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Family planning in a life‐cycle model with income risk

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  • Mette Ejrnæs
  • Thomas H. Jørgensen

Abstract

Several US states have recently restricted the access to abortions. We study fertility intentions and how family planning and abortions are used as mechanisms to control fertility among couples facing income risk. We formulate and estimate a life‐cycle consumption‐saving model with uninsurable income risk and imperfect contraceptive control that matches fertility behavior in the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) well. We use the estimated model to investigate how family planning and abortions are used to control fertility in our model. Our simulations suggest that income risk affects family planning and that abortion is used to control fertility due to the presence of income risk. This indicates that the availability of abortions might play a role as an insurance mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Mette Ejrnæs & Thomas H. Jørgensen, 2020. "Family planning in a life‐cycle model with income risk," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(5), pages 567-586, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:japmet:v:35:y:2020:i:5:p:567-586
    DOI: 10.1002/jae.2766
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    1. Yin, Zhichao & Liu, Jiayi & Wang, Yumeng, 2023. "Fertility policy and stock market participation: Evidence from the universal two-child policy in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Maximilian Blesch & Philipp Eisenhauer, 2021. "Robust decision-making under risk and ambiguity," Papers 2104.12573, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2021.
    3. Katrine Jakobsen & Thomas H Jørgensen & Hamish Low, 2022. "Fertility and Family Labor Supply," Economics Series Working Papers 965, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    4. Maximilian Blesch & Philipp Eisenhauer, 2021. "Robust Decision-Making Under Risk and Ambiguity," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 104, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.

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