Sexual Freedom, Fertility, and Time Preferences: Panel Data Analysis From 1960 to 2010

Feler Bose and Jeffry Jacob

The American Economist, 2025, vol. 70, issue 2, 238-250

Abstract: Standard economic theory offers a demand-and-supply view of fertility. With increasing economic development, higher income levels, dropping mortality rates, and increases in education levels resulting in increased female labor force participation, there is a decreased demand for children. These determinants of fertility could also be seen as “backward-looking†determinants since they deal with variables that have already happened to the person. Another theory for explaining decreased fertility could be the time preference theory, which is a “forward-looking†variable based on a person’s future expectations. Sexual freedom is seen as a measure of time preference and is expected to affect fertility. For this reason, we will study the impact of increasing sexual freedom on fertility, controlling for various state-level characteristics. To control for endogeneity between fertility and other explanatory variables, we will use fixed effects instrumental variable estimation.

Keywords: Sexual Freedom Index; panel data analysis; fertility; time preferences; citizen ideology; Sorokin thesis; K36; K42; K49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:amerec:v:70:y:2025:i:2:p:238-250

DOI: 10.1177/05694345241311552

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