ERIC Number: EJ860599
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-166X
EISSN: N/A
Testing the External Effect of Household Behavior: The Case of the Demand for Children
Li, Hongbin; Zhang, Junsen
Journal of Human Resources, v44 n4 p890-915 Fall 2009
This paper tests the external effect of household childbearing behavior by drawing on microfertility data from China. The test is executed by regressing one woman's fertility on the average fertility of neighboring women. China's unique affirmative birth control policy provides us with quasi-experimental fertility variation that facilities identification. We present two identification methods: (1) Testing the external effect from the dominant Han Chinese on minority women by using the fertility fine as an instrumental variable; and (2) identifying the external effect using an instrumental variable that is based on the difference-in-differences. We find that fertility has a large external effect. (Contains 6 tables and 23 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Neighborhoods, Testing, Social Influences, Birth Rate, Public Policy, Supply and Demand, Children, Pregnancy, Identification, Educational Attainment
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A