fertility in developing countries
From The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Second Edition, 2008
Edited by
Steven
N.
Durlauf
and
Lawrence
E.
Blume
Back to top
Back to top
Abstract
The associations between fertility and outcomes in the family and society have been treated as causal, but this is inaccurate if fertility is a choice coordinated by families with other life-cycle decisions, including labour supply of mothers and children, child human capital, and savings. Estimating how exogenous changes in fertility that are uncorrelated with preferences or constraints affect others depends on our specifying a valid instrumental variable for fertility. Twins have served as such an instrument and confirm that the cross-effects of fertility estimated on the basis of this instrument are smaller in absolute value than their associations.
Keywords
aging and retirement; birth control; capital accumulation; child care; child labour; child mortality; collective models of the household; comparative advantage; demographic transition; economic growth; family planning; fertility in developing countries; Heckscher, E. F.; home production; human capital; life-cycle savings; Malthus, T. R.; microcredit; mortality; overpopulation; Poor Law; population growth; precautionary insurance; time use; value of time; women's work and wages
Back to top
Back to top
See Also
How to cite this article
Schultz, T. Paul. "fertility in developing countries." The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Second Edition. Eds. Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online. Palgrave Macmillan. 19 May 2013 <http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_F000287> doi:10.1057/9780230226203.0560

Bookmark
Print
Add to Delicious
