Adherence to cultural norms and economic incentives: evidence from fertility timing decisions

Article


Chabe-Ferret, B. 2019. Adherence to cultural norms and economic incentives: evidence from fertility timing decisions. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. 162, pp. 24-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2019.04.003
TypeArticle
TitleAdherence to cultural norms and economic incentives: evidence from fertility timing decisions
AuthorsChabe-Ferret, B.
Abstract

I analyze the interplay between culture and economic incentives in decision-making. To this end, I study fertility timing decisions of second generation migrant women to France and the US. While I confirm that originating from a high fertility country correlates to having larger families, I also find that it does not predict earlier entry into motherhood. I propose a model that rationalizes these findings in which decisions are the result of a trade-off between an economic cost-benefit analysis and a cultural norm. The model predicts that decisions with a higher cost of deviation from the economic optimum should be less prone to cultural influence. This is consistent with substantial evidence showing that the timing of the first birth bears much larger costs for mothers in terms of labor market outcomes than that of subsequent births.

KeywordsCultural norms; fertility; birth timing
PublisherElsevier
JournalJournal of Economic Behavior and Organization
ISSN0167-2681
Electronic1879-1751
Publication dates
Online28 Apr 2019
Print01 Jun 2019
Publication process dates
Deposited11 Sep 2020
Submitted14 Jun 2018
Accepted03 Apr 2019
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
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Copyright Statement

© 2019. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2019.04.003
Web of Science identifierWOS:000472700800002
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Is new version ofAdherence to cultural norms and economic incentives: Evidence from fertility timing decisions
LanguageEnglish
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