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French Fertility and Education Transition: Rational Choice vs. Cultural Diffusion

Author

Listed:
  • Faustine Perrin

    (Lund University)

  • David de la Croix

    (Université catholique Louvain)

Abstract

We analyze how much a parsimonious rational-choice model can explain the temporal and spatial variation in fertility and school enrollment in France during the 19th century. The originality of our approach is in our reliance on the structural estimation of a system of rst-order conditions to identify the deep parameters. Another new dimension is our use of gendered education data, allowing us to have a richer theory having implications for the gender wage and education gaps. Results indicate that the parsimonious rational-choice model explains 38 percent of the variation of fertility over time and across counties, as well as 71 percent and 83 percent of school enrollment of boys and girls, respectively. The analysis of the residuals (unexplained by the economic model) indicates that additional insights might be gained by considering cross-county differences in family structure and cultural barriers.

Suggested Citation

  • Faustine Perrin & David de la Croix, 2017. "French Fertility and Education Transition: Rational Choice vs. Cultural Diffusion," 2017 Meeting Papers 246, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed017:246
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Battaglia, Marianna & Chabé-Ferret, Bastien & Lebedinski, Lara, 2017. "Segregation and Fertility: The Case of the Roma in Serbia," IZA Discussion Papers 10929, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Chabé-Ferret, Bastien, 2016. "Adherence to Cultural Norms and Economic Incentives: Evidence from Fertility Timing Decisions," IZA Discussion Papers 10269, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Mickaël Benaim & Faustine Perrin, 2017. "Regional Patterns of Economic Development. A Typology of French Departments during the Industrialization," Working Papers 04-17, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    4. Claude Diebolt & Faustine Perrin, 2016. "Le « paradoxe » démographico-économique," Revue d'économie financière, Association d'économie financière, vol. 0(2), pages 103-112.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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