The article mentions that this is balanced by the longer life spans of women leading to an overall average of very, very near 50/50 (other factors aside).
Indeed. But if we now return to this global finding, then the assumptions change. What if, globally (not just in "most industrialized countries") there is a bias toward conception producing males (because, say, it is a biological given), yet the compensating factors (longevity of women) do not hold.
