Gender Bias in Education: the Role of Inter-household Externality, Dowry and Other Social Institutions

We analyze gender bias in school enrollment by developing a two-period model where women become part of extended families of their in-laws. Each family decides how many children are sent to school and thus become skilled. Gender bias occurs due to failure of the families to internalize inter-household externalities. ‘Groom-price’ dowry worsens the situation. Under ‘bride-price’ dowry, bias exists if and only if the skill premium in the labor market is bigger than that in the marriage market. A specific discriminatory ‘food-for-education’ policy is shown to reduce bias, but increase total enrollment. Finally, using cross-country data, we test some of the predictions of our theoretical analysis

Exogamy and Bias Against Daughters in Health-care Provision: A Theory and Evidence from Two Northern States in India

This is a theoretical and empirical paper to analyze possible bias against daughters in the provision of healthcare. Women once married become part of in-laws’ families, leading to certain inter-family externalities in household decision making, which in turn result in gender bias in healthcare. We test our theoretical predictions using LSMS household survey data from two Indian states, viz. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. We find strong evidence for the existence of bias against daughters. We also find, consistent with our theory but contrary to conventional wisdom, that the bias is more pronounced among Hindu families (who tend to practice exogamy) than among Muslim families (who very commonly intermarry)

Probiotic-Derived Ecto-5\u27-Nucleotidase Produces Anti-Inflammatory Adenosine Metabolites in Treg-Deficient Scurfy Mice

Probiotic Limosilactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 (DSM 17938) prolongs the survival of Treg-deficient scurfy (SF) mice and reduces multiorgan inflammation by a process requiring adenosine receptor 2A (A2A) on T cells. We hypothesized that L. reuteri-derived ecto-5’-nucleotidase (ecto-5’NT) activity acts to generate adenosine, which may be a central mediator for L. reuteri protection in SF mice. We evaluated DSM 17938–5’NT activity and the associated adenosine and inosine levels in plasma, gut, and liver of SF mice. We examined orally fed DSM 17938, DSM 17938Δ5NT (with a deleted 5’NT gene), and DSM 32846 (BG-R46) (a naturally selected strain derived from DSM 17938). Results showed that DSM 17938 and BG-R46 produced adenosine while “exhausting” AMP, whereas DSM 17938∆5NT did not generate adenosine in culture. Plasma 5’NT activity was increased by DSM 17938 or BG-R46, but not by DSM 17938Δ5NT in SF mice. BG-R46 increased both adenosine and inosine levels in the cecum of SF mice. DSM 17938 increased adenosine levels, whereas BG-R46 increased inosine levels in the liver. DSM 17938Δ5NT did not significantly change the levels of adenosine or inosine in the GI tract or the liver of SF mice. Although regulatory CD73+CD8+ T cells were decreased in spleen and blood of SF mice, these regulatory T cells could be increased by orally feeding DSM 17938 or BG-R46, but not DSM 17938Δ5NT. In conclusion, probiotic-5’NT may be a central mediator of DSM 17938 protection against autoimmunity. Optimal 5’NT activity from various probiotic strains could be beneficial in treating Treg-associated immune disorders in humans

Bias against Daughters in Health-Care Provision: A Theoretical Analysis

This is a theoretical paper to analyze possible bias against daughters in the provision of healthcare. Women once married become part of in-laws\u27 families, leading to certain inter-family externalities in household decision making, which in turn result in gender bias in healthcare. We also find that the extent of gender bias increases with the cost of healthcare