Economic and Fertility Policies in an Era of Globalization: A Comparison of Ireland and Singapore

Abstract

Human resource policies are critical to the success of small economies that have adopted economic growth policies based on low corporate taxation and the attraction of foreign capital. This paper seeks to assess the balance of economic and political considerations that have driven human resource policies in Ireland and Singapore, two island-nations of similarly small size and high degree of integration with the global economy. I examine the political histories of reproductive policies in the two countries before and after the implementation of a trade liberalization strategy to determine the extent to which they have been subordinated to the functional requirements of that economic model. The evidence indicates that economic pressures on reproductive policies are evident in the two cases, but that these policies have not been uniformly adapted to meet the functional requirements of the economic model. I argue that reproductive policies are more decisively shaped by three political variables: dominant party consolidation, nation-building, and interest group politics. My analysis reveals a range of adaptation processes and outcomes in terms of the degree to which reproductive policies have met the requirements of an open economy with implications for fertility rates and female labor force participation.