@techreport{Doepke2007baby,
abstract = {We argue that one major cause of the U.S. postwar baby boom was the increased demand for female labor during World War II. We develop a quantitative dynamic general equilibrium model with endogenous fertility and female labor-force participation decisions. We use the model to assess the long-term implications of a one-time demand shock for female labor, such as the one experienced by American women during wartime mobilization. For the war generation, the shock leads to a persistent increase in female labor supply due to the accumulation of work experience. In contrast, younger women who turn adult after the war face increased labor-market competition, which impels them to exit the labor market and start having children earlier. In our calibrated model, this general-equilibrium effect generates a substantial baby boom followed by a baby bust, as well as patterns for age-specific labor-force participation and fertility rates that are consistent with U.S. data.},
address = {Bonn},
author = {Matthias Doepke and Moshe Hazan and Yishay D. Maoz},
copyright = {http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen},
keywords = {D58; 300; Fertility; baby boom; World War II; female labor-force participation; Fruchtbarkeit; Frauenerwerbst\"{a}tigkeit; Geburtenrate; Krieg; USA; Welt},
language = {eng},
number = {3253},
publisher = {IZA},
title = {The baby boom and World War II: a macroeconomic analysis},
type = {IZA Discussion Papers},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10419/34799},
year = {2007}
}
