How Does Female Education Affect Fertility? A Structural Model for the Cote D'Ivoire.

A structural model relating fertility to its proximate is estimated for the Cote d'Ivoire. The assumption of exogeneity of the proximate determinants is rejected and shown to understate their influence. The model allows identification of the means through which female education affects fertility. Secondary schooling is found to have particularly strong effects, raising the age of cohabitation and reducing the duration of breast-feeding. The two transmission mechanisms are offsetting since delayed cohabitation limits fertility while shortened breast-feeding increases it for older women. However, the impact via age at cohabitation dominates, except amongst the older cohorts. Copyright 1996 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd