Shared Origins and Fertility: An Empirical Study for Italy

Posted: 18 Dec 2013

Date Written: December 2013

Abstract

This paper makes an empirical analysis of the effect of a common origin within a couple on fertility. We use the Bank of Italy’s Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) to examine the fertility of a sample of Italian women and find that those with the same origin as their husbands tend to have more children, even after controlling for several individual, family-level, and area-of-residence characteristics. We also find that the impact of homogamy on fertility is stronger for less educated women and for those residing in backward areas.

Keywords: Fertility, Cultural Origins, Assortative Mating

JEL Classification: J13, Z10

Suggested Citation

de Blasio, Guido and Omiccioli, Massimo, Shared Origins and Fertility: An Empirical Study for Italy (December 2013). Rivista Italiana degli Economisti, Vol. 3, December 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2368803

Guido De Blasio (Contact Author)

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
00184 Roma
Italy

Massimo Omiccioli

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale, 91
Roma, 00184
Italy

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