Development, Modernization, and Childbearing
Does the sex composition of existing children in a family affect fertility behavior? An unusually large data set, covering 64 countries and some 5 million births, is used to show that fertility behavior responds to the presence—or absence—of sons in many regions of the developing world. The response...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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World Bank
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4507 |
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okr-10986-45072021-04-23T14:02:18Z Development, Modernization, and Childbearing Filmer, Deon Friedman, Jed Schady, Norbert childbearing discrimination excess mortality family preference fertility fertility behavior fertility levels human capital immunization inheritance larger families modernization nutrition old age preference for sons reproductive health rural communities sex son preference urbanization Does the sex composition of existing children in a family affect fertility behavior? An unusually large data set, covering 64 countries and some 5 million births, is used to show that fertility behavior responds to the presence—or absence—of sons in many regions of the developing world. The response to the absence of sons is particularly large in Central Asia and South Asia. Modernization does not appear to reduce this differential response. For example, in South Asia the fertility response to the absence of sons is larger for women with more education and has been increasing over time. The explanation appears to be that a latent demand for sons is more likely to manifest itself when fertility levels are low. As a result of this differential fertility behavior, girls tend to grow up with significantly more siblings than do boys, with potential implications for their well-being when quantity–quality tradeoffs result in fewer material and emotional resources allocated to children in larger families. 2012-03-30T07:12:38Z 2012-03-30T07:12:38Z 2009-11-30 Journal Article World Bank Economic Review 1564-698X http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4507 CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank Journal Article Africa India |
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Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| topic |
childbearing discrimination excess mortality family preference fertility fertility behavior fertility levels human capital immunization inheritance larger families modernization nutrition old age preference for sons reproductive health rural communities sex son preference urbanization |
| spellingShingle |
childbearing discrimination excess mortality family preference fertility fertility behavior fertility levels human capital immunization inheritance larger families modernization nutrition old age preference for sons reproductive health rural communities sex son preference urbanization Filmer, Deon Friedman, Jed Schady, Norbert Development, Modernization, and Childbearing |
| geographic_facet |
Africa India |
| description |
Does the sex composition of existing children in a family affect fertility behavior? An unusually large data set, covering 64 countries and some 5 million births, is used to show that fertility behavior responds to the presence—or absence—of sons in many regions of the developing world. The response to the absence of sons is particularly large in Central Asia and South Asia. Modernization does not appear to reduce this differential response. For example, in South Asia the fertility response to the absence of sons is larger for women with more education and has been increasing over time. The explanation appears to be that a latent demand for sons is more likely to manifest itself when fertility levels are low. As a result of this differential fertility behavior, girls tend to grow up with significantly more siblings than do boys, with potential implications for their well-being when quantity–quality tradeoffs result in fewer material and emotional resources allocated to children in larger families. |
| format |
Journal Article |
| author |
Filmer, Deon Friedman, Jed Schady, Norbert |
| author_facet |
Filmer, Deon Friedman, Jed Schady, Norbert |
| author_sort |
Filmer, Deon |
| title |
Development, Modernization, and Childbearing |
| title_short |
Development, Modernization, and Childbearing |
| title_full |
Development, Modernization, and Childbearing |
| title_fullStr |
Development, Modernization, and Childbearing |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Development, Modernization, and Childbearing |
| title_sort |
development, modernization, and childbearing |
| publisher |
World Bank |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4507 |
| _version_ |
1764391667787366400 |