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Politics and Female Sterilization in Northeast Brazil

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  • André J. Caetano
  • Joseph E. Potter

Abstract

Brazilian fertility has fallen rapidly in the last three decades, even in the Northeast, the country's poorest region. Female sterilization has become the most common contraceptive method in this region, where 44 percent of married women aged 15–49 years were sterilized as of 1996. While in other regions sterilizations were generally paid for by the patient, politicians and physicians arranged and paid for the large majority of these surgical procedures in the Northeast. The authors present evidence that this phenomenon is the result of the use of sterilization as an electoral good by politicians and physicians in local contexts where politicians regularly provide goods and services to the poor in exchange for votes. This systemic behavior seems to have been little affected by 1997 legislation that regulated family planning, made sterilization legal, and was intended to increase the use of other methods of contraception.

Suggested Citation

  • André J. Caetano & Joseph E. Potter, 2004. "Politics and Female Sterilization in Northeast Brazil," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(1), pages 79-108, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:30:y:2004:i:1:p:79-108
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2004.00004.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. André Medici, 2002. "El desafío de la descentralización: Financiamiento público de la salud en Brasil," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 32178, February.
    2. Medici, André, 2002. "El desafío de la descentralización: Financiamiento público de la salud en Brasil," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 290.
    3. repec:idb:brikps:32178 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Andrés F. Castro Torres, 2020. "Analysis of Latin American fertility change in terms of probable social classes," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-001, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Hopkins, Kristine & Maria Barbosa, Regina & Riva Knauth, Daniela & Potter, Joseph E., 2005. "The impact of health care providers on female sterilization among HIV-positive women in Brazil," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 541-554, August.
    3. Alexander M. Danzer & Lennard Zyska, 2023. "Pensions and Fertility: Microeconomic Evidence," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 126-165, May.
    4. Amaral, Ernesto F. L. & Potter, Joseph E, 2018. "Factors associated with female sterilization in Brazil," OSF Preprints bd4ra, Center for Open Science.
    5. Ernesto F. L. Amaral, 2015. "Profile of Female Sterilization in Brazil, 2001—2006," Working Papers WR-1092-1, RAND Corporation.
    6. Ernesto F. L. Amaral, 2019. "Profile of Female Sterilization in Brazil," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-15, September.
    7. Ewa Batyra & Tiziana Leone & Mikko Myrskylä, 2021. "Forecasting of cohort fertility by educational level in countries with limited data availability: the case of Brazil," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2021-011, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    8. Ernesto F. L. Amaral & Joseph E. Potter, 2015. "Determinants of Female Sterilization in Brazil, 2001-2007," Working Papers WR-1093, RAND Corporation.
    9. Batyra, Ewa & Leone, Tiziana & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2022. "Forecasting of cohort fertility by educational level in countries with limited data availability: the case of Brazil," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 116627, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Amaral, Ernesto F. L., 2019. "Profile of female sterilization in Brazil," OSF Preprints qt3w2, Center for Open Science.
    11. Andrés Felipe Castro Torres, 2021. "Analysis of Latin American Fertility in Terms of Probable Social Classes," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(2), pages 297-339, April.

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