The sex ratio transition in Asia - Guilmoto, Christophe Z. (Paris : CEPED, 2009)
The paper adopts a comparative perspective to review the recent increase in sex ratio at birth across Asia. We first describe and compare the most recent birth statistics in Asia in order to identify commonalities in the gradual demographic masculinization observed from Armenia to South Korea. This comparison provides the basis for identifying the specific transitional patterns of current trends in birth masculinity. The recent rise in sex ratio at birth is then interpreted in a socio-historical framework borrowed from fertility decline and based on three preconditions: access to sex selection technology, gender preference, and pressure from low fertility. On a broader plane, the process of growing gender imbalances closely resembles that of a tragedy of the commons and this paper indicates the factors that appear most likely to trigger a turnaround in this transitional cycle and to facilitate a return to normal in the future.
Keywords: report; technical report; Working Papers du CEPED; Asia; China; Gender; India; sex ratio at birth