ABOUT GENDER ROLESINDUSTRIALIZATIONINFANTINFANT MORTALITYINHERITANCEINSURANCEINTERNATIONAL BANKKEPT WOMENKINSHIPLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLARGE CITIESLAWSLEGISLATIONLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLIVE BIRTHMALE LINEAGESMARGINALIZATIONMARRIAGESMARRIED WOMENMASCULINITYMASS MEDIAMEDIA CAMPAIGNSMIGRATIONMINISTRY OF HEALTHMODERNIZATIONMORTALITY RATESMOTHERMOTHERSNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTNATIONAL FERTILITYNATIONAL RESOURCESNUMBER OF BIRTHSNUMBER OF CHILDRENNUMBER OF PEOPLEOLD AGEOLDER WOMENPATRIARCHYPENSIONPENSIONSPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONPLACE OF RESIDENCEPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL POWERPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENTPOPULATION ASSOCIATIONPOPULATION CONTROLPOPULATION GROUPSPOPULATION RESEARCHPOPULATION RESEARCH CENTERPOPULATION STATISTICSPOPULATION STUDIESPREFERENCE FOR SONSPRENATAL SEX SELECTIONPROGRESSPROPORTION OF WOMENPSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGESPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC LIFEPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC SCHOOLSPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC SPHERERESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESPECTRURAL AREASRURAL RESIDENCERURAL RESIDENTSSANCTIONSSAVINGSSCHOOL ENROLMENTSEXSEX BIASSEX PREFERENCESEX PREFERENCESSEX RATIOSEX RATIOSSOCIAL AFFAIRSSOCIAL CHANGESOCIAL CHANGESSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL INSTITUTIONSSOCIAL NORMSSOCIAL SCIENCESOCIAL SERVICESSOCIAL STATUSSOCIAL SUPPORTSOCIAL WELFARESOCIETAL NORMSSON PREFERENCESTATE POLICIESTRADE UNIONTRADITIONAL FAMILYTRADITIONAL VALUESUNBORN CHILDRENUNEDUCATED WOMENURBAN AREASURBAN SOCIAL NETWORKSURBANIZATIONVILLAGEVILLAGESWAGE DIFFERENTIALSWAGE DISCRIMINATIONWARWESTERN EUROPEWIDOWWIDOWSWIFEWILLWIVESWOMANWORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIONYOUNG COUPLES