Fertility, Time Use, and Economic Development

This research develops a model that incorporates both parental altruism toward children and the allocation of time among human capital investment and production in market and nonmarket sector. By introducing these two production sectors, the model captures the interaction among fertility, human capital investment, and time use as economies grow. The model is calibrated to the World Bank's 1985 Living Standard Survey for Peru. Simulations indicate that the model explains the transition from a low-human-capital and high-fertility economy to an economy characterized by high human capital and low fertility. (Copyright: Elsevier)