Theories of fertility, including macrolevel theories, microeconomic theories, and the more recent structural and community-level approaches are described and compared. A theory consists of a series of statements about the relationship between clearly defined variables. Fertility theories seek to describe the major influences affecting fertility. The Microeconomic Household Theory of Fertility. Development Economics. The Causes of High Fertility in Developing Countries. University of.

Micro-economic theories of fertility (English) Abstract This paper presents economic models of household behaviour to clarify the normative and predictive implications of so-called economic theories of fertility. Three models are studied.

The first two, of the simple type, on which cost-benefit analyses of. This paper presents economic models of household behaviour to clarify the normative and predictive implications of so-called economic theories of fertility. Three models are studied. The first two, of the simple type, on which cost-benefit analyses of population programs are usually based, assume that the welfare function of the household is dependent only on the consumption level and independent of the family size. One of the models considers only consumption level of parents while the other includes also the consumption level of children. Both models are subject to the financial constraint that the consumption level is equal to the earnings of parents and children.

The conclusion in both of these models is that family size will increase to the point in which the marginal net benefit of a child is equal or very close to zero. The evidence suggests that for developed countries, at least, this prediction is not correct. A more general model in which the welfare function is not dependent only on the consumption level, but also on family size and which is more consistent with observed behaviour does not yield computable cost-benefit criteria.

• Author REPETTO, R.; • Document Date 1973/07/31 • Document Type Staff Working Paper • Report Number SWP159 • Volume No 1 • Total Volume(s) 1 • Disclosure Date 2010/07/01 • Doc Name Micro-economic theories of fertility • Keywords family size;analysis of variance;ideal family size;consumption level;economic discrimination;age at marriage;human capital formation;cost of education;propensity to consume.