State policies over time in India may have led to significant differences by sex in population health and cognition. In this paper, we use data from the pilot wave of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India, conducted in Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, and Rajasthan, to examine state variations in health, educational attainment, and male preference, and how these variations contribute to gender differences in late-life cognition in India. We find men and women born in Punjab are taller than those elsewhere, but do not find any gender differences in height across states with differential male preference. We do find a significant gap in educational attainment that correlates with male preference. We find paternal education benefits both sons and daughters, while maternal education contributes to daughters' educational attainment. Finally, we find that paternal education benefits daughters' late-life cognition, while maternal education benefits sons' late-life cognition, and that children's education has positive association with older adults' cognitive functioning as well.
Keywords: India; generational effects; late-life cognition; regional disparities; son preference.