Determining Factors in the Historical Decline in Marital Fertility in Italy

Roberta Pace , Università di Bari Aldo Moro
Jesús J. Sánchez-Barricarte, Carlos III University of Madrid (Spain)
Alberto Veira Ramos, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

The historical decline in fertility in Italy has been studied by scholars from different disciplines who have tried to explain why the reproductive behaviors of Italian women changed over time. This study is designed to find support for traditional, economic-based explanations of the fertility transition against purely behavior- and norm-based explanations popularized by the Princeton European Fertility Project (PEFP). We used an econometric fixed-effects panel model with dummy variables. The paper concludes by placing an emphasis on the influence that changes in living conditions - economic situation and social status - had on couples' decisions to have children. Applying econometric techniques of panel analysis to a database with a long-horizon and a wide variety of socioeconomic variables, we confirmed the validity of the main ideas established in the Demographic Transition Theory that had been challenged by the Princeton European Fertility Project (PEFP).

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 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe