Value of children and fertility: Results from a cross-cultural comparative survey in eighteen areas in Asia, Africa, Europe and America

For explaining cross-cultural differences in fertility behavior, this paper conjoins three complementary approaches: the 'demand'-based economic theory of fertility (ETF), a revised version of the 'supply'-based 'value-of-children' (VOC)-approach as a special theory of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in life course research 2014-09, Vol.21, p.135-148
Main Author: Nauck, Bernhard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Birth Rate
Child, Preschool
Children
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Crosscultural Differences
Decisions
Developing Countries - economics
Family Characteristics
Female
Fertility
Global Health - economics
Humans
Latent Structure Analysis
Middle Aged
Proportional Hazards Models
Rationality
Reproductive Behavior
Social Theories
Social Theory
Socioeconomic Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States of America
Values
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Summary:For explaining cross-cultural differences in fertility behavior, this paper conjoins three complementary approaches: the 'demand'-based economic theory of fertility (ETF), a revised version of the 'supply'-based 'value-of-children' (VOC)-approach as a special theory of the general social theory of social production functions and the framing theory of variable rationality. A comprehensive model is specified that encompasses the variable efficiency of having children for the optimization of physical well-being and of social esteem of (potential) parents; it also accounts for the variable rationality of fertility decisions. The model is tested with a data set that comprises information on VOC and fertility of women within the social settings of 18 areas (Peoples Republic of China, North and South India, Indonesia, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, Ghana, South Africa, East and West Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Russia, Poland, Estonia, the United States and Jamaica). Latent class analysis is used to establish a measurement model for the costs and benefits of children and to analyze area differences by a two-level multinomial-model. Two-level Cox-regressions are used to estimate the effects of perceived costs and benefits of children, individual resources and context opportunities, with births of different parity as dependents. This simultaneous test in a cross-cultural context goes beyond the current state of fertility research and provides evidence about the cross-cultural validity of the model, the systematic effects of VOC on fertility and the changing rationality of fertility decisions during demographic transition and socio-economic change.
ISSN:1569-4909
1040-2608
1879-6974
DOI:10.1016/j.alcr.2014.01.004