Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/270879 
Year of Publication: 
1985
Series/Report no.: 
Harvard University Migration and Development Program Discussion Paper No. 15
Publisher: 
Harvard University, Center for Population Studies, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Abstract: 
In this paper we attempt to ascertain the impact on parents' desired fertility of a number of changes likely to increase the returns to the rural-to-urban migration of children. We assume that the demand for children as assets depends upon the extent to which they raise the mean per capita family income, and reduce the uncertainty of per capita family income, and we argue that the effect of rural-to-urban migration possibilities on the optimal number of children depends crucially on the role played by children in their capacity as assets. On the basis of purely theoretical considerations we succeed in determining the likely effect of four out of eight changes in asset attributes. It is hoped that our results also define a fruitful domain for empirical inquiry.
Document Type: 
Working Paper






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