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Fertility Differences between Married and Cohabiting Couples: A Switching Regression Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Junfu

    (Clark University)

  • Song, Xue

    (affiliation not available)

Abstract

Little is known about why cohabiting couples have fewer children than married couples. We explore the factors that explain the difference in fertility between these two groups using a switching regression analysis, which enables us to quantify the contribution of different factors through a decomposition of the difference. We find that married couples have more children than cohabiting couples primarily because marriage provides stronger incentives for specialization in household production. Unobserved self-selection plays a less important role.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Junfu & Song, Xue, 2007. "Fertility Differences between Married and Cohabiting Couples: A Switching Regression Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 3245, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3245
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gary S. Becker & H. Gregg Lewis, 1974. "Interaction between Quantity and Quality of Children," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital, pages 81-90, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. William Axinn & Marin Clarkberg & Arland Thornton, 1994. "Family influences on family size preferences," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(1), pages 65-79, February.
    3. William H. Greene, 1995. "Sample Selection in the Poisson Regression Model," Working Papers 95-06, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
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    Cited by:

    1. Delia Furtado & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2009. "Intermarriage and Immigrant Employment: The Role of Networks," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0906, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    2. Furtado Delia & Theodoropoulos Nikolaos, 2010. "Why Does Intermarriage Increase Immigrant Employment? The Role of Networks," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-33, November.
    3. Fumiya Uchikoshi & Ryohei Mogi, 2018. "Order matters: The effect of premarital pregnancy on second childbearing in Japan," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(48), pages 1305-1330.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility; marriage; cohabitation; switching regression; self-selection; household specialization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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