This paper investigates whether and how regional social contexts influence fertility decisions of women living in … for the transition to the first and second child. The empirical analysis provides no evidence that fertility differentials …

countries (the US, West Germany, Denmark, Italy, and the United Kingdom), whose fertility rates span the observed fertility …Parity-specific probabilities of having a next birth are estimated from national fertility data and are compared with … can be measured, the possibility that child costs affect both the quantum and the tempo of fertility, the relatively small …

the timing of marriage, must probably be understood as the principal origin of different patterns of fertility across …

the United Kingdom are updated about once a year, in Italy about once each six months. …

- the Italian "province") in Italy. A comprehensive dataset is used, which includes control variables for social capital and … estimation bias resulting from unobserved district-specific influences. …