Fertility rates have decreased everywhere
The world is now approaching that magic level, thanks to a phenomenon known as the fertility transition. In most countries, total fertility falls from a high level of about six or seven children to two or below, and stays there. Once smaller families become the norm in a country or region, they very rarely go back up.
The Population Bomb Has Been Defused
By: Noah Smith
Girls: the dispensable gender
Bhalotra and al. find that variations in gold prices can explain excess girl mortality in India. They use monthly time series data for 35 years and show that as the price of gold increases so do dowry costs, which are associated with girls, so does neonatal mortality of girls.
The Price of Gold: Dowry and Death in India
Authors: Sonia Bhalotra, Abhishek Chakravarty, Selim Gulesci
From:University of Essex, Bocconi University
Women and democracy
Using data from over 140 countries covering 3 decades Udi Sommer finds that as fertility decreases and the economic status of women improves, democracy grows:
The connections between fertility rate and democracy are predicated on effects of women’s political and economic empowerment, on changes in family structure, and possibly also on changes in legal conditions and the rule of law.
Women, Demography and Politics: How Lower Fertility Rates Lead to Democracy
Author: Udi Sommer
From: Columbia University
