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Immigrant Fertility in Germany: The Role of Culture

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  • Kamila Cygan-Rehm

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role of home country’s fertility culture in shaping immigrants’ fertility. I use the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to study completed fertility of first-generation immigrants who arrived from different countries and in different years. The variation in total fertility rates (TFRs) across countries and over time serves as a proxy for cultural changes. By using a linear fixed-effects approach, I find that women from countries with high TFRs have significantly more children than women from countries with low TFRs. I also demonstrate that this positive relationship is attenuated by potential selection that operates towards the destination country. In addition, home country’s TFRs explain a large proportion of fertility differentials between immigrants and German natives. The results suggest that home country’s culture affects immigrants’ long-run outcomes, thereby supporting the socialization hypothesis. / Diese Studie befasst sich mit dem Geburtenverhalten von Migrantinnen der ersten Generation. Unter Verwendung der Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) wird die endgültige Kinderzahl der Zuwanderinnen als abhängige Variable und die kulturelle Prägung aus dem Heimatland als Determinante modelliert. Zur Messung der “Fertilitätskultur” wird als Proxy die mittlere Differenz zwischen der zusammengefassten Geburtenziffer (total fertility rate - TFR) des Ursprungslandes und der von Deutschland zum Zeitpunkt der Migration verwendet. Die Schätzergebnisse eines linearen Fixed-Effects-Ansatzes zeigen, dass Fertilitätskultur einen signifikanten Anteil der Fertilitätsunterschiede zwischen Einheimischen und Migranten erklärt und positiv mit der endgültigen Kinderzahl der Migrantinnen korreliert. Ergänzende Analysen legen nahe, dass der positive Zusammenhang durch potenzielle Selektion tendenziell unterschätzt wird. Die Befunde unterstreichen die sogenannte Sozialisationshypothese, welche besagt, dass die kulturelle Prägung des Ursprungslandes das Verhalten von Migranten dauerhaft beeinflusst.

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  • Kamila Cygan-Rehm, 2014. "Immigrant Fertility in Germany: The Role of Culture," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 134(3), pages 305-340.
    • Handle: RePEc:dah:aeqsjb:v134_y2014_i3_q3_p305-340
    DOI: 10.3790/schm.134.3.305
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    Cited by:

    1. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2010. "Inherited Trust and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2060-2092, December.
    2. Marianne Tønnessen, 2020. "Declined Total Fertility Rate Among Immigrants and the Role of Newly Arrived Women in Norway," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(3), pages 547-573, July.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/432sbils8u9t7qa99cii5psht1 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Holger STICHNOTH & Mustafa YETER, 2016. "Cultural Influences on the Fertility Behavior of First- and Second-Generation Immigrants," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(3), pages 281-314, September.
    5. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/432sbils8u9t7qa99cii5psht1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Regina T. Riphahn & Frederik Wiynck, 2017. "Fertility effects of child benefits," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(4), pages 1135-1184, October.
    7. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2010. "Inherited Trust and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2060-2092, December.
    8. Sehar Ezdi & Ahmet Melik Baş, 2020. "Gender preferences and fertility: Investigating the case of Turkish immigrants in Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(3), pages 59-96.
    9. HAGIWARA Risa & LIU Yang, 2023. "Work-life Conflicts of Native and Immigrant Women in Japan," Discussion papers 23056, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    10. Ansgar Hudde & Henriette Engelhardt, 2023. "Family inequality: On the changing educational gradient of family patterns in Western Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(20), pages 549-590.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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