Fertility and the health of children: A nonparametric investigation

Abstract

Although the theoretical trade-off between the quantity and quality of children is well established, empirical evidence supporting such a causal relationship is limited. This chapter applies a recently developed nonparametric estimator of the conditional local average treatment effect to assess the sensitivity of the quantity–quality trade-off to functional form and parametric assumptions. Using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey and controlling for the potential endogeneity of fertility, we find mixed evidence supporting the trade-off.

Citation

Henderson, D.J., Millimet, D.L., Parmeter, C.F. and Wang, L. (2008), "Fertility and the health of children: A nonparametric investigation", Fomby, T., Carter Hill, R., Millimet, D.L., Smith, J.A. and Vytlacil, E.J. (Ed.) Modelling and Evaluating Treatment Effects in Econometrics (Advances in Econometrics, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 167-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0731-9053(07)00007-2