Mesbah Sharaf publishes new study "Does income inequality increase violence against women?

Violence against women is a violation of fundamental human rights and a global health problem with severe adverse consequences on women and children. Although the literature is rich in studies on the determinants of violence against women, little attention has been given to the potential impact of income inequality on violence against women. In his paper "Does Income Inequality Increase Violence Against Women? An Instrumental Variable Approach" published in The European Journal of Development Research Dr. Mesbah Sharaf and his coauthors Ahmed Rashad (Government of Dubai) and El-Hussien Mansour (City University of New York ), investigate the impact of the state income inequality on violence against women in India, a country where violence against women one of the highest in the world. The study uses data on a nationally representative sample of 69,704 women from the third National Family Health Survey for India, conducted in 2005-2006. To estimate the causal impact of economic inequality on violence against women and avoid endogeneity, the study uses an instrumental variable approach. Results of the simple standard regression models find that state income inequality increases intimate partner violence as well as violence by anyone other than her partner. When tackling the endogeneity issue, the findings suggest that income inequality increases the risk of violence by anyone other than the partner, but it did not increase the risk of spousal violence.
Professor Sharaf's study is also available as a Department of Economics working paper: Income Inequality and Violence Against Women: Evidence from India
Dr. Mesbah Sharaf is a Full Teaching Professor in the Dept. of Economics at UofA. He obtained his PhD. in Economics at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec. His research areas are Development, Health, and Population Economics.