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Fertility, household size and poverty in Nepal

Author

Listed:
  • François Libois

    (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, CRED - Centre de Recherche en Economie du Développement - FUNDP - Facultés Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix)

  • Vincent Somville

    (Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration - Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Chr. Michelsen Institute)

Abstract
Population control policies keep attracting attention: by increasing the household size, having more children would directly contribute to a household's poverty. Using nationally representative household level data from Nepal, we investigate the links between a household's fertility decisions and variations in their size and composition. We show that the relationship between number of births and household size is positive when the mothers are young, but becomes negative as the mothers grow older. Elderly couples who had fewer children host, on average, more relatives who are outside the immediate family unit. This result sheds light on the heterogeneous relation between the number of children and household size over the life cycle. It also implies that reductions in a household's fertility may have an ambiguous impact on its per capita consumption, which depends on how the household's composition responds to new births and changes over time: in this sample, an old household's per capita consumption is not affected by the number of births. We use the gender of the first-born child to instrument the total number of consecutive children.

Suggested Citation

  • François Libois & Vincent Somville, 2018. "Fertility, household size and poverty in Nepal," Post-Print hal-01779104, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01779104
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.11.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

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    2. Bimal Kanti Paul & Bidhan Acharya & Kabita Ghimire, 2017. "Effectiveness of earthquakes relief efforts in Nepal: opinions of the survivors," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 85(2), pages 1169-1188, January.
    3. Asadullah, M. Niaz & Mansoor, Nazia & Randazzo, Teresa & Wahhaj, Zaki, 2021. "Is son preference disappearing from Bangladesh?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    4. Fan Yang & Krishna P. Paudel, 2023. "Nutrition, multidimensional poverty and income: The case of Nepal," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 1962-1984, October.
    5. Yuli Ye & Qinying He & Qiang Li & Lian An, 2024. "The brother's penalty: Boy preference and girls' health in rural China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(8), pages 1748-1771, August.
    6. Hamad Dilawar & Muhammad Zahir Faridi, 2022. "Population and Poverty Alleviation in Pakistan: An Aggregated and Disaggregated Analysis," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(3), pages 151-165, September.
    7. Zhang, Guanglai & Yu, Yanni, 2023. "Preventing a new baby: Impact of air pollution on fertility intention," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Wu, Wenchao & Kanamori, Yuko & Zhang, Runsen & Zhou, Qian & Takahashi, Kiyoshi & Masui, Toshihiko, 2021. "Implications of declining household economies of scale on electricity consumption and sustainability in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    9. Chiara Mussida & Dario Sciulli, 2023. "Childbirth and poverty in Europe: A dynamic bivariate approach," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(1), pages 34-59, March.
    10. Kaat Van Hoyweghen & Janne Bemelmans & Hendrik Feyaerts & Goedele Van den Broeck & Miet Maertens, 2023. "Small Family, Happy Family? Fertility Preferences and the Quantity–Quality Trade-Off in Sub-Saharan Africa," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(6), pages 1-35, December.
    11. ALIASUDDIN & Taufiq C. DAWOOD & Nanda RAHMI, 2020. "Financial Inclusion And Poverty Reduction In Aceh Province: Comparison Between Core Region And Periphery Region," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(2), pages 209-216, June.
    12. Zhang, Yimeng & Wang, Feng & Zhang, Bing, 2023. "The impacts of household structure transitions on household carbon emissions in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nepal; Household composition; Household size; Poverty; Fertility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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