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Fertility and Public Policies - Evidence from Norway and Finland

Author

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  • Marit Rønsen

    (Statistisk sentralbyrå (Statistics Norway))

Abstract

The relatively high and rising fertility rates of Nordic countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s sparked a renewed research interest in the possible pronatalistic effects of generous family policy programs. Several studies have addressed this issue, but few have tried to model policy effects explicitly. The existing evidence so far is mainly from Sweden, where policy indicators have been incorporated in economic fertility models that also control for female wages. This paper complements previous Swedish analyses with evidence from Norway and Finland. The results corroborate earlier findings of a negative effect of female wages. There are also indications of a positive policy impact, as maternity leave extensions are estimated to raise birth rates, although mainly higher parity births and mainly in Finland.

Suggested Citation

  • Marit Rønsen, 2004. "Fertility and Public Policies - Evidence from Norway and Finland," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 10(6), pages 143-170.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:10:y:2004:i:6
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2004.10.6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Ralph Lattimore & Clinton Pobke, 2008. "Recent Trends in Australian Fertility," Staff Working Papers 0806, Productivity Commission, Government of Australia.
    3. Karin Monstad & Carol Propper & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2008. "Education and Fertility: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(4), pages 827-852, December.
    4. Hill Kulu & Andres Vikat & Gunnar Andersson, 2006. "Settlement size and fertility in the Nordic countries," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2006-024, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Eric Schuss & Mohammed Azaouagh, 2023. "The expansion of early childcare and transitions to first and second birth in Germany," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 476-507, April.
    6. Natálie Švarcová & Petr Švarc, 2009. "The Financial Impact of Government Policies on Families with Children in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia," Czech Economic Review, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, vol. 3(1), pages 048-068, March.
    7. Jérôme De Henau & Danièle Meulders & Sile Padraigin O'Dorchai, 2006. "The comparative effectiveness of public policies to fight motherhood-induced employment penalties and decreasing fertility in the former EU-15," DULBEA Working Papers 0026, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Nakajima, Ryo & Tanaka, Ryuichi, 2014. "Estimating the effects of pronatal policies on residential choice and fertility," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 179-200.
    9. Anne Gauthier, 2007. "The impact of family policies on fertility in industrialized countries: a review of the literature," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 26(3), pages 323-346, June.
    10. Shelley Clark & Caroline W. Kabiru & Sonia Laszlo & Stella Muthuri, 2019. "The Impact of Childcare on Poor Urban Women’s Economic Empowerment in Africa," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1247-1272, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    multistate models; public policy; fertility dynamics; female wages; multistate duration model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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