Determinants of Fertility in the Long Run

Abstract

This study investigates the determinants of fertility using a panel data set for 43 countries from 1900 to 2010 at five-year intervals. The regression results show that fertility increases with infant mortality and national disasters and decreases with total years of educational attainment and political development. Fertility rates fall initially and then rise with an increase in income. Average years of schooling of females has a significantly negative effect on fertility rates, whereas that of males are statistically insignificant. A woman’s educational attainment at the primary and secondary levels has a pronounced negative effect on fertility rates. On the contrary, an increase in a woman’s tertiary educational attainment, with the level of a man’s remaining constant, tends to raise fertility rates, particularly in advanced countries, indicating that highly educated women can have a better environment for childrearing in a society with greater gender equality.