Village effects on fertility interdependence
Subtitle: the influences of the market transition on individual fertility in rural China.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 179
ISBN-13: 9780494159484
Description: Although fertility transitions in developing countries have been the topic of much discussion, there is still no consensus over the mechanism through which large-scale social changes affect individual fertility. This unresolved question, to a large extent, is attributed to two major limitations in past studies. First, little attention has been paid to community heterogeneity, and second, the fertility process and fertility interdependence have been neglected. A more adequate research model, therefore, would characterize the determinants of fertility behaviors within the social-historical context and individual life history. By integrating a social ecological perspective with a life-course perspective, this study is intended to develop a new analytical model on fertility and explore how the Market Transition affects individual fertility in rural China.Using individual-level data from the 2001 China Demographic and Reproductive Health Survey (DRHS) and village-level data from 1997 and 2001 DRHS and administrative statistics, this study examines the effects of three dimensions of changing village context---socioeconomic development, social disdevelopment, and social isolation---on individual fertility in the transitional period 1990--2001. Statistically, a multilevel multi-spell competing risks model is built to test three forms of village effects on individual fertility behaviors: direct effect of village context, interaction effect between village context and individual life-course, and interaction effect between village context and individual socioeconomic characteristics.The study has significant theoretical and policy implications. On the theoretical side, the mechanisms of social changes on fertility are clarified, and the effect of social disdevelopment is stressed. From a policy perspective, this study calls for greater attention to the negative side of the Market Transition.From the analysis, all three dimensions of village context, particularly the two greatly affected by the Market Transition---socioeconomic development and social disdevelopment---were found to exert significant impacts on individual fertility. Their effects could be directly imposed to individuals. They could also be interaction effects, moderating the effects of individual life course or individual socioeconomic characteristics on fertility. Two different mechanisms were identified through which the village effects operate: changing living patterns and reduced economic resources. Both significantly reduce individual likelihood of fertility.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2763.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

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