Family Theory: Economics of Childbearing
Economic theories of childbearing relate decisionsabout family size and the timing of births over people’slives to elements of the constraints on choice thatpeople face, particularly prices and incomes. Thisarticle presents the basic concepts and approachesused in these theories, dis...
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| Format: | Book section |
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Elsevier
2001
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| Summary: | Economic theories of childbearing relate decisionsabout family size and the timing of births over people’slives to elements of the constraints on choice thatpeople face, particularly prices and incomes. Thisarticle presents the basic concepts and approachesused in these theories, discusses their main lines ofargument and summarizes some of their empiricalimplications. It first examines ‘static’ theories ofcompleted family size and then discusses dynamictheories of the timing of childbearing. While mainlyconcerned with theories of marital fertility, it con-cludes with a discussion of nonmarital fertility. |
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