The cost of crime against women: An economist's perspective a year after the Nirbhaya incident

Abstract

A year ago India had the tryst with Nirbhaya. While much light was shone on that incident, heinous instances continue to pour regularly from all corners of the country. Crime against women is not restricted to daily instances but casts a long shadow on the adverse sex ratio. It is very tragic to note that even mothers have shown preferences for sons (Pande and Malhotra, 2006) and thereby contributed to the adverse sex ratio, prevalent now for centuries in North India.

In the modern world, in addition to sociological and humanitarian reasons, crime against women has economic implications. There is substantial research, especially in the OECD countries showing that gender equality, particularly in education and employment, contributes to economic growth. Empirical evidence suggests that women are more responsible in financial and monetary matters, an assumption serving as a bed-rock of the micro finance movement and self-help groups, not just in India but across the world. Recently a study by Tax Spanner concluded that women are better tax planners than men in India. Another case study in Italy by Barbara Kastlunger (2010) showed that women were more tax compliant than men. Unfortunately, according to Robert McGee (2012), that may not be true for India. Read more at: https://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131216/edit.htm#3