Das Gupta, MonicaChung, WoojinLi, Shuzhuo2012-03-302012-03-302009Population and Development Review00987921https://hdl.handle.net/10986/5571The apparently inexorable rise in the proportion of "missing girls" in much of East and South Asia has attracted much attention among researchers and policymakers. An encouraging trend was suggested by the case of South Korea, where child sex ratios (males to females under age 5) were the highest in Asia but peaked in the mid-1990s and normalized thereafter. Using census data, we examine whether similar trends have begun to manifest themselves in the two most populous countries of this region, China and India. The data indicate that child sex ratios are peaking in these countries, and in many subnational regions are beginning to trend toward lower, more normal values. This suggests that, with continuing economic and social development and vigorous public policy efforts to reduce son preference, the "missing girls" phenomenon could eventually disappear in Asia.ENEconomics of GenderNon-labor Discrimination J160Economic Development: Human ResourcesHuman DevelopmentIncome DistributionMigration O150Economic Development: Regional, Urban, and Rural AnalysesTransportation O180Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Factor and Product MarketsIndustry StudiesPopulation P230Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics P250Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics: Regional MigrationRegional Labor MarketsPopulationNeighborhood Characteristics R230Journal ArticleWorld Bank