Summer 2011 issue 12

Editorial

China and India recently announced their census findings for 2010/11. Both nations show a continuing imbalance in the sex ratio at birth. In China, 118 boys are being born for every 100 girls, up from 116 in 2000. In India, 109 boys are being born for every 100 girls, up from 108 in 2000.This is despite steady economic growth in both nations over the past decade and despite both countries’ governments legislating against sex selective abortion.

This issue of Research in Public Policy features articles from a recent CMPO conference on sex selection and the interplay of technological and economic change. Collectively, the articles provide a fascinating – if rather grim – insight into the way in which son preference is manifested at different stages pre- and post-birth in a number of Asian countries.

The biological theme continues with two pieces on how genetic information can be exploited to identify the effect of an individual’s height,weight and other physical characteristics on key socioeconomic outcomes.This is a new and exciting area of interdisciplinary research that CMPO researchers are pushing forward together with colleagues in the School of Social and Community Medicine, exploiting the wealth of information that is available in the Bristol-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

There are also articles on long-term trends in charitable giving in the UK, on how the publication of school league tables affects pupil performance and on ethnic segregation in schools, focusing on Oldham ten years after the riots of 2001.

Helen Simpson and Sarah Smith

Research in Public Policy Summer 2011