Do, Quy-ToanLevchenko, AndreiRaddatz, Claudio2014-06-262014-06-262014-06https://hdl.handle.net/10986/18811This paper analyzes theoretically and empirically the impact of comparative advantage in international trade on fertility. It builds a model in which industries differ in the extent to which they use female relative to male labor and countries are characterized by Ricardian comparative advantage in either female labor or male labor intensive goods. The main prediction of the model is that countries with comparative advantage in female labor intensive goods are characterized by lower fertility. This is because female wages and therefore the opportunity cost of children are higher in those countries. The paper demonstrates empirically that countries with comparative advantage in industries employing primarily women exhibit lower fertility. The analysis uses a geography-based instrument for trade patterns to isolate the causal effect of comparative advantage on fertility.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABSOLUTE ADVANTAGEACCOUNTINGAGRICULTUREAVERAGE WAGESBABYBABY BOOMBARGAININGBARGAINING POWERBILATERAL TRADEBUSINESS CYCLECAPITAL INVESTMENTSCENTRAL BANKCHANGES IN FERTILITYCHILD LABORCHILDBEARINGCHILDREN PER WOMANCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVE EQUILIBRIUMCONSUMERSCROSS-SECTORAL VARIATIONCURRENT POPULATIONDEMAND CURVEDEMAND CURVESDEMOCRACYDEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDIMINISHING MARGINAL UTILITYDISTRIBUTION OF INCOMEDIVISION OF LABORDOWNWARD PRESSUREECONOMIC CHANGEECONOMIC DECISIONSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC HISTORYECONOMIC RESEARCHEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTELASTICITYEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT RATESEQUILIBRIUMEQUILIBRIUM PRICESEQUILIBRIUM WAGESEXCLUSION RESTRICTIONEXOGENOUS CHARACTERISTICSEXPORT BASKETSEXPORT SPECIALIZATIONEXPORTSFACTOR MARKETSFAMILY SIZEFAMILY STRUCTUREFEMALE EMPLOYMENTFEMALE LABORFEMALE LABOR FORCEFERTILITYFERTILITY DECLINEFERTILITY LEVELSFERTILITY RATEFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTGDPGENDER BIASGENDER DISCRIMINATIONGENDER GAPGENDER INEQUALITYGENDER ROLESGENERAL EQUILIBRIUMGINI COEFFICIENTGLOBALIZATIONGROWTH MODELSHUMAN CAPITALIMMIGRANTIMPORTSINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME EFFECTINCOME INEQUALITYINDUSTRY CHARACTERISTICINFANTINFANT MORTALITYINFORMAL SECTORINTENSIVE INDUSTRIESINTERNATIONAL ECONOMICSINTERNATIONAL TRADELABOR DEMANDLABOR ECONOMICSLABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR INTENSITYLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR RELATIONSLABOR SHARELABOR STATISTICSLABOR SUPPLYLABOR-INTENSIVE TECHNOLOGYLAMLARGE FAMILIESLEVELS OF FERTILITYLOW FERTILITYLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESLOWER FERTILITYMACROECONOMIC ANALYSISMACROECONOMICSMALE WORKERSMARGINAL UTILITYMARKET ECONOMYMARKET EQUILIBRIUMMEATMIGRATIONMIGRATION FLOWSNATURAL RESOURCENATURAL RESOURCESNET EXPORTSNORMAL GOODNUMBER OF BIRTHSNUMBER OF CHILDRENOCCUPATIONOCCUPATIONSOPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMENOPPORTUNITY COSTOPTIMIZATIONPER CAPITA INCOMEPOINT OF DEPARTUREPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY LEVERPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOPULATION GROWTHPRODUCTION FUNCTIONSPRODUCTIVITYPROGRESSRESPECTRULE OF LAWSKILLED WORKERSSUBSTITUTION EFFECTSUBSTITUTION EFFECTSSUPPLY CURVETOTAL EMPLOYMENTTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITIESTOTAL WAGETRADE BARRIERSTRADE DATATRADE INTEGRATIONTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE OPENNESSTRANSPORTATIONUTILITY FUNCTIONWAGE BILLWAGE GAPWAGE INCREASESWAGE RATESWAGESWARWOMAN10.1596/1813-9450-6930