Asian Fertility Transition: Is Gender Equity in Formal Occupations An Explanatory Factor?

Early writers on fertility decline (Thompson 1929; Davis 1945 1955 1963; Notestein 1945; Feemdman 1961 -62) emphasized broad forces of modernization, such as urbanization, industrialization, shifts to non-agricultural labor, and increased literacy, as bringing about changes in traditional structures. The neoclassical theoreticians shifted the focus to the micro-level and translated the changes in macro conditions into individual and household calculations. Both these strands of theoretical work have come under attack in recent years. [Working Paper No. 268]