Abstract
AbstractReproductive externalities are important for fertility behavior in Kenya. We identify from anthropology structural forms of social interaction operating across individuals belonging to different ethnic and religious groups on the number of children ever born. We use the 1998 Demographic and Health Survey, combined with primary meteorological data on Kenya, and GMM methods, to show that social interaction effects by ethnicity are important over and above an individual's characteristics such as their religion to explain variations in fertility. Our findings have implications for policy debates in Kenya and in other developing countries about ethnic, religious, and other differences in fertility behavior.
Highlights
Both economists and demographers examine the balance between economic and non-economic factors in orchestrating a fertility transition, as witnessed in historical European populations and in some East Asian economies over relatively short periods of time
Classic studies of fertility such as the Princeton Fertility Project highlight that the transition to low fertility in historical European populations occurred in a variety of socio-economic and institutional contexts, with a significant role being played by the local social environment [Coale and Watkins (1986), Federici et al (1993)]
These empirical findings have led many economists to focus on modeling the influence of social interactions on contemporary fertility transitions [Durlauf and Walker (1999), Manski and Mayshar (2002)] and on the reproductive externalities and coordination failures associated with fertility behavior per se [Dasgupta (2000), Kohler (2001), Iyer and Velu (2006)]
Summary
Both economists and demographers examine the balance between economic and non-economic factors in orchestrating a fertility transition, as witnessed in historical European populations and in some East Asian economies over relatively short periods of time. Important previous studies which have examined the fertility rates and education in Africa have highlighted the significance of social interactions in Kenya [Behrman et al (2002), Kravdal (2002), Rutenberg and Cotts-Watkins (1997)]. In line with these studies, we conceive of the fertility of a Kenyan woman to be influenced by a range of factors such as her individual characteristics and the characteristics of the household to which she belongs.
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