Guilmoto Christophe Z.. (2009). The sex ratio transition in Asia.
Paris : CEPED, 34 p. multigr. (Working Papers du CEPED ; 05).
Titre du document
The sex ratio transition in Asia
Année de publication
2009
Type de document
Littérature grise
Auteurs
Guilmoto Christophe Z.
Source
Paris : CEPED, 2009,
34 p. multigr. (Working Papers du CEPED ; 05).
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.
