nep-cna 2010-06-04 papers

on China

Issue of 2010‒06‒04
one paper chosen by
Zheng Fang
Ohio State University

Female Employment and Fertility in Rural China By Fang, Hai; Eggleston, Karen N.; Rizzo, John A.; Zeckhauser, Richard

Female Employment and Fertility in Rural China

By:	Fang, Hai (U CO, Denver); Eggleston, Karen N. (Walter H Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford U); Rizzo, John A. (Stony Brook U, SUNY); Zeckhauser, Richard (Harvard U)
Abstract:	Data on 2,288 married women from the 2006 China Health and Nutrition Survey are deployed to study how off-farm female employment affects fertility. Such employment reduces a married woman's actual number of children by 0.64, her preferred number by 0.48, and her probability of having more than one child by 54.8 percent. Causality flows in both directions; hence, we use well validated instrumental variables to estimate employment status. China has deep concerns with both female employment and population size. Moreover, female employment is growing quickly. Hence, its implications for fertility must be understood. Ramifications for China's one-child policy are discussed.
JEL:	J13 J18 O15
Date:	2010–03
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp10-011&r=cna

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