Growth and Childbearing in the Short- and Long-Run

Shoumitro Chatterjee and Tom Vogl

No 23000, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Despite being key to theories of economic growth and the demographic transition, evidence on how fertility responds to aggregate income change is mixed. We analyze economic growth and fertility change in the developing world over six decades, using data on 2.3 million women from 255 surveys in 81 countries. We find that fertility responds differently to fluctuations and long-run growth, and the nature of these responses varies over the lifecycle. Fertility is procyclical, falling during recessions, but also declines with long-run growth. Lifetime fertility is affected by fluctuations near the end of the reproductive period but not those at prime reproductive age. Our results are consistent with models linking demography, human capital, and long-run growth, extended to include a lifecycle with liquidity constraints.

JEL-codes: E32 J13 O47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro, nep-his and nep-mac
Note: CH DEV EFG
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Growth and Childbearing in the Short- and Long-Run (2018)
Working Paper: Growth and Childbearing in the Short-and Long-Run (2016)
Working Paper: Growth and Childbearing in the Short- and Long-Run (2016)
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