A Life-Course Perspective on Gender Differences in Cognitive Functioning in India

Velamuri, Malathi and Onur, Ilke (2014): A Life-Course Perspective on Gender Differences in Cognitive Functioning in India.

Abstract

We examine gender differences in four measures of cognitive function among older individuals in India, using the 2010 pilot wave of the Longitudinal Aging Study of India (LASI) survey. We use a life-course approach and estimate the impact of circumstances in childhood, choices in adulthood and current circumstances on current cognitive functioning. Our objective is to understand the correlates of cognitive functioning in later-life more generally, and of female disadvantage in particular. We observe a female disadvantage across all cognitive measures in the raw data. Our estimates indicate that educational attainment and employment status history can account for the entire female disadvantage in verbal skills, but a sizable and significant gap remains in the other cognitive measures even after controlling for these variables. Notably, our estimates indicate that circumstances in childhood have an impact on later-life cognition. A decomposition analysis reveals that the predicted cognition gap is driven by differences in characteristics between men and women, as well as the asymmetric returns to these characteristics. We conclude that policies aimed at correcting the gender imbalance in educational outcomes may not be sufficient to close the gender gaps in cognition. In turn, this has serious implications for a rapidly aging society like India.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Cognition, Gender differences, Early-life conditions, Education, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C2 - Single Equation Models ; Single Variables > C21 - Cross-Sectional Models ; Spatial Models ; Treatment Effect Models ; Quantile Regressions; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I12 - Health Behavior; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J16 - Economics of Gender ; Non-labor Discrimination; N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy > N35 - Asia including Middle East

References

ALDERMAN, H., J. R. BEHRMAN, D. R. ROSS, AND R. SABOT (1996): “Decomposing the Gender Gap in Cognitive Skills in a Poor Rural Economy,” Journal of Human Resources, 31, 229–254.

ANDERSEN-RANBERG, K., J.-M. ROBINE, M. THINGGAARD, AND K. CHRISTENSEN (2008): “What Has Happened to the Oldest Old SHARE Participants After Two Years?,” in First Results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2007): Starting the Longitudinal Dimension, pp. 66–73. Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging.

ANSTEY, K., H. A. MACK, AND N. CHERBUIN (2009): “Alcohol Consumption as a Risk Factor for Dementia and Cognitive Decline: Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies,” American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17(7), 542–555.

AROKIASAMY, P., D. BLOOM, J. LEE, K. FEENEY, AND M. OZOLINS (2012): “Longitudinal Aging Study in India: Vision, Design, Implementation, and Preliminary Findings,” in Aging in Asia, pp. 36–74. National Academy of Sciences.

ASADULLAH, M., U. KAMBHAMPATI, AND F. L. BOO (2014): “Social Divisions in School Participation and Attainment in India: 1983-2004,” Cambridge Journal of Economics, 38(4), 869– 893.

BARCELLOS, S., L. S. CARVALHO, AND A. LLERAS-MUNEY (2014): “Child Gender and Parental Investments In India: Are Boys And Girls Treated Differently?,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 8(1), 157–189.

BLINDER, A. (1973): “Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates,” Journal of Human Resources, 8(4), 436–455.

BONNAL, L., R. BOUMAHDI, AND P. FAVARD (2013): “The Easiest Way to Estimate the Oaxaca- Blinder Decomposition,” Applied Economics Letters, 20(1), 96–101.

BROADBERRY, S. (1997): “Forging Up, Falling Behind and Catching Up: A Sectoral Analysis of Anglo-American Productivity Differences 1870-1990,” Research in Economic History, 17, 1–37.

CASE, A., AND C. PAXSON (2009): “Early Life Health and Cognitive Function in Old Age,” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 99(2), 104–109.

CHAUHAN, C. P. S. (2008): “Education and Caste in India,” Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 28(3), 217–234.

CUNHA, F., AND J. J. HECKMAN (2007): “The Technology of Skill Formation,” American Economic Review, 97(2), 31–47.

CUNHA, F., J. J. HECKMAN, L. LOCHNER, AND D. V. MASTEROV (2006): “Interpreting the Evidence on Life Cycle Skill Formation,” in Handbook of the Economics of Education, Volume 1, pp. 697–812. Elsevier.

DE JAGER, C. (2010): “Memory in the Elderly,” in International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation. Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange (CIRRIE).

DOBLHAMMER, G., G. J. VAN DEN BERG, AND T. FRITZE (2013): “Economic Conditions at the Time of Birth and Cognitive Abilities Late in Life: Evidence from Ten European Countries,” PLoS ONE, 8(9).

DRÈZE, J., AND A. SEN (1996): India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. Oxford University Press.

FINKEL, D., N. L. PEDERSEN, R. PLOMIN, AND G. E. MCCLEARN (1998): “Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Twin Data on Cognitive Abilities in Adulthood: The Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging,” Developmental Psychology, 34(6), 1400–1413.

