Explaining International Fertility Differences
نویسندگان
چکیده
Why do fertility rates vary so much across countries? Why are European fertility rates so much lower than American fertility rates? To answer these questions we extend the Becker-Barro framework to incorporate the decision to accumulate human capital (that determines earnings) and health capital (that determines life expectancy). We find that crosscountry differences in productivity and taxes can explain the observed differences in fertility and mortality. ∗We thank NSF for financial support.
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