This paper explores the role of the birth control pill on divorce. To identify its effect, we use a quasi experiment exploiting the differences in the language of the Comstock anti-obscenity statutes approved in the 1800s and early 1900s in the US. Results suggest that banning the sales of oral...

A core mechanism of unified growth theory is that accelerating technological progress induces mass education and, in interaction with child quantity-quality substitution, a decline in fertility. Using unique new data for 21 OECD countries over the period 1750-2000, we test, for the first time,...

Does the number of future anticipated children affect educational investment in parents-to-be? In theory, anticipated children can affect the returns to education, the resources available for family consumption, and the incentives for pre-marital investment. Changes in the eligibility criteria...

Alike most of the Western world, the Danish fertility rate declined throughout the 20th century simultaneous to economic growth. This development, which conflicts with economic intuition, has been denoted the fertility paradox, and several studies have been devoted to resolve it. The present...

The study contributes in analytical description of spatial diffusion of fertility, in particular, influenced by labour movements of people between places of residence and work. It is assumed that the labour market has externality on the marriage market due to commuting, which, in turn, affects...

Portuguese regions are quite different regarding several development indicators, such as educational levels, regional value added per capital, purchasing power, and others. The industrialization process followed different models in the northern and southern regions of the country. The...