MISSING WOMEN RECONSIDERED

One way to assess the magnitude of women's survival disadvantage in parts of the developing world is to estimate the number of ''missing women'' that died as a result of excess female mortality. Sen and Coale provided two such estimates of ''missing women.'' This paper compares and evaluates these two estimates and suggests modifications to arrive at a closer approximation of the size of women's survival disadvantage. The number and regional distribution of ''missing women'' implied by these modified calculations is supported by other available demographic and economic data on gender discrimination.