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Birth Spacing, Fertility Selection and Child Survival: Analysis Using a Correlated Hazard Model

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  • Maitra, Pushkar

    (Monash University)

  • Pal, Sarmistha

    (University of Surrey)

Abstract

If fertility reflects the choice of households, results of their choice (duration between successive births and health of the children) cannot be considered to be randomly determined. While most existing studies of child health tend to overlook the effects of fertility selection on child health, this paper argues that not accounting for this selection issue yields biased estimates. Additionally it is difficult to a priori predict the direction of this bias, thereby over or under estimating the effect of spacing on child survival. We find that the estimates of birth spacing on child mortality are different when we do not account for fertility selection. Additionally the correlated hazard estimates that we present here better fit our samples than the corresponding bivariate probit estimates used in the literature. A comparison of the fertility behaviour of households in the Indian and Pakistani Punjab highlights the differential nature of institutions on demographic transition in these neighbouring regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Maitra, Pushkar & Pal, Sarmistha, 2007. "Birth Spacing, Fertility Selection and Child Survival: Analysis Using a Correlated Hazard Model," IZA Discussion Papers 2878, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2878
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    Cited by:

    1. McCord, Gordon C. & Conley, Dalton & Sachs, Jeffrey D., 2017. "Malaria ecology, child mortality & fertility," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 1-17.
    2. Mauricio Reis, 2014. "Public primary health care and children’s health in Brazil: evidence from siblings," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 421-445, April.
    3. Lay, Jann & Robilliard, Anne-Sophie, 2009. "The complementarity of MDG achievements : the case of child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5062, The World Bank.
    4. Bas Klaauw & Limin Wang, 2011. "Child mortality in rural India," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 601-628, April.
    5. Francis Menjo Baye and Dinven Djibril Sitan, 2016. "Causes and Child Health Consequences of Maternal Fertility Choices in Cameroon," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 41(4), pages 79-100, December.
    6. Masaru Nagashima & Chikako Yamauchi, 2023. "Pregnant in haste? The impact of foetus loss on birth spacing and the role of subjective probabilistic beliefs," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1409-1431, December.
    7. Halkos, George & Tzeremes, Nickolaos, 2011. "Examining the influence of access to improved water and sanitation sources on countries’ economic efficiency," MPRA Paper 30099, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Pal, Sarmistha, 2015. "Impact of hospital delivery on child mortality: An analysis of adolescent mothers in Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 194-203.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility selection; correlated recursive hazard system; child mortality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
    • C24 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models; Threshold Regression Models

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