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Waiting as a signal: Why women are delaying fertility?

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  • Ng, Wung Lik
  • Wang, Yin-Chi

Abstract

Gone are the days when women got married and reared children at the age of 20 in developed countries. Nowadays, women are attending college and developing a career just like men. In this paper, we provide an alternative theory on why women choose not to put their early career on hold in order to have a child. Differing from the traditional human capital theory in the literature, we focus on the role of asymmetric information in the job market. We show that under asymmetric information, women have incentives to signal their career commitment. This causes a delay and a decline in fertility and a rise in educational attainment. We also examine different pro-natal policies. We find that policies subsidizing only early fertility are more efficient.

Suggested Citation

  • Ng, Wung Lik & Wang, Yin-Chi, 2020. "Waiting as a signal: Why women are delaying fertility?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 471-479.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:87:y:2020:i:c:p:471-479
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2019.12.010
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    Cited by:

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    3. Pieroni, Luca & d’Agostino, Giorgio & Lanari, Donatella & Scarlato, Margherita, 2023. "Temporary employment and fertility in Italy: The effect of two labor market reforms in the early 2000s," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    4. Kou, Zonglai & Zhao, Wentian & Zhou, Min, 2025. "Fertility impact of intense precipitation in rural areas: The role of income expectation shocks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    5. O’Leary, Nigel & Li, Ian W. & Gupta, Prashant & Blackaby, David, 2020. "Wellbeing trajectories around life events in Australia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 499-509.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General

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