Do cattle slaughter bans during early life affect anemia decades later?

Do cattle slaughter bans during early life affect anemia decades later? We exploit an ongoing natural experiment from the rollout of legislation banning cow slaughter across states in India to study the long-term effect of disruptions in red meat intake during pregnancy on the next generation. Reduced consumption of iron rich animal proteins is likely to be particularly harmful for pregnant women, who have a significantly greater need for iron. Indian women in particular may be most vulnerable, as over 50% of Indian women suffer from at least mild to moderate anemia. Using a triple difference-in-difference strategy which exploits variation across religious and caste groups which do and do not consume beef and time (cohort) variation in implementation of laws over more than 40 years from time of 1950s to 1990s in different states of India, we find that overall, women exposed to cow slaughter bans in their year of birth have lower levels of hemoglobin (Hb) and are up to 10% more likely to be anemic in their prime reproductive ages between 15 and 35, particularly those who have not completed primary schooling or who come from poorer families. We use data from a nationally representative survey—India’s DHS 2005-2006—for this purpose. These impacts are evident in our triple difference-in-difference models and are robust to the inclusion of linear state specific time trends and an array of SES variables including own and partner’s education and a wealth index. We find no similar effects for men. This is consistent with gender discrimination in parental investment in response to early life insults. For robustness we explore a range of similar policies likely to restrict red meat consumption: beef sale bans, beef possession bans, export of beef bans and buffalo/bull slaughter bans, which may restrict beef consumption among the beef consuming groups and find evidence in support of our findings. To explore early life mechanisms, we use data from the National Sample Survey (NSS) and find evidence of reduced red meat consumption. We rationalize these findings in the context of technologies of health formation over the life course. We conclude that cow slaughter bans can have long-term harmful effects, particularly for women of reproductive age among minorities which historically consume beef (scheduled caste Hindus, Christian and Muslims in particular). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to document the long-term harmful health effects of cattle slaughter bans in India. 1 We would like to thank Philip Keefer, Gustavo Torrens, Atheendar Venkataramani, Lee and Alexandra Benham, Rossella Calvi, Rakesh Banerjee, and participants at the Ronald Coase Institute Workshop on Institutional Analysis, 13th Annual Conference on Economic Growth and Development at ISI Delhi, Second Annual Population 2 Department of Economics, Ashoka University. Email: aparajita.dasgupta@ashoka.edu. in 3 Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005. Email: farhan.majid@rice.edu 4 Department of Economics, Accounting, & Finance, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899. Email: wafa.orman@uah.edu