Dowry Deaths: Consumption Smoothing in Response to Climate Variability in India

We examine the eect of rainfall shocks on crimes against women using data from 583 Indian districts for 2002-2007. We nd that a one standard deviation decline in annual rainfall from the local mean increases reported domestic violence by 4.4 percent and dowry deaths by 7.8 percent. Wet shocks have no apparent eect. These patterns are consistent with consumption smoothing by households relying on agriculture, but inconsistent with hypotheses emphasizing general unrest. Women's political representation in the national parliament has no apparent mitigating eect.