Soil Endowments, Female Labor Force Participation and the Demographic Deficit of Women in India

Differences in relative female
employment by soil texture are used to explain the
heterogeneous deficit of female children across districts
within India. Soil texture varies exogenously and determines
the depth of land tillage. Deep tillage, possible in loamy
but not in clayey soil textures, reduces the demand for
labor in agricultural tasks traditionally performed by
women. Girls have a lower economic value where female labor
opportunities are fewer. Consistently, higher relative
female employment in agriculture improves the ratio of
female to male children in districts that have a smaller
fraction of loamy relative to clayey soils.