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Aid and Fertility

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  • Bahar, Dany

Abstract

This paper uses a panel data from developing countries to study the relationship between foreign aid flows and fertility rates. By making use of natural disasters in neighboring countries as an instrumental variable to foreign aid receipts,I find that a percentage point increase in the share of aid in the GDP increases on average fertility rates among the population by 0.045 additional children. This can be trans- lated to an additional child for about every 22 women of childbearing age. The positive effect of foreign aid on fertility rates can contribute to the current debate on foreign aid, and supply an additional explanation for its limited efficacy historically. By making use of the same instrumental variable, I also find no effect of foreign aid on other determinants of economic growth and growth itself.

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  • Bahar, Dany, 2010. "Aid and Fertility," Working Paper 97701, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    • Handle: RePEc:qsh:wpaper:97701
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    Cited by:

    1. Maiga, Eugenie W.H., 2014. "Does foreign aid in education foster gender equality in developing countries?," WIDER Working Paper Series 048, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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