EXPLAINING INTERNATIONAL FERTILITY DIFFERENCES

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Manuelli, Rodolfo E.; Seshadri, Ananth
• 署名单位: Washington University (WUSTL); University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1162/qjec.2009.124.2.771
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 771-807
• 关键词: economic-growth; intertemporal substitution; risk-aversion; mortality; consumption; lifetime; decline; CHOICE; income

摘要

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 Barro-Becker framework to incorporate the decision to accumulate human capital (which determines earnings) and health capital (which determines life span). We find that cross-country differences in productivity and taxes go a long way toward explaining the observed differences in fertility and mortality.