Socio-economic and cultural factors affecting fertility : a replication of Easterlin and Crimmins

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1988

Authors

Wu, Zheng

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Abstract

Earlier theoretical and empirical work showed that there is little consensus on a single theory of human fertility behavior. In 1983, Easterlin advanced a syn­thetic framework for explaining the socio-economic and cultural impact on fertili­ty control and fertility via three intervening variables: demand for children, sup­ply of children and costs of fertility control. In 1985 the model was tested with the World Fertility Survey (WFS) data for Sri Lanka and Colombia. The current study is a replication of the test of Easterlin's model with the use of the WFS data for South Korea. A total of 1,572 South Korean women were included in the anal­ysis. In keeping with Easterlin and Crimmins' work, similar statistical modeling and operationalization procedures were employed. Multiple regression was the major statistical method used in the data analysis. The test of the Easterlin model went through three inter-connected stages. In stage 1, the model attempts to clarify the linkages between cultural and modern­ization variables on the one hand, and demand, supply and costs of fertility control on the other. In stage 2, the model looks at the effects of women's motivation for fertility control and costs of fertility control upon the duration of contracep­tive usage. In stage 3, the model focuses on the explanation of observed fertility through a "proximate determinants" approach, as advanced by Bongaarts (1978). The findings of this study provided weak support for the stage 1 analysis and moderately strong support for the other two. It was concluded that more work needed to be done to improve the linkages in stage 1 of the Easterlin model, and that the model needed further empirical testing.

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