The Intergenerational Effects of Marital Transfers
利用1985年印度反嫁妆法改革带来的嫁妆金额外生变化，研究发现嫁妆减少导致母亲自主权下降、家庭暴力增加和家庭财富减少，进而使子女身高发育和受教育年限显著降低。
<h3>Abstract</h3> We study the intergenerational effects of marital transfers in India. We use exogenous variation in dowry amounts induced by stronger anti-dowry laws introduced in 1985. The new legal regime reduced dowries substantially and increased domestic violence against women. We find that children born to mothers exposed to the reform have a 0.24 standard deviation lower height-for-age 𝒵-score and about 0.41 fewer years of completed schooling. These results are plausibly driven by lower maternal autonomy, increased domestic violence against mothers and lower household wealth on account of reduced dowries.