IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v11y1993i4p42-55.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects Of Price And Availability On Abortion Demand

Author

Listed:
  • STEPHAN F. GOHMANN
  • ROBERT L. OHSFELDT

Abstract

Over 1.5 million legal abortions were performed in the United States in 1988. State‐level regulation affecting the price or availability of abortion services may expand given recent Supreme Court decisions. This paper uses state‐level data pooled over time to estimate abortion demand. Using single cross‐sections of state data, past studies find abortion demand per 1,000 pregnancies to be price inelastic and find income elasticity to be positive and significant. The analysis here shows that price elasticity estimates in a single cross‐section are sensitive to the choice of state characteristics used to control for “abortion attitudes” within a state. Ajixed‐efects model design with pooled data gives more robust abortion demand price elasticity estimates. The results suggest that any new state regulations that increase the costs of obtaining abortions will reduce abortion use and increase unintended fertility.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephan F. Gohmann & Robert L. Ohsfeldt, 1993. "Effects Of Price And Availability On Abortion Demand," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 11(4), pages 42-55, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:11:y:1993:i:4:p:42-55
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7287.1993.tb00400.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7287.1993.tb00400.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1465-7287.1993.tb00400.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joyce, T., 1988. "The social and economic correlates of pregnancy resolution among adolescence in New York City, by race and ethnicity: A multivariate analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 78(6), pages 626-631.
    2. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1.
    3. Whittington, Leslie A & Alm, James & Peters, H Elizabeth, 1990. "Fertility and the Personal Exemption: Implicit Pronatalist Policy in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(3), pages 545-556, June.
    4. Frank J. Chaloupka & Henry Saffer, 1992. "Clean Indoor Air Laws And The Demand For Cigarettes," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 10(2), pages 72-83, April.
    5. Medoff, Marshall H, 1988. "An Economic Analysis of the Demand for Abortions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(2), pages 353-359, April.
    6. Grossman, Michael & Joyce, Theodore J, 1990. "Unobservables, Pregnancy Resolutions, and Birth Weight Production Functions in New York City," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 983-1007, October.
    7. Hope Corman & Theodore J. Joyce & Michael Grossman, 1987. "Birth Outcome Production Function in the United States," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 22(3), pages 339-360.
    8. Arleen Leibowitz & Winston Chow & Marvin Eisen, 1986. "An economic model of teenage pregnancy decision-making," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 23(1), pages 67-77, February.
    9. Eve Powell-Griner & Katherine Trent, 1987. "Sociodemographic determinants of abortion in The United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 24(4), pages 553-561, November.
    10. Deyak, Timothy A & Smith, V Kerry, 1976. "The Economic Value of Statute Reform: The Case of Liberalized Abortion," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(1), pages 83-99, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:pri:crcwel:wp07-12-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Marshall Medoff, 2008. "The Response of Abortion Demand to Changes in Abortion Costs," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 329-346, June.
    3. Medoff, Marshall H., 2003. "The impact of anti-abortion activities on state abortion rates," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 265-282, July.
    4. Gorkem Turgut Ozer & Brad N. Greenwood & Anandasivam Gopal, 2023. "Digital Multisided Platforms and Women’s Health: An Empirical Analysis of Peer-to-Peer Lending and Abortion Rates," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(1), pages 223-252, March.
    5. Robert W. Brown & R. Todd Jewell, 1996. "The Impact Of Provider Availability On Abortion Demand," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 14(2), pages 95-106, April.
    6. Ressler, Rand W. & Waters, Melissa S. & Hill, R. Carter, 2011. "Welfare Reform and the Spread of HIV," Review of Applied Economics, Lincoln University, Department of Financial and Business Systems, vol. 7(1-2), pages 1-15, March.
    7. Silvie Colman & Theodore J. Joyce, "undated". "Regulating Abortion: Impact on Patients and Providers in Texas," Mathematica Policy Research Reports db01943e8d23431ca26fe3eaf, Mathematica Policy Research.
    8. Silvie Colman & Ted Joyce, 2011. "Regulating abortion: Impact on patients and providers in Texas," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 775-797, September.
    9. John J Donohue & Steven Levitt, 2020. "The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime over the Last Two Decades," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 22(2), pages 241-302.
    10. Rand W. Ressler & Melissa S. Waters & John Keith Watson, 2006. "Contributing Factors to the Spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(4), pages 943-961, October.
    11. Laura S. Hussey, 2010. "Welfare Generosity, Abortion Access, and Abortion Rates: A Comparison of State Policy Tools," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(1), pages 266-283, March.
