Parental Investment in Offspring

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The answer to the question of whether parents invest more resources in their male or female offspring is a topic that is likely to vary from one culture to another. It is very common for adults (parent or caregivers) to have a favorite child in the family. Often, the favorite child may be less effective at school and have no extraordinary skills to be proud of for parents. Good parenting requires all children to be loved to the same extent (Lee & Lee, 2011). However, parents tend to love and favor certain children because of their school performances, their social activities, or even their gender. Parents seem to favor the boy child and, in most cases, he gets all the best things as compared to what the girl gets (Barber, 2008). Some are even taken to better schools, while girls always come as the second choice (Deaton, 1989). At the same time, the fact that allocation of commodities in the household may be gender-oriented in some ethnic groups makes girls less favored (Deaton, 1989, p. 1). Categorically, a study on parental investment with a balance between male and female offsprings conducted in a different location would have different results. Research hypothesis of the current research focuses on whether parents tend to invest more resources in offspring of male gender; whether parents favor boys over girls; and whether favoritism results in gender-oriented allocation of commodities in the household or not.
Allocation of commodities
A World Bank Policy Report (2001) stated that some parents perceive investment in a girl as the one that would yield lower returns, compared to investing in a boy. This happens because boys are more likely to earn more and provide financial assistance to the family (parents or other caregivers) ...

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...(1989). Looking for boy-girl discrimination in household expenditure data. The World Bank Economic Review, 3(1), 1-15.
Healey, J. (2009). Gender equality. Thirroul, N.S.W: Spinney Press.
Lee, N., & Lee, S. (2011). The parenting book. Oxford: Lion.
Packer, C., & Pusey, A. E. (1997). Divided we fall: Cooperation among lions. Scientific American, 276, 52-59. Retrieved from http://www.zo.utexas.edu/courses/kalthoff/bio301c/readings/17Packer_Pusey.pdf
Pillemer, K., Suitor, J. J., Pardo, S., & Henderson, C. (2010). Mothers' differentiation and depressive symptoms among adult children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(2), 333-335. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.2010.72.issue-2/issuetoc
World Bank Policy Report. (2001). Engendering development: Through gender equality in rights, resources, and voice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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