Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/55084 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5959
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We examine Becker's (1960) contention that children are normal. For the cross section of non-Hispanic white married couples in the U.S., we show that when we restrict comparisons to similarly-educated women living in similarly-expensive locations, completed fertility is positively correlated with the husband's income. The empirical evidence is consistent with children being normal. In an effort to show causal effects, we analyze the localized impact on fertility of the mid-1970s increase in world energy prices - an exogenous shock that substantially increased men's incomes in the Appalachian coal-mining region. Empirical evidence for that population indicates that fertility increases in men's income.
Subjects: 
economics of fertility
location choice
Appalachian fertility
JEL: 
J13
J40
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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