The economics of international child adoption: An analysis of adoptions by U.S. parents

•A theoretical model of child adoption is developed.•A panel of U.S. adoptions from 178 countries is analyzed.•We use Tobit regressions.•Household income and size at source have positive effects. The paper develops a two-period model of international child adoption by considering decision-making by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Quarterly review of economics and finance 2017-05, Vol.64, p.22-31
Main Authors: Khun, Channary, Lahiri, Sajal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adoptions in the U.S
Child adoption
International adoptions
Welfare
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Summary:•A theoretical model of child adoption is developed.•A panel of U.S. adoptions from 178 countries is analyzed.•We use Tobit regressions.•Household income and size at source have positive effects. The paper develops a two-period model of international child adoption by considering decision-making by a poor household and derive a number of testable predictions: the negative effect of income and the positive effect of household size on adoption. We provide supporting evidence based on a panel of U.S. adoptions from 178 countries during the last three decades. Our findings suggest that, on average, a one hundred-dollar increase in real per capita income in a sending nation reduces U.S. adoptions by three cases while a ten-million increase in child population raises adoptions by 18 cases.
ISSN:1062-9769
1878-4259
DOI:10.1016/j.qref.2016.07.001