Fertility in Rural Sudan

The Effect of Landholding and Child Mortality

Bibliographic Data

ID4361903
AuthorsNour Eldin Maglad, Nour Eldin A Maglad (corresponding author)
Year1994
Volume42
Issue4
Pages761-772
Publication date1994-07-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEconomic Development and Cultural Change (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0079 • E-ISSN: 1539-2988
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/452119
OpenAlexW2066055063
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited3

This paper analyzes the response of fertility to child mortality and landholding of the agricultural household in rural Sudan. The micro-economic framework of fertility behavior is used as a basis for the analysis of a demand function for children. Because child mortality is more likely to be correlated with both the biological and behavioral determinants of fertility, Two Stage Least Squares are used to estimate the parameters of the demand equation for children. Ordinary Least Squares estimates are also presented. Two equations are estimated using the method of Two Stage Least Squares. In one equation the cross-sectional mortality rate is used as an instrumental variable for child deaths. In the other a regional health variable is used to identify the demand function. The results indicate that fertility responds positively to child mortality and that the replacement response to child deaths is less than unity which indicates that a given percentage decline in child mortality is expected to be partially offset by a reduction in fertility. Also fertility responds positively and inelastically to cultivated land. The effect of some other socio-economic variables on the demand for births is also discussed

Demographic economics · Download · Economic growth · Economics · Fertility · Geography · Inequality · Political science · Population · Poverty · Sociology · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Global Health Care Issues

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