Oster disproves her own work

In May of 2005 I reported about a study by Emily Oster which cast doubt on an argument I had made in a series of earlier posts. Then in November of 2006 I learned of a new study casting doubt on Oster’s work. Well, now it seems that Emily Oster went back and dug up some new data to disprove her own initial study. Good for her.

Unfortunately, it means that the out-of-whack sex ratios in some parts of India and China are a very real problem.

P. Kerim Friedman is an assistant professor in the Department of Ethnic Relations and Cultures at National Dong Hwa University, in Taiwan, where he teaches linguistic and visual anthropology. He is co-director of the film Please Don't Beat Me, Sir!, winner of the 2011 Jean Rouch Award from the Society of Visual Anthropology. Follow Kerim on Twitter.