Zur Bedeutung sozialen Kapitals für Fertilitätsentscheidungen: theoretische und empirische Darstellungen am Beispiel Bulgariens

Christoph Bühler and Dimiter Philipov
Additional contact information
Christoph Bühler: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
Dimiter Philipov: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

No WP-2004-024, MPIDR Working Papers from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

Abstract: Models on the impact of social networks on reproductive behavior primarily address processes of interpersonal influence on fertility related values and utility perceptions and consider aspects of social support and social capital only to a small extend. On the basis of an exchange theoretical definition of social capital it is argued that general resources like money, time, or active help generate social capital that is relevant for fertility decisions, because they help to reduce the costs of having children and stabilize the economic situation of a household. Data from 2002 on the fertility intentions of 2,016 Bulgarian women support this association. The availability of supportive resources has a positive impact on women’s intentions to have a second or third child. However, the availability of these resources does not significantly matter for the intended timing of birth. The embeddedness in kin-based exchange systems of indirect reciprocity also positively influence women’s fertility intentions. This result also highlights the significance of parents as sources of intergenerational transfers and support. (Keywords: Social capital, fertility, Bulgaria, exchange theory, reciprocity)

Keywords: Bulgaria; fertility determinants; social capital; social network (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2004
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-net and nep-soc
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2004-024.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2004-024

DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2004-024

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in MPIDR Working Papers from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Wilhelm ().