Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/126334 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2015/089
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
A consensus among social scientists is that fertility rates in Africa are declining. What determines these declines? I present fresh evidence that shows education, especially for women, is an important determinant of the fertility transition in Africa. This finding is consistent with the predictions of the unified growth theory and sheds important insights in explaining the sustained income growth Africa has experienced since 1995. The paper also shows that the effects of income per capita and child mortality on fertility rates are non-robust and inconsistent with the predictions of the unified growth theory.
Subjects: 
fertility transition
income
child mortality
education
unified growth theory
Africa
JEL: 
J13
O11
O55
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9230-978-7
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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