FLYNN, J. (2012): Are We Getting Smarter?: Rising IQ in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press.

FOLSTEIN, M., S. E. FOLSTEIN, AND P. R.MCHUGH (1975): “Mini-Mental State: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician,” Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12(3), 189–198.

GOI (2010): “Addressing India’s Nutrition Challenges,” Report, Planning Commission, Government of India.

HATCH, S., L. FEINSTEIN, B. G. LINK, M. E. J. WADSWORTH, AND M. RICHARDS (2007): “The Continuing Benefits of Education: Adult Education and Midlife Cognitive Ability in the British 1946 Birth Cohort,” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 62B(6), S404–S414.

HECKMAN, J. J. (2006): “Skill Formation and the Economics of Investing in Disadvantaged Children,” Science, 312, 1900–1902.

HOYNES, H., D. W. SCHANZENBACH, AND D. ALMOND (2012): “Long Run Impacts of Child- hood Access to the Safety Net,” NBER Working Paper No. 18535.

ILO (2013): “Global Employment Trends,” Report, International Labour Organization. JANN, B. (2008): “A Stata Implementation of the Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition,” The Stata Journal, 8(4), 453–479.

JHA, P., M. A. KESLER, R. KUMAR, F. RAM, U. RAM, L. ALEKSANDROWICZ, D. G. BAS- SANI, S. CHANDRA, AND J. K. BANTHIA (2011): “Trends in Selective Abortions of Girls in India: Analysis of Nationally Representative Birth Histories from 1990 to 2005 and Census Data from 1991 to 2011,” The Lancet, 377(9781), 1921–1928.

KAHNEMAN, D., A. KRUEGER, D. SCHKADE, N. SCHWARZ, AND A. STONE (2006): “Would You be Happier if You were Richer? A Focusing Illusion,” Science, 312(5782), 1908–1910.

KALARIA, R., G. E. MAESTRE, R. ARIZAGA, R. P. FRIEDLAND, D. GALASKO, K. HALL, J. A. LUCHSINGER, A. OGUNNIYI, AND E. K. PERRY (2008): “Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular Dementia in Developing Countries: Prevalence, Management, and Risk Factors,” Lancet Neurology, 7(9), 812–826.

KUMAR, R. (1994): “Development and Women’s Work in Kerala: Interactions and Paradoxes,” Economic and Political Weekly, 29(51/52), 3249–3254.

LANGA, K., D. LLEWELLYN, I. LANG, D.R.WEIR, R. WALLACE, M. KABETO, AND F. HUP- PERT (2009): “Cognitive Health Among Older Adults in the United States and in England,” BMC Geriatrics, 9.

LAYARD, R., A. CLARK, F. CORNAGLIA, N. POWDTHAVEE, AND J. VERNOIT (2013): “What Predicts a Successful Life? A Life-Course Model of Well-Being,” IZA Discussion Paper, No. 7682.

LEE, J., R. SHIH, K. FEENEY, AND K. LANGA (2014): “Gender Disparity in Late-life Cognitive Functioning in India: Findings From the Longitudinal Aging Study in India,” Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69(4), 603–611.

MAITLAND, S., R. C. INTRIERI, K. W. SCHAIE, AND S. L. WILLIS (2000): “Gender Differences and Changes in Cognitive Abilities Across the Adult Life Span,” Journal of Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 7(1), 32–53.

MAMMEN, K., AND C. PAXSON (2000): “Women’s Work and Economic Development,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(4), 141–164.

MANLY, J., N. SCHUPF, M.X. TANG, AND Y. STERN (2005): “Cognitive Decline and Literacy Among Ethnically Diverse Elders,” Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 18(4), 213– 217.

MAURER, J. (2010): “Height, Education and Later-Life Cognition in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Economics and Human Biology, 8, 168–176.

MAURER, J. (2011): “Education and Male-Female Differences in Later-Life Cognition: International Evidence From Latin America and the Caribbean,” Demography, 48, 915–930.

MICHAEL, R. T. (1973): “Education in Nonmarket Production,” Journal of Political Economy, 81(2), 306–327.

MISHRA, V., T. ROY, AND R. RETHERFORD (2004): “Sex Differential in Childhood Feeding, Health Care, and Nutritional Status in India,” Population and Development Review, 30(2), 269– 295.

MURTHI, M., A. C. GUIO, AND J. DRÈZE (1995): “Mortality, Fertility, and Gender Bias in India: A District-Level Analysis,” Population and Development Review, 21(4), 745–782. NEUMARK, D. (1988): “Employers’ Discriminatory Behavior and the Estimation of Wage Discrimination,” Journal of Human Resources, 23, 279–295.

NGUYEN, C. T., M. C. COUTURE, B. E. ALVARADO, AND M.-V. ZUNZUNEGUI (2008): “Life Course Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Cognitive Function Among the Elderly Population of Seven Capitals in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Journal of Aging and Health, 20(3), 347–362.

