The major factors associated with reduced fertility also tend to be
associated with increased wealth, but this is not always the case. For
example, the state of Punjab in India has the highest per-capita GDP
of any Indian state, but does not have a particularly low fertility
rate compared to other states. Kerala, on the other hand, has a per-
capita income of around a dollar a day and a lower fertility rate than
the United States (and a comparable lifespan/literacy rate). Once
female literacy and workforce participation are factored out, Sen and
Dreze found no statistically significant relationship between income
and fertility rates in Indian states.
In general, once women have the option to choose, they will generally
choose to invest a lot of effort in a small number of children.
Similarly, when women can earn money and support their families, they
will be less likely to spend time having children. There are only
limited cases when additional children are economically beneficial as
a source of unskilled labor, and these opportunities tend to shrink as
countries become wealthier.
On Jul 4, 10:01 am, "Michael Tobis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> How strong is the correlation between wealth and reduced fertility?
> Are there wealthy countries with high fertility or poor countries with
> low?
>
> I've never really understood why this is supposed to happen, and why
> we are expected to rely on it happening.
>
> mt
Oh, and touché James. But I would argue that any well designed carbon
tax would have to be explicitly revenue neutral, with revenues used to
cut distortionary taxes on labor (e.g. payroll and income taxes) in a
progressive manner that offsets any regressive effects of tax
increases. Ironically, carbon taxes will in most cases be considerably
more progressive than tradable permit systems, if only we could get
over our negative association with the term "tax". Just look at the
windfall profits that utilities have experienced under phase one of
the EU ETS...
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