Gender Norms and the Quantity–Quality Tradeoff*

Matthew Collins, Eleonora Guarnieri and Helmut Rainer

Bristol Economics Discussion Papers from School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK

Abstract: Why does the quantity-quality tradeoff operate in some societies but not others? We study this question using the staggered introduction of free primary education (FPE) in sub-Saharan Africa, which lowered the cost of investing in children’s human capital. Exploiting within-ethnicity variation, we find that FPE reduces fertility and improves child survival and school enrollment, but only among ethnic groups with gender-egalitarian norms. We provide evidence that FPE strengthens women’s empowerment, predominantly among those gender-egalitarian groups. A simple conceptual framework shows that lower schooling costs create incentives to reduce fertility, while prevailing gender norms determine whether households act on those incentives.

Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro, nep-mid and nep-soc
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bri:uobdis:26/850

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