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DEEP-ROOTED DETERMINANTS OF THE FERTILITY TRANSITION ACROSS COUNTRIES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2016

Alberto Basso  and
David Cuberes
Alberto Basso
Affiliation:
University of Plymouth
David Cuberes*
Affiliation:
Clark University
*
Address correspondence to: David Cuberes, Department of Economics, Jonas Clark Hall, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610-1477, USA; e-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

This paper documents a positive correlation between the genetic distance to the world technological frontier (United Kingdom, United States) and the year of the onset of the fertility transition across countries. This result is robust to controlling for a large set of geographical, climatic, historical, and institutional variables. Two main mechanisms could explain this reduced-form relationship. First, genetic distance to the world technological frontier can affect the onset of the fertility transition through its impact on the timing and intensity of technology adoption. Second, genetic distance to the technological frontier can capture other cultural differences and the process of diffusion of cultural norms that are related to fertility but not through technology adoption. We find suggestive evidence supporting both mechanisms.

Keywords

Genetic DistanceFertility TransitionCultureTechnology Adoption
Type
Articles
Information
Macroeconomic Dynamics , Volume 21 , Issue 7 , October 2017 , pp. 1712 - 1751
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Footnotes

A previous version of this paper circulated as “Human Capital, Culture and the Onset of the Fertility Transition,” which was part of a chapter of Basso's Ph.D. dissertation. We would like to thank the editor, Carl-Johan Dalgaard, Oded Galor, Jinyoung Kim, Fabrice Murtin, Karl Taylor, Romain Wacziarg, and one anonymous referee for helpful comments. We have also benefited from useful feedback from seminar participants at the University of Sheffield, Royal Economic Society 2012, Queens College, and the conference “Intergenerational Transmission of Entrepreneurship, Occupations and Cultural Traits in the Process of Long-Run Economic Growth (Napoli).”

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