The Inter-Generational Fertility Effect of an Abortion Ban

59 Pages Posted: 25 Oct 2017

Date Written: October 15, 2017

Abstract

This paper studies to what extent banning first-generation women from aborting affected the fertility of second-generation individuals who did not face such legal constraint. Using multiple censuses from Romania, I follow men and women born around the 1966 Romanian abortion ban to study the demand for children over their life cycle. The empirical approach combines elements of the regressions discontinuity design and the Heckman's selection model. Results indicate that second-generation individuals whose mothers were affected by the ban had a significantly lower demand for children. One-third of such decline is explained by inherited socio-economic status and two-thirds presumably by preferences.

Keywords: intergenerational fertility transmission, fertility preferences, Romania, abortion ban

JEL Classification: J13, O15, P36

Suggested Citation

Gutierrez, Federico, The Inter-Generational Fertility Effect of an Abortion Ban (October 15, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3059086 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3059086

Federico Gutierrez (Contact Author)

Vanderbilt University ( email )

Box 1819 Station B
Nashville, TN 37235
United States

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