Economic status proxies in studies of fertility in developing countries: Does the measure matter?
- 1 January 2002
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Population Studies
- Vol. 56 (1) , 81-96
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00324720213796
Abstract
This paper investigates the consequences of using different economic status proxies on the estimated impact of economic status and other determinants of fertility. Using micro survey data from Ghana and Peru, we find that the proxies for income that best predict fertility are a principal components score of the ownership of consumer durable goods and a simple sum of ownership of these durable goods. Furthermore, the choice of the proxy generally has a minor influence on the predicted effects of the control variables. We compare the results from using a restricted set of proxies, such as those available in the Demographic and Health Surveys, with the results obtained using a lengthier set of proxies. Our results suggest implications beyond fertility analyses by providing researchers with an awareness of the sensitivity of microanalyses to the treatment of economic status. Our results also suggest practical recommendations for the collection of survey data.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Socioeconomic Status and Class in Studies of Fertility and Health in Developing CountriesAnnual Review of Sociology, 2001
- The Economic Theory of Fertility Over Three DecadesPopulation Studies, 1997
- Bayesian Model Selection in Social ResearchSociological Methodology, 1995
- The effect of income on demand for food in poor countries: Are our food consumption databases giving us reliable estimates?Journal of Development Economics, 1994
- Association between maternal education and infant diarrhea in different household and community environments of Cebu, PhilippinesSocial Science & Medicine, 1994
- Cultural and Economic Approaches to Fertility: Proper Marriage or Mesalliance?Population and Development Review, 1993
- Children at Risk: The Role of Family Structure in Latin America and West AfricaPopulation and Development Review, 1992
- Understanding ConsumptionPublished by Oxford University Press (OUP) ,1992
- Sustained Effects of the 1974–5 Famine on Infant and Child Mortality in a Rural Area of BangladeshPopulation Studies, 1990
- The Intrahousehold Demand for Nutrients in Rural South India: Individual Estimates, Fixed Effects, and Permanent IncomeThe Journal of Human Resources, 1990