    12. Marshall Medoff, 2007. "Price, Restrictions and Abortion Demand," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 583-599, December.
    13. Robert W. Brown & R. Todd Jewell & Jeffrey J. Rous, 2001. "Provider Availability, Race, and Abortion Demand," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(3), pages 656-671, January.
    14. Blank, Rebecca M. & George, Christine C. & London, Rebecca A., 1996. "State abortion rates the impact of policies, providers, politics, demographics, and economic environment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 513-553, October.
    15. Robert L. Ohsfeldt & Stephan F. Gohmann, 1994. "Do Parental Involvement Laws Reduce Adolescent Abortion Rates?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 12(2), pages 65-76, April.
    16. Mark Gius, 2019. "Using the Synthetic Control Method to Determine the Effect of Ultrasound Laws on State-Level Abortion Rates," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 47(2), pages 205-215, June.
    17. Christopher Balding, 2010. "A Modest Proposal for a Two‐Sided Market Clearing Institution under Asymmetric Supply Constraints with Skewed Pricing: The Market for Adoption and Abortion in the United States," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 12(6), pages 1059-1080, December.
    18. Medoff, Marshall H., 1999. "An estimate of teenage abortion demand," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 175-184, July.
    19. repec:mpr:mprres:6548 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Laura S. Hussey, 2006. "Are Social Welfare Policies "Pro-Life"? An Individual-Level Analysis of Low-Income Women," Working Papers 896, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert W. Brown & R. Todd Jewell & Jeffrey J. Rous, 2001. "Provider Availability, Race, and Abortion Demand," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(3), pages 656-671, January.
    2. Bosede Awoyemi & Jacob Novignon, 2014. "Demand for abortion and post abortion care in Ibadan, Nigeria," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Medoff, Marshall H., 2003. "The impact of anti-abortion activities on state abortion rates," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 265-282, July.
    4. Grossman, Michael & Joyce, Theodore J, 1990. "Unobservables, Pregnancy Resolutions, and Birth Weight Production Functions in New York City," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 983-1007, October.
    5. Janet Currie & Lucia Nixon & Nancy Cole, 1993. "Restrictions on Medicaid Funding of Abortion: Effects on Pregnancy Resolutions and Birth Weight," NBER Working Papers 4432, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Joyce, Theodore & Kaestner, Robert, 1996. "State reproductive policies and adolescent pregnancy resolution: The case of parental involvement laws," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 579-607, October.
    7. Laura S. Hussey, 2006. "Are Social Welfare Policies "Pro-Life"? An Individual-Level Analysis of Low-Income Women," Working Papers 896, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    8. repec:pri:crcwel:wp07-12-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Aparna Lhila & Sharon Long, 2012. "What is driving the black–white difference in low birthweight in the US?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(3), pages 301-315, March.
    10. Theodore J. Joyce & Michael Grossman, 1989. "Pregnancy Resolution as an Indicator of Wantedness and its Impact on the Initiation of Early Prenatal Care," NBER Working Papers 2827, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Hope Corman & Robert Kaestner, 1991. "The Effects of Child Health on Marital Status," NBER Working Papers 3850, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Robert L. Ohsfeldt & Stephan F. Gohmann, 1994. "Do Parental Involvement Laws Reduce Adolescent Abortion Rates?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 12(2), pages 65-76, April.
    13. Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave & Nancy E. Reichman, 2018. "Evolution of the Infant Health Production Function," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(1), pages 6-47, July.
    14. Mitrut, Andreea & Wolff, François-Charles, 2011. "The impact of legalized abortion on child health outcomes and abandonment. Evidence from Romania," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1219-1231.
    15. Janet Currie & Lucia Nixon & Nancy Cole, 1996. "Restrictions on Medicaid Funding of Abortion: Effects on Birth Weight and Pregnancy Resolutions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(1), pages 159-188.
    16. Robert W. Brown & R. Todd Jewell, 1996. "The Impact Of Provider Availability On Abortion Demand," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 14(2), pages 95-106, April.
    17. Nancy E. Reichman & Hope Corman & Kelly Noonan & Dhaval Dave, 2006. "Typically Unobserved Variables (TUVs) and Selection into Prenatal Inputs: Implications for Estimating Infant Health Production Functions," NBER Working Papers 12004, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Mocan, Naci & Raschke, Christian & Unel, Bulent, 2015. "The impact of mothers’ earnings on health inputs and infant health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 204-223.
    19. Currie, Janet & Gruber, Jonathan & Fischer, Michael, 1995. "Physician Payments and Infant Mortality: Evidence from Medicaid Fee Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 106-111, May.
    20. Aparna Lhila & Kosali Simon, 2008. "Prenatal health investment decisions: Does the child’s sex matter?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(4), pages 885-905, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:11:y:1993:i:4:p:42-55. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.