NISBETT, R. E., J. ARONSON, C. BLAIR, W. DICKENS, J. FLYNN, D. HALPERN, AND E.TURKHEIMER (2012): “Intelligence: New Findings and Theoretical Developments,” American Psychologist, pp. 1–30.

OAXACA, R. (1973): “Male-Female Wages Differentials in Urban Labor Markets,” International Economic Review, 14(3), 693–709.

OAXACA, R., AND M. RANSOM (1994): “On Discrimination and the Decomposition of Wage Differentials,” Journal of Econometrics, 61, 5–21.

ONADJA, Y., N. ATCHESSI, B. A. SOURA, C. ROSSIER, AND M.V. ZUNZUNEGUI (2013): “Gender differences in cognitive impairment and mobility disability in old age: A cross- sectional study in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso,” Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 57(3), 311–318.

OSTER, E. (2014): “Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence,” NBER Working Paper No. 19054.

PAL, S., AND R. PALACIOS (2011): “Understanding Poverty among the Elderly in India: Implications for Social Pension Policy,” Journal of Development Economics, 47(7), 1017–1037.

PANDE, R. (2003): “Selective Gender Differences in Childhood Nutrition and Immunization in Rural India: The Role of Siblings,” Demography, 40(3), 395–418.

PARISH, W., AND R. WILLIS (1993): “Daughters, Education, and Family Budgets: Taiwan Experiences,” Journal of Human Resources, 28(4), 863–898.

PAXSON, C., AND N. SCHADY (2007): “Cognitive Development among Young Children in Ecuador: The Roles of Wealth, Health, and Parenting,” Journal of Human Resources, 42(1), 49–84.

SCHMIDT, F. L., AND J. E. HUNTER (1998): “The Validity and Utility of Selection Methods in Personnel Psychology: Practical and Theoretical Implications of 85 Years of Research Findings,” Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262–274.

SCOMMEGNA, P. (2012): “Addressing India’s Nutrition Challenges,” Newsletter, National Institute of Aging.

SÉ́VERINE, S., A. ELBAZ, A. DUGRAVOT, J. HEAD, M. SHIPLEY, G. HAGGER-JOHNSON, M. KIVIMAKI, AND A. SINGH-MANOUX (2012): “Impact of Smoking on Cognitive Decline in Early Old Age: the Whitehall II Cohort Study,” Archives of General Psychiatry, 69(6), 627– 635.

SKIRBEKK, V. (2008): “Age and Productivity Capacity: Descriptions, Causes and Policy Options,” Ageing Horizons, 8, 4–12.

SPITZ-OENER, A. (2006): “Technical Change, Job Tasks, and Rising Educational Demands: Looking Outside the Wage Structure,” Labor Economics, 24(2), 235–270.

SUBRAMANIAN, S. V., L. K. ACKERSON, M. SUBRAMANYAM, AND K. SIVARAMAKRISHNAN (2008): “Health Inequalities in India: The Axes of Stratification,” Brown Journal of World Affairs, 14(2), 127–138.

VAN DEN BERG, G., M. LINDEBOOM, AND F. PORTRAIT (2006): “Economic Conditions Early in Life and Individual Mortality,” American Economic Review, 96, 290–302.

VIRTA, J., T. JÄRVENPAÄ, K. HEIKKILÄ, M. PEROLA, M. KOSKENVUO, I. RÄIHÄ, J. O. RINNE, AND J. KAPRIO (2010): “Midlife Alcohol Consumption and Later Risk of Cognitive Impairment: A Twin Follow-up Study,” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 22(3), 939–948.

WEBER, D., V. SKIRBEKKA, I. FREUND, AND A. HERLITZ (2013): “The changing face of cognitive gender differences in Europe,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(32), 11673–11678.

WEISS, E. M., G. KEMMLER, E. A. DEISENHAMMER, W. W. FLEISCHHACKER, AND M. DE-LAZER (2003): “Sex Differences in Cognitive Functions,” Personality and Individual Differences, 35(4), 863–875.

WHO (2014): “Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health (PHE),” Report, World Health Organization.

YOUNT, K. M. (2008): “Gender, Resources across the Life Course, and Cognitive Functioning in Egypt,” Demography, 45(4), 907–926.

ZHANG, Z. (2006): “Gender Differentials in Cognitive Impairment and Decline of the Oldest Old in China,” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B, 61(2), S107–S115.

ZHANG, Z., D. GU, AND M. HAYWARD (2008): “Early life Influences on Cognitive Impairment Among Oldest Old Chinese,” Journal of Gerontology, 63B(1), S25–S33.

ZUNZUNEGUI, M., B. ALVARADO, F. BELAND, AND B.VISSANDJEE (2009): “Explaining health differences between men and women in later life: A cross-city comparison in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Social Science and Medicine, 68, 235–242.