Cutting fertility? Effects of cesarean deliveries on subsequent fertility and maternal labor supply

Martin Halla, Harald Mayr, Gerald Pruckner and Pilar Garcia-Gomez

Journal of Health Economics, 2020, vol. 72, issue C

Abstract: Despite the growing incidence of cesarean deliveries (CDs), procedure costs and benefits continue to be controversially discussed. In this study, we identify the effects of CDs on subsequent fertility and maternal labor supply by exploiting the fact that obstetricians are less likely to undertake CDs on weekends and public holidays and have a greater incentive to perform them on Fridays and days preceding public holidays. To do so, we adopt high-quality administrative data from Austria. Women giving birth on different days of the week are pre-treatment observationally identical. Our instrumental variable estimates show that a non-planned CD at parity 0 decreases lifecycle fertility by almost 13.6%. This reduction in fertility translates into a temporary increase in maternal employment.

Keywords: Cesarean delivery; Cesarean section; Fertility; Female labor supply (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J11 J13 J21 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Cutting Fertility? The Effect of Cesarean Deliveries on Subsequent Fertility and Maternal Labor Supply (2016)
Working Paper: Cutting Fertility? The Effect of Cesarean Deliveries on Subsequent Fertility and Maternal Labor Supply (2016)
Working Paper: Cutting Fertility? The Effect of Cesarean Deliveries on Subsequent Fertility and Maternal Labor Supply (2016)
Working Paper: Cutting Fertility? The Effect of Cesarean Deliveries on Subsequent Fertility and Maternal Labor Supply (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:72:y:2020:i:c:s0167629619303571

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2020.102325

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