What Explains fertility? Evidence from Italian pension reforms

Francesco Billari and Vincenzo Galasso

No 343, Working Papers from IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University

Abstract: Why do people have kids in developed societies? We propose an empirical test of two alternative theories — children as “consumption” vs. “investment” good. We use as a natural experiment the Italian pension reforms of the 90s that introduced a clear discontinuity in the treatment across workers. This policy experiment is particularly well suited, since the “consumption” motive predicts lower future pensions to reduce fertility, while the “old-age security” to increase it. Our empirical analysis identifies a clear and robust positive effect of less generous future pensions on post-reform fertility. These findings are consistent with “old-age security” even for contemporary fertility.

Date: 2008
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Related works:
Working Paper: What explains fertilit? Evidence from Italian Pension reforms (2010)
Working Paper: What Explains Fertility? Evidence from Italian Pension Reforms (2009)
Working Paper: What explains fertility? Evidence from Italian pension reforms (2009)
Working Paper: What Explains Fertility? Evidence from Italian Pension Reforms (2008)
Working Paper: What Explains Fertility? Evidence from Italian Pension Reforms (2008)
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