IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jopoec/v25y2012i1p323-348.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When having many children pays: a case study from Taiwan

Author

Listed:
  • Mun Lai

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate the direct financial cost and benefit of raising children during a demographic transition in Taiwan, and to examine whether fertility decline is consistent with Caldwell’s wealth flow theory, which states that fertility decline is caused by reduced benefits of children. The paper describes a method of estimating the average economic returns of children over the entire parental lifecycle, using a 42-year span of Taiwanese household and individual economic pseudo-panel data. Results show that returns to children may turn positive and are not highly negative all the time, as found in the previous literature. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Mun Lai, 2012. "When having many children pays: a case study from Taiwan," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(1), pages 323-348, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:25:y:2012:i:1:p:323-348
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-011-0373-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00148-011-0373-9
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00148-011-0373-9?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luis Angeles, 2010. "Demographic transitions: analyzing the effects of mortality on fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(1), pages 99-120, January.
    2. Bernheim, B Douglas & Shleifer, Andrei & Summers, Lawrence H, 1986. "The Strategic Bequest Motive," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(3), pages 151-182, July.
    3. Jensen, Eric R, 1990. "An Econometric Analysis of the Old-Age Security Motive for Childbearing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 31(4), pages 953-968, November.
    4. Shin-Yi Chou & Jin-Tan Liu & Michael Grossman & Ted Joyce, 2010. "Parental Education and Child Health: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Taiwan," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 33-61, January.
    5. Mason, Andrew & Tapinos, Georges (ed.), 2000. "Sharing the Wealth: Demographic Change and Economic Transfers between Generations," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198296201.
    6. Cigno, Alessandro, 1992. "Children and Pensions," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 5(3), pages 175-183, August.
    7. Prema-Chandra Athukorala & Pang-Long Tsai, 2003. "Determinants of Household Saving in Taiwan: Growth, Demography and Public Policy," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 65-88.
    8. Nugent, Jeffrey B & Gillaspy, R Thomas, 1983. "Old Age Pensions and Fertility in Rural Areas of Less Developed Countries: Some Evidence from Mexico," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(4), pages 809-829, July.
    9. William L. Parish & Robert J. Willis, 1993. "Daughters, Education, and Family Budgets Taiwan Experiences," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 28(4), pages 863-898.
    10. Iyer, Sriya & Velu, Chander, 2006. "Real options and demographic decisions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 39-58, June.
    11. David A. Wise, 2009. "Developments in the Economics of Aging," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number wise09-1, June.
    12. Andrew Mason & Ronald Lee & An-Chi Tung & Mun-Sim Lai & Tim Miller, 2009. "Population Aging and Intergenerational Transfers: Introducing Age into National Accounts," NBER Chapters, in: Developments in the Economics of Aging, pages 89-122, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Cain, Glen G, 1971. "Issues in the Economics of a Population Policy for the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 408-417, May.
    14. Ermisch, John, 1989. "Intergenerational Transfers in Industrialised Countries: Effects of Age Distribution and Economic Institutions," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 1(4), pages 269-284.
    15. Zhang, Junsen, 1990. "Mortality and Fertility: How Large Is the Direct Child Replacement Effect in China?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 3(4), pages 303-314, December.
    16. Gary S. Becker, 1960. "An Economic Analysis of Fertility," NBER Chapters, in: Demographic and Economic Change in Developed Countries, pages 209-240, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Schultz, T Paul, 1969. "An Economic Model of Family Planning and Fertility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(2), pages 153-180, March/Apr.
    18. Ronald D. Lee & Karen L. Kramer, 2002. "Children's Economic Roles in the Maya Family Life Cycle: Cain, Caldwell, and Chayanov Revisited," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(3), pages 475-499, September.
    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. Jianchoun Dou, 2021. "Variety, Fertility, and Long-term Economic Growth," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2021020, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).

    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. Keisuke Kondo, 2019. "Does agglomeration discourage fertility? Evidence from the Japanese General Social Survey 2000–2010," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 677-704.
    2. Bloom, D.E. & Luca, D.L., 2016. "The Global Demography of Aging," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 3-56, Elsevier.
    3. Sophie Hedges & David W. Lawson & Jim Todd & Mark Urassa & Rebecca Sear, 2019. "Sharing the Load: How Do Coresident Children Influence the Allocation of Work and Schooling in Northwestern Tanzania?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(5), pages 1931-1956, October.
    4. Heinrich Hock & David Weil, 2012. "On the dynamics of the age structure, dependency, and consumption," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(3), pages 1019-1043, July.
    5. Mohamed Jellal & Francois-Charles Wolff, 2002. "Insecure old-age security," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(4), pages 636-648, October.
    6. Michele Boldrin & Larry E. Jones, 2002. "Mortality, Fertility, and Saving in a Malthusian Economy," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 5(4), pages 775-814, October.
    7. Anu Rammohan, 2000. "The Interaction of Child-labour and Schooling in Developing Countries: A Theoretical Perspective," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 85-99, December.
    8. Adedoyin Soyibo & Olanrewaju Olaniyan & Akanni O. Lawanson, 2011. "The structure of generational public transfer flows in Nigeria," Chapters, in: Ronald Lee & Andrew Mason (ed.), Population Aging and the Generational Economy, chapter 25, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Caroline Krafft, 2020. "Why is fertility on the rise in Egypt? The role of women’s employment opportunities," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1173-1218, October.
    10. Schoonbroodt, Alice & Tertilt, Michèle, 2014. "Property rights and efficiency in OLG models with endogenous fertility," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 551-582.
    11. Michael R.M. Abrigo & Sang-Hyop Lee & Donghyun Park, 2018. "Human Capital Spending, Inequality, and Growth in Middle-Income Asia," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(6), pages 1285-1303, May.
    12. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2008. "Leaving Home: What Economics Has to Say about the Living Arrangements of Young Australians," IZA Discussion Papers 3309, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Luciano Fanti & Luca Gori, 2012. "Public Expenditure on Health and Private Old-Age Insurance in an OLG Growth Model with Endogenous Fertility: Chaotic Dynamics Under Perfect Foresight," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 40(4), pages 333-353, December.
    14. Dierk Herzer & Holger Strulik & Sebastian Vollmer, 2012. "The long-run determinants of fertility: one century of demographic change 1900–1999," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 357-385, December.
    15. Germano Mwabu & Moses K. Muriithi & Reuben G. Mutegi, 2011. "National Transfer Accounts for Kenya: the economic lifecycle in 1994," Chapters, in: Ronald Lee & Andrew Mason (ed.), Population Aging and the Generational Economy, chapter 19, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Filoso, Valerio & Papagni, Erasmo, 2015. "Fertility choice and financial development," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 160-177.
    17. Solomon Tesfu & Shiferaw Gurmu, 2013. "Mother’s Gender Preferences and Child Schooling in Ethiopia," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 41(3), pages 265-277, September.
    18. Ahmed, S. Amer & Vargas Da Cruz,Marcio Jose & Quillin,Bryce Ramsey & Schellekens,Philip, 2016. "Demographic change and development : a global typology," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7893, The World Bank.
    19. Luis Angeles, 2010. "Demographic transitions: analyzing the effects of mortality on fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(1), pages 99-120, January.
    20. Alexander M. Danzer & Lennard Zyska, 2023. "Pensions and Fertility: Microeconomic Evidence," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 126-165, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cost and benefit of children; Fertility; Familial transfers; J13; D10; I2;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

    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:spr:jopoec:v:25:y:2012:i:1:p:323-348